Pastor's Blog: Welcome Back, Russ and Amy!
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Part of the heritage of Mountain Brook Baptist Church is the privilege God has given us to have been a training ground for some of the finest young ministers in Baptist life. Because our church is an example of strong faithfulness and spiritual health we have groomed many a young minister for effective ministry in congregations near and far. Without a doubt, creating a “culture of call” not only refers to those young persons who have grown up in MBBC; it also encompasses those whom we have invited to join us for a season, who having fulfilled God’s call to our church have moved on to other places to advance God’s Kingdom purposes in our world.
This coming Sunday we are fortunate to have Russ and Amy Dean return to be with us in our second Heritage Sunday emphasis. These special Sundays coincide with our church’s 75th Anniversary as we celebrate some of our previous staff members who moved on to positions of senior leadership in other congregations. Russ and Amy Dean were with us from September 1996 to September 2000. They are now serving as co-pastors of the Park Road Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. While Russ was serving us as Associate Pastor, Amy was directing the Christian Women’s Job Corps Initiative as well as serving in interim ministry capacities in the city. Both are graduates of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and Russ received his D.Min. degree from Beeson. The Deans have two teenaged sons, Jackson and Bennett, who are active in baseball.
I hope you’ll be present Sunday to celebrate how the Deans blessed our church (and we their ministries) and to welcome them back to MBBC. You should know that they are winding down their own sabbatical leave and left a week of it to join us in this most important heritage emphasis. I will be present myself and look forward to seeing Russ and Amy, and all of you as well, as we worship the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in the power of the Holy Spirit has gifted us in various ways for the building up of His body, the Church.
“One generation commends your work to another; they tell of your mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4).