A one-time announcement of special events is a free service provided by the Witness to Florida Baptist churches. Please send materials at least three weeks before the date of the event, to Florida Baptist Witness, 1230 Hendricks Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32207, fax 904-346-0696 or submitted using our online form. Items received after deadline may appear in our exclusive on-line version.

JACKSONVILLE

Englewood Baptist Church will host a gospel sing April 9 at 6:30 p.m. The event will feature the Capstone Quartet. For more information, call 904-737-5455.
Palm Valley Baptist Church in Ponte Vedra will observe homecoming April 10 at 10:30 a.m. Former pastor Jim Richards from Collierville, Tenn., will preach, and The Regents will sing. For more information, call 904-285-2447.

MIAMI

First Baptist Church, Homestead, will host speaker Bernadette Todd April 3 at 6:30 p.m. Todd, confined to a wheelchair since childhood, is a native of Jamaica. For more information, call 305-247-1662.

NORTHWEST COAST

First Baptist Church, Parker, has called Craig Walker as pastor. He previously served as pastor of First Baptist Church, Fountain. He is a graduate of Baptist College of Florida and received an M.Div. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N.C., in 1998. Walker and his wife, Kim, have three sons.
Hiland Park Baptist Church in Panama City has called Carl Fondren as associate pastor/education/outreach. He and his wife, Brenda, and teenage son and daughter moved to Panama City from Cape Girardeau, Mo., where he served in a similar position with Lynwood Baptist Church. He previously served as minister to students with First Baptist Church, Panama City, 1993-1998. A native of Arkansas, Fondren is a graduate of Baylor University, Waco, Texas, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.

PENSACOLA BAY

Pine Summit Baptist Church will mark its 25th anniversary in a 3-day celebration April 1-3. A Friday pot-luck dinner will begin at 6 p.m. and a Saturday fish fry will begin at 5 p.m. Both events will feature entertainment by current and former members. The 9:30 a.m. Sunday service will highlight former pastors Marcus Greene, founding pastor; Bob Greene, director of missions of Pensacola Bay Baptist Association; and Greg Heisler, professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N.C. For more information, call 850-944-2888.

SOUTH FLORIDA

Griffin Baptist Church, Lakeland, will present “To Calvary and Beyond” Easter Sunday at 11 a.m. For more information, call 863-858-2648.

TAYLOR

First Baptist Church, Perry, will host a women’s conference, “Breaking Forth in Worship,” April 9 beginning at 8:30 a.m. Alicia Williamson Garcia, songwriter, TV host and author, will lead the conference. For registration information, call 850-584-7066.

WALTON COUNTY

Minnie Lillian Barrentine, 66, wife of James Barrentine, pastor of First Baptist Church, Gaskin, died March 11 in Florala, Ala. A resident of Paxton, she served as church organist at Gaskin and worked as a bank teller with Southtrust Bank in Florala. She is survived by her husband; two sons, James Nathan and Mark Anthony; daughter, Megan Nicole Scroggins; and six grandchildren.

WEST FLORIDA

James Otto Eden, 73, pastor of Sunny Hills Baptist Church in Chipley, died March 13 at his home. He served several years as a bivocational pastor in several churches before his retirement from a telephone company; he had served at Sunny Hills seven years. Eden also served in several churches’ bus ministries and as volunteer chaplain at Washington Correctional Institution. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Janie; two sons, Kip and Paul; two daughters, Becky Pate and Kristi Henderson; 12 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.