To Gene Balding, retirement is not an end to his 37-year pastoral ministry. It’s a new chapter filled with different opportunities to serve God.
After announcing his May retirement from First Baptist Church, Russellville, in Franklin Baptist Association, past and present church members thanked Balding for 14 years of leadership with a reception on the church grounds.
Just as he led his members to set goals and find the purpose of their ministry, Balding has already begun planning his future ministry as a supply and interim preacher. He will also continue hosting yearly trips to the Holy Land.
“I want to finish strong and finish well,” Balding told Minister of Music Bert Fowler. “I don’t want to coast into the end of my ministry.”
A Kansas native, Balding graduated from Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga and later received master of theology and doctor of ministry degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary.
Over the years, he led Emmanuel Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa; Nineteenth Avenue Baptist Church, Hattiesburg, Miss.; Lakeview Baptist Church, Cave Springs, Ark.; and several other churches while attending seminary.
Balding and his wife, Jeanie, have two children and four grandchildren.
To contact Balding, call 256-332-6632.
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