As many Alabama Baptists do at the start of a new year, Nolan Stinnett decided to cut back.
Effective Dec. 31, Stinnett retired from his post as Pleasant Grove Association director of missions (DOM), cutting the churches he serves from 18 down to that one who needs a bivocational pastor.
However, he is continuing to serve the association as it seeks his replacement and as he seeks a pastorate.
Stinnett had served as DOM since Oct. 3, 1994 — much longer than he originally intended. “I really only planned on [working] about four years,” he said. “I learned a lot from this side of church work, and I’ve enjoyed it.”
The 59-year-old Stinnett works full time as a service representative with BellSouth, where he has more than 25 years of service. During that time, he also served as pastor of several Alabama Baptist churches. Stinnett’s most recent pastorate was Big Hurricane Baptist Church, Brookwood, from which he resigned to serve as Pleasant Grove DOM.
Using past experience
This bivocational experience served him well as DOM since the association has always had a bivocational DOM and has 16 churches with bivocational pastors.
“I was ministering really to more than one church. You’ve got 18 church families, and there’s more administration work, of course. But mostly my role was trying to equip the churches,” Stinnett said.
Ron Madison, director of the association/cooperative ministries office of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, commended Stinnett’s cooperative spirit and described him as “a true spirit of Baptist partnership.” Madison added, “I have appreciated him in his ability to balance the challenges of bivocational ministry.”
One of Stinnett’s partnerships was with Tuscaloosa Baptist Association DOM Jerry Wilkins. The two worked closely together because their associations’ borders overlap.
Cooperative spirit
Wilkins credits Stinnett for leading Pleasant Grove Association to join Tuscaloosa Association in purchasing land in the Capstone/Mercedes area of Vance for a future church plant. The area is served by both associations and is expected to experience tremendous growth.
“Nolan is a man who has ‘cooperation’ as his nickname,” Wilkins said, “He will certainly be missed in this area.”
Amid all the balancing, working and helping the association’s churches, Stinnett also led the association to grow in its missions giving and by adding one church. The association also opened a new office in Brookwood.
Originally from the Bessemer area, Stinnett and his wife, Brenda, are members of Big Hurricane Baptist Church. However, they spent the last nine years attending the association’s 18 churches on a rotating basis.
While Stinnett is looking forward to finding a church to serve, he said he is also anticipating putting down roots in one church home.
Share with others: