McKay new director of missions for Sulphur Springs Association

For Sam McKay, age isn’t a factor as he begins another chapter in his life as director of missions (DOM) with Sulphur Springs Baptist Association.
   
McKay, 70, assumed duties with the association June 1. The position is the latest in a lengthy career both in the ministry and in the military.
   
“I feel like I still have some years left where I can serve the Lord,” he said.
   
The Birmingham native comes to the Sulphur Springs Association after retiring as DOM with the Lamar Association in 1996, where he had served since 1987.
   
A graduate of the University of Louisville (Ky.) with a degree in history and secondary education, McKay served as a navigator with the Air Force during the Korean Conflict.
   
Following that, he attended and graduated from Southern Seminary in Louisville in 1959.
McKay began his ministerial career with a pastorate at the now defunct Spanaway Baptist Church in Tacoma, Wash., where he served three years. McKay returned to the Air Force for nine years following his service at Spanaway.
   
He returned to the ministry after leaving the military a second time, serving first as business manager with Horseshoe Baptist Church in Meridian, Miss., and then as minister of education at Arlington Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla.
   
McKay began his ministerial career in Alabama when he assumed duties as minister of education with First Baptist Church, Gardendale, in 1975, where he served until assuming his position with the Lamar Association.
   
Traveling to Hong Kong with his wife, Marie, as a missionary soon after his retirement four years ago, McKay taught English at Hong Kong Baptist University and also taught seminary extension classes at Fu Heng Baptist Church.
   
He explained that his wife was a missionary to Hong Kong prior to their marriage in 1964 and longed to return there, where she most recently created an archive on the history of Christianity in China at Hong Kong Baptist University.
   
He was lured into returning to associational work back in Alabama because the offices are close to his home and the position is part time.
   
The job also was appealing to McKay, because, he said, the best years of his ministry were during his time with the Lamar Association.
   
To date, the new experience has been just as satisfying. “It’s been just as great as it was in Lamar County,” he said.
   
McKay has two adult children and four grandchildren.