wfn.org | Re: AMERICAN BAPTIST NEWS FOR OCT. 25, 1996

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American Baptist News Service_____________________
Office of Communication / American Baptist Churches USA
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320 
Richard W. Schramm, Director (E-mail: RICH_SCHRAMM.PARTI@ECUNET.ORG)

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________

     
October 25, 1996

DONALD RASMUSSEN NAMED EXECUTIVE MINISTER
OF AMERICAN BAPTIST CHURCHES OF RHODE ISLAND

     VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABNS)--Dr. Donald R. Rasmussen, pastor of
Phillips Memorial Baptist Church in Cranston, R.I., has been named
executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island. 

     Rasmussen was elected Oct. 21 by the region's Board of Mission,
which acted on a unanimous recommendation of the Executive Minister
Search Committee.  He will begin his new responsibilities Jan. 1, 
succeeding Dr. Donald H. Crosby, who retired earlier this year.

     Rasmussen has led Phillips Memorial Baptist Church since 1975. 
He previously had served as associate pastor there, and as minister
of education at Jackson Street Baptist Church in Scranton, Pa.

     He has been active in ministries of his region, where he has
served as a member of the Board of Mission, the Investment Committee
and the Common Ground Conference Planning Committee.

     In denominational responsibilities Rasmussen has served
American Baptist Churches USA as a member of the General Board and
its Executive Committee, and as chair of the Board's Credentials and
Caucus Committee.  He also has chaired the Corporate Responsibility
Committee of the Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board, and has
been a member of the Board of National Ministries, where he chaired
its Social and Ethical Responsibility in Investments Committee, among
other positions.

     Rasmussen holds degrees from Houghton College (B.A.), Gordon
Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div.), University of Scranton (M.S.),
and Andover Newton Theological School (D.Min.).  He was ordained at
Jackson Street Baptist Church in 1964.
     
      His wife, Virginia, also has served as a member of the
American Baptist Churches USA General Board and as a member of the
Board of National Ministries, as well as president of American
Baptist Women's Ministries of Rhode Island.  Donald and Virginia
Rasmussen are the parents of two grown sons, Stephen and Robert.
     
     In announcing Rasmussen's appointment, Dr. Robert L. Carter
Jr., president of American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island, noted,
"He comes eminently qualified by both training and experience for
this task....  [We] look forward to the many gifts that he brings
under the leadership of the Holy Spirit." 

     The American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island, one of 34
regions within American Baptist Churches USA, includes approximately
76 churches and 13,500 resident members.
     
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