wfn.org | ABCUSA: Carrico Named Executive Minister for West Virginia

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Rich.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 12/15/04)--The Rev. Dr.
David L. Carrico, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Beckley, W.V., has
been named executive minister of the West Virginia Baptist Convention.

The region's Executive Board, in sessions earlier this month, affirmed the
recommendation of the Executive Minister Search Committee.  Carrico will
begin his new duties Feb. 1, 2005.  The Rev. Dr. James E. Lutz has been
serving as interim executive minister since the Rev. Dr. Lloyd D. Hamblin
resigned in April 2004 to become executive pastor of South Parkersburg (W.V.)
Baptist Church.

Carrico has been pastor of Beckley First Baptist for 15 years. He previously
served in West Virginia as senior pastor of the Clarksburg Baptist Church and
as associate minister of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in Huntington.  He
is a charter member of the Association of Christian Counselors and is the
co-founder of and serves on the board of Health Right Clinic in Beckley.  He
also is chaplain for both the local fire department and the Veterans
Administration in Beckley.

A graduate of Alderson-Broaddus College, Carrico holds the M.Div. degree from
Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and the D.Min. degree from Eastern
Baptist Theological Seminary.

Carrico and his wife, Jane, have five children. The couple was awarded the S.
Ward and Evangel Robinson Ministerial Team Award given by Alderson-Broaddus
College.

In announcing Carrico's appointment, Patricia Solomon, past region president
and chair of the search committee, said, "We have prayerfully sought the
person God would have us call to this position. We have followed a detailed
process and God has led the search committee to unanimously select David for
this position." 

"My passion is missions," Carrico said recently. "We must never lose sight of
our mission to take Jesus to the lost."  

The West Virginia Baptist Convention, one of 35 regions within American
Baptist Churches USA, includes 467 churches and approximately 87,500 members.

K/2004ABNS/04ABN145

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA x2077
/ (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org