EVENTS
New Bethel Baptist Church of Shelbyville will be celebrating 170 years of ministry on Oct. 5 at 9:30. Joe Rucker, Heart of Texas Recording Artist, will be the special music. Current pastor Jonathan Curry will bring the message, and a fellowship meal will follow.
DEATHS
Parks
Robert Keith Parks, a transformative missions leader who opened Southern Baptists’ eyes to millions of unreached peoples worldwide, died Aug. 26, 2025, at age 97. Parks served 45 years in international missions, including 14 years as a missionary to Indonesia with his wife Helen Jean, before becoming the ninth president of the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) from 1980 to 1992. A native of Memphis, Texas, who first experienced missions as a student missionary to Colombia, Parks always identified himself simply as “a missionary” throughout his career.
Parks’ presidency coincided with world-changing events including the fall of the Berlin Wall, dissolution of the Soviet Union, and rapid technological advances. His visionary leadership transformed Southern Baptist missions strategy by shifting focus from traditional mission stations to reaching more than 6,000 unreached people groups. This research-driven approach led to innovative programs like Cooperative Services International in 1985, which sent teachers, doctors, and humanitarian workers to countries closed to traditional missionaries, and the nonresidential missionary program for creative outreach strategies.
After retiring as Foreign Mission Board president in 1992, Parks became the first missions coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. His legacy continues to shape modern missions strategy, with current IMB leadership crediting his focus on unengaged peoples as foundational to today’s approach.
He is survived by three sons and their families; his wife Helen Jean and daughter Eloise both died in 2021.
First Baptist Church Michie broke ground Aug. 3 for its new Family Life Center, with foundational work completed Aug. 19. Church leaders said the current facility has been stretched to capacity, necessitating the new building to serve growing families and the community. Several tradesmen plan to donate time for interior work once the structure is completed.
