Memorial Service 2022: ‘Hope is in our job description’
A Memorial Service for those faithful servants who served in the South Georgia Annual Conference was held Tuesday afternoon, June 7, at 2 p.m. as conference members gathered at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Columbus, Ga.
Rev. Bill Bagwell, outgoing pastor at Pittman Park UMC in Statesboro who retired at this year’s Annual Conference session, reminded those gathered that hope is an important work.
“Hope is in our job description,” he said.
“I dearly need hope. Do you? It is the essence of how we, the community of Christ, maneuver life and death.”
Just an ounce of hope can transform everything, he said, before asking the congregation if they have been in a place of hope during the past year and whether they have sensed God is present.
“Proclaim Jesus crucified and risen. He is our judge and our hope,” he said. “God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.”
Those faithful servants remembered include:
Archie Bob Dixon
February 22, 1958 - April 10, 2021
Ray Lee Garren
January 23, 1937 - May 12, 2021
Herbert Stephen Peavy
September 17, 1957 - July 4, 2021
James Truman "Jim" Trice, Jr.
September 20, 1939 - July 22, 2021
Henry Lee "H. L." Pharr, Jr.
July 22, 1933 - August 11, 2021
Wayne McDonald
October 20, 1942 - August 13, 2021
Byron Johnson Scott, Jr.
August 9, 1945 - August 14, 2021
Jairo E. Franco
October 14, 1946 - September 21, 2021
Edwin Leon Willis
October 1, 1952 - October 29, 2021
Rodger Randall Ray, Sr.
June 19, 1940 - November 5, 2021
Shirley Carter Berkeley, Jr.
November 25, 1932 - November 12, 2021
Lee Creig Smith
December 17, 1956 - November 15, 2021
Eul Lark Kim
July 14, 1935 - December 4, 2021
Cecil Earl Hazen
September 6, 1932 - December 10, 2021
Thomas Jackson "Jack" McCollough, Jr.
May 15, 1927 - December 31, 2021
Kirk G. Loyless
November 10, 1950 - January 25, 2022
Elvin Edward East, Jr
July 25, 1948 - February 2, 2022
Fred Mosley Foster
September 3, 1934 - February 4, 2022
Remer Logan "Brad" Brady, III
November 16, 1953 - February 4, 2022
Fred Lemore Maddox
April 22, 1933 - February 8, 2022
James Pickett Walker
August 24, 1939 - February 25, 2022
Gordon Grover Bell
March 9, 1928 - March 3, 2022
William Donald Clark
May 14, 1952 - March 11, 2022
Beaufort Garfield “B. G."Roberts, Sr.
August 7, 1932 - March 19, 2022
Wallace Grable Page, Jr.
June 25, 1938 - March 22, 2022
Robert Wayne Poston
February 11, 1946 - March 28, 2022
Grady Watson Mills, II
June 17, 1943 - March 28, 2022
Deceased Clergy Spouses
Marguerite Ziegler-Buchan
July 4, 1949 - April 5, 2021
Lila Elizabeth Lee Pratt-Hutcherson
September 27, 1925 - April 8, 2021
Sharon McMahen Atkinson
September 28, 1945 - April 10, 2021
Eleanor Howard Walton
July 30, 1938 - April 13, 2021
Marilyn Sue Johnson Dupree
May 31, 1935 - May 2, 2021
Jackie Henderson Miller Pryor
July 23, 1942 - May 18, 2021
Betty Claire Pierce Smith
September 24, 1932 - May 24, 2021
Sandra Arwood Homer
December 6, 1942 - June 20, 2021
Juliann Glaspy Rogers
August 3, 1953 - August 8, 2021
Martha "Marty" Wycliffe Hendry Durham
February 14, 1939 - August 18, 2021
Clara Mae Harris Dunbar
August 18, 1931 - August 22, 2021
John Christopher "Jack" Payne
December 7, 1943 - September 2, 2021
Jane Ellen Bryan Bass
February 28, 1941 - September 4, 2021
Merrie Louellen Freeman Posey
October 8, 1949 - September 6, 2021
Evelyn Meadows Steele
February 1, 1924 - October 23, 2021
Dorma Gemiah Smith Perry
October 1, 1925 - November 18, 2021
Carole Moore Mitchell
December 1, 1939 - December 13, 2021
Carol Whitley Sizemore
August 7, 1951 - December 20, 2021
Sally Lou Powell Strickland
June 9, 1930 - December 27, 2021
The Conference Memoirs Committee and the Conference Worship Committee help plan and lead the Memorial Service. They also put together a Book of Remembrance that contains beautiful tributes to each of these faithful saints who have passed away in the past year and presents one to each family prior to the service.
Watch the service here
For full Annual Conference coverage, visit www.sgaumc.org/annualconference.