CLASS NOTES
DIANE AND CHRIS MACHEN
HUBERT AND BETTIE ADDLETON
HUBERT ADDLETON (BDIV ’54) recently celebrated his 90th birthday with a tandem skydive in north Georgia, arranged by one of his six grandchildren who is in the U.S. military. He also marked his 90th birthday by publishing his memoir Memories of Ben Hill Drive: A Southern Story (Doorlight Publications, 2019) in which NOBTS figures quite prominently. Addleton served for 35 years as a Baptist missionary in Pakistan. In addition, he pastored several churches in Mississippi and Georgia. Addleton and his wife celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary in June.
TOMMY SMOTHERS (MDIV '79) retired from Christian ministry in 2019 after 51 years of service. Smothers served as pastor of New Friendship Baptist Church, Somerville, Ala., for 35 of those years.
MARILYN STEWART (MA-CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS ’19) Vision managing editor and assistant director for news and information of the Office of Communications, received a writing award during the 2020 Baptist Communicators Association Wilmer C. Fields Awards Competition. The article “’You Are Not Special’ – Apologetic Tips for Exposing Worldviews that Cannot Satisfy,” won third place in the Feature Writing Division, Blog, Single Entry.
CHRIS MACHEN (MCM 80) and his wife, Diane, founders of The Master’s Music Company, were inducted into the Texas Gospel Music Hall of Fame. JASON McNAUGHTEN (DMIN ’11) has published two books: Confessions of a Depressed Christian: How a Pastor Survived Depression and How You Can Too and Panic to Peace: 31 Biblical Solutions to Anxiety.
JASON THOMAS (MDIV '12) recently joined the International Mission Board's partner relations team as African American church mobilization strategist. In this capacity, Thomas will work with nearly 4,000 African American churches across the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) to mobilize pastors and church members to pray, give, go and send.
MARIO MELENDEZ (PHD '19) has accepted the position of Auguie Henry Chair of Bible, Assistant Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Studies at Oklahoma Baptist University.
CASEY HOUGH (PHD '19) has been elected Assistant Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Luther Rice Seminary in Lithonia, Ga. MICHAEL STEINMETZ (PHD '20) has been elected Assistant Professor of Christian Studies, Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Ga.