During the summer of 2007, Pastor Julie Pennington-Russell left Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, Texas for the historic First Baptist Church of Decatur, Georgia.
Two years later, Waco’s Calvary Baptist Church has called an American Baptist minister from Trenton, New
Jersey to serve as senior pastor. Here is the press release from Calvary’s website:
WACO, Texas – With a unanimous vote, Calvary Baptist Church selected Jim Coston as its new pastor on Sunday, May 31st.
Coston is currently the pastor of First Baptist Church of Trenton, N.J., where he also serves as a city councilman to the South Ward. After Sunday’s vote, he and his family returned to Trenton, where, on Wednesday, he informed the leadership of First Baptist of his decision to take the pastor’s job at Calvary.
Coston has been pastor at First Baptist Trenton since 1998, when he and his wife Julie were named co-pastors of the church. She stepped down from her position in 2003 when their son Justin joined the family, and he has been the solo pastor since.
Coston has been a Trenton city council member since 2006. He is also founder of the South Trenton Habitat Project and the Lamberton Street Historic District Committee. In 2005, he was named by the Trentonian newspaper as one of the top 20 community leaders younger than 40.
Coston, who was born in Atlanta and spent most of his life in Columbia, Tenn., earned a bachelors in philosophy and Greek and a master’s in religion from Wake Forest University and a master’s of divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Coston will take over the position at Calvary after giving a required 60 days notice at First Baptist Trenton. He will start his new job in early August. To read more about Jim, click here.
I trust he is–in addition to being a great community political activist and married to someone named Julie who has pastored–a great preacher and minister of the gospel as well?
Not much said about that.
Yes, he “preaches Jesus.”