November 6, 2000

Retirement not an end to service
for long-tenured BGCT assistant
___By Orville Scott
___Texas Baptist Communications
___Serving as executive associate to three Texas Baptist executive directors during 27 of the denomination's most eventful years might cause some to welcome the opportunity to retire.
___Not Doris Tinker.
___She is merely moving to a new ministry, working part-time with Bill Pinson in the

DORIS TINKER

executive director emeritus office established by the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board. There she and Pinson will concentrate on the Baptist Distinctives Committee and the related Texas Baptist Heritage Center.
___Tinker served longer in the office of the executive director than anyone else in history, working with the late James Landes from 1973 through 1982, with Pinson from 1982 through January 2000 and with Charles Wade this year. Previously, she served as secretary to Landes when he was pastor of First Baptist Church of Richardson.
___Pinson said Tinker's cheerful service inspired a multitude of visitors and callers and contributed to some of Texas Baptists' greatest gains.
___Thousands of Texas Baptists heard her voice on the telephone or when they came to the Baptist Building for meetings.
___"Each year she handled literally thousands of phone calls, thousands of letters and thousands of e-mails with the greatest efficiency," Pinson said. "Her sense of humor, ready laugh and knack for handling difficult situations have eased tension in many long and difficult meetings."
___After Landes' retirement, when Pinson asked her to stay as his associate, she asked, "Will it be fun? I can't stay where I can't have fun."
___Pinson assured her she could.
___"He kept his promise," she said. "I feel that humor is an asset in any walk of life."
___Tinker regarded her position not so much as a job but as a ministry. Often this meant working extraordinarily long hours.
___This commitment produced an almost perfect attendance record in her 37-year career, included her 10 years as pastor's secretary at First Baptist Church of Richardson.
___Tom Brannon, who retired earlier this year as BGCT director of communications, recalls that Tinker's "professionalism and warm personality" helped draw him and his wife, Sandra, from their home state of South Carolina to a 20-year ministry with Texas Baptists.
___Ruth Landes Pitts of Waco, daughter of the former BGCT executive director, said Tinker has been "an incredible tower of strength for Texas Baptists."
___Former Texas Woman's Missionary Union President Amelia Bishop of Austin cited Tinker's concern for people as an asset. "She regarded each of us with whom she worked as a person, not just a committee member."
___Dental surgeon George Ritchie of Wichita Falls, former chairperson of the BGCT Administrative Committee, said Tinker always planned for committee meetings "in such detail and with great efficiency that we knew none of our time would be wasted."
___An Arkansas native, Tinker was an athlete growing up, playing all sports, especially basketball. She is the daughter of a deacon, the mother of a deacon and the sister of a deacon. She says her Baptist deacon father, the late James Rees, was a huge influence in her life.
___"Besides the Christian heritage that my parents gave me, I celebrate that they prepared me for the world, knowing who I was and that there was a purpose for my life," she said.
___She became a Christian at the age of 12 and grew up in Central Baptist Church of Jonesboro, Ark., under the ministry of J.I. Cossey, who, along with her father, was her mentor.
___She and her husband, Bill, have a son, Greg, who is employed by a large computer company, and two grandchildren, Skyler, a seventh grader, and Stephanie, a high school senior who has shared with her family and church that she feels called to foreign missions.
___In her spare time, Tinker hopes to resume one of her favorite pastimes, painting in several media and doing crafts--when she's not serving at the Heritage Center or involved in the activities of her grandchildren.
___

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