August 28, 2000
Semple announces retirement date
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___DALLAS--After serving 12 years as director of the Texas Baptist State Missions Commission, James Semple has announced his plans to retire effective Feb. 1.
___Semple, 69, notified the 18-member commission of his plans at its Aug. 24 meeting in Dallas. The commission responded by passing a resolution of appreciation for Semple.
___As director of the State Missions Commission, Semple provided leadership for the evangelism, missions, church services and Sunday School divisions of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. He also worked with ethnic missions and in associational relationships.
JAMES SEMPLE
___During his tenure, Texas Baptist churches have reached new records in the number of church starts and people involved in Bible study.
___Before joining the BGCT Executive Board staff, Semple served 25 years as pastor of the historic First Baptist Church of Paris. While he was in Paris, the church recorded 25 consecutive years of increases in gifts to missions through the Cooperative Program.
___In 1987, the Southern Baptist Convention's Home Mission Board recognized Semple as the most evangelistic pastor of a multi-staff church west of the Mississippi.
___Prior to his years in Paris, Semple served churches in Plano, Fort Worth, Mineral Wells and rural Wise County, as well as Ocala, Fla.
___Born in Tifton, Ga., and reared in Miami, Fla., Semple is a graduate of Stetson University in Deland, Fla., and earned two degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1988, he was named the Southwestern Seminary Texas Alumnus of the Year.
___Semple has preached extensively at state Baptist evangelism conferences and Sunday School conventions, and he participated in evangelistic crusades in Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong and Los Angeles.
___His denominational involvement while in the pastorate included service on the board of directors of the Baptist Standard, the BGCT Executive Board and the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee.
___Semple and his wife, Betty, have six married children and 20 grandchildren.
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