Gerald Harris
John Pennington, recently called as pastor at Corinth Baptist Church in Bremen, stands with his wife, Carol.
— You simply can’t keep a good man down. Dr. John Pennington “retired” after 27 years as pastor of First Baptist Church Douglasville, but preaching and pastoring is in his blood; and he is not the kind of pastor who can be put out to pasture. He is too young and energetic for retirement, and like Jeremiah, “God’s Word is in (his) heart like a burning fire, a fire shut up in (his) bones” and he simply cannot hold it in. So, on December 17, 2017, less than a year after he retired, Pennington accepted the call to become pastor of Corinth Baptist Church in Bremen. His first Sunday was January 7, 2018. Jada Osteen, the church’s general secretary, stated, “Corinth is a very rural church with a lot of men and women that love Jesus Christ. One major quality that Corinth has is an indescribable love for people. One of the things that showed Dr. Pennington Corinth’s love for people was when he and Mrs. Carol were greeted at their car door with an umbrella their first visit here. We are eager and excited to see what the Lord has in store for Corinth under the leadership of Dr. Pennington.” Deacon and Pastor Search Committee member Don Edwards, commented, "Dr. Pennington filled in for our interim pastor back in April. His name didn't come back up until we had filtered through many candidates. We then called Dr. Marcus Merritt, our interim at the time, who is good friends with him and asked if Dr. Pennington would even be interested in a pastoring position again. We discovered that he was interested. “Dr. Pennington said, ‘If there is any one church that would prompt me to consider returning to a full time pastoring position it would be Corinth.’” Billy McAdams, lifelong member of the church, chairman of the deacons, and member of the pastor search team, observed, “I’ve seen many high times and low times at Corinth, and have never been more excited about the future of the church than right now. “The church has more than tripled in the last ten years and is headed for more growth under Dr. Pennington. Attendance has been up over the last few weeks and we expect God to bless greatly in 2018.” Travis Deaver, high school youth director and pastor search committee member, explained, “In a day and time when more churches are calling younger pastors, our search team found ourselves following a different Spirit-led path. After looking at a number of candidates in their 30s and 40s, we were presented with Dr. John Pennington as a potential candidate. “Personally, my first thought was ‘He’s too old—we need someone younger.’ But God began to work in my heart as well as the hearts of the rest of the men on the search team. After much prayer and in-depth interviews with Dr. Pennington, God showed us that his extensive experience, powerful preaching, and humble “get-out-into-the-community” approach to ministry would make him a perfect fit for Corinth Baptist Church. “Our search team was able to convey these thoughts to our church family and our church family has welcomed the Penningtons with open arms. We’re excited to see what God has in store for Corinth in the coming months and years as we seek to minister to our surrounding community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Most of you wouldn’t know who Gene Autry is, but it is very likely that John Pennington does. He was an American cowboy entertainer many years ago. His signature song was “Back in the Saddle Again.” That song describes John Pennington fairly well. While his place of identification may not exactly be a saddle, it is a pulpit and he can probably sing Autry’s old song with a bit of improvisation"
Whoopi-ty-aye-oh Rockin’ to and fro Back in the ‘pulpit’ again Whoopi-ty-aye-oh I go my way Back in the ‘pulpit’ again.
Congratulations, Corinth, you called a good and godly man to be your pastor. And congratulations Dr. Pennington; you have a splendid church to pastor until you "retire" again and hopefully that will be a long time coming.
