Jim Haskell’s fingerprints are on multiple churches

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DECATUR, Ga. — When Jim Haskell, a student majoring in Industrial Engineering at Georgia Tech, agreed to assist the student minister at Atlanta’s Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in 1973, it was not likely that he knew the amazing path that God would fashion for him in the decades to come.

Now, 51 years later, Haskell has announced he will retire as the lead pastor of Decatur’s Bridgepoint Church at Toco Hills, and he can justifiably look back at the path God chose for him with an assured degree of gratitude and fulfillment.

Haskell served as a successful pastor in churches in Alabama, Texas, Kentucky, and Georgia. His longest pastorate was at First Baptist Church in Georgetown, Texas where he served for 16 years. During that time the church grew in membership from 1818 to 3695, and the worship and Sunday School attendance tripled. The budget increased from $426,050 to $2,455,562 and 1,009 new believers were baptized.

However, church planting, church revitalization and urban missions have always captivated Haskell's heart. In fact, he resigned a large church in Birmingham, Alabama to come to Atlanta to lead First Baptist Church Chattahoochee to transition from a church whose members drive in to use the facilities to a church that is a relevant partner in personal and community transformation.

The leadership of the urban associations in the Atlanta city core and the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s church planting division saw what Haskell was doing at the Chattahoochee church and asked him to be the executive director/lead strategist for Urban Atlanta Church Planting. He later was asked to lead out in the North American Mission Board’s Send initiative as the city missionary for Atlanta.

Haskell responded, “I don't think anyone could have had a more encouraging last full-time assignment than I have had. I love to see healthy, growing, and multiplying congregations engaging their communities with the love of Jesus. God has blessed me with a ministry to help churches turn around and be relevant again and as a strategist to help congregations emerge in places that are underserved but with great potential.

“As a church planting strategist, all that I had learned as a pastor along with the analytical gifts that were formed in me as a systems engineering student at Georgia Tech came together."

Haskell stated, “As a church planting strategist I had witnessed many churches close their doors and sell their property to developers or neighboring businesses. In fact, of the 169 Southern Baptist Churches that existed inside the I-285 Perimeter in 1965, only 32 are still operational. 

In his role with NAMB, good things began to happen inside the I-285 perimeter. Within a three-year period, 57 new church plants and missional communities were started inside the Perimeter with community transformation as their goal.

Jimmy Baughcum, the executive director and lead strategist for the Atlanta Metro Baptist Association, commented, “Jim Haskell’s fingerprints are on lots of churches in our city. Furthermore, he brought new life and a strategic and caring leadership to the Bridgepoint Church at Toco Hills.

“From a personal perspective Jim has been a friend and mentor. He has pushed me and inspired me to see what can become a reality. He has been an essential leader in our association regarding revitalization by providing a significant direction for us, and he has been a great encourager.”

Haskell’s first retirement came in 2017 when he retired from NAMB to help the former Clairmont Hills Baptist Church replant and reach stability as the new Bridgepoint Church at Toco Hills. He explained, “I had served as the church’s interim pastor for six months while still serving at NAMB.

“When I first began working with them it was thought to be for a few months until a planned merger with another church occurred. The discussions and planning with the other church had been ongoing for about ten months so when the vote by the other church surprisingly failed, Clairmont Hills was unsure about their future. 

“After analyzing their situation, due to their declining and aging membership, it appeared they had only about 18-36 months before they would no longer be able to afford to open their building and support a pastor. Therefore, they accepted my offer to lead them through a visioning process to determine their next steps.

Haskell continued, “The Vision Team presented to the church a plan to replant as a new church. The church unanimously adopted the plan and asked me to lead it as the replant pastor. My intended goal was to lead the planting of the new church then get them ready for the handoff to their next pastor by providing the leadership for them to establish spiritual, structural, organizational, and financial stability. 

“After having to reboot following the COVID crisis which extended my time, I believe they are now ready for their new leader.”

Earlier this year, while serving the Bridgepoint Church at Toco Hills, Haskell’s wife and life partner passed away after an 18-month illness. Haskell reported, “During the 18 months of my wife's illness and death the church allowed me time to be with her without ever making me feel like I was not doing my job. They provided love, support, encouragement, and much food and uber cards. 

“The men of the church came in large numbers to pray for Linda's healing and for God's will to be accomplished. At every step along the way, they stepped up. When we were told we needed a stairlift for our three-story townhouse we purchased near the church just a few months before Linda's diagnosis, they raised the money required after insurance for not one but two stairlifts. 

“When we discovered that caregiving sitters were not provided for when we moved from palliative to hospice care, the church leaders provided funds for Linda to have someone with her when I needed to be away. 

“At her memorial service the church attended in mass and provided a reception,” Haskell remarked. “The staff we have, which is mainly bi-vocational, filled in for me when needed without any complaint in the least and even encouraged me to let them do more. 

“After Linda died, the leaders encouraged me to take as much time as I needed for bereavement and numbers of them stayed in touch. I have been truly blessed because throughout my years of ministry, I have witnessed just the opposite from some churches toward their pastors.

“Unfortunately, I have seen some churches push their pastor out because they perceived that he can't do his job, earn his keep, or control his children's actions. Rather than coming alongside of him to pray, help, and support, they often seek some kind of retribution. Some churches have instigated an inquisition rather than an encouraging partnership like I have experienced here and the other churches I have been blessed to lead.”

Haskell will continue to serve the Lord as opportunities arise, but leaving a legacy for his grandchildren has become a priority. He testified, “My three young grandchildren have some agenda items for me to do. With me being their closest grandparent able to be active in their lives, I am happily preparing for the journey.

“I hope to remain active in ministry by helping congregations who desire to find their biblical transformative relevancy in neighborhoods that need the touch of the gospel. This of course would have to fit into the schedule of a ‘soccer papa’. I believe I can balance them both. I also hope to be a help and blessing to the pastor who follows me at Bridgepoint Church at Toco Hills.”

Those who know Jim Haskell know he will keep busy in some kind of meaningful ministry and will long remember him as a man who loves his Lord and his family with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, and he will forever be identified as a “Ramblin’ Wreck” from Georgia Tech. He will certainly leave the heritage of a bridge builder – someone who loved the church and loved people and worked hard to merge them together for the glory of God.