Submitted by philip on
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
ALEXANDRIA – The Baptist Message board honored its outgoing editor while looking toward the future at its last board meeting of 2014.
Kelly Boggs, who became editor of the Baptist Messagein January 2006, announced during the 2014 Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting he was retiring from the position to become development director at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. He graduated from the school in 1985.
Baptist Message board chairman Tim Hisaw thanked Boggs for his time at the newspaper.
“I am grateful for Kelly’s leadership, guidance and dedication to the Baptist Message,” Hisaw said.
“Before coming on the board of trustees for the Message, I only knew Kelly from his writing,” Hisaw continued. “Since serving with Kelly, through my role on the board, we have developed a friendship that has been a blessing and an encouragement. I cannot think of a conversation that Kelly and I have had that did not end with him not saying, “let me pray for you.
“Although he is going to be living on the wrong side of the Sabine River, I know I have a friend for life,” said Hisaw.
Boggs expressed gratitude to the board, Louisiana Baptists and the staff of the newspaper for allowing him to serve them.
“What an honor it’s been,” Boggs said. “I’ve grown a lot.”
While Boggs has served as editor since early 2006, he also has worked as the Louisiana Baptist Convention director of the office of public affairs for the past two years. Boggs said he was able to effectively manage serving in both roles and feels the new editor could do the same.
He also offered advice to the board during this time of uncertainty.
“You don’t have to be in a hurry to get someone in this role,” Boggs said, noting the current staff can effectively handle the day-to-day operations until a new editor is hired.
To that end, the board approved managing editor Philip Timothy, a 40-year newspaper veteran, to continue in his current role and, in the interim period, also assume responsibility of managing the office and staff.
In his report to the board, Boggs said Message Books, a separate corporation from the newspaper itself that publishes books, has its first two books nearing the final phase of the publication process and could be released sometime in January.
One book is written by Joe McKeever and a second represents contributions by a variety of authors, many from Louisiana, led by Adam Harwood, McFarland Chair of Theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. McKeever is well known to Louisiana Baptists as a preacher, director of missions and cartoonist.
Boggs said he expects the release of both books to do well in 2015.