FRANKLIN
Longtime members of Franklin Baptist Church will soon see a familiar face at the pulpit.

The Rev. Dr. Mike Clingenpeel will return as interim pastor on Sunday, Jan. 3. He served at Franklin Baptist from 1983 to 1992.

The Rev. Brent Kimlick, former pastor, had resigned effective Sept. 30.

Clingenpeel earned his doctorate from the Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

In addition to Franklin, he has pastored churches in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Richmond. He also was the editor of the Religious Herald, a Baptist publication based in the capital.

The first service will be on Sunday, Jan. 3, with a contemporary program at 8:30 a.m.

Keeping the ship going in the meantime has been associate pastor/music minister Steve Gibson. That additional responsibility, Gibson added, has “included preaching, coordinating the work of the church and trying to make sure that people who needed to be visited were visited.”

“I know them [the members] fairly well. I can encourage them,” said Gibson, who’s been at the church for 10-1/2 years.

But he doesn’t take all the credit for the maintenance.

“I must say the church staff has been excellent in stepping up to the plate an working together and getting these details completed. It’s been a team effort.”