Selected Naomi Cramer Overton, as the next president of Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) International. Elisa Morgan, the current president, will remain with MOPS International as chief executive officer.
Retired David Mehlis, as president of Cook Communications Ministries. Mehlis worked at the publishing house for 40 years, and in 1987 became the first non-member of the Cook family to lead the ministry. During Mehlis's presidency, Cook acquired Scripture Press, Victor Books, and other organizations. He also started training programs for international publishers seeking to print Christian literature in their native languages.
Died Bishop Gilbert Patterson, presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ, on March 20 of heart failure. Patterson, 67, headed America's fifth-largest denomination since 2000. He pastored Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tennessee.
Selected Geoffrey Hammond, as president of the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board. Hammond, a third-generation missionary, succeeds Bob Reccord, who resigned in April 2006. Hammond previously served as a pastor, church planter, and missionary to Brazil.
Selected Sandra Gray, as president of Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky. Asbury's first female president, Gray has worked at the college for 17 years as a professor of business management, chair of the department of business and economics, and provost. The nondenominational Christian school has ties to the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition.