Virginia
Gateway announces Virginia megachurch founder as new senior pastor
Gateway Church plans to announce during service today that the church has a new senior pastor: Virginia megachurch founder Daniel Floyd.
Floyd and his wife, Tammie Floyd, will be leaving their roles as senior pastors of Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, Va., a megachurch they founded about 20 years ago that now has five Virginia locations. The Floyds plan to start their new chapter at Gateway around August.
In 2016, Daniel Floyd founded Fredericksburg-based Lifepoint College, a school offering two-year degrees and certificates in subjects including ministry, leadership and biblical studies.
Gateway Church in Southlake has been without a senior pastor since last June, when its longtime senior pastor and founder Robert Morris resigned after being accused of sexually abusing a child in the 1980s. Morris was indicted in March on five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child in Oklahoma and made an initial court appearance in Osage County court May 9. Morris’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4.
Floyd came to Gateway in March to preach a sermon on prayer during the church’s first service since the Oklahoma Attorney General announced the news of Morris’ indictment.
In a Friday interview, Floyd told The Dallas Morning News that before a Gateway elder reached out to him early this year, he had no plans to leave the church he founded. “Honestly, in 20 years, I’ve never looked — I’ve just been really content in the calling that we have right now,” he said.
Tra Willbanks, the chair of Gateway’s board of elders, reached out to Floyd in January through a mutual friend to discuss the possibility of Floyd coming to lead the church. “My first thought was: ‘How would this impact [my] family, and is God in this?’” Floyd said. “And then I think after that, you begin to ask those questions of ‘Do I have what it takes?’”
Floyd said his decision to move to Texas was informed by his daily prayer time and his understanding of what God was calling him to do.
He wakes up around 5:30 every morning, and starts his day with coffee, Bible reading and then prayer for around an hour. “I want God to speak to me before I talk to anybody else, or even before I talk to him,” Floyd said.
Over the past few months, Floyd said, he’s felt God encouraging him to come to Gateway through signs in his daily prayer and Bible reading and through conversations with friends and mentors. “At some point, my wife and I, we were just like — ‘You can’t make this up anymore, how much God is directing and guiding this,’” Floyd said.
Willbanks, who was also part of the Friday interview with The News, said Floyd was giving up a “thriving church” to come and “do a lot of repair work in a community.”
“We needed somebody that understood that for what it was,” he said.
Floyd said he was up for the challenge.
“I don’t want to coast in my life,” he said. He finds the “big task” of leading Gateway both daunting and exciting. “It’s all those emotions in one.”
Willbanks told The News in January that Gateway set up a committee of about 20 to 30 people, including both staff and members, men and women, to help vet the new senior pastor. The church also added four new elders in January to help vote on a senior pastor, choosing people who were not “in the bubble” of how things were run at the church before June, according to Willbanks.
In discussing what the church wanted in a future senior pastor, Willbanks said humility was a top priority. He said he and Floyd spent time talking about the humility and vulnerability needed to stay grounded while leading a large church.
“[Floyd] called me at one point in this process, and he had told me that he had gone back to some of his closest friends and just asked them … ‘Do I show up like a celebrity?’” Willbanks said.
That capacity for self-reflection was a good sign to Willbanks.
“A narcissist doesn’t do that,” he said.
Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.
Virginia
Netflix casting Central Virginia singles for “Love on the Spectrum” after Danville man joins show
DANVILLE, Va. (WSET) — Netflix is searching for singles in Central Virginia to appear on its documentary-style dating series “Love on the Spectrum,” after a Danville man was cast for an upcoming season and producers are now looking to find his match.
The series follows adults on the autism spectrum as they navigate dating.
Monica Karavanic, executive director of The Arc of Southside in Danville, said the person cast has ties to her organization.
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“This show has been loved by millions internationally and so for it to come to Danville is pretty awesome and we’re just really excited and hoping to make it work,” Karavanic said.
Casting is focused on singles ages 25 to 40, of any gender, who live near Danville or Lynchburg and would be interested in going on a date with a man on the spectrum. Producers say the time commitment could be as little as half a day.
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For more information on how to apply, you’re asked to email: production@northernpictures.com.au
RICHMOND, Va. — Friday will be sunny and seasonably warm, with highs in the upper 70s and low 80s.
The pattern of cool nights and mild afternoons will continue through the weekend and through much of next week as upper-level flow continues to bring reinforcing mild and dry air out of eastern Canada.
Rain chances will be very limited over the next week, with only a slim chance with a frontal passage on Monday.
Stay With CBS 6, The Weather Authority.
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WTVR
PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. (WSET) — Ressie Keen, a 107-year-old Pittsylvania County woman, is safe after escaping a house fire that destroyed her more than 100-year-old home, leaving behind a yard filled with charred debris and scattered belongings.
Keen said she has no special secret to her longevity.
“I ain’t got no secret, just thanking the Lord to let me stay here to see 107,” she said.
Keen said she moved to the home decades ago and built a life there.
“I’ve moved there in 1969, our first crop was made in 1970, and I been living there ever since,” she said.
The fire broke out in Keen’s bedroom on Thursday afternoon. Keen said she and her sitter got out as the fire grew.
“I don’t know what happened, only thing I knew to do was to get out of there. So me and my sitter we got out. She tried to put it out but she couldn’t,” Keen said.
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Pittsylvania County Fire Marshal Scott Hutcherson said investigators believe the fire started with an electrical issue.
“We think we had an electric outlet failure, more or less; an adaptor on the outlet probably failed,” Hutcherson said. He said the fire spread quickly once it ignited nearby items. “It set the bed on fire and the clothes that was on top of it, the material on top of it, what’s pretty much what got the fire going. And then it easily spread to the second story.”
Keen’s son, Ronnie Keen, said the loss has been painful for the family.
“It was devastating real devastating, lot of memories lost. But I know those memories and emotions the things that were sentimental were still right here,” he said.
A family photo album was among the few items recovered. Pointing to one image, Ronnie Keen said, “That’s a picture of the house.”
He added that the album was badly damaged. “It’s so charred it’s kinda hard to open,” he said.
Keen also held onto her favorite cast-iron pan.
“I knew this wasn’t going to get burnt up,” she said.
The home was considered a total loss, but the family said the most important thing is that Ressie Keen survived. She is now living with her son.
“I’m overjoyed that she’s here with us and she’s safe,” Ronnie Keen said.
Hutcherson said to prevent this, make sure that there is a smoke alarm in your home. He says you can reach out to the Pittsylvania County Public Safety office for a free installation of a smoke alarm.
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