IN MEMORIAM

C.W. BRISTER
C.W. Brister, theologian, educator, pastor, counselor and longstanding participant in
the work of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), died on August 9 in Texas in the United
States.
In expressing sympathy to Brister’s wife, Gloria, BWA General Secretary Neville
Callam said, “Your husband was an outstanding man, an accomplished author, a
distinguished theologian, a Baptist with a global vision, and a generous mentor and
pastor. I am sure that all who crossed his path were blessed by his faith and his gifts.”
Callam also assured her that Brister “will be missed in the larger family of the Baptist
World Alliance.”
Brister was an active participant in the work of the BWA, serving on numerous com-
mittees and commissions including the Academic and Theological Education Workgroup,
the Baptist World Aid Committee, the Church Leadership Commission, and the Christian
Ethics Commission. He was chairperson of the Church Leadership Commission from
1995-2000.
The author of numerous articles and more than a dozen books shared published works
and wrote new materials for the BWA World Impact Pastors section of the BWA website.
Brister specialized in pastoral theology and pastoral care, and also taught and wrote about
leadership for effective ministry.
Brister was professor emeritus of pastoral ministry at Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary, where he served on the faculty for 45 years. He was a guest
lecturer at theological schools in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Kenya, the Republic of
South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. An ordained Baptist minister, he
pastored churches in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma. He was also licensed as a marriage
and family therapist.
He is survived by his wife, Gloria, member of the BWA Christian Education
Workgroup since 1995; son, Mark, member of the Academic and Theological Education
Workgroup and Baptist Heritage and Identity Commission; daughter-in-law, Rhonda; and
two grandchildren.
A memorial service was held on August 15 at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort
Worth, Texas.

BERNADETTE CAKPO
Bernadette Cakpo, a Baptist women’s leader in Benin, was struck by a truck and killed
on August 3.
Cakpo was a women’s leader for the Ouémé Baptist Association and her church in
Avakpa Porto Novo. When the accident occurred, she was on her way to a Baptist women’s
meeting to discuss the West Africa Baptist Women’s Conference to be held in Ghana in
November 2008.
She is survived by her husband and fi ve children.
The funeral service was held in Porto Novo on August 6.

VICKY O’BOYLE
Vicky O’Boyle, Secretary to Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Denton Lotz
from 2000 to 2005, died on August 23 in Florida in the United States, after a long illness.
She served as a part-time receptionist at the BWA from December 2005 to March 2007.
O’Boyle is survived by her husband Tom, sons Ian and Sean, a granddaughter, her
parents, and a sister.
A memorial service was held at Ox Hill Baptist Church in Chantilly, Virginia, on
September 2.

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