ANCHORAGE, Alaska (BP) – Randy Covington, executive director/treasurer of the Alaska Baptist Resource Network, announced his upcoming retirement at the group’s annual meeting last week in Valdez, Alaska. He indicated that September 2025 would be his official departure.
Covington has been serving as the executive director since May 2016. Prior to that he served for 22 years with the International Mission Board. Born and raised in Alaska, he never thought he would have the opportunity to come home.
“When we accepted the Voluntary Retirement Incentive with the IMB, I knew God wasn’t done with us yet,” he said. “The thought never occurred to me that I would be able to go back to the state where I was raised, where I came to know Christ and where I served in my first ministry role in the local church. This offered the chance to give back to Alaska Baptists what they so graciously have provided for me.”
Covington will continue in his role as the state convention prepares to celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2025. A search committee will be selected at the next executive board meeting in November and will begin the work of finding the next executive director/treasurer.
“My hope is that the search committee will be able to complete the process of calling a new leader and have him in the office by June of 2025,” he said. “This will allow for a smoother transition as I hand off the baton and still assist with the period of orientation and adjustment in the midst of preparation for the September annual meeting.”
Covington completed his undergraduate study at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, and went on to complete a master’s degree in religious education with an emphasis in church administration at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He completed a Ph.D. at Southwestern in church and organizational administration with his dissertation entitled “An Investigation into the Administrative Structure and Polity Practiced by the Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptists of Russia.”
The Covingtons plan to move to Arizona to enjoy a warmer climate and to get closer to family and explore new ways of serving the Lord in a new setting.
“It has been a great honor for me to serve in this leadership role with the Alaska Baptist Resource Network,” Covington said. “I have come to know some great leaders within the fellowship of state executive directors, and I have learned so much from them. The combined experience of these godly men has pushed me to heights of service that I never thought possible. All the glory belongs to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
