[1]NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Lawrence R. Klempnauer, a longtime member of the Southern Baptist Religious Education Association, will be nominated as the organization’s next executive director during the annual SBREA meeting March 30-April 1 in Nashville, Tenn.
Klempnauer, a former SBREA secretary-treasurer, was appointed interim executive director following the retirement of Merle T. Basden in December. Basden had served as SBREA’s executive director since February 1988. Prior to his appointment, he served on the staff of the Tarrant Baptist Association in Texas.
Klempnauer also will continue in the position he has held since 1980 as vice president for student services at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, where he also has taught seminary courses as an adjunct professor.
Following stints in the Army and the private business sector, Klempnauer answered the call to ministry and served as minister of education at Sagamore Hill Baptist Church, Fort Worth, from 1961-70 and minister of education-administration at Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, Atlanta, from 1970-77. Klempnauer returned to Texas in 1977 in a similar position at Travis Avenue Baptist Church.
“Lawrence is the logical choice,” Bragg said. “He has a world of experience that he brings to the position and a love for Christian education.”
Klempnauer and his wife, Doris, have three children, Jan, Rob and Todd.
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