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Lonnie H. Wilkey elected editor of Tennessee Baptist newsjournal

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BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BP)–Lonnie H. Wilkey, associate editor of the Baptist and Reflector since 1988, was elected the newsjournal’s next editor by members of the Tennessee Baptist Convention executive board at their Sept. 15 meeting.
Wilkey was appointed interim editor April 1 following the March 31 retirement of Wm. Fletcher Allen.
Herbert Higdon, chairman of the search committee for the editor, said, “As interim, Lonnie Wilkey demonstrated his ability to be the editor of the Baptist and Reflector and in that capacity he did an outstanding job.”
Higdon, of Jackson, who is a retired director of missions and past president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, said the committee “looked at a number of resumes and unanimously agreed on Lonnie Wilkey as the new editor.
“Lonnie Wilkey’s dedication is to Tennessee Baptists and his concern is to convey the news that is important to our constituency across the state.”
Prior to his work on the Baptist and Reflector, Wilkey was director of communications of the former Southern Baptist Education Commission, based in Nashville, for about six years. In that role he was editor of The Southern Baptist Educator and other publications of the commission, which was disbanded as part of SBC restructuring.
Wilkey has been on the staff of two Baptist schools. He was assistant director of public relations for Baptist College at Charleston in South Carolina (now Charleston Southern University) and was director of public information at North Greenville College, Tigerville, S.C.
He also was news editor of the Northwest Sentinel, a weekly community newspaper published in Travelers Rest, S.C.
A graduate of North Greenville College and the University of South Carolina, Columbia, Wilkey also did graduate study at Tennessee State University, Nashville.
He is a member of the Association of State Baptist Papers and was treasurer for Baptist Communicators Association.
He is married to the former Joyce Day of Greenville and they have two children, Joanna, 12, and Daniel, 9.