Prominent pastor, son killed in plane crash

From wire and staff reports

Forrest Pollock, right, baptizes a married couple during a special January 2006 service where 146 people were baptized. Pollock and his son, Preston, died May 12 in a plane crash.

File photo

Baptist Press

ASHEVILLE - Florida pastor Forrest Pollock and a 13-year-old son were killed May 12 when the single-engine plane Pollock was flying crashed in North Carolina.

Pollock, 44, had been senior pastor of the Tampa-area Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon since 2002.

According to a report in the Asheville Citizen-Times rescue officials confirmed the deaths of Pollock and his son, Preston, who were reported missing after their 5 a.m. takeoff from an airport in Rutherfordton. The St. Petersburg Times reported that Pollock had flown to North Carolina to see his mother on Mother's Day. The Times also reported that one of Pollock's daughters, Brooke, 14, had gone along but had stayed with her grandmother. Pollock planned to stop in Arkansas to pick up a friend before heading to Texas for a preaching engagement.

Debris from the single-engine Piper PA-32-260 was found Tuesday morning by rescuers in a heavily wooded area in the western part of the state, on a ridge north of Cold Mountain in the Shining Rock Wilderness.

Pollock is survived by his wife Dawn and five other children, Courtney, 15; Brooke, 14; Hope, 12; Blake, 10; and Kirk, 8.

Shortly after noon May 12, the website of the 6,000-member Bell Shoals congregation stated, "We grieve with hope and assurance that our Lord Jesus will lead us and carry us through these difficult times. We have lost a great brother, pastor and friend in Forrest Pollock as well as a precious little brother in Christ, Preston Pollock."

Referencing the rescue workers in North Carolina, the website added, "We owe a great thanks to those who risked their lives, endured extreme hardship, and worked non-stop in the attempt to rescue our pastor and his son."

Pollock was to have been a featured speaker at the Southern Baptist Convention's June 10-11 annual meeting in Indianapolis. He also had been appointed to serve on the convention's Committee on Committees.

In 2006, Pollock nominated Frank Page to serve as SBC president during the annual meeting in Greensboro, and he was a member of the Resolutions Committee that year.

Pollock also was president of the Large Church Roundtable, a gathering he founded in 1999 for pastors of large churches who meet for fellowship and sharing ideas.

Page, who will conclude his SBC presidency in June, told Baptist Press, "We are deeply grieved and in a state of shock that someone so young, so promising was taken so early." Heaven is "a richer place today because of the presence of Forrest and Preston Pollock," Page said.

"I know I speak for our entire convention in expressing our appreciation for his ministry and our prayers for Dawn and the other five children and the precious people of the Bell Shoals Baptist Church."

Page said he and Pollock became friends through the Large Church Roundtable. "Forrest quickly endeared himself to me and to everyone present with his kind heart, his competency in ministry and his sweet spirit. He was a man who was self-effacing and had a tremendous sense of humor."

Page said he had been scheduled to preach at Bell Shoals during the Memorial Day weekend. "I pray that I will be able to speak a word of comfort and direction" to the church's members, he said.

The Citizen-Times reported that the U.S. Air Force Civil Air Patrol started searching for Pollock's plane Monday when an emergency beacon on board was activated and he did not arrive at his destination on schedule. Winds gusting up to 60 mph made it too dangerous to search for the plane by air until the following morning, according to the paper.

The plane wreckage was spotted by air around 9 a.m. Tuesday. Rescuers had to hike to the site on a rugged ridge inaccessible to vehicles or helicopters. They matched the tail number on Pollock's plane, according to the Citizen-Times.

The bodies were recovered from the crash scene at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Haywood Emergency Services Director Greg Shuping told the paper.

The St. Petersburg Times reported that church members were praying at Bell Shoals on Tuesday morning as updates on the search for Pollock's plane flashed on the sanctuary's two giant screens. Just before 11 a.m., the screens went blank. About 10 minutes later, George Thomasson, the associate pastor, came to the pulpit to tell those gathered that Pollock and his son had died.

Cries erupted.

"All of our hearts are broken," Thomasson said, flanked on stage by a dozen church members.

Prior to assuming Bell Shoals' pastorate, Pollock was senior pastor of Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, La., from 1997-2002; senior pastor of Rosen Heights Baptist Church in Fort Worth from 1994-97; and associate pastor of church growth at the Dallas-area Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano from 1992-94.

He was the author of two books: "The Last Sermon I Would Preach If Jesus Were Coming Tomorrow" (2007) and "Ten Habits of Highly Effective People" (2000).