Joseph Abraham Blevins, pastor of the Deer Lodge/Jamestown, Tenn., Seventh-day Adventist Churches, died while preaching a three-part evangelistic series for the Methodist Church in Jamestown Tuesday evening, October 9, 2007.

“I don’t know another pastor who practiced more intentional bridge building with the community and reached out through preaching the gospel across denominational boundaries,” says Steve Haley, Vice President for Administration/Secretary for the Georgia-Cumberland Conference. “The last words on his lips were ‘the Lord’.”

He served the Seventh-day Adventist Church for over 28 years working as a Literature Evangelist for the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference, District Publishing Director for the Southern Union, and Publishing Director for the Gulf States Conference. A pastor in the Georgia-Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for 22 years, Blevins worked in the Summerville/Center Grove (Rock Spring), Ga., Churches, the Lakeland, Ga., Church, the Andrews/Murphy, N.C., Churches, the McMinnville/Spencer/Sparta, Tenn., Churches, and the Deer Lodge/Jamestown, Tenn., Churches. He was ordained to gospel ministry in 1987.

An Israeli citizen, he was born in Agadir, Morocco in 1946 into a Jewish Orthodox home. As a young man he moved to New York City and was invited to join a youth group of Seventh-day Adventists. Because of this friendship, Blevins decided to become an Adventist and was baptized. His parents disowned him and he lived with the local Adventist pastor until enrolling in college. He earned an associate’s degree (Bible Worker) from Newbold College in 1967 and went on to complete a bachelor’s degree from the London School of Economics in 1969.

“Joe loved the Lord more than anyone I know,” says Tim Leffew, Publishing Director for the Georgia-Cumberland Conference. “I don’t know if I would be in the ministry without him.”

He is survived by wife Carol and daughters Shoshana and Katie Beth.

by Tamara Fisher

UPDATED Memorial Service: A memorial service for Joe Blevins, pastor of the Deer Lodge/Jamestown churches, will take place Sabbath, October 20, at the Heritage Academy gymnasium , 23100 Clarkrange Highway, Monterey, Tenn. 38574.

The service will take place at 3:00 p.m. central time and 4:00 p.m. eastern time.

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