Former pastor comes out of retirement to help church

Twenty-seven years ago, the Rev. Dr. H. Dean Jaggers was pastor of the growing congregation at First General Baptist church of Cape Girardeau.

When the church's most recent pastor, the Rev. Sam Ramdial, left to take a job with the General Baptist Headquarters in Poplar Bluff, Mo., the church wondered if Jaggers would come back as an interim pastor. Jaggers was semiretired, living on a golf course in Florida, and working for the Florida Association of General Baptists in the Tampa Bay area.

"We didn't have enough faith to believe he would come up here at this time of the year from Florida," said Jerry Wilson of First General Baptist.

But he did.

"I'm here to serve as long as the Lord wants us here, however long that is," Jaggers said.

He and his wife, Hazel, have moved into an apartment and jumped into the leadership of the church.

"I felt it was the right thing to do," Jaggers said. "I prayed about it, and the Lord led us. I've been around meeting people, and when I tell everybody why I'm here, without exception each person said, 'I think you're nuts for leaving Florida. Why would anybody leave Florida now and come up here for the cold weather?' It's an opportunity to lead people. Retirement is great, up to a point. I began to want to do something again."

Jaggers has been in the ministry for 55 years. He has been a manager and pianist for the Kinsmen Quartet, and early in his career was involved with family evangelism and music ministries. Jaggers has also worked in construction and real estate sales and development. Sometimes the two meshed.

He once owned some property in Tennessee, he said, and dedicated the ground to God. It turned into Center Point General Baptist Church, in Hendersonville, Tenn. He also once owned and was chairman of the board and chief executive officer for Music Village USA. It later became known as Twitty City after the late Conway Twitty, the country music singer. Trinity Broadcasting Company now owns it.

Jaggers earned a bachelor of science degree in music education from Western Kentucky University and worked toward his master's degree there. He has a Ph.D. of divinity from Oakland City University in Oakland City, Ind., and was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force flight training program, where he served a tour in Korea during the Korean War. For some years he flew his own airplane.

"The Lord has been good to me," he said.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160