Longtime Bethel Baptist Association mission strategist James A. Holloway, of Blakely, Georgia, dies at 71

Dr. James A. Holloway, a longtime Southern Baptist associational mission strategist in Southwest Georgia, died on November 1, 2026, at the age of 71, after a brief illness, according to his obituary. The obituary, published by The Christian Index, says he was “promoted to be with his Savior in glory.” He was born August 28, 1955.

Holloway was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the youngest of five boys of Keith and Deveira Holloway. He spent his early years in Gautier on the south Mississippi coast. When he was 6, his family moved to the Atlanta area, which he considered his home.

He first enrolled at Duke University to study forestry. After three semesters, a health problem, later identified as a blood sugar issue, brought him back to Georgia. While seeking treatment, he took classes at Mercer University in Atlanta, near his home. The obituary says he met his wife, Mary, there and felt a call to enter ministry at the same school. He remained at Mercer and earned a degree in education rather than returning to Duke.

After they married, the couple moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where Holloway earned a master’s degree in Christian Education at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. They then lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they worked to begin a Southern Baptist church in the city’s southwest area. After their daughter, Kara, was born, the family returned to North Georgia. There Holloway served the North Central Missions Center’s Associational Missions Program as an education specialist.

In 1999, the Bethel Baptist Association in Southwest Georgia called him as its associational mission strategist, a role also known as associational missionary. The obituary says he served the association’s churches until his retirement in 2020. During those years he returned to school and earned a Doctor of Educational Ministries degree from New Orleans Seminary, a steady pursuit of his work in service to the churches (Colossians 3:23).

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Mary Holloway, and by his daughter, Kara Michelle Linker, and her husband, Joshua. He also leaves six grandchildren, and his brothers John Holloway and David Holloway, along with numerous nephews and nieces, several aunts and one uncle. He was preceded in death by his parents and by his brothers Lee and Ken Holloway.

Although he served all the churches of the Bethel Association, Holloway made his home at First Baptist Church of Blakely. Visitation will be held there on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. A Celebration of Life Service will follow at First Baptist Church on Thursday, November 5, 2026, at 11:00 a.m., with Rev. Chris Guffey, Rev. Jeff Hines, Rev. Jackie Williams and Rev. Michael Williams officiating. Interment will be at Union Baptist Church in Caesar, Mississippi, near his parents.

Memorial gifts may be made to the First Baptist Church of Blakely Building Fund or to the Bethel Baptist Association. The family thanked the church family who served them during this difficult time, and the nurses and therapists of Centerwell Home Health for their help.

Source: Read the original report