Pastor's installation a historic occasion
CATSKILL — The Second Missionary Baptist Church will officially install its new pastor at noon, Saturday, March 16.
For the church it is historic, as The Rev. Dr. Shanell E. Turpin is the first woman to serve as pastor in its 134-year history.
She is the second oldest of three daughters born to the Rev. Dr. Richard D. Turpin (pastor emeritus) and the Rev. Suzette E. Turpin and is the owner of Lifestyle Catering.
The church provided the following chronology of her extensive service and accomplishments.
She received Christ at a young age and was baptized at the Bethany Baptist Church under the pastorate of the late Rev. Richard I. Headley Sr. It was at Bethany that she grew as she served in many ministries, such as the youth choir, youth ushers and as a Sunday School teacher’s aide.
The family later moved their membership to the Mt. Zion Baptist Church under the pastorate of the late Rev. Dr. Robert L Bradley Sr. Here she served the church as a member of the Usher Board, Young Adult Choir and Sunday School. It was here that she developed her love and passion for Christian education.
Having answered the call to the Gospel ministry, in 2005, she was licensed by the Second Missionary Baptist Church under the pastorate of the Rev. Richard D. Turpin. She was ordained reverend in 2012.
At Second Baptist, she has served as superintendent of Sunday school, assistant director of Christian education, director of media communications and adviser of pulpit protocol. After receiving an unexpected diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, which forced her to withdraw from school, she persevered and trusted in the Lord and went on to earn several degrees and certificates, including a doctor of theology, master’s in pastoral counseling and master of theology.
She has a love for education and received her formal education from community college to Historically Black Colleges and Universities to Harvard to Oxford. “Her service has never been limited to the confines of the church and she has served in numerous community capacities,” the church notes.
She has been a servant for the Albany City Rescue Mission, chaplain for Eden Park and The Pines Nursing Home Ministry, and chaplain for the Columbia County Jail, and president of the Hudson River Frontier Missionary Baptist Association Young Peoples Department.
She currently serves as the Hudson River Frontier Missionary Baptist Association Congress of Christian Education president and the Area 4 vice president for Empire Baptist Convention Congress of Christian Education. She is also a proud member of the Pershing Angels Sorority.
In October 2022, she was voted pastor-elect of Second Missionary Baptist following the senior pastor’s retirement this past November. Assuming the full-time pastorate made her the first female pastor in the church’s 134-year history.
As well as her parents, her family includes sisters Annette and Shavette, a cousin, Dana, and “her fur baby,” a shih tzu terrier named Susie.
“(The) Reverend Turpin is a gifted Woman of God who is sought after to preach, teach, evangelize, conduct seminars, workshops, and revivals on a global platform. She has been equipped to reach this current generation in a profound and simple manner. Despite the doctors’ diagnosis, The Rev. Dr. Shanell E. Turpin is living proof that God has the last say,” the church statement said.