A Knoxville-bound plane crashed north of Chattanooga yesterday, killing the pilot and four regional administrators of the Seventh-day Adventist church. The group was en route to a ministerial meeting at the Knoxville First Seventh-day Adventist Church.
More coverage on the crash here, here, and here. (UPDATE: WATE TV news video available here.)
I personally knew one of the crash victims, Elder David Cress. He was a really great person. I’ll have some reflections on him soon.
My prayers go out to all of the families affected by this tragedy.
Hey Brian,
I knew three of the people that died. My dad worked as a pastor for the conference for many years and my stepmom actually works in the conference office now. I knew Dave Cress since I was 11 or so. I remember him when he was youth director at the camp that I went to every summer. He still would ask my parents about me and my sister every time he saw them. I also knew Jim Frost, who was former pastor of the Albany church where my mom and stepdad live. He and his wife lived almost directly behind them. We spent many summer days at my mom’s pool together. I also knew Jamie Arnall, who I attended Southern with. He was one of my staff photographers when I was editor of the Accent. It’s a terrible shock and hard to believe that these wonderful people are gone. It’s a devastating loss for their families and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Christina,
I had forgotten that Pastor Frost had been in Albany.
I only knew one of the victims, and this is still hard to take. I hate imagining what it must be like today in Calhoun.
Brian,
My wife knew Pastor Kress (his brother was her pastor in Marietta) and worked with Pastor Frost in Smyrna. I started at Southern when the Arnall twins were graduating. I had many friends in the theology department at that time, one of whom I ended up dating for several years. Through her, I met the Arnall boys, and went on many outings with the group, from Cloudland Canyon to Cohutta Springs.
I heard about this not 30 minutes after it happened from the registrar at Southern, who sent me a note saying that there were several people on board from the Georgia-Cumberland offices in Calhoun. We prayed that they survived, but it wasn’t to be.
I looked at my old Joker one last time just to see the face of Jamie Arnall. I can’t make sense of this one… these men were young, vibrant, and active for the work of the Lord. Why He decided to take them at this juncture, I can only wonder.
My heart and prayers go out to these men and their families, and to the whole SDA community. We are a tight knit group, and when something like this happens, it affects us all.
Dave,
I didn’t know the Arnalls, but from what I hear, Jamie was a dedicated worker and good guy–just like the others.
Memorial information is currently up at the Georgia-Cumberland website.
Hello Brian. I don’t know if you remember me or not, but I was at Southern around the same time as you. I stumbled on this page just looking through the web looking for articles about the crash. I knew Dave, Jim and Jamie all three fairly well, although I hadn’t seen Jamie much in two or three years. The last time I saw these guys they were all three at the Albany Church (where my parents, sister and brother in law are members) getting ready to hold an evangelistic series. They were three of the most positive people, spiritually grounded people you could ever hope to meet. Dave and Jim had one of the best, closest working relationships I’ve ever seen. They were almost like twins who’d somehow been born 6 years and an ocean apart. I had TREMENDOUS respect for them as Christian leaders, and genuinely good human beings. These guys were just penomenal. Even though its been several days since the crash, it still seems surreal to me that they’re all gone. I know many, many prayers are with their families.
Aaron
I too remember the Arnalls from when I was at Southern (96-00). Jamie always kept busy, especially at campmeeting. One time I will not forget, I think it was in 2000, was when 3ABN was taping campmeeting, he gave me a tour of their mobile production facilities. I appreciated the time he took to do this. As are many others, I too am still in shock over the events of last Thursday. Incidentally, I found this website through a google search.
Steven
steven@altamontespringschurch.org
Altamonte Springs, FL
Appreciate the comments. I am using Google to find any info on Jamie I can. It is so hard to imagine life with out him. I more excited than ever about the soon return of Christ. Jamie as you all know loved life and people and I am comforted by the fact that for him, the next thing he will know is the resurrection at the second coming. Soon I hope to have a web page up on the arnall.org site with pictures and bio on Jamie along with stories. God bless each of you and thank you for your kind words.
Jeremy (Jamie’s Twin)