A fire claimed the life of a Georgia minister over the Labor Day weekend. Randy Moody, minister of the Newnan, Ga., church, died Sept. 2 from injuries suffered during a house fire, according to published news reports. Moody, 45, began preaching at age 16 and served congregations in five states during his ministry career. He was a graduate of Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, and served as a past co-director of the International Soul Winning Workshop while lead minister of the Garnett church in Tulsa, Okla. He also was a past member of the board of directors for Blue Ridge Family Encampment in North Carolina.

He was the father of three children: Cailee, Cailyn and Caleb.

Danny Sims, senior minister of the Altamesa church in Fort Worth, Texas, remembered Moody as a champion debater, and called his friend “the best preacher the Churches of Christ produced in my generation.”

“A voice for grace and redemption has been silenced,” Sims wrote on his blog.

Moody was at his residence in Newnan when firefighters responded to a call just after 5 p.m. He was found in a bedroom, and authorities say he died of smoke inhalation. His wife, Susan, was not at home at the time.

A memorial service is set for Saturday, Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. at the Newnan church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to a special fund for benevolence and local outreach at the Newnan church, under the oversight of the congregation's elders.

Sept. 5, 2007