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A Baptist pastor from Tennessee, Tim Shelton, passed away on Saturday, October 7, 2023, at the age of 53. Live 5 News reported that Shelton participated in the third annual St. Jude Ironman Triathlon on Saturday where he suffered a cardiac arrest, leading to his death. The Triathlon was being in held in Memphis, Tennessee.
Bellevue Baptist Church paid tribute to Shelton on Facebook with a picture and wrote that Tim was known for his "kindness toward everyone." The post added that the pastor had touched several lives as he "consistently lived out the faith he professed."
"While we grieve Tim's absence, we grieve with much hope, and we rejoice that he is now in the presence of the Lord Jesus," the tribute noted
The church urged everyone to pray for Shelton's family and noted that they would reveal the details of the pastor's funeral once they were available to them. Locals who knew Shelton for many years shared their memories in the comments section of the post.
Tim Shelton served as a pastor since 2002
Tim Shelton's Facebook account states that he went to Science Hill High School and the University of Tennessee. He was a resident of Memphis, Tennessee at the time of death.
His LinkedIn page revealed that he went to the Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in 2002. He joined the Bellevue Baptist Church in September 2002 as a pastor for young married people as well as adults and families. He discontinued working as a pastor for the young when he got married in April 2022.
Tim Shelton's Facebook account notes that he was married to Susan Stephens Shelton. The couple have five children together - Jack, Gray, Sam, Drew, and John David.
Tim Shelton's friends share the memories they have with him
The news of Tim Shelton's death led to a lineup of tributes on social media with people close to him sharing their memories and remembering him.
One of them was Joel Berretta who wrote on Facebook that he discovered about Tim's participation in the triathlon last week. Joel stated that Tim had been training for the triathlon for most of 2023.
"He said he was going to be shooting for a total time of 6 hrs and 30 mins and was going for a mid 40 min swim. Since I was aiming for that swim time too, we decided to meet up on Saturday so that we would start off the race together," Joel wrote on Facebook.
Berretta revealed that Tim was doing well on the day of racing. However, when the race ended, Joel found from his parents that Tim was hospitalized and was on a ventilator.
Another friend named Donny Mayo shared a lengthy post on Facebook, writing about everything that Tim did for him. Donny wrote that Tim had invited him to be a part of a small discipleship group he planned on starting.
"The other guys in that group had been living for the Lord for years and I certainly didn't belong. Why would he have invited me into that group? I don't know, but he did," he added.
As mentioned earlier, details about Tim's funeral have yet to be revealed but the church as well as the community are deeply shaken by the loss.
