Passing the baton: Doug Haney, longtime music minister, to retire in April.
Associate Pastor Doug Haney will retire from full-time ministry this spring after nearly 19 years on Wilshire’s staff. Doug made the announcement in a video released this week. His last Sunday at Wilshire will be April 30.
Doug and his wife, Lori, will move in May to the Charlotte, North Carolina, area to be near their two adult children and four grandsons. In retirement, Doug, who turns 65 in July, will focus on his work as executive director of Polyphony Music Resources, a nonprofit ministry network for church musicians.
“I believe the church and music ministry are on the cusp of an exciting new era,” Doug said in the video, which can be viewed on Wilshire’s YouTube channel. “I am thrilled that the Pastor Search Committee nominated and the church voted enthusiastically for Timothy Peoples to be our next senior pastor. And in my remaining months with you I’ll do everything I can to make his initial months good ones.”
Doug came to Wilshire as minister of music in 2004 after serving nine years in the same role at Providence Baptist Church in Charlotte. Doug’s arrival in Dallas reunited him with George Mason; the pair had worked as music minister and pastor before, at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama. Doug also served churches in Mississippi and his native Georgia early in his career.
In 2020 Doug became one of three associate pastors at Wilshire, taking on additional supervisory responsibilities in human resources, budgeting and stewardship.
George said, “I consider myself twice blessed, having worked with Doug in two churches. The relationship we have shared as pastor and music minister is rare in our work. Our common philosophy of worship, mutual respect and fraternal friendship are inexhaustible gifts. Doug’s skillful professionalism is exceeded only by his generous spirit. He never quit learning and would never let us cease exploring what it means to be a worshiping congregation. I give thanks for the legacy Doug is leaving Wilshire and will continue to build in the years to come through his encore career with Polyphony.”
Plans for celebrating Doug’s ministry will be developed in the coming months, and the Personnel Committee will work to recommend a path forward for staffing music ministry and other areas impacted by Doug’s departure.