The Reverend James John Pinnell, 63, (West Tennessee Presbytery), pastor of the Gleason Cumberland Presbyterian Church, died on May 25, 2020, after a battle with cancer. He was born January 4, 1957, to the Reverend Samuel Johnnie Pinnell and Dorothy Ann “Dottie” Brown Pinnell, a family with deep roots in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Jim’s uncle was the Reverend LaRoyce Brown and two of Jim’s first cousins are also Cumberland Presbyterian ministers.
While in the United Sates Marine Corps, and while the family were members of Saint Mark’s Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City, Sam was called to ministry and received as a candidate by Northeast Oklahoma Presbytery. However, military life, including a posting to Japan, caused the family to move frequently during Jim’s childhood.
Jim’s father, Sam, served a number of Cumberland Presbyterian Churches in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and California and moved often during Jim’s youth which is common for clergy families. After returning from Japan, the Pinnells joined the Hector Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Arkansas and Sam came under the care of Ewing Presbytery shortly before it merged with Little Rock-Burrow Presbytery to form Ewing-Burrow Presbytery. Ewing-Burrow Presbytery ordained his father in 1968 when Jim was eleven.
After Sam was called to the pastorate of the Trona, California, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, then in Pacific Presbytery, Jim attended Trona High School and graduated in 1974. He worked for the Muskogee and Wagoner, Oklahoma, police departments and was active for several years as youth counselor for the Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Muskogee.
Jim came under the care of Northeast Oklahoma Presbytery on April 29, 1979. He attended Northeast Oklahoma University, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, before transferring to Bethel College, McKenzie, Tennessee, from which he graduated in 1984. While at Bethel College he preached at Mt. Zion Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Gleason, Tennessee. During his senior year, Jim was a residence hall director. After his graduation, Northeast Oklahoma Presbytery licensed Jim on December 30, 1984. Jim’s father was installed as pastor of the Trona, California, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, on June 15, 1986. At the same meeting, Pacific Presbytery received Jim under their care. In 1989, when Pacific Presbytery became part of Presbytery del Cristo, Jim was a licentiate under the new presbytery.
Tragically, Jim’s parents died within a few days of each other. His mother, Dorothy, died on March 29, 1994, and his father Sam died on April 4, 1994. The Trona Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which Sam was still pastor at the time of his death, held a double funeral. At the time, Jim, as a licentiate of Pacific Presbytery, was serving Trona as associate pastor under his father.
Jim attended Memphis Theological Seminary for a year nd then completed his ministerial education through the Program of Alternate Studies. Through the rest of his ministry, Jim was an enthusiastic supporter of the program. Presbytery del Cristo ordained Jim Pinnell on August 14, 1998. He then served briefly as pastor of the Trona Cumberland Presbyterian Church before accepting a call to the Gleason Cumberland Presbyterian Church in West Tennessee Presbytery.
Obviously beloved by his Gleason church family, “Brother Jim” had been pastor since 2000, giving generously of his time and talents. His wife, Carol Ann Higgs Pinnell, survives him.
