Claylan Coursey

Claylan Coursey, 88, joined his Lord and Savior February 6, 2024, at home in Lubbock, TX. He was born in Lamar County near Paris, TX. His family moved to West Texas to the Wilson community when he was eight years old. They moved to Lubbock when he was a junior and he graduated from Lubbock High School in 1954. He married Patricia Davis on December 24, 1954. In 1957, he felt the call to the ministry and entered Howard Payne Baptist College in Brownwood, TX. In August 1958, he transferred to Wayland Baptist College in Plainview, TX where he earned a BA degree in 1963.

In 1963, the family moved to Gooding, Idaho where he and his family started the First Southern Baptist Church. After four and a half years of ministry, they began to feel a calling to foreign missions and moved to Fort Worth, TX where he attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also began studies at North Texas State University, earning a Master of Education degree.

They were appointed by the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) of the Southern Baptist Convention on October 8, 1968, to serve in Kenya, East Africa. Claylan served as a teacher at Mombasa Baptist High School where he taught for four years. They transferred to Malindi, Kenya in 1974 for him to serve as a Church Starter/Developer. He served in this position for 25 years. He also served as an adjunct professor at Kenya Baptist Theological College after earning a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. While pursuing these graduate degrees, he was elected to Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges in 1984-85. After retiring from the IMB in 2000 with 32 years of service, he and Pat returned to Texas to retire.

During his service in Kenya, he directed the Giriama Pilot Project, which resulted in starting 185 new churches in 1976-77. He later created and directed a program for teaching churches to start new churches without involvement by a missionary. He authored two books, How Churches Can Start Churches and How a Church Can Include and Keep Its Members while in Kenya. He also directed plans for starting new churches and evangelism projects throughout Kenya as well as several other eastern and central African countries. In 2017, he wrote God Did It! We Experienced It! and Adventuring with God-We Survived-You Can Too.

After retirement from Kenya, he was appointed as the Director of Missions for Southeastern Idaho in December 1999 with the Utah-Idaho Baptist Convention serving for two and a half years. Following that time, he and Pat moved to Lubbock, TX in 2002 to retire. After this retirement, he was a substitute teacher for Frenship ISD until 2016. He also accepted a position as interim, part-time pastor for McAdoo Baptist Church in McAdoo, TX. After that, he was called as pastor of First Baptist Church of Morton, TX from 2009-2014. He was also a member of Bacon Heights Baptist Church. In summary, he was pastor of churches in Texas, Idaho, and Kenya. He taught schools in Jerome, Idaho, Mombasa, Kenya, and substituted in Frenship ISD, Cooper ISD, and Lubbock ISD.

He was predeceased by his parents, Matas Hutson Coursey and Ruby Francis Scott Coursey, a grandchild, Andrew Blake Coursey, two brothers, Hartman Hutson Coursey of Lubbock, Gerald Wayne Coursey of Colorado, two sisters, Jacquelyn Coursey Thompson of Lubbock, and Ruth Coursey James of Wellman, TX.

He is survived by his wife, Pat, son Michael C. Coursey (Annette) of New Deal, daughter Laura Coursey Ringle (Dean) of Houston, son Scott Coursey (Rhonda) of Lubbock; grandchildren Desiree Ringle Thompson of Houston, Steven Coursey (Lindsay) of Amarillo, Jeremy Ringle of Houston, Jonathan Coursey (Danielle) of Austin, Matthew Coursey of New Deal, Michael J. Coursey of Lubbock, Step grandson Ryan McCarroll (Lesli) of Wolfforth; great-grandchildren Damien Thompson of Louisiana, Cloe Coursey of Kilgore, Jaylie and Addie Coursey of Amarillo, Michelle Ringle of Houston, Riley and Kaiden Thompson McGary of Houston, Mason Coursey of Lubbock, step-great-grandsons Braxton Wharry, Stephen McCarroll and Jaxon Wharry of Wolfforth, sisters-in-law Nita Bailes and Fran Truckenmiller, both of Lubbock, and a host of nephews, nieces, cousins and friends.

Visitation will be held Monday, February 12 at Resthaven Funeral Home, 5740 W 19th St., Lubbock, TX 79407, 5:00 -7:00 PM. Service of Celebration of Life on Tuesday, February 13 will be at Bacon Heights Baptist Church, 5110 54th St., Lubbock TX 79414 at 1:30 PM, Dr. Sammy Elliott officiating. Interment will be at 10:30 AM at Resthaven.

Serving as pallbearers are Jeff Carrell, Curtis McDole, Steven Coursey, Jonathan Cousey, Matthew Coursey and Michael Coursey.