Reverend JV Thomas Jr.

Reverend James Virgil Thomas, Jr., known throughout his life to family, friends and colleagues as “JV”, was born March 13, 1931, in San Benito, TX and passed in Carrollton, TX on August 27, 2025, at the age of 94. His parents were James Virgil and Agnes Thomas. JV spent his childhood in Shepherd, TX and attended Shepherd High School. He attended East Texas Baptist College, was a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and earned a Masters Degree in Liberal Arts from Southern Methodist University.

While in his early twenties, JV was called to the ministry of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and pastored Baptist churches in Harleton, Smyrna, Aubrey, Cleveland, and Corpus Christi. He also served as the Director of Missions of the New Bethel Baptist Association. He joined the Missions Division of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in June 1969. For the next twenty-four years, he served as the Director of Church Extension before retiring in March 1993, leaving an unparalleled legacy of leading Texas Baptists to start thousands of new churches to reach the mission field that Texas had become.

JV’s vision, heart, passion, creative strategies, and innovative ideas for reaching all of Texas were as expansive and diverse as the state itself. New approaches to church planting included the Key Church strategy, pioneered by First Baptist Church Arlington called “Mission Arlington”, recruiting, and training a new generation of pastors and leaders who were focused on church planting, and starting new churches to reach every socio-economic, ethnic and language group in Texas, including the “Cowboy Church” and churches worshipping today in over 70 different languages. During the initial MISSION TEXAS era from 1985-1990, Texas Baptists were challenged by BGCT Executive Director, Dr. William Pinson to start an unprecedented goal of 2,000 new churches in five years, a goal that was accomplished through the efforts of local church leaders and existing churches across Texas by implementing strategies and initiatives developed in large part by JV Thomas and his Church Extension team. Many of these innovative approaches were later adopted by the SBC North American Mission Board, other state Baptist conventions and by a number of international church planting networks.

Dr. William Tinsley, former Assistant Executive Director of the BGCT, himself a church planter recruited by JV early in his ministry, observed of JV’s life, “Only Heaven will measure the influence of this unlikely leader who came from obscure beginnings and ended up spearheading church planting movements that extended from Texas to the ends of the earth. We should not be surprised. People like J.V. Thomas have always been God’s chosen way to work in the world.”

JV was preceded in death by his childhood sweetheart and wife of almost 60 years, Lucy Jarboe Thomas, and son Timothy Thomas. He is survived by his current wife, Marion Thomas, as well as his daughter Teresa Krimm and husband Mike Krimm of Dallas, his son, Terry Thomas and wife Mary Fox - Thomas of Andrews, North Carolina. He is also survived by eleven cherished grandchildren – , Lisa Rene Krimm-Smith, Chadwick Michael Krimm, Heather MiSun (Krimm) Grantham, Jana Sharis (Krimm) Hernandez, Robert Arthur Krimm, Matthew Randall Krimm, Aaron Thomas Krimm, Andrew Joseph Krimm, Jonathan James Krimm, Zachary Louis Krimm and Mandy Adelia (Thomas) Clem and numerous great and great-great grandchildren.

Burial will be Wednesday, September 3, 2025 at Farley Chapel Cemetery in Shepherd, TX. His life and legacy of ministry and service will be celebrated in a memorial service to be held September 10, 2025 at East Dallas Christian Church.

To honor the Reverend James "JV" Thomas Jr., donations can be made to the Texas Baptists Church Starting Fund through the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation at 7557 Rambler Road, Suite 1200, Dallas, TX 75231 or online at www.missionsfoundation.org

All services are being handled under the trusted care of Neal Funeral Home.