FROM THE BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF PRIMITIVE OR OLD SCHOOL BAPTIST MINISTERS BY DAVID MONTGOMERY AND MARK GREEN: 

ELDER LONNIE RAY MOZINGO, SR.

Written  by Elder Lonnie Mozingo, Jr. :

Elder Lonnie Ray Mozingo, Sr. was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on May 22, 1931, to Elder Oscar R. and Lydia Mae Busby Mozingo. He was baptized in November, 1958, at Ideal Primitive Baptist Church in Petal, Mississippi, by his father, Elder O.R. Mozingo.

He married Shirley Jo McGee on February 18, 1955, and to this union five children were born: Susan Diane, Lonnie Ray, Jr., Anthony Alan, Andrew Paul, and Nena Rebekah. His oldest son, Lonnie Ray Mozingo, Jr., is a fifth generationPrimitive Baptist minister. Lonnie was ordained in April, 1962, at Ideal Church. Those who took part in the service were G.W. Lewis, Russell Lewis, and Ira Easterling. The charge was delivered by his father, O.R. Mozingo. Those dear to his heart and considered by Lonnie as fathers in the ministry are Elder James Thedford from Martin, Tennessee, Elder Hassell Wallis of Ripley, Mississippi, and Elder Billy Boyd of Tupelo, Mississippi.

"On March 2, 1952, on a battlefield in Kunsan, Korea, I was struck as though by lightning with the feeling that I would never return home and see my beloved Church again. If ever there was an experience of Grace it was that night on that frozen ground as I prayed and cried, and promised the Lord that I would do His will to the best of my ability. As I read the Bible in my tent in Korea, several came in to my tent and asked me to read to them. It was then that I first felt the call to preach. After I was discharged and came back home, I neglected my call until August 1959, at my home church. The pastor was late for services, and after song service was ended, one of the deacons, Brother Charles Odom, told me to go and preach--AND I DID. From that time to the present, I have traveled all over the United States, wherever a door was open for me, preaching the Gospel."

Lonnie's first pastoral duties were at Mt. Hebron Church in Purvis, Mississippi. The early part of his ministry was spent traveling long distances among the churches in Mississippi and Western Tennessee. The last thirty years have been served primarily in his home area of South Central and West Mississippi. He has pastored as many as five churches at one time, and did so for most of his ministry.

During his career as an ordained minister, he has pastored the followingchurches: Sharon at Lake, Mississippi, Mt. Zion in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Pine Hill in Ripley, Mississippi, churches in Tupelo and Amory, Mississippi, White Haven in Memphis, Tennessee, Middleton Creek at Meadville, Mississippi, Gulf Coast at Gulfport, Mississippi, New Bethel at Tylertown, Mississippi, Gravel Hill in Michie, Tennessee, Bethlehem in New Orleans, Louisiana, Bethlehem in Bay Springs, Mississippi, and his home church of Ideal, at Petal, Mississippi. "I have been privileged to help constitute at least three churches including Gulf Coast Primitive Baptist Church in Gulfport, Mississippi, Bethel in Perth, Kansas, and a church in Yazoo City, Mississippi.

What a blessing it has been to serve the Lord these past forty years. Perhaps the greatest blessing of all has come through the lives of my family. I have been privileged to baptize all five of my children into the Faith, and their spouses are all faithful members and seven of my grandchildren are members. How good the Lord has been to Shirley and me."