Kirk Baptist Church in Piperton, Tennessee is mourning the loss of its senior pastor, Dr. Bobby Mullins, and his wife, Wanda, who were killed in a car accident Tuesday on their way back from Wanda’s shift at the Baptist DeSoto Hospital. According to their son, Brandon Mullins, the couple were hit off the road, rolling four or five times, killing Dr. Mullins instantly. Wanda died Thursday. The Church posted the couple’s passing on their social media page, writing, “Kirk Baptist Church family, we want to share with you all that both our pastor, Bobby Mullins, and his wife, Wanda Mullins, have entered Heaven’s gates. We will provide celebration of life plans once available. Please continue to pray for the Mullins family (Brandon, Mallory, and Melody).”

The Mullins had been married forty-four years and served in ministry together for forty of those years. They leave behind three children and four grandchildren. “We’re missing them earthly, but they were great parents and instilled the faith in us. That’s carrying us right now,” said Brandon. “Now even though there’s such heartbreak, that Christ is still being glorified through all this, is just incredible,” said daughter Mallory McNabb. Their children take comfort in the fact that they entered heaven together. “That’s why is horrific as this has been. We are so thankful that God saw fit to take them both because we just cannot imagine them living without the other,” said their daughter Melody Amason. A statement from their children read, “We are shattered and shocked but have complete peace. We know where our dad is as he most faithfully preached about the hope of Jesus Christ and Eternity week in and week out. But more importantly, he lived that hope out every day to his family.”

An obituary for the couple notes that they were raised in Memphis. “They spent their entire marriage loving and serving God’s people within various local churches in Memphis, Milan, Lenoir City, Oak Ridge, and Knoxville, TN,” noted the obituary. Dr. Mullins was described as “the more vocal and visible one of the two” while Wanda’s “ministry was found on the piano bench and behind the scenes.” Visitation for the couple is scheduled for September 11, with their funeral set for Thursday September 12.