UNITED STATES NEWS

Charles Stanley, influential Baptist preacher, dies at 90

Apr 18, 2023, 1:08 PM

ATLANTA (AP) — Charles Stanley, a prominent televangelist who once led the Southern Baptist Convention, died Tuesday at his home in Atlanta at age 90, In Touch Ministries announced.

No cause of death was announced.

Born in rural Dry Fork, Virginia, Stanley was senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Atlanta for 50 years. The church grew rapidly after he became its leader in 1971, moving from central Atlanta to a suburban campus in 1997 to accommodate a growing flock in the sprawling urban area.

“We are forever grateful for his enduring legacy of faithful leadership and spiritual guidance,” the church said in a social media post.

But his greatest fame came from his role in hosting “In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley,” a Christian teaching program that began airing on the newborn Christian Broadcasting Network in 1978. That led to the creation of a separate nonprofit, In Touch Ministries, that sent Stanley’s broadcasts across the nation and world through radio and television. It even created solar-powered audio players containing the Bible, some of Stanley’s sermons and other materials that are available in more than 100 languages. Stanley also wrote more than 40 books.

When Stanley stepped down from First Baptist as senior pastor in 2020, he said he wasn’t planning to stop preaching, instead focusing his energies on In Touch Ministries.

“I’ll continue to preach the gospel as long as God allows, and my goal remains the same: to get the truth of the gospel to as many people as possible as quickly as possible in the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God,” Stanley said in a video message to the church when he took on the title of pastor emeritus.

Stanley served two one-year terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1985 and 1986, at the peak of a time when theological conservatives were fighting to oust more moderate leaders from leadership roles in the convention and its seminaries, saying the church needed to be truer to Biblical authority.

“My election infuriated the opposition and ultimately revealed many of the underlying problems that had existed in the convention for a long time but had either been ignored or denied,” Stanley wrote in a 2016 autobiography. “All the liberal and moderate political forces of the Southern Baptist Convention were against me, which included seminary presidents and state convention newspapers.”

In his first term, Stanley helped stop congregations from ordaining women. His second election in 1985 was bolstered by a last-minute telegram of support from famous evangelist Billy Graham, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“After Stanley’s election, the battle subsided and eventually the moderates moved on from the fight or away from the denomination,” Ed Stetzer, executive director of Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College in Illinois, told the newspaper.

Stanley was also a devoted photographer of nature and the outdoors, with many of pictures reproduced by In Touch publications.

Stanley separated from his longtime wife, Anna, in the 1990s, before divorcing in 2000. Although First Baptist had barred divorced men as ministers, and Stanley had once said he would resign if his wife left him, the church affirmed him remaining pastor.

Some other evangelical Christians panned the decision. Dissenters included his son, Andy Stanley, who said he wanted his father to offer to quit and let the church decide. Instead, it was Andy Stanley who left the congregation and founded Northpoint Ministries, a network of eight evangelical Christian churches in Atlanta and its suburbs. He and his sister Becky survive Charles Stanley,

Despite the split, Andy Stanley told WAGA-TV that his father was a role model for pastors.

“Not just how to preach or how to build a church,” said Andy Stanley. “But how to get to a finish line with integrity and to be able to look back and be proud of everything that came before, and unfortunately that’s increasingly rare.”

United States News

FILE - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit, May 4, 2023, in Ox...

Associated Press

Michigan to join state-level effort to regulate AI political ads as federal legislation pends

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is joining an effort to curb deceptive uses of artificial intelligence and manipulated media through state-level policies as Congress and the Federal Elections Commission continue to debate more sweeping regulations ahead of the 2024 elections. Campaigns on the state and federal level will be required to clearly say which political […]

40 minutes ago

FILE - The U.S. Supreme Court is seen at near sunset in Washington, on Oct. 18, 2018. The Supreme C...

Associated Press

Conservative attack on government regulation reaches the Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a challenge to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s ability to fight fraud, part of a broad attack on regulatory agencies led by conservative and business interests. The case before the justices Wednesday involves the Biden administration’s appeal of a lower-court ruling that threw out stiff […]

46 minutes ago

FILE - This exhibit from video released by the House Select Committee, shows President Donald Trump...

Associated Press

Trump embraces the Jan. 6 rioters on the trail. In court, his lawyers hope to distance him from them

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has embraced the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 as patriots, vowed to pardon a large portion of them if he wins a second term and even collaborated on a song with a group of jailed defendants. In his election interference case in Washington, his lawyers […]

47 minutes ago

FILE - A coal-fired power plant operates near wind turbines Niederaussem, Germany, as the sun rises...

Associated Press

Climate contradictions key at UN talks. Less future warming projected, yet there’s more current pain

The world is heading for considerably less warming than projected a decade ago, but that good news is overwhelmed by much more pain from current climate change than scientists anticipated, experts said. That’s just one of a set of seemingly contradictory conditions facing climate negotiators who this week gather in Dubai for marathon United Nations […]

2 hours ago

Hostages are brought to Sheba Hospital in Israel....

Associated Press

With deadline looming, diplomats seek to extend Gaza truce; more hostages, prisoners are freed

The United States urged Israel to better protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza if it follows through on its promise to resume the war.

4 hours ago

Associated Press

Heavy winds knock over Christmas tree in front of White House, but it’s back upright

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Christmas Tree in front of the White House fell down Tuesday afternoon amid high winter winds. The tree, a 40-foot Norway spruce from West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest, had been planted just two weeks ago on the White House Ellipse, an area known as President’s Park. According to the National […]

4 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

Follow @KTAR923...

The best ways to honor our heroes on Veterans Day and give back to the community

Veterans Day is fast approaching and there's no better way to support our veterans than to donate to the Military Assistance Mission.

...

Dierdre Woodruff

Interest rates may have peaked. Should you buy a CD, high-yield savings account, or a fixed annuity?

Interest rates are the highest they’ve been in decades, and it looks like the Fed has paused hikes. This may be the best time to lock in rates for long-term, low-risk financial products like fixed annuities.

Follow @KTAR923...

The 2023 Diamondbacks are a good example to count on the underdog

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the World Series as a surprise. That they made the playoffs at all, got past the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card round, swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS and won two road games in Philadelphia to close out a full seven-game NLCS went against every expectation. Now, […]

Charles Stanley, influential Baptist preacher, dies at 90