JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Edgar Cooper, editor emeritus of the Florida Baptist Witness, died Nov. 14 at Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville, Fla. He was one day shy of his 92nd birthday.
Edgar Cooper
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Cooper, a pastor for two decades before his election as editor, led the Florida Baptist Convention's weekly news journal from 1971 until his retirement in 1983. During his editorship circulation grew from 62,000 to 92,000.
The era was a high-water mark for the influence of Southern Baptist print newspapers, whose influence began to wane during a denominational controversy that broke out in 1979. According to a history of the Association of Baptist State Papers published in 1996, combined circulation of 28 papers owned by Baptist state conventions increased from about 1.5 million in 1962 to just shy of a goal of 2 million by 1980. At the end of 1978, 51 percent of Southern Baptist churches provided their state or regional convention's newspaper to their members as line items in their congregational budgets.
Today, according to reported figures published in the 2010 SBC Annual, combined circulation of all historically Southern Baptist papers totaled just less than 868,000. The Florida Baptist Witness, now published twice a month, reported circulation of 28,515.
A native Floridian, Cooper was a graduate of Stetson University with both master's and doctor's degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was president of the Florida Baptist Convention in 1966-1967 and served 30 years on the board of Baptist Medical Center, including two years as chairman from 1976 until 1978.
Before entering journalism Cooper spent 22 years as a pastor — at North Jacksonville Baptist Church and Mayfair Baptist Church in Jacksonville and North Park Baptist Church in Orlando, Fla. After retiring he worked as interim pastor for numerous Baptist churches in northern Florida.
Cooper was preceded in death by his first wife, Berta Mae King Cooper, and two sons. Survivors include his second wife of 21 years, Melvyne Mizelle Cooper, two daughters, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Funeral services are scheduled for Nov. 18 at Deermeadows Baptist Church in Jacksonville. In lieu of flowers, the family suggested memorial gifts to an endowment for a chaplaincy program at Baptist Medical Center established in Cooper's name with the Florida Baptist Foundation.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.