MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ABP) — The man whose election as president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1979 began a 25-year-long upheaval that split the denomination has died at the age of 74.
Adrian Rogers, pastor emeritus of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis and founder of the “Love Worth Finding” television ministry, died early Nov. 15, according to the websites of both organizations. Rogers had suffered from cancer and pneumonia in both lungs, according to Love Worth Finding.
A statement posted on the Bellevue website the morning of Nov. 15 read, in part, “For 32 years, Dr. Rogers taught the Bellevue congregation the word of God, displayed the character of Jesus, and showed us how to trust, love, and follow the Holy Spirit. With his guidance, Bellevue experienced tremendous growth in numbers and maturity. One can encapsulate Dr. Rogers' service to us in one brief statement: he taught us how to love Jesus.”
Bellevue, with more than 28,000 members, is one of the nation's largest Southern Baptist congregations. And Rogers was arguably one of the most recognizable names in Baptist life. Television viewers and radio listeners nationwide heard his preaching on Love Worth Finding broadcasts. In addition, he authored several books.
Rogers also established the Adrian Rogers Pastor Training Institute and taught at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in nearby Germantown, Tenn., an institution he helped found.
Rogers' 1979 elevation to the SBC presidency was the first victory for a grass-roots movement of conservatives — their detractors called them “fundamentalists” — that began a succession of conservative SBC presidents who ultimately wrested power away from the moderates who had controlled the denomination. Rogers declined to serve a traditional second term at the time but later was re-elected in 1986 and 1987, helping solidify the conservative hold on the convention and its trustee system.
Born in West Palm Beach, Fla., Rogers was pastor of First Baptist Church in Merritt Island, Fla., before moving to the Memphis church in 1972. He was only the third senior pastor that the 102-year-old congregation had since 1927 — a legacy that includes the famed R.G. Lee and Ramsey Pollard, who also served as presidents of the SBC. Under Rogers' leadership, the congregation tripled in membership and moved from its Midtown Memphis location to a 377-acre campus in the city's eastern suburbs.
Rogers retired from the Bellevue pulpit in March. In his retirement announcement to the congregation last year, he emphasized he was only retiring as full-time pastor to the megachurch: “I will not retire from the ministry until I draw my last breath,” Rogers said.
Indeed, as recently as last June he had a featured preaching spot during the annual SBC Pastor's Conference that precedes the denomination's annual meeting.
News of Rogers' death was announced at the opening session of the Tennessee Baptist Convention's annual meeting, which began Nov. 15 at First Baptist Church in Clarksville. The convention's Resolutions Committee had planned to honor Rogers with a resolution on his ministry during the meeting. Upon hearing of his death, convention officials dedicated the session to Rogers' memory.
Two former Tennessee Baptist Convention presidents who have served as pastors of other prominent Memphis-area churches led attendees in a time of prayer for Rogers' family.
Ray Newcomb, pastor of First Baptist Church in Millington, Tenn., said Rogers was characterized by his heart for people and his compassion and concern for others. “I thank God for his influence around the world,” he told messengers.
Ken Story, who for much of Rogers' tenure at Bellevue was pastor of nearby Germantown Baptist Church, said he doesn't know of anyone who influenced Southern Baptists more than his former colleague. Story noted Rogers was a “master proclaimer, skillful administrator, a mighty motivator and a man of wisdom.” He said the late pastor once advised him to “not sweat the small stuff,” but to focus on Christ. “Adrian always had his mind on Christ,” Story concluded.
Moderate Baptist leader Cecil Sherman, who sat with Rogers on the controversial SBC Peace Committee in the 1980s before he resigned in protest, offered more tempered praise.
“He was a man of enormous gifts, but I tell you what — I think they were put to a terrible cause,” Sherman, who served as the first coordinator of the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, said. “I take no pleasure in his dying, [but] the results of his efforts in other days caused me and many people great pain.”
Baptist historian Bill Leonard said Rogers' high level of visibility, as a “preacher-populist,” meant he left an important legacy not only for Southern Baptists, but for American religion and politics in general.
“As a preacher with a particular rhetorical style that represents Southern evangelicalism inside a megachurch orientation, he helped shape popular religion in the U.S.,” Leonard, dean of Wake Forest Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C., said. “I also think that he was a leader in what I would call the politicization of large segments of Southern evangelicalism and moving them into greater political activism on the right.”
According to the Southern Baptist Convention's news agency, Baptist Press, Rogers is survived by his widow, Joyce, four grown children and nine grandchildren.
His body will “lie in state” in the Bellevue sanctuary Nov. 16 and 17, with a funeral service following Nov. 17, according to the church.
— Lonnie Wilkey contributed to this story.