NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — James Sullivan, Southern Baptist statesman and retired president of the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, died Dec. 27 at a Nashville hospice following a brief illness. He was 94.
A memorial service was held Dec. 30 at First Baptist Church of Nashville, where he was a member.
Sullivan served as president of the denominational publishing house from 1953 until his retirement in 1975, a period of great expansion for the SBC. He was widely known as an authority on Southern Baptist polity.
“He was president at one of the most crucial times at the Sunday School Board, during the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and '60s,” said Jimmy Draper, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, the agency that succeeded the Sunday School Board.
“He led in production of materials promoting the biblical view of human worth regardless of race and modeled his beliefs by providing an equitable work environment for a multicultural staff.”
Under Sullivan's leadership, the cafeteria at the Sunday School Board became one of the first public dining facilities in Nashville to desegregate. He was often maligned for his position on race relations, family members said.
“In a time when there are not many heroes, he has certainly been one of my heroes,” Draper added. “I have lost a great friend.”
Among a wide range of roles he filled were pastor of churches in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas; president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention; and trustee of numerous Southern Baptist universities, seminaries and hospitals. He also served as vice president of the Baptist World Alliance.
“The passing of James Sullivan is the end of a long and significant era in Baptist life,” said Grady Cothen, who succeeded Sullivan as president of the Sunday School Board from 1975 to 1984.
“He pioneered new methods and made endless contributions to the religious life of Baptist people,” Cothen added. “He built and maintained a great institution. His generous spirit made possible the sharing of the enormous resources of the Sunday School Board with Baptists of the world. Southern Baptists will never know the debt they owe to Sullivan for his courage under fire, for his humorous defusing of many critical situations. His passing leaves us all poorer.”
Sullivan wrote many articles and books, including “Your Life and Your Church,” with a distribution of more than a million copies, and “Baptist Polity: As I See It,” published by Broadman & Holman in 1998.
“He was a personal friend and faithful mentor,” said Lloyd Elder, president of the board from 1984 to 1991.
“He was truly a man of God, a man of his times by being ahead of his times, a peerless leader, fearless prophet and caring servant,” said Elder. “Dr. Sullivan developed the board into a profoundly Christian, Baptist denominational ministry, based on sound business principles and practices. At a personal level, he was forever learning and participating with others.”
Sullivan's education included a bachelor of arts degree from Mississippi College in Clinton; a master of theology degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.; and doctor of divinity degrees from Mississippi College and Campbell College in Buies Creek, N.C.
Sullivan's wife, Velma Scott Sullivan, preceded him in death in 1993. His daughter, Martha Lynn Porch of Tullahoma, Tenn., died in 1999. Survivors include daughter Mary Beth Taylor of Nashville; son James David Sullivan of Oxford, Miss.; seven grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.