RICHMOND (ABP) — Exactly one year to the day after honoring Cecil Sherman with its Religious Freedom Award in a private presentation in a Houston hospital room where the prominent Baptist leader was fighting for his life, Associated Baptist Press will present the award again — this time among a host of Sherman’s friends and family.
The Religious Freedom Award Dinner, sponsored by ABP’s board of directors, is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, at River Road Church, Baptist, in Richmond.
“We are delighted that the grace of God, the expert care of medical professionals and that good old Sherman stubbornness joined forces to disprove the probable prognosis for an 80-year-old man diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia,” said ABP Executive Director David Wilkinson. “So this event will not only be an opportunity to fete a deserving honoree but also a glad and grateful celebration of Cecil’s life and ministry.”
ABP board member Marv Knox, editor of the Baptist Standard of Texas, originally presented Sherman with the news agency’s award last Sept. 10 at Houston’s M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Jackie Moore, who chairs the board’s awards committee and accompanied Knox to Houston, said the board had voted to present the award to Sherman for his stalwart defense of religious freedom and freedom of the press. But his hospitalization caused them to expedite the presentation, with the hope that an eventual recovery would permit a more public event.
Sherman, a prominent figure in Baptist life over the last half century, served as the first chief executive of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The long-time pastor helped shape the moderate organization, founded in 1991 after conservatives wrested control of the Southern Baptist Convention. He was teaching at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond and serving as pastor of Westover Baptist Church in Richmond, when doctors discovered his leukemia.
Sherman’s wife, Dot, died Aug. 1, 2008, after suffering for several years with Alzheimer’s disease.
The Religious Freedom Award, created in 1994 by ABP’s board of directors, honors individuals whose achievements advance the principles and practice of religious freedom, particularly in the field of journalism. The 2009 award was presented posthumously to Herbert Reynolds, long-time president of Baylor University.
Wilkinson announced that, in response to the interest of friends, ABP also has established the Cecil and Dot Sherman Fund for Reporting on Baptist Congregational Life & Leadership. “Gifts to the fund will honor Dot’s memory and commemorate Cecil’s unwavering commitment to truth-telling and his lifelong devotion to Christ through congregational ministry,” said Wilkinson. Proceeds from the fund, to be announced at the Sept. 10 dinner event, will support ABP initiatives to communicate the stories of Baptist churches and their leaders.
For reservations or more information about the event, go to ABP’s web site at www.baptistnews.com.