RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — Marse Grant, editor emeritus of North Carolina Baptists’ Biblical Recorder, died Oct. 17 at his home in Raleigh. He was 88.
Grant edited the Recorder from 1960-82, longer than any other editor in the paper’s history. He previously was editor of Charity and Children, a North Carolina Baptist Children’s Homes publication, from 1949-59.
 Marse Grant (Photo: Biblical Recorder) |
He had previously served as editor of two secular North Carolina newspapers, the Lincoln County News and the Morgan News-Herald. After his retirement, he wrote columns for the Charlotte Observer and the High Point Enterprise.
Grant was profiled in The North Carolina Century –Tar Heels Who Made a Difference, 1900-2000. The article, by former Fayetteville Observer editor Charles Clay, details how Grant took an unpopular stand on race relations in just his second month at the Recorder.
“God loves all people,” Grant wrote. “To think that he prefers one over the other because of the color of skin is inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible.”
Grant warned about turmoil ahead following what is some now call the “Conservative Resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention. In July 1982, he wrote an editorial saying political groups should not use the SBC.
“Marse was among the Baptist editors who had to try to make sense of the sea change in Baptist life that occurred near the end of his tenure,” said current Recorder Editor Norman Jameson. “That he interpreted the changes through a lifetime lens of what he felt was being lost should be no surprise.
“I trailed Marse’s career both as editor of Charity & Children and as BR editor. Marse and the Recorder ran stories I wrote as feature editor of Baptist Press. Additionally, we are members of the same church [Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh], so our lives have intertwined my entire career.
“Marse and his doting wife Marian have always been encouragers, strengthening my resolve and lifting high both the responsibilities and the possibilities of Baptist journalism. I am continually amazed at how many times an acquaintance from another era or another part of the country would call Marse’s name and inquire about him. Until recent years when strokes disabled him, I could say he was doing well. Now I can say, ‘well done.'”
R.G. Puckett, also a Recorder editor emeritus, said Grant was “Mr. North Carolina Baptist” during his tenure as editor.
“As a layman, he understood the view from the pew and traveled and worked incessantly for those causes that would enhance Baptist work and the well-being of the people of North Carolina,” Puckett said. “He was a leader in spiritual and civic matters. He was deeply committed to what he would define as ‘we the people.’”
Wilmer C. Fields, who was public relations director for the Southern Baptist Convention during much of Grant’s tenure, said Grant dedicated himself “24/7” for 33 years to journalism in the Baptist cause.
“His vocational commitment set high marks for his contemporaries and all who would follow,” Fields said. “Somewhere, somehow, there is newly written beside his name in the Lamb’s Book of Life, ‘Well Done!’”
When Grant announced his retirement in 1982, Tommy Payne, then chairman of the Recorder’s board of directors, wrote an editorial calling Grant a fighter.
“Agree with him or not, you have to admire the effort that he puts into issues he believes in,” Payne wrote.
Grant fought hard whenever he saw discrimination, Payne said.
“In the early 50’s when it was costly to say segregation was wrong, Marse Grant did just that,” Payne said. “He was one of the few early voices in our state to speak strongly about the needs of our black citizens, and the need to change laws as well as attitudes.”
In an editorial just after Grant announced his retirement, the Raleigh News and Observer called him “a prod to the conscience of readers.”
“Never one to fudge the issues or to apologize for his deeply held views, Grant turned what could have been a mere Baptist housekeeping chore into a lively and stimulating publication,” the editorial said.
In an editorial announcing his retirement, Grant said many N.C. Baptists had told him over the years that they didn’t always agree with him, but were glad the Recorder could express itself when differences came up in Baptist life.
“I like to hear that, and the Recorder will remain free,” he wrote. “North Carolina Baptists like it that way. They don’t want their state paper to become a house organ.”
Grant, whose first name was James, was born Sept. 13, 1920 in High Point, N.C. In addition to Marian, his wife of 66 years, Grant is survived by three daughters, Susan Grant Rawls of Statesville, N.C.; Marcia Grant Morton of Raleigh; and Carol Grant Potter of Raleigh; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; a brother, Truett Grant of Greensboro, N.C.; and a sister, Carolyn Grant DeLapp of Greensboro.
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