CORDOVA, Tenn. (ABP) — Adrian Rogers, prominent pastor and leader of Southern Baptist conservatives, has announced he will retire in six months from the church he has led for 32 years — but that he'll remain close at hand.
Rogers, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn. a suburb of Memphis, announced his plans to the congregation Sunday, Sept. 12, his 73rd birthday.
He told the congregation that during the six months a search committee will seek his successor. According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, he promised watch the selection of his replacement closely.
“I've got a short list of men I think would make fine candidates,” Rogers said at a press conference. “I'm not going to hand-select the man who'll follow me, but I'll stand close by to make sure there aren't any mistakes.”
Although Rogers did not give a specific date as his last day, he said his target for retirement is in the spring. The church's goal is to have a replacement by the time of his departure.
In addition, Rogers said he and his wife will remain members at Bellevue.
Bellevue, with more than 28,000 members, is one of the nation's largest Southern Baptist congregations. And Rogers is arguably one of the most recognizable names in Baptist life. He was three times elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention — the first in 1979, launching a succession of conservative presidents that took control of the largest non-Catholic denomination and reshaped it around biblical inerrancy and conservative social values.
He is seen nationwide on his “Love Worth Finding” broadcasts, which can be seen on more than 14,000 television and cable TV outlets and heard on nearly 2,000 radio stations and translators. In addition, he has authored numerous books.
Rogers suffered a heart attack in January 2002 and underwent successful bypass surgery. But he said his health was not “a factor in this decision. I thank God for my recovery and growing vitality and hope for many good years ahead.”
He emphasized that he is retiring only as pastor of Bellevue. “I will not retire from the ministry until I draw my last breath.”
Rogers reportedly plans to continue his broadcast ministry, which is a separate entity from the church. He also plans to continue the recently established Adrian Rogers Pastor Training Institute and to teach at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in nearby
Germantown, Tenn. Rogers helped found the seminary.
He and his wife, Joyce, have four grown children.
Rogers was elected SBC president in 1979 with the help of a grass-roots conservative movement. He 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 is only the third senior pastor that the 101-year-old congregation has 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 moved from its Midtown Memphis location to a 377-acre campus in the city's eastern suburbs.
During his announcement, Rogers read a letter to Bellevue members in which he thanked them for their love and support. He noted: “Never have I asked you to do anything in the name of Jesus that you did not endeavor to do. Never did I have a need that you did not endeavor to meet.”
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