BELTON, Texas (ABP) — William Tanner, the former head of home missions for the Southern Baptist Convention, died June 10 in Belton, Texas. He was 77.
Tanner was president of the SBC's Home Mission Board (now the North American Mission Board) from 1976 to 1986.
Under his leadership, HMB began the Mission Service Corps volunteer missionary program , increased its emphasis on language missions, and strengthened partnerships between the agency and state Baptist convention partners.
Geoff Hammond, president of the North American Mission Board, expressed his gratitude for the legacy Tanner left for the home mission field.
“I am thankful for Dr. Tanner's vision and foresight,” Hammond said. “All of us at NAMB will be thinking about and praying for Dr. Tanner's wife, Ellen, and the rest of his family during this time of loss,” Hammond said. “A great servant has gone on to his reward.”
Ernest Kelley, who served as a coordinator working with state Baptist conventions in the western United States during Tanner's tenure, said Tanner's commitment to the MSC program was essential to its strong beginning.
“Dr. Tanner immediately embraced the idea of Mission Service Corps and gave it the high-profile attention and funding it needed to get established and off the ground,” Kelley said. “He even insisted that the MSC office be located right next to his so he could give it the attention it needed.”
Tanner was born in 1930 in Tulsa, Okla. He attended Baylor University, where he met Ellen Yates, whom he married in 1951.
After graduation, Tanner worked in churches in Texas and Mississippi, earning a masters degree from the University of Houston and a doctorate from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
In 1968, Tanner became president of Mary Hardin-Baylor College. In 1971, he became president of Oklahoma Baptist University. After serving the HMB, he returned to Oklahoma in 1986 to serve as executive director and treasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.
Tanner was preceded in death by his parents, his son Mark Kyle Tanner, and his grandson Geoffrey Price Tanner. He is survived by his wife, Ellen, and their children: William Tanner Jr., and his wife, Paula, of Belton, Texas; Keith Tanner and his wife, Ginger, of Frisco, Texas; and Kimberly Salter and her husband, Mike, of Jackson, Miss. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren.
Memorial services will be June 14 at First Baptist Church of Belton. A private family burial will be in Waco, Texas, prior to the memorial service.
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