- William Screven
Timeline: 1629-1713
William Screven was known as the 17th century reformed church planter. He was also known as the preacher from England that established the first Baptist Church in the South of England.
He was born in Somerton in Somerset, England in 1629. He later migrated to Kittery, as he was forcefully asked to leave the land due to his peaching of gospel.
He came to the South with a small group of Baptists and organized the First Baptist Church in the South in 1693, at Charleston. William Screven Died in 1713 and was buried at Georgetown, S.C.
Positive Role
William Screven was a devout Baptist and an exemplary leader. He faced grave opposition as he preached the gospel and was forcefully evacuated from England due to his dedication as a preacher. He, however, carried on the spirit and became known for establishing the First Baptist Church in the South in 1693, at Charleston.
- David George
Timeline: 1742-1810
An American Baptist Preacher, David George was an African American and black Loyalist from the South of United States of America.
David George served as a child slave fetching water and carding cotton; after adulthood he was employed at the corn and tobacco fields. He escaped to England and then Nova Scotia, Canada.
After being freed from slavery, he returned to Sierra Leone with the help of the British, who transported 400 freed slaves back to their country.
George, along with other slaves like him, established the Silver Bluff Baptist Church in South Carolina in 1775. It was considered the first black congregation of that time in the United States. He established the congregation between 1773 -1774.
Positive Role
David George was born to slave parents and worked as a slave himself till his adult life, however being a staunch Baptist by faith, his courage and perseverance helped him in establishing the Silver Bluff Baptist Church in South Carolina in 1775. David George faced a lot of challenges for establishing the first black congregation in the United States and his pilgrimage marked him as one of the most remarkable religious figures of his century.
- William B. Johnson
Timeline: 1782-1862
William Bullein Johnson was an American Baptist minister and one of the founders of the South Carolina State Baptist Convention in 1821. Later he became the first President of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1845 to 1851.
He received his degree from Brown University in A.M. in 1814. He was a lawyer and was comfortable in his profession, but after his conversion at the revival meeting at Beaufort, S.C., in 1804, he surrendered his life to serve the Lord and for Christian service.
He served as pastor of churches at Edgefield, S.C., and Euhaw near Beaufort. He also planted churches at Greenville, S.C., and Columbia and served as chaplain of South Carolina College, at Anderson, S.C. William Johnson. He also served as chancellor of Johnson Female University (1853-58). He was the pioneer and a great supporter of higher education for women.
Positive Role
William Bullein Johnson has a record of wonderful services in the name of God. Even though he was a successful lawyer, he answered his calling in 1804 and never turned back from serving the Lord. He held offices of high esteem alongside playing an integral role in church planting. He was an educationist at heart hence as he preached the gospel he continued to support the importance of higher education, especially for women.
- R. B. C. Howell
Timeline: 1801-1868
Dr. Robert Boyte Crawford Howell was the second President of the Southern Baptist Convention. He remained the President of SBC from 1851 to 1858. He was considered the ablest and the most learned man in the South and was bestowed by the titled of “Baptist Encyclopedia”.
He was a pioneer preacher in Nashville in 1831, and was later known as the most widely known preachers of the Southland. He stared preaching in 1825 and was ordained in 1827 as pastor for Cumberland Street Church, Norfolk, VA.
He served as pastor in this church till 1831 and raised the membership number to 500, which included white and African Americans. He joined Second Baptist Church of Richmond, VA where he served for seven more years. He served in Nashville for more than twenty-five years. He was also the pioneer of Baptist religious journalism in Tennessee.
Positive Role
Dr. Robert Boyte Crawford Howell was known as “Baptist Encyclopedia” as he was extremely learned. He was also known for his esteemed services in Cumberland Street Church, Norfolk, VA where he successfully lead a congregation comprising 500 white and African American members. Dr. Robert Boyte Crawford Howell also has the honor of being the first to start Baptist religious journalism in Tennessee.
- Sarah (Hall) Boardman Judson
Timeline: 1803-1845
Sarah, an American missionary, was born on November 4, 1803, in Alstead, New Hampshire. Sarah and George Boardman got married in 1825 for their mutual passion to serve the Lord in Burma (now Myanmar) and set off two weeks after their wedding, however they were forced to remain in Calcutta for over a year due to the Anglo-Burmese war; Sarah spent the time learning the Burmese language. Finally, in the spring of 1827, the family arrived in Burma.
Sarah experienced hardships from 1829 to 1831, where she lost her whole family to dysentery, nonetheless she continued her missionary work in Burma.
Sarah’s services in Burma include translation of the Pilgrim’s Progress and the Hymn book into Burmese as well as translating the New Testament and other religious inscriptions into the Peguan language. She also translated her second husband Judson’s work “Life of Christ” into the Peguan language. Her endeavor also included establishing schools and church for an indigenous tribe known as Karen.
Sarah Boardman Judson’s 21-year missionary service was published in 1848.
Positive Role
Sarah devoted twenty-one years of her adult life in serving the Lord in Burma among people who had never heard the name of the Lord before. Despite severe hardships she survived the challenges and till her last breath she continued to serve the mission she started. She learnt two new languages for the purpose and made an extremely valuable contribution by translating the New Testament and various other religious literature for the indigenous people of Burma.
- Annie Walker Armstrong
Timeline: 1850-1938
Annie Walker Armstrong played a vital role in establishing the Women’s Missionary Union; she was known as Southern Baptist denominational lay leader. It was due to her efforts, that the annual Easter mission offering was established in the Southern Baptist Churches in 1895.
Annie Armstrong’s ministry was a bridge between denominational leaders, local congregations and missionaries on the field or in other words she was a communication facilitator. She was also known as a great writer and there were an estimated 18,000 handwritten letters to her credit, in one year alone.
Annie with her tireless efforts and advocacy for the missionaries, raised the church support for missionary work through prayer and sacrificial giving. She visited the missionaries serving throughout the U.S. and carried their life stories back to the churches.
Positive Role
Annie Walker Armstrong was a successful leader of Woman’s Missionary Union. She was instrumental in forming the constitution of Woman’s Missionary Union which made the organization auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention. Earlier it was an independent body with power to collect and administer its own money and send out its own missionaries.
Annie Walker Armstrong was also known for her writing skills and has to her credit writing of promotional material for Woman’s Missionary Union as well as a “Folks and Facts” column for young people’s Scripture and two departments in “The Teacher”. Annie Walker Armstrong also wrote in two mission publications, Foreign Mission Journal and Our Home Field. In 1888, Miss Armstrong’s handwritten requests to all the societies bore great success in receiving first Christmas offering of $2,833.49 for Lottie Moon in China. She led Woman’s Missionary Union to enlarge its efforts in providing organizations for Negro Baptist women and children and in publishing literature for them.
- Dale L. Moody
Timeline: 1915-1992
Dale Moody, professor of theology 1948-1984, was born in Stamford, Texas in 1915. He had a calling at the age of 12 while he attended a Landmark Baptist church; Moody was a pastor at the age of 16 at Coppell Baptist. He joined the Baylor University in 1933 to study New Testament but left before his graduation to take admission in a seminary.
Moody initially enrolled in Chafer (now Dallas Theological) Seminary, but switched seminaries to Southern in 1937. Upon completion of his Th.M. classes, Moody did not immediately receive the degree since he had not yet finished his B.A. at Baylor. In 1940, Moody returned to Texas to finish his B.A., earning the degree and his Th.M. in 1941. Moody then began doctoral studies at Southern but left the school in 1944 in order to serve as a teaching assistant to Paul Tillich at Union Seminary in New York. Moody returned to Southern in 1947 and received his Th.D. after finishing his dissertation “The Problem of Revelation and Reason in the Writings of Emil Brunner.” He also received a D.Phil. from Oxford for studies that produced a dissertation on baptism.
His urging of Southern to change the Abstract of Principles and conflicts with Southern Baptists on the issue of apostasy led to his early retirement in 1983. A member of Crescent Hill Baptist Church, Moody passed away in 1992.
Positive Role
During his career at Southern, Moody taught a wide variety of courses in theology. At one point, his pedagogical responsibilities included systematic theology, Old Testament theology, New Testament theology, historical theology, and philosophy of religion. Moody wrote avidly, with The Word of Truth, Spirit of the Living God, and Letters of John among his acclaimed texts.
- Billy Graham
Timeline: 1918-2018
William Franklin Graham Jr. was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister. He was such an instrumental man of God that he won millions of souls in His mighty name.
Billy Graham was one of the leading and international well known Christian figure. He was one of the most influential Christians leaders not only in the US but the entire world.
Positive Role
Billy Graham played an important role in establishing Southern Baptist Seminaries and schools. He also established Samaritan Purse, a relief and development organization, based in Boon, NC
Grant Walker identified the following eight major roles that Billy Graham played in his life:
- Preacher
- Icon
- Southerner
- Entrepreneur
- Architect (bridge builder)
- Pilgrim
- Pastor
- America’s Protestant patriarch, which was at par with Martin Luther King and Pope John Paul II
- Adrian Rogers
Timeline: 1931-2005
Adrian Pierce Rogers was born in West Palm Beach, Florida on September 12, 1931. As his first job, Adrian served as “pastor” at Fellsmere Baptist Church, Florida. From 1972 to 2005 he remained senior “pastor” of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis. Adrian Pierce Rogers was an American Southern Baptist pastor. He started his ministry at the age of nineteen.
Adrian Rogers did his BA from Stetson University and later did his M.Div. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Adrian Rogers was elected as President of the denomination. He also served as the chairman of the committee that produced the revied 2000 edition of the Baptist Faith and Message. He was also a great conservative author of his time; he also wrote eighteen books, and his work is available on radio and television.
Positive Role
- R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
Timeline: 1959….
Dr. Richard Albert Mohler Jr. is an American evangelical theologian. He is also the ninth President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Mohler joined The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1983 as Coordinator of Foundation Support. Later he was assigned the responsibility of Director of Capital Funding until 1989.
In February 1993, Dr. Mohler was appointed as the Ninth President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
According to Dr. Mohler’s point of view and belief, the Catholic Church is a “false church”. He also says that Catholic Church preaches false gospel and the office of the Pope is not according to the spirit of the Bible, therefore, Pope’s office does not have legitimacy.
Positive Role
Dr. Mohler serves as president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary — the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world.
He has written nine books and authored thousands of articles on a wide range of topics.
Dr. Mohler is celebrated as a leader among American evangelicals by Time and Christianity Today; Time.com calls him the “reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the US”.
Dr. Mohler also serves as president of the Evangelical Theological Society.
Dr. Mohler is a theologian and an ordained minister. He has served as pastor and staff minister of several Southern Baptist churches.
