The Rev. Charles F. Stanley, a past president of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination and a noted evangelical TV and radio broadcaster, died Tuesday at age 90, In Touch Ministries announced.
No cause of death was given, but the group said Mr. Stanley passed away at 7:30 a.m. He served 50 years as senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta starting in 1971, having joined as associate pastor two years earlier. He was elected to successive one-year terms as Southern Baptist Convention president, in 1984 and 1985.
Mr. Stanley’s broadcast ministry began with a 30-minute radio program called “The Chapel Hour” that aired on local stations WXIA and WANX (now WGCL). The Christian Broadcasting Network offered an opportunity to transmit those messages, and the program was renamed “In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley,” a nod to his theology doctorate from Luther Rice Seminary, also in Atlanta.
According to an obituary provided by In Touch Ministries, the program “penetrated almost every major market in the United States” during the 1980s. In the District of Columbia area, his daily radio sermons aired on WAVA and other stations.
Along with various cable and satellite networks including TBN and Daystar, Mr. Stanley’s weekly TV messages appeared around the country.
Globally, “In Touch” programs are seen and heard on over 2,600 radio and TV outlets in more than 50 languages. He sold more than 10 million copies of his 70 books. “Trusting God With Today: 365 Devotions,” his latest title, is expected to be published in October by Thomas Nelson.
“Dr. Stanley leaves behind a lasting legacy as a torchbearer and trailblazer of Gospel ministry and Christian broadcasting,” said Troy A. Miller, CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters. “We were blessed to have such a faithful servant of the Lord as a veteran NRB member and a faithful supporter and encourager of the work of NRB.”
Mr. Stanley was inducted into the NRB’s Hall of Fame in 1988 and received the 2020 NRB Chairman’s Award.
Mr. Stanley’s life was not without its personal challenges, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. He separated from his wife, Anna Stanley, in the 1990s and finalized their divorce in 2000. That split caused a years-long schism between Mr. Stanley and his son, Andy, who at the time worked at a First Baptist Atlanta satellite congregation and now heads North Point Ministries in the Atlanta area. The two later reconciled.
Mr. Stanley is also survived by a daughter, Becky Stanley Broderson, six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and a half-sister, Susie Cox.
