Charles Stanley

Charles Frazier Stanley Jr. (September 25, 1932 – April 18, 2023) was an American Southern Baptist pastor and writer. He was senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta for 49 years and took on emeritus status in 2020. He founded and was president of In Touch Ministries which widely broadcasts his sermons through television and radio. He also served two one-year terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, from 1984 to 1986.

Early life and education
On September 25, 1932, Stanley was born in Dry Fork, an unincorporated community of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. His father, also named Charles, died nine months later. Charles Stanley Jr.s mother, Rebecca, and the rest of the family moved frequently during his childhood.

At the age of 12, around 1944, Charles Stanley Jr. became a born-again Christian, and at age 14 he began his life's work in Christian ministry.

Stanley graduated in 1956 at the age of 23, from the University of Richmond with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He studied at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, earning a Master of Divinity. He also earned a Master of Theology and a Doctorate of Theology degree from Luther Rice Seminary (at the time located in Jacksonville, Florida).

Ministry
Stanley joined the staff of First Baptist Church of Atlanta in 1969 and became senior pastor in 1971.

In 1972, Stanley launched a half-hour religious television program called The Chapel Hour. In 1977, he founded In Touch Ministries with the mission to lead people worldwide into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and to strengthen the local church. The Christian Broadcasting Network began televising In Touch in 1978. The show has since been translated in 50 languages. In the United States, In Touch is broadcast on approximately 500 radio stations, 300 television stations, and several satellite networks including The Inspiration Network (INSP) and Trinity Broadcasting Network. Stanley's sermons, along with other audio and video programming, are available on the In Touch website. The ministry also publishes In Touch magazine. In Touch uses tools like radio, television, magazines and digital media in its effort to advance the Gospel as quickly as possible. Stanley took the ministry name In Touch from a Living Bible he owned.

Stanley's writings and broadcasts address issues such as finances, parenting, personal crises, emotional matters, relationships, and Protestantism. The In Touch website said, "Dr. Stanley fervently believes the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God, a belief strongly reflected in his teaching."

In 1985, Charles Stanley was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

In 2017, Stanley named Anthony George to succeed him as senior pastor of First Baptist Church at some point in the future. On September 13, 2020, Stanley announced his retirement as senior pastor and transition to pastor emeritus, but noted that he would continue to work at In Touch Ministries.

Influences and theology
With regard to theology Stanley was a conservative evangelical, and his eschatology was dispensationalist. Over the course of his ministry, Stanley developed "30 Life Principles" that he felt were essential. He credited his pentecostal grandfather, George Washington Stanley, with inspiring one of the most referenced principles of the thirty: “Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him." In his book Courageous Faith: My Story from a Life of Obedience, Stanley said: "Granddad told me, 'Charles, if God tells you to run your head through a brick wall, you head for the wall, and when you get there, God will make a hole for it.'"

Stanley also addressed his influences and philosophy when he wrote in 2009 that he "began to apply the principles of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich to my endeavors as a pastor, and I discovered they worked!... For years, I read [it] every year to remind myself that the truth of God is not just for one career field. It is for all manner of work and ministry."

Personal life
Stanley had a daughter named Becky. Stanley's son, Andy, is the pastor of North Point Community Church in nearby Alpharetta. In addition to his work in Christian ministry, Stanley was an avid photographer. Much of his photographic work is featured in the In Touch magazine, as well as in other materials printed by the ministry including the In Touch wall and desk calendars.

Anna J. Stanley was married to Charles Stanley Jr. for more than 40 years; she filed for divorce on June 22, 1993, after they separated in the spring of 1992. The two of them agreed that Anna would amend the lawsuit to seek a legal separation instead ("separate maintenance"), while seeking reconciliation. She again filed for divorce on March 20, 1995. The Moody Radio Network station in Atlanta (then-WAFS) took Stanley's daily broadcast off the air during the time, as managers concluded that there was no sign of reconciliation. The Stanleys were legally separated at the time that divorce papers were filed for the last time on February 16, 2000. A judge signed the final divorce decree on May 11, 2000.

Their divorce caused a minor controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention. The matter was complicated by reports that Stanley had said he would resign as pastor if he got divorced. At the time of their separation, he said he did not believe it would result in divorce; however after he was divorced, the members of his church overwhelmingly voted to keep him as their pastor. According to First Baptist Atlanta's bylaws, Stanley was allowed to remain as pastor as long as he did not remarry. Anna Stanley died on November 10, 2014.

Stanley served on the board of the Moral Majority political organization; he was a close friend of the entity's founder, Jerry Falwell.

Death
Stanley died at his home in Atlanta on April 18, 2023, at age 90. No cause of death was released.

Awards and honors

 * 1988: National Religious Broadcaster's Hall of Fame
 * 1989: Named Clergyman of the Year by Religious Heritage of America
 * 1993: NRB named In Touch with Television Producer of the Year
 * 1999: In Touch named Radio Program of the Year
 * 2017: Thomas Nelson Publishing recognizes Stanley for selling more than 3.5 million copies of his books