[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 26, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H2040]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF REVEREND CHARLES STANLEY

  (Mr. CARTER of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 
life of Reverend Charles Stanley, an influential Baptist pastor who for 
more than 50 years preached from First Baptist Church of Atlanta.
  A native of Dry Fork, Virginia, it was his mother, Rebecca, who first 
introduced him to the Bible. His paternal grandfather was also a 
preacher, and at age 14 Reverend Stanley felt a calling to the 
ministry.
  He graduated from the University of Richmond with a bachelor's degree 
in history in 1954, and 2 years later was ordained at a Baptist church.
  He later became a pastor at churches in Hendersonville, North 
Carolina; Fairborn, Ohio; and Miami and Bartow, Florida, before joining 
First Baptist Church of Atlanta in 1969 as associate pastor.
  As the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Atlanta, he was known 
as one of the leading American preachers of his time, alongside figures 
like Reverend Billy Graham. In 1984, he was elected president of the 
Southern Baptist Convention, the Nation's largest Protestant 
denomination.
  His leadership and dedication to spreading the word of God has 
impacted many generations of Christians. He will be dearly missed by 
all who knew him.

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