Charles Stanley, Longtime Pastor of Megachurch First Baptist Atlanta, Georgia, Dies at 90

Charles Stanley, who led Atlanta megachurch First Baptist for 51 years and was a longtime leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, died Tuesday at the age of 90.

Stanley founded In Touch Ministries, a global evangelical broadcasting company, and wrote more than 70 books. Christianity Today, as cited by MinistryWatch, counted him among the best preachers of his generation, alongside Billy Graham and Charles Swindoll.

Born in 1932 in Dry Fork, Virginia, Stanley attended the University of Richmond and later Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He married his wife, Anna, in 1955.

Stanley joined First Baptist Atlanta as an associate minister in 1969, when the church had 5,000 members. He continued to pastor the congregation into his late 80s. When he stepped down in 2020 to focus primarily on leading In Touch Ministries, he took the title of pastor emeritus. By then, membership had grown to more than 15,000.

As president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1984 and 1985, Stanley played a central role in the denomination’s so-called “Conservative Resurgence.” During his leadership he supported measures to stop congregations from ordaining women, and he used his position to appoint a slate of conservatives to important Baptist boards. He was also a founding member of both the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition.

In 1993 Stanley faced a career crisis when Anna Stanley filed for divorce, a step taken against a backdrop in which he had taught that divorced men should not serve in ministry. Anna dropped the case but filed again in 1995. Some church leaders wanted Stanley to step down, at least temporarily, including his son and heir apparent, Andy Stanley. Charles Stanley then pronounced his son an enemy, and Andy left First Baptist. Andy went on to found the megachurch North Point Community Church in the Atlanta area and became a popular Christian author. Rifts of this kind between family members who shared a ministry, as this one did, show how difficult reconciliation can be (Romans 12:18).

Stanley is survived by his son, Andy; his daughter, Becky Stanley Brodersen; and six grandchildren.

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