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Updated Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007

A "legend' is lost

I was 39 years old when I came from the faculty of Midwestern Seminary to be pastor of the historic First Baptist Church of Raleigh, and in the congregation each week was John M. Lewis, beloved, legendary pastor of the Old First Church who for more than a quarter of a century led that grand old congregation through some of the most tumultuous times in modern Baptist history.

He could have had me for lunch most Sundays; he could have made my life miserable; he could have undermined my ministry and done me in.

He didn't.

He was the consummate Christian gentleman, the personification of pastoral integrity, and the best friend a pastor could have had. I miss him. I miss our talks. I miss his quiet wisdom. I miss his poetry. I miss his letters. I miss his deep, resonant voice. I miss his love of language and learning. I miss his Southern charm and Christian grace.

North Carolina Baptists lost a legend last week. We will not soon see his equal.

R. Wayne Stacy

Boiling Springs, N.C.

 
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