Dr. Charles Stanley A Very Esteemed Atlanta Pastor Died At Age 90

First Baptist Church of Atlanta’s senior pastor and the founder of In Touch Ministries, Dr. Charles Frazier Stanley, passed away.

First Baptist Atlanta Senior Pastor Charles Stanley, a well-known Atlanta religious figure, died peacefully on Tuesday morning at his home.

The preacher, broadcaster, and author worked for First Baptist Atlanta for more than 50 years. In 1971, he was appointed Senior Pastor, making him the 16th pastor of the venerable church that was established in 1848.

The church saw exceptional growth while Stanley served as its pastor. FBA relocated to the old Avon building in Dunwoody in 1997 from its Peachtree Street site in Midtown Atlanta in order to accommodate its broad membership of more than 15,000 people from around the metro region.

Stanley, who was born in Dry Fork, Virginia in 1932 would become a pioneer in religious broadcasting. He founded In Touch Ministries in 1977 to in his words, “Get the truth of the Gospel to as many people as possible”. His sermons, podcasts, and devotionals have been seen or heard in more than 115 million homes per week in more than 126 countries around the world.  At the time of his death, Dr. Stanley could be heard in every nation on Earth via radio, shortwave, or television broadcasts.

In the United States, the In Touch television program could be seen on 204 stations and seven satellite networks, and the In Touch radio program could be heard on 458 stations and via shortwave radio. In 1988, he was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame. As an author, he wrote more than 60 books including several New York Times bestsellers. He also served for two terms as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s. 

Stanley’s favorite hobby was nature photography. The walls of the In Touch studios are adorned with many of his photos. In fact, one of his pictures, given as a gift to the late Reverend Billy Graham, was hanging on the wall in Graham’s bedroom at the time of his death.

Stanley is survived by two children, his daughter Becky and son Andy, who is the founder and senior pastor at Northpoint Ministries. Andy called his dad a role model for pastors.

“Not just how to preach or how to build a church”, said Andy. “But how to get to a finish line with integrity and to be able to look back and be proud of everything that came before, and unfortunately that’s increasingly rare.”