Homer G. Lindsay, Jr.
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Homer G. Lindsay, Jr. (1927 – February 14, 2000) was an American Southern Baptist preacher. He co-pastored the nation's third-largest Southern Baptist church, the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida, with Jerry Vines. Both pastors are notable for their conservative and sometimes controversial public stances, and their wide-reaching influence in the local political arena.
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[edit] History
Lindsay was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and moved to Jacksonville with his family as a child. His father, Homer G. Lindsay Sr., began pastoring the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville in 1940. At the age of 16, Homer Junior felt the call to become a preacher, and later graduated from Stetson University in Deland, Florida, going on to study ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. In September 1952 he married Shirley Tillman in Jacksonville, and began pastoring a 42-member church in Miami, Florida. By the late 1960s, the church had grown to 3,200 members.
In January 1969, Lindsay returned to Jacksonville to co-pastor the 2,600-member First Baptist Church with his father, who later retired in 1973 and died in 1981. In 1982, Jerry Vines joined Lindsay as the church's new co-pastor. Vines became the President of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1988, a major victory for conservative Baptists who were fighting to safeguard the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy. By the time of Lindsay's retirement in 1999, the church had a Sunday morning attendance of about 7,000, eighteen ordained ministers, an annual budget of over $9 million, full-time staff of 142, and land and other assets valued at about $6 million. [1]
[edit] Quotes
[edit] About Lindsay
- "Homer is probably one of the most powerful political figures there is... Any political candidate wants to get the acceptance of Homer and his First Baptist congregation." - Florida Senator Jim King
- "Homer Lindsay may be the most singularly focused man that I have known in my life." - Rev. Paige Patterson, President of the Southern Baptist Convention
- "Homer Lindsay was a modern day Elijah, calling fire down from Heaven. Truly the hand of God was upon this man, who rocked this world for Almighty God and His only begotten Son Jesus. The favor of the Lord was upon this man, who was called and anointed by Heaven. The Lord blessed his ministry because he was true to the word of God, The Bible." - David R. Moore
- "Homer Lindsay always taught four things: 1) Love Jesus, 2) Love each other, 3) Love lost people, 4) and be thankful. Whatever else you can say about Homer Lindsay, the most important thing about him was that he taught soulwinning. He taught First Baptist Church of Jacksonville to lead people to Jesus Christ as much or more than he taught them anything else." - Dr. David D. King, Oklahoma Pastor
[edit] From Lindsay
- "If you want to teach in our Middle School Division, you have to be a teetotaler. You have to be one that does not use tobacco. You have to be one that does not attend the movies. You have to be sold out to Jesus Christ or you cannot work in one of these divisions. That's right! I'm sorry, but some of you wouldn't qualify! I don't want sorry, second-hand, compromising people working with our teenagers. I want the best we can find in this church. I want the best we can find, with God's help, to work with these teenagers. I don't want second-class Christians. No Laodicean Christians will do. I don't want any lukewarm, middle of the road, compromising jerks teaching our teenagers. Now if you don't like it, I don't care!" - From: A Preview of the Book of The Revelation, by Dr. Homer G. Lindsay, Jr.
