SBC: FOY VALENTINE DIES SUDDENLY ...

... in Dallas.

Pioneer Baptist ethicist Foy Valentine died suddenly Jan. 7 of an apparent heart attack, family members said. He was 82.

I became a Christian and a Southern Baptist right in the midst of huge controversy (1981) which involved brother Valentine.

A native Texan and Dallas resident, Valentine was executive director of the Southern Baptist Convention's former Christian Life Commission in Nashville from 1960 to 1987. [...]

Before going to the Christian Life Commission, Valentine was director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission from 1953 to 60.

From all I could tell at the time, he was a highly respected and loved Christian servant who had lost touch with spiritual and cultural times.

Those I heard speak critically of him never spoke with anything but the highest regard and concern; yet they felt he had become a liability to the SBC and an anachronism from the past. I have nothing but respect and admiration for those who opposed Dr. Valentine's continuation with the SBC's ethical arm, The Christian Life Commission (now known as the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission).

Valentine, who has had heart problems for many years, awoke with chest pains Jan. 7 and asked his wife, Mary Louise, to drive him to the hospital. He fell unconscious five minutes away from the hospital, a family member said. Doctors tried unsuccessfully for 40 minutes to reestablish a heartbeat before pronouncing him dead.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 11, at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas after a private burial in his hometown of Edgewood, in Van Zandt County.

Dr. Valentine had his supporters and his critics; regardless, your payers for Dr.Valentine's family and friends are appropriate.

A key figure in the emergence of progressive ethical thinking among Southern Baptists, Valentine's most notable influence was as a champion of civil rights -- long before Southern Baptists openly embraced the concept, colleagues said.

Late in his work within the SBC, he became the target of the conservative resurgence because of his progressive stance on abortion; in 1971, Dr. Valentine helped push the adoption of an SBC resolution affirming a woman's freedom to choose an abortion but not in every case.

After retiring from the CLC ... Valentine founded the Center for Christian Ethics ... . He was the founding editor of the Journal of Christian Ethics and a trustee of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, among other national groups.

Which is one reason conservatives continued to oppose his efforts.

Rest in His arms from now and forever dear brother.


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NOTE: Once again BP News is late on the story.


Baptists, Christian ethics, Christianity, Church state, ERLC, Foy Valentine, Religion, Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptists