Timeline - Charles F. Stanley (2024)

Charles Frazier Stanley Jr. was born on September 25, 1932, in the small town of Dry Fork, Virginia. The only child of Charley and Rebecca Stanley, Charles came into the world during a time when the entire nation felt the grip of the Great Depression. However, Charles refused to let the Great Depression or the difficulties of his life define him. Instead, like his father and grandfather before him, he clung to God’s Word and trusted the Lord regardless of the challenges.

Three months after Charles was born, his father, Charley F. StanleySr., became deathly ill from a kidney condition called Bright's disease. He died 6 months later on June 18, 1933, at the young age of 29 years old. Now a widow with deceased parents of her own, Rebecca worked to make ends meet during some of the nation's darkest days. Charles would come to speak often of his mother's great faith and courage during these hard times and the lasting impact it had on hislife.

Charles accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior just before his 12th birthday at the Pentecostal Holiness Church of Danville, Virginia.

From the day of his salvation, Charles wanted to share the good news of the gospel with others, and at 14, he confessed to a friend that he felt called into the ministry to preach. Little did he know that his willingness to follow the Lord's leading would begin a lifetime of ministry that would span more than 60 years and reach the world.

At 16, Charles traveled to Siler City, North Carolina, to visit his grandfather and spiritual mentor, George Washington Stanley. A preacher himself, George spent the next six days teaching his grandson some of the most important guiding principles that would direct Charles' walk with God for the rest of hislife.

Charles graduated from George Washington High School in June of 1950. The money he earned working a paper route and washing cars at a service station wasn't enough to allow him to attend college. So Charles and his mother would kneel together to pray for God's provision in this area. The Lord eventually provided a 4-year scholarship for him to attend the University ofRichmond.

Charles attended the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. While at college, he joined the Air Force ROTC program out of a great respect for the military and a desire to become a chaplain. However, God began to redirect Charles path away from the military and towards attendingseminary.

On August 6, 1955, Charles Frazier Stanley Jr. married Anna “Annie” Margaret Johnson. They eventually would have two children together, Andy and Becky. When Annie went home to be with Lord on November 10, 2014, Charles said he wanted the world to remember what was best in Annie as the mother of his children and a woman who served God and others with her wholeheart.

Rev. Stanley was ordained to the ministry on August 19, 1956, at Moffett Memorial Baptist Church in Danville,Virginia.

In May of 1957, Rev.Stanley graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth,Texas.

While visiting his wife's family cottage on Lake Lure in Hickory Nut Gorge, North Carolina, during the summer of 1956, Rev.Stanley was invited by a deacon of the nearby Fruitland Baptist Church to fill the pulpit for a couple Sundays while the pastor was out on vacation. The people enjoyed his preaching so much that when their pastor decided to retire the following year, they called Charles to be their new pastor in June of1957.

At the request of Dr. J. C. Canipe, President of Fruitland Bible Institute, Rev. Stanley began teaching homiletics, preaching, and evangelism in the fall of 1957. Most of the 160 students enrolled at the Institute were older than Rev. Stanley was—ordained pastors with years of experience in their churches. They simply hadn’t been given the opportunity to attend seminary. Although Rev. Stanley felt inadequate for the task, he trusted God, relied on the Holy Spirit, and did his best. And those pastors accepted him instantly, encouraged him immeasurably, and showed an incredible eagerness to learn.

On May 16, 1958, his son Charles Andrew “Andy” Stanley was born. Today, Andy is the founder of North Point Ministries and preaches the gospel as the senior pastor of North Point Community Church, a multi-site church based in Alpharetta, Georgia. Andy and his wife, Sandra, live in Milton, Georgia. They have 3 children, Andrew, Garrett, andAllie.

On November 8, 1959, Rev. Stanley accepted the pastorate of First Baptist Church of Fairborn, Ohio. He was excited about the area's potential and the chance to serve military families at the nearby Wright-Patterson AirForceBase.

On June 9, 1961, his daughter Rebecca “Becky” Louise Stanley was born. Today, Becky lives in Dallas, Texas, and is active in ministry. She has 3 children, Jonathan, Annie, Matthew, and twograndsons.

Rev. Stanley fell in love with photography on a mission trip to Haiti in 1962. At the time, he didn't even own his own camera. Instead, he had to borrow his wife's RetnaIIa--a folding 35mm camera made by KodakAG--to capture the beauty of God's handiwork on the island. Once he returned from his trip and had the pictures developed, he was impressed by their beauty and the way God spoke to him through the photos. From there, he continued to take photos wherever hewent.

On March 18, 1962, Rev.Stanley became the pastor of First Baptist Church of Miami, Florida. While there, he began working on his graduate degrees and founded the George Mueller Christian School, which opened its doors in August of1966.

Rev. Stanley continued his studies at Luther Rice Seminary, earning his Master of Theology in1968.

In May of 1968, Rev.Stanley accepted the pastorate of First Baptist Church of Bartow, Florida. After only 11 months, the Lord began to lead Rev.Stanley in a new direction, and by September of 1969 he and his family moved to Atlanta, Georgia.

After much prayer and consideration, Rev. Stanley accepted the position of Associate Pastor at First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia on October 12, 1969. He had been warned that he had a rough road ahead of him. He and the senior pastor had differing theological viewpoints and the church suffered from divisive political agendas. Through these tough times, Rev. Stanley stayed committed to the Lord's directive to reclaim the church for the kingdom of God.

Dr. Stanley believed in being a lifelong learner. He earned his Doctor of Theology from Luther Rice Seminary in1971.

After a dramatic business meeting that called for a standing vote, the church called Dr. Stanley to be the sixteenth pastor of First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, on October 1, 1971. The dissenting group and their supporters finally left over the first few months, but not without a fight--figuratively and literally. (Dr. Stanley was even punched in a particular emotionally-charged meeting!) This left the church battered and worn, but those who remained were ready to serve God and move forward. The Lord blessed their obedience mightily over the years to come.

First Baptist Atlanta's services used to be broadcast on an Atlanta-area television station in black and white, but due to the volatile church politics, the services were taken off the air in 1972. However, during the following year, Dr.Stanley launched a new half-hour program called “TheChapelHour,” which began airing on WXIA-TV 11 and WANX 46 in color and on WGST 920 onradio.

In 1977, Dr.Stanley was approached by the Christian Broadcasting Network for sermons. Suddenly, the program went from reaching viewers in Atlanta to touching a nationwide audience. Because of this, Dr.Stanley decided to rename “TheChapelHour” to give the program a more meaningful title. He chose “InTouch,” inspired by a Living Bible devotional he owned with the same name. As the ministry continued to grow, InTouchMinistries would eventually be incorporated in 1982 and grow by leaps and bounds over the comingyears.

The first FM radio station—100,000-watt border station in McAllen, Texas, KVMV-FM 96.9—began airing “InTouch with Dr.CharlesStanley” in1980.

While In Touch magazine began as a newsletter in 1979, it was first printed in digest form in 1982. Within the next 20 years, a Spanish language version En Contacto would be launched, as well as a French version En Contact for distribution in Quebec,Canada.

In June of 1984, Dr.Stanley was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, at a pivotal time in the organization's history. The SBC was divided over the inerrancy of Scripture. Dr.Stanley won the vote by 52.18 percent. He was also re-elected the following year on June 11, 1985, in Dallas, Texas, helping to ensure biblical inerrancy to be a trademark value of SouthernBaptists.

In February of 1988, Dr.Stanley was inducted into the National Religious Broadcaster’s (NRB) Hall of Fame for the consistent excellence of his broadcast and leadership in the realm of Christian television andradio.

In August of 1989, while preparing for a rally in Kansas City, Missouri, the Lord led Dr.Stanley to Psalm 67:2, which states “Send us around the world with the news of Your saving power and your eternal plan for all mankind” (TLB). As he looked out his hotel window at the city rooftops covered with satellite dishes and broadcast antennas, he felt God tell him, “That’s the way I'm going to do it. That is how I will use you to send the gospel around theworld.”

In Touch begins broadcasting on Russian television in 1990, and by the end of 2005, InTouch is broadcasting in 17 major African languages. The ministry would eventually have ministry resources available in 127languages.

While the church had voted to purchase the old Avon property in north Atlanta on October 16, 1988, the building required renovations. (In the photo, Dr. Stanley, Andy and his wife Sandra, and others review construction plans for the new sanctuary.) First Baptist Atlanta was finally able to hold its first service in the new Dunwoody location in April of 1992.

On November 29, 1992, at the age of 83, Dr.Stanley's beloved mother went home to be with the Lord. He grieved her loss, but took comfort in knowing she is with the Lord and he will see heragain.

In 1994, In Touch’s Spanish ministry, Ministerios EnContacto, began airing on radio stations across NorthAmerica, LatinAmerica, and other Spanish-speaking nationsworldwide.

The first television broadcast of EnContacto hit U.S. airwaves in 1995. (Pictured: Dr.Stanley with José “Chema” Reinoso, the voice of Dr.Stanley in Spanish.) By 1998, EnContacto is in every Spanish-speakingcountry.

The first iteration of https://www.intouch.org was launched in 1996, and by 2002, the Spanish https://www.encontacto.org and French https://www.encontact.org were also up and running. Today, Dr. Stanley's messages can be accessed via In Touch's website, social media pages, apps, and on Alexa-enabled devices.

First Baptist Atlanta held its last service in the historic downtown facility on April 6, 1997. The following week, the whole congregation worshipped together at the Dunwoodylocation.

In 2003, Dr. Stanley became a New York Times bestselling author with his book, Finding Peace. Throughout his life, he authored more than 70books.

The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible was first published in November of 2005. It features the timeless wisdom of Scripture and the foundational principles that have guided Dr. Stanley’slife.

In 2006, Dr. Stanley's messages were translated into the 100th language, marking the achievement of a long-time goal for his ministry. As of today, Dr.Stanley’s sermons have been translated into 127 heartlanguages.

In Touch Ministries began sending InTouchMessengers - solar-powered audio devices with the Bible and Dr.Stanley's sermons - to U.S. military troops in May 2007. InTouch would go on to distribute Messengers around the world in more than 100 languages, including Spanish, French, Mandarin, Arabic, Russian, Hindi, Indonesian, Telugu, and Bengali. In 2015, the Messenger Lab was born, expanding the Messenger ministry into moredevices.

In the summer of 2014, In Touch dedicated InTouchStudios, a state-of-the-art recording facility located adjacent to InTouchMinistries' main campus. This studio allows the ministry to create special television programming and seats up to 400guests.

During a service at First Baptist Atlanta, Dr.Stanley was awardedwith the Evangelical Christian Publisher Association's Christian Book Award for his autobiography, Courageous Faith, in the category of Best Biography andMemoir.

In March of 2019, Dr.Stanley dedicated the 1,000,000th InTouchMessenger to bedistributed.

On September 13, 2020, Dr.Stanley announced that he was stepping down from his position as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Atlanta and assuming the new role of Pastor Emeritus. Dr.Stanley served First Baptist Atlanta for more than 50years.