Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Raymond Bailey
Dr. Raymond Bailey died this week, a man who influenced at least three generations of people who took their faith seriously, including me.
Arriving in Waco in 2000 to teach at Baylor, I found myself at 7th and James Baptist Church, a city church on the edge of Baylor's campus. Rev. Bailey was the senior minister there, and he had a tough job-- the church was chock-full of ordained ministers, religion professors, and a good number of people who imagined themselves to be one of those two things (I fell into this last group). The average education among the adults in the church was a master's degree; it took a special kind of intelligence and passion to hold all that together, and Rev. Bailey had that.
Like a lot of other people at Baylor at that time, he was a refugee from the fundamentalist take-over of the Baptist seminaries in the early 1990's. He had taught preaching at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville for 16 years, until he was pushed out with other moderates. 7th and James left the Southern Baptist Convention just as I got there (fortunately for us all, I suspect). As a professor, he trained a generation of people who became leaders in a wide variety of churches, and I learned not to be surprised when this or that person said they had learned preaching from Raymond Bailey.
And, of course, he was a great preacher. I learned preaching more directly from Hulitt Gloer and Randall O'Brien, of course (because we taught it together), but Raymond Bailey was a model to aspire towards. His sermons were intelligent and challenging, and sometimes involved surprising drama. He was (as a preacher must be) a performer, conscious of his audience. And he was capable of surprises. I came in late to church once and upon seeing me come in-- during the announcements-- he said "well, I'm glad Mark Osler is here, because I am preaching about sin today!" Which... kept me on my toes. People did laugh.
He influenced a generation of kids, too. As adults, some of them revealed to me that in their childhood they had thought that the honorific given to a senior minister was "The Raymond," and that every church had one.
And maybe they should. And, in a way, many of them probably do, through Raymond Bailey's remarkable legacy of profound influence.
Comments:
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Well said, Mark. Raymond was a wonderful pastor/preacher and influenced me greatly. I was so sorry to read of his passing. -- Bob Darden
# posted by 
: 10:32 AM
: 10:32 AM
The few times that I heard Raymond Bailey speak I was always aware that he spoke with a high level of earned authority. In the environment of Seventh and James this was essential. He never gave an easy message. His message wasn't only filled with forgiveness of sins and convenient answers to life's problems, he also challenged his congregants to participate. He asked them to thank God through meaningful service. I always left wondering if I was doing my part.
Raymond got away with his sometimes disquieting messages because he was, well, Raymond. I have fortunately been blessed by knowing many of those who really listened to Raymond. They speak with authority to me.
Thanks Raymond.
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Raymond got away with his sometimes disquieting messages because he was, well, Raymond. I have fortunately been blessed by knowing many of those who really listened to Raymond. They speak with authority to me.
Thanks Raymond.
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