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Table of Contents - Winter 2006
Issue Dedicated to Foy Valentine
He Fought For Racial
Equality
By Sam Hodges
Foy Valentine was a white Texan who,
during the 1960s and ‘70s, forced fellow Southern Baptists to confront their
denomination’s racist past and move toward integration.
Dr. Valentine,
who died this weekend at 82, led the Southern Baptist Convention’s Christian
Life Commission—the denomination’s public policy arm—for nearly 30 years.
He was a
moderate often at odds with Southern Baptist conservatives. He stirred the pot
not just on race, but on church-state separation, abortion and other
controversial issues.
A pioneering
Baptist ethicist, Dr. Valentine kept on his desk an engraved copy of his motto
for half a century—“Helping changed people to change the world.”
Dr. Valentine
died at an area hospital after suffering a heart attack in his North Dallas home.
Continue
A
Memorial Service
Celebrating
the Life of Dr. Foy Dan Valentine
Remembrances
of a Friend
By David Sapp
I happen to like classical
music, and one of my favorite classical musicians is a singer named George
Jones. When Jimmy Allen called me last Saturday morning with the news of Foy
Valentine’s death, I couldn’t help thinking of one of my favorite George Jones
pieces, a number entitled “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?” The lyrics pose just
the question we all have when we face the loss of the likes of Foy: “Who’s
gonna fill their shoes? Who’s gonna stand that tall? Who’s gonna play the Opry
or the Wabash Cannon Ball?” Indeed, we are gathered here in such awesome
numbers because we know in our bones that a giant has fallen.
The first time I ever heard of Foy Valentine, I was a college student. He
came to the campus of Mercer University to speak, and it was obvious before he
arrived that he was a giant. The faculty heralded his arrival with perceptible
excitement. Among the Baptist leaders they had known, this one above all had
taken a stand for racial justice and equality. They were excited about his
coming, and their excitement caused me to pay attention.
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Eulogy
By
Dr. Jimmy Allen
Foy Valentine was a master
wordsmith. Eulogy actually means, “Good Words.” I will not match his eloquence
in trying to say “Good Words,” but no one I know deserved them more. He was a
modern-day prophet. He had keen insight, deep faith, uncommon courage, genuine
compassion, and unwavering commitment to the application of the principles of
Christ to every area of life.
- FOY WAS A RARE PERSON. IN THESE DAYS OF SEARCHINGS AND
SHIFTING OF SPIRITUAL PATHS, HE KNEW HIS BIBLICAL CENTERED BELIEFS AND HIS
SPECIAL SENSE OF CALLING.
- FOY WAS A RARE PERSON. IN THESE DAYS OF AVOIDANCE OF THE
DIFFICULT AND DEMANDING, HE KNEW HOW TO WORK.
- FOY WAS A RARE PERSON. IN THESE DAYS OF SUPERFICIAL
RELATIONSHIPS AND SHIFTING POLITICAL LOYALTIES, HE TREASURED HIS FRIENDS
AND WAS LOYAL TO THE INSTITUTIONS THAT HAD HELPED FASHION HIS LIFE.
- FOY WAS A RARE PERSON. IN THESE DAYS OF HASSLED AND
HURRIED LIVING, HE KNEW HOW TO SMELL THE FLOWERS AND ENJOY THE MOMENT.
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'I
Thank My God Upon Every Remembrance Of You'
(Philippians 1:3)
By Darold H. Morgan
By now it is obvious to all of
us here today that in reflecting on the life and ministry of Foy Valentine that
we have so much to be grateful for.
Foy’s sudden departure to heaven reminds us how grateful we are he was never
an invalid. He would have handled a wheelchair or a sick bed more ineptly that
anyone in history. And we are grateful for that.
We are grateful, every one of us in this church today, that each of us has
fresh, enduring, dynamic memories of this man. Each of us has our own supply of
these encounters, which remind us of his genius of friendship and
understanding. Particularly, each member of his family will have this treasury
of memories as part of his heritage for the balance of their days.
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A Hammer, A Bell, and a Song
By Joe E. Trull
I was in Phoenix on Friday, January 6,
2006, attending the annual Society of Christian Ethics meeting, when Foy Valentine
called. When he learned I would be in Dallas on Tuesday, he said, “Let’s get
together.” We planned to.
....
Foy Valentine
also had a hammer, a bell, and a song...
The Hammer of
Justice never left his
hands....
The Bell of
Freedom he
received from his French Huguenot heritage, and he rang it proudly...
The Bell of Love
between brothers and sisters was part and
parcel of his preaching, his writing, and his work between all kinds of people...
Continue
Updated
Monday, November 20, 2006 |
