Obit for Rev. W.A. Criswell  Jackson Co. OK 

Thanks to http://www.amarillonet.com/ for permission to 
upload their obits to the USGenWeb Archives

Copyright: http://www.amarillonet.com/

************************************************************************
USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE:  These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced 
in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or
persons.  Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must
obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative
of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of
this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives
to store the file permanently for free access.

http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/jackson/obits/c6240001.txt
***********************************************************************

Thousands turn out to say farewell to Rev. W.A. Criswell
DALLAS  - More than 5,000 mourners Wednesday packed the church complex
where  the  Rev.  W.A.  Criswell  for decades led the nation's largest
Southern Baptist congregation.
  
Criswell,  92,  a  former  Amarilloan,  was  remembered as a Christian
leader of the 20th century.
   
A Bible was placed in Criswell's hands, in the open casket.
   
Criswell,  who died Jan. 10, loved to preach and write about the Bible
and  his  devotion to work for God inspired others to follow his path,
fellow  pastors  said  during  his  memorial  service at First Baptist
Church.

"We're here today because we are caught up in his flow," said the Rev.
O.S.  Hawkins,  president  of  the Southern Baptist Convention Annuity
Board, who referred to Criswell as a "mighty river."
   
"W.A.   Criswell  was  our  Apostle  Paul,"  he  said.  "He  led  with
intellectual pursuit coupled with a passionate heart."
   
The  crowd  overflowed  from  the sanctuary of the two-story church in
downtown  Dallas. Some mourners had to view the service via television
from adjacent church buildings.
   
Criswell  was pastor of First Baptist church from 1944 to 1991. He was
named pastor emeritus in 1994.
   
Criswell also led the Southern Baptist Convention as its president for
two terms.
   
Under  his leadership, First Baptist burgeoned from 5,000 members with
an  annual  budget of $150,000 in 1944 to nearly 26,000 members with a
budget  of more than $11 million. The church also has a small college,
a private school and a homeless shelter.
   
"I  never  dreamed  what  God  would do in this church," Criswell said
during a 1984 interview.
   
Born  on  Dec. 19, 1909, in Eldorado, Okla., Wallie Amos Criswell grew
up in Texline and graduated from Amarillo High in 1927.
   
Although  discouraged  from  the  ministry by his mother, Criswell was
ordained  as  a  minister  at San Jacinto Baptist in Amarillo in 1928.
Criswell  quickly  rose  to  prominence  within  the  Southern Baptist
Convention,  earning  a reputation as a skiller orator. Criswell was a
proponent of Biblical inerrancy.
   
Biblical inerrantists believe that the Bible is the literal exact word
of God.
   

Click here to return to story:
http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/011702/tex_turnout.shtml