My Encounter with Jerry Falwell in 1988 (or 89, but who can remember?)
When I was in 8th grade, my dad had a powerful re-conversion experience to fundamentalist Christianity. What accompanied this was the feeling that he might have a call to preach. Since he had no college education, he enrolled in Liberty Home Bible Institute, an outreach program of Liberty University, the school Falwell founded in Lynchburg, Va. He completed the program in the half time he was supposed to, and he found it really invigorating.
Completion of the certificate program entitles a person to receive their diploma at the annual graduation ceremony of the entire university. My folks dutifully packed all five of us kids into the wagoneer and drove from coastal North Carolina to Lynchburg. I think I was in 9th or 10th grade at the time. It is a nice little town, and I recall it felt like Falwell dominated it. Not in a bad way, just in the sense that there were lots of things related to Falwell just about everywhere. Thomas Road Baptist Church – where he served as pastor – was huge. The church also had a private high school connected to it that was pretty large as well. We went to Sunday Services there that week, and also attended a few things at the university, which had nice facilities and grounds. Everyone was very warm and hospitable to us. I got to hear Falwell preach and also hear his commencement address. We even got to meet him at a reception for folks like my dad.
To be honest with you, I don’t recall it being any more weird than any other Baptist church I ever went to. It was exactly what I expected. I think the difference in Falwell and almost every other Independent Baptist minister in America is the fact that Falwell seemed to have a keen sense of organization and self-promotion. The dude is responsible for starting a huge church, high school, college, and national grass roots organization. That is pretty impressive. But his outlook on life, theology, politics and the like was probably not any different than the Baptist minister in each of our towns.
Now, I will say this: I hated his politics and theology. The material that my dad used at Liberty was vehemently anti-Catholic (Roman and otherwise), and I think Falwell did a lot to discredit Christianity and its place in public discourse. Like all of us, he leaves a mixed bag of stuff behind. But to paint him as a hero of the faith or as a hell-bound fraud seems silly and disingenuous. May God grant him – and all of us – forgiveness of sins and life eternal through Christ, the author of our salvation.
May 17, 2007 at 3:01 am
At least he didn’t name those places after himself like some of the other dudes do.
Hey, maybe you could found Punk-U
May 17, 2007 at 7:15 am
“I don’t recall it being any more weird than any other Baptist church I ever went to…”
Heh-heh…
Seriously, you met Jerry Falwell???
In-freakin’-credible!
May 17, 2007 at 9:03 pm
LP,
An accurate assessment of Falwell I think.
May 19, 2007 at 3:20 am
The thing of it is, “no more weird than any other Baptist church” isn’t necessarily a positive thing to say. When I look at the career of Jerry Falwell, at best his message had nothing to do with anything Jesus said. At worst, it rather looks like he was playing for the other team. As for Baptists, I have had little direct contact with them. I had a roommate for a couple of years who was Baptist and a kind and thoughtful person. Then there is Jimmy Carter, as godly a man as we see in public life today. So I like to imagine that most Baptists are like that roommate or Jimmy Carter. The idea that they are more like Jerry Falwell is just depressing.
May 19, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Richard – please continue to read the next line. I am referring to a specific manifestation of Baptist life, one that would not be invlusive of a person like Jimmy Carter. In my experience, I have met quite a few that would have gone farther than Falwell given the power and opportunity. In fact, I have heard some of these people refer to Falwell in terms of being a sell-out.
As a recovering fundy Baptist myself, I think my description is fairly apt, but I am open to reproof here.
May 21, 2007 at 2:19 pm
A friend of mine attended Jerry Falwell’s church in his youth. My friend was a fairly conservative Christian, but was moderate in politics and friendly with Gay people. He told me that Jerry Falwell was a good pastor to his flock by and large, much more pastoral than one would think. But that when the TV cameras turned on, he seemed to change completely into the Jerry Falwell that we saw on TV. Kind of sad, really.