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Published Thursday, October 02, 2008 in Religion

Leavell burial Friday in Oak Hill

By Winston Skinner

The Times-Herald

Dr. Landrum P. Leavell II, who grew up in Newnan and became one of the leading Southern Baptists of his generation, will be buried at Oak Hill Cemetery on Friday.

"He was a preacher of preachers and a leader of leaders," said Dr. Bob McCartney, who preached at Leavell's funeral on Tuesday. Leavell, 81, died Sept. 26, 2008, in Wichita Falls, Texas.

He was president emeritus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls.

His uncle, Roland Q. Leavell, was president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary from 1946-1958 and wrote widely on spiritual and theological topics.

J.B. Collingsworth, who is married to Anne Leavell Mann, Landrum Leavell's niece, said Leavell "had some issues with his lungs" and underwent surgery a short time before his death.

"He was a tough fighter to the end. He just didn't have much left to fight with," said his son, Landrum Leavell III.

Collingsworth said Leavell was active until his last illness. "He was at the beach this summer," he said.

"He personified integrity in every way. He was the kind of man who expected the best from people. He inspired a lot of people to do a lot of things," Collingsworth said.

Landrum Leavell was born in Ripley, Tenn., Nov. 26, 1926, the youngest son of Dr. Leonard O. Leavell, a Baptist minister, and Annie Glenn Elias Leavell. Leonard Leavell was also a native of Ripley, and Annie Leavell was from Frostburg, Md.

Leonard Leavell held degrees from the University of Mississippi and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He pastored a church in Leland, Miss., before coming to the pulpit at Ripley. He served churches in Louisville, Ky., and Gadsden, Ala., before accepting a call to First Baptist Church of Newnan in 1942.

The Leavells came to Newnan with their son and two daughters, Margaret and Anne. The Leavell daughters married Newnan businessmen who were first cousins. Anne, who married Arthur "Doodle" Murphey, died in 1953. Margaret married R. S. Mann Jr. and still resides in Newnan.

The jewelry and florist businesses founded, respectively, by R.S. Mann and Arthur Murphey are still in business in downtown Newnan.

Leonard Leavell retired from pastoring at First Baptist Newnan in 1950. He died in 1952. Annie Leavell died in 1978.

Landrum Leavell earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Mercer University and bachelor of divinity and doctor of theology degrees in New Testament and Greek from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Leavell was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1948 and began pastoring a church in Mississippi during his time as a student at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. On July 28, 1953, he married Jo Ann Paris of New Orleans, a graduate of Sophie Newcomb College.

During his 27 years as a pastor, Leavell served at Union Baptist Church in Magnolia, Miss., 1948-1951; Crosby Baptist Church, Crosby, Miss., 1951-53; First Baptist Church, Charleston, Miss., 1953-1956; First Baptist Church, Gulfport, Miss., 1956-1963; and First Baptist Church, Wichita Falls, Texas, 1963-1975.

McCartney is the current pastor at the Wichita Falls church. Leavell "loved preaching, and he loved preachers," McCartney said. "When his pastor stood in the pulpit to preach the Word of God and preach it faithfully, you didn't have a better advocate than Landrum Leavell."

Leavell served in many capacities in the Southern Baptist Convention, the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board. He was first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1968 and president of the SBC Pastors Conference in 1971.

Leavell served as president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas from 1971-1973. Since his retirement, Leavell served as a trustee at Mississippi College.

In addition to his denominational roles, Leavell was an active community leader serving with a number of civic groups, including the Mayor's Bi-Racial Committee in Gulfport, the board of United Fund and Child Welfare Board of Wichita Falls and the Rotary Club of New Orleans.

He was also long-time trustee of Baptist Hospital in New Orleans. Upon the sale of Baptist Hospital, he became a founding trustee of Baptist Community Ministries, a foundation developed to administer the assets generated from the sale.

When Leavell retired from the seminary presidency, Baptist Community Ministries created an endowed faculty chair in psychology and counseling in his honor. Friends of Leavell also created an endowed faculty chair in New Testament and Greek that bears his name.

The City of New Orleans designated a portion of the campus as Leavell Lane in honor of the many contributions of the two Leavell seminary presidents. Seminary trustees named the Center for Evangelism and Church Growth in Landrum Leavell's honor as well.

Among Leavell's key honors include the George Washington Honor Medal Award from the Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, Penn., the Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation, and the J.D. Grey Preaching Award from the Louisiana Moral and Civic Foundation.

Leavell was elected president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in January 1975. He served in that role until his retirement Dec. 31, 1994.

"By any standard of measurement, Dr. Leavell is one of the greatest presidents that this seminary ever had," said current NOBTS President Dr. Chuck Kelley.

During Leavell's presidency, the seminary experienced record growth, outstanding success in fundraising and a significant expansion of its campus.

Leavell believed that the care and preparation of a minister's family was as important as the preparation of the minister. He enhanced the campus recreation facilities, and along with his wife, gave great attention to the needs of student wives.

The Leavells launched many initiatives to assist student wives, including free educational programs, an endowment to buy clothes for student wives and the Leavell Lecture Series. The Leavell Lecture Series was established by the Leavell family to honor Annie Elias Leavell as a minister's wife and is designed to encourage student wives who will one day serve in that role.

During his 20-year tenure, the seminary became an innovator in theological education while continuing to emphasize evangelism, missions and local church ministry. He led New Orleans Seminary to establish a network of extension centers throughout the Southeast.

Leavell also invested in educational technology. He introduced compressed interactive video, which connects classrooms in different cities for real-time audio and video interaction. His innovations helped the seminary offer world-class theological education on a wider basis.

During Leavell's presidency, NOBTS also established the first center for evangelism and church growth in the Southern Baptist Convention, connecting the resources and expertise of the seminary with needs of local churches throughout the SBC.

Leavell also was the driving force behind the re-establishment of the seminary's undergraduate program. Roland Leavell started the School of Christian Training in 1954, but the school closed a few years later.

Landrum Leavell envisioned an accredited college that would offer ministry training to adult students without college degrees. He restarted the school in 1976 with only 30 students. Now, more than 1,000 men and women study at the undergraduate college.

Four of the other five SBC seminaries now have similar programs. In 2003, the school was renamed Leavell College in honor of Landrum and Roland Leavell.

A gifted writer, Landrum Leavell was author of or contributed to 14 books.

He was a dedicated father who traveled untold miles following his sons' football and basketball careers.

"When you were with him, you were the most important person around," Collingsworth said.

"He was a man of principle who didn't mind saying how he felt about things," Collingsworth said. Yet, it was not Leavell's nature to be judgmental "if someone didn't do things just like he did," Collingsworth added.

Survivors include his wife, a daughter and three sons, as well as Margaret Mann and other family members in Newnan.

A funeral was held at First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls Tuesday. Burial will be Friday at 10 a.m. at Oak Hill Cemetery in Newnan under the direction of Higgins-Hillcrest Chapel Funeral Home.

A memorial chapel service will be held at Roland Q. Leavell Chapel on the New Orleans Seminary campus on Tuesday at 11 a.m.