Bob Terry says he knows his editorials are too long. He’s always known.
But he’s never been in it for the short game.
“I always wanted to have plenty of room to explain how I got to my conclusion,” he said. “I have said things sometimes carefully, sometimes softly, sometimes with too many words. But I feel that if you do it that way, it is more likely people will come back and talk to you again the next week.”
That’s what he wanted — for the conversation to keep going and for the relationships to stay strong. So that’s the way he wrote his editorials — not like a quick punch, but a long discussion, week after week.
50 years of ministry
By the time Terry retires Dec. 31, that will add up to roughly 2,500 weeks, 50 years’ worth of weekly papers, minus a week off at Christmas and the Fourth of July.
Twenty-three of those years were spent as editor of The Alabama Baptist (TAB). The 20 before that were spent at the helm of Missouri’s Word & Way. Before that, he spent seven years at Kentucky’s Western Recorder.
And before that, he had no plans to be a newspaper man at all — he always thought he’d be a pastor or an international missionary.
“God has a great sense of humor that He would take a man who can’t spell and make him an editor,” Terry said. “That I would become an editor is something that no one would’ve ever dreamed of.”
Terry got involved in Mississippi College’s campus newspaper while he was a student there. Then while he was studying at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, he became the seminary’s news director where he met the leadership of Western Recorder, Kentucky’s state Baptist paper.
And it wasn’t long before he found himself on a path as a “word man,” as he’s called by Gary Fenton, retired pastor of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, Birmingham, where Terry is a member.
“From the very first time I met him and heard him speak (in Missouri) I have been impressed with his commitment to passionately support Christian causes and keep Baptists informed and encouraged,” said Fenton, senior advancement officer for Samford University in Birmingham.
It wasn’t always an easy task. When Terry took the editorship of Word & Way in 1975, the Missouri Baptist Convention was in turmoil. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) also was embroiled in the Battle for the Bible, a heated debate over the inerrancy of Scripture. And it wouldn’t be long before the SBC dove headlong into the Conservative Resurgence, a struggle that played out on the pages of state Baptist newspapers.
“I’ve had the responsibility of ministering during some extremely turbulent years,” Terry said. “It’s been painful at times. And it has cost me through the years when people differed with what I wrote.”
Sometimes readers read his words and engaged in the conversation. Some even changed their minds. But sometimes his words drew strong debate or even attack. Still, he felt compelled to cling to the truth and keep the conversation going.
No matter the cost, Terry worked toward truth and unity, said Laurie Lattimore-Volkmann, a former TAB news editor who now serves as an adjunct professor at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
‘Unmatched’ leadership
“In both Missouri and Alabama state Baptist conventions, his leadership — not only at the newspaper but the convention as a whole — was unmatched,” she said.
Lattimore-Volkmann said she marveled at Terry’s ability to think rationally and communicate calmly, even when the going got tough. That model was deeply influential in her life, she said.
“I learned a lot about actually doing journalism and was given a lot of responsibility and trust, both as a beginning reporter and later as a news editor,” Lattimore-Volkmann said.
She said she feels Terry was called to be a “major voice in Baptist life” and she was glad she got to be a part of that for a little while.
“The legacy he has left in Baptist life — particularly in Baptist journalism — will be unparalleled,” she said.
Michael Chute, professor of journalism at California Baptist University and Terry’s first managing editor at Word & Way, agreed that Terry’s impact was both vast and personal.
“Besides my parents and my wife obviously, Bob has been the most influential person in my life,” Chute said. “Bob took me — a raw, young, fledgling journalist — 40 years ago and poured himself into my life.”
Chute’s years at Word & Way were foundational, he said — a formative time in his life and ministry.
“I will never forget his tireless investment in my life and ministry,” he said. “The many people he has touched throughout the world would say the same thing.”
At Word & Way alone, Terry also poured into two other managing editors — Trennis Henderson and Tim Palmer.
‘Meaningful editorial stands’
Henderson, who went on to be editor of Arkansas Baptist News, then Western Recorder and is now a national correspondent for Woman’s Missionary Union, agreed that Terry’s ministry left a mark.
“I always will be grateful that Bob modeled for me and dozens of other Baptist journalists what it means to be an authentic Baptist editor,” he said. “He demonstrated when, where and how to take meaningful editorial stands for the cause of Christ and the sake of God’s kingdom.”
Palmer added that Terry was “a perfectionist who held himself and his entire staff to high standards.”
He said he would be forever grateful for Terry hiring him and getting him on his feet as a managing editor.
A strong pull
It wouldn’t be long after Palmer came that Terry would feel the call to move on. Terry is a Decatur native, and the pull to serve in Alabama was a strong one — a dream even.
One of his first memories of TAB was his grandfather sitting in a cane-bottom chair on his front porch in Lawrence County reading the paper cover to cover.
“Years later, I remember driving into the parking lot of The Alabama Baptist when I was home for a visit and dreaming of what it would be like to be the editor in my home state,” he said.
That call would come in 1995 when the late Mike McLemore, chair of the editor search committee, and Mike Shaw, chairman of TAB’s board of directors at the time, felt like God had chosen Terry as the man to lead the paper after the unexpected death of editor Hudson Baggett.
When the board voted, it was a unanimous decision.
And with that, Terry started a new era for the state paper. He brought TAB into the “upper echelon” of Christian publications, Shaw said. And Terry became a crusader against an “education lottery” and other things he felt would harm the people of Alabama, he said.
Fenton said Terry played an important role in keeping new gambling legislation at bay while in both Missouri and Alabama.
“I am convinced that if Dr. Terry had not been so diligent of a spokesperson for morality, we would have been victimized by legalized gambling in Alabama,” he said.
Terry found purpose and joy in his role at TAB. He spoke out when he thought it was important for his readers to be called to action, whether that meant to go vote or to go serve overseas.
Involved in missions
He also found more and more ways to be involved in missions, something that had long been his heart. One of those was through his work with Baptist World Alliance (BWA), an organization he served with in various roles for 30 years.
But the toughest trial he would face in life would come at a BWA meeting in Durban, South Africa, in 1998. When a speeding car ran a red light and hit his taxi broadside, his wife, Eleanor, sustained injuries that took her life nine days later.
“Thank you for pouring out your grace on this broken brother,” Terry wrote in an editorial soon after Eleanor’s death. And as the months moved on, he told readers that “God was faithful to us in every way.”
“He never promised the road would be easy,” Terry wrote. “He never promised wealth or health. He never promised a life free from pain and sorrow or even death. He promised to be with us to the end. He promised comfort and strength.”
His story opened up many opportunities for him through the years to comfort others. Fenton said Terry made an impact by letting Alabama Baptists walk the road of grief with him.
“Dr. Terry has modeled faith for the Alabama Baptist family as we have grieved with him during Eleanor’s death, and then he helped us to see the healing process as he shared his story through his poignant editorials,” he said.
And in 2002, God brought comfort in a new way — Terry would meet and marry Patricia Creel Hart, a Samford University professor and former missionary. It was God’s goodness shining through in a heavy season, he wrote.
Bob Forbus, a member of First Baptist Church, Jasper, and a former chairman of TAB’s board of directors, said he remembers the Sunday morning that Terry told the church he had proposed. Terry was serving as their interim pastor, and Forbus said he and others noticed that Hart — the special missionary speaker for the service that morning — seemed extra special to Terry.
“The congregation went into red alert,” Forbus joked. “Bob made no reference to his ‘friend’ until he had concluded the service. He then went over and took his friend’s hand and as they faced the congregation, Bob informed us that since we were his church family, he wanted us to be the first to know that Pat had consented to become his wife. What a great memory that is for our church.”
But Forbus said that’s only one of Terry’s memorable moments at the church.
“Give Bob Terry a pulpit, and his sermons, life lessons and knowledge of the Bible are as awe inspiring in person as are his written comments in The Alabama Baptist,” Forbus said.
Arthur Williams, current TAB board chairman and a member of First, Jasper, agreed.
“I first got to know Dr. Terry when I was chairman of deacons at First Baptist Church, Jasper — unfortunately during troubled times,” he said.
After they called Terry as their interim, they quickly found out he was more than an interim, Williams said.
“He engaged as a pastor rather than an interim, leading by wisdom and compassion,” he said. “What could have been a very rocky time became a period of healing due to his leadership. He just knows the right words to say for any situation. When I think of him, I think of integrity — a man of integrity.”
Jean Roberson, Terry’s daughter, said she hears that word often in association with her father — and she knows it to be true through his whole life.
“When people speak to me about my father, they most frequently mention his integrity,” said Roberson, director of field education and an instructor in Samford University’s School of Public Health. “I know they are commenting on how he conducts himself publicly and the standards he sets for himself and the staff.”
‘Importance of congruence’
But what people don’t always know is that the same integrity is “alive and present” in his private life, she said. “Who Bob Terry is publicly is who he is privately, with a faith that is pervasive and directive in all he does. He regularly demonstrates for me the importance of congruence with my public life, my private life and my faith.”
Drayton Cullen, Terry’s grandson and a junior at Samford, said it’s the integrity of Terry’s private life that’s made a difference in his own life.
“I think one aspect of my granddad’s character that speaks the most to me is his ability to focus on every individual in his life,” he said. “He has always been there for me and has helped me in so many countless ways.”
Cullen recently introduced his grandfather before Terry spoke at the TAB symposium at Samford that was part of the newspaper’s 175th anniversary celebration in March 2018. As he prepared for the introduction, Cullen was caught off guard.
“I actually had never heard of his awards and credentials until I read them off while introducing him at The Alabama Baptist symposium,” he said. “After introducing him I wondered why I had not heard of his numerous achievements before, and then I came to a realization — while he is with me, he is my granddad first.”
Terry’s persona and focus is his relationship with his family, Cullen said. “I find this to be incredibly profound, impressive and wise. But of course that is who he is always — profound, impressive and wise.”
Terry’s son, Brent, said that watching his father lean on God through hard times had “an immeasurable effect” on the way he tries to live.
“Dad taught me that the strength of a man, father and husband is not in himself but is in total reliance on God in every circumstance,” he said. “Bottom line — my Dad loves Jesus. He taught me to love Jesus. That has made all the difference.”
Terry has poured into his professional relationships too.
Jennifer Davis Rash, his first full-time hire at TAB, went from an entry-level news writer to being named TAB’s next editor during her 23 years under his mentorship. She has been by Terry’s side all but the first five months he served at TAB.
Strong mentorship
“I’ve always joked that to survive working for Bob Terry for 20-plus years should result in some type of medal of honor,” Rash said. “It’s seriously not for the faint of heart, but I know without a doubt his mentorship made me stronger. Dr. Terry helped me develop an appropriately balanced confidence and taught me layers upon layers about life, leadership, community, denominational structures, cooperative ministry and how to hold on to our faith amid difficult seasons.”
Walking alongside others
Terry took an eager, young journalist with a missions and ministry heart and “challenged me day after day,” Rash said. “I will always be grateful that he wouldn’t let me settle. He believed in me, invested in me and pushed me to dig deep and never settle for less than the best.
“Dr. Terry also has cared for our team members as individuals and friends,” she noted. “He has walked through many a difficult journey with most of us.”
Teresa Maddox, Terry’s longtime executive assistant, agreed. His pastoral side is just as prominent as his editor side, she said.
“Several times over the years, he has appeared at just the right moment to minister to me and my family personally. He has a knack for that,” she said. “I’ve seen and have heard of him being at just the right place at just the right time to minister to many through the years.”
His office has been a place where burdens were lightened over the years as people visited him and he listened and counseled, Maddox said. “It’s been a blessing to see the many sides of Dr. Bob Terry and I know he will continue to be a blessing as he begins this next chapter of life.”
As Terry prepares to retire, others have made his legacy tangible in different ways — he’s been named TAB’s first editor emeritus, and Samford and University of Mobile have endowed scholarships in his name.
But he says the biggest blessing of all has just been the chance to have the conversation — the long, long conversation.
“I’m very humbled to be standing in this place,” Terry said. “I’ve tried to be a good and faithful servant to God and to Baptists. Thank you for the privilege and the opportunity.”
The conversation will continue at Terry’s new blog site, nowconsiderthis.com.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Terry breaks editor tenure record
Bob Terry has spent 60 years in ministry, with 50 of those in Southern Baptist newspaper work. Of the 50 years in Baptist newspapers, he has served as an editor for 43 of those years, making him the longest-tenured newspaper editor ever to serve in Southern Baptist life.
Sanford Brown founded Missouri’s Word & Way in 1896 and remained its editor until 1938, a total of 42 years.
Terry marked his 43rd year as an editor in August 2018. He served as editor of Word & Way for 20 years (1975 to 1995) and then The Alabama Baptist for 23 years (1995 to 2018). His first seven years in Baptist newspapers was as associate editor of Kentucky’s Western Recorder for seven years (1968 to 1975). (TAB)
Share with others: