Charles Frazier Stanley is the Pastor Emeritus of First Baptist Church located in Atlanta, Georgia. He previously served as Senior Pastor for nearly 50 years. He became the founder and current president of Ministries in contact, who is famous for broadcasting sermons on television. This was after having served as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1984 to 1986.
Charles was married to Anna and together they had two children, Andy Stanley and Becky Stanley. Andy is an accomplished author and the founder of the largest church in Georgia, North Point Community Church. Becky has been mentioned on several occasions by her father in sermons.
This piece will focus on the ex-wife and children of Charles Stanley. We can confirm that she has not remarried since then.
Charles nearly lost his position as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church after divorcing from Anna in 2000.
Charles and Anna Johnson Stanley were married in 1958. In 1993, Anna unexpectedly filed for divorce. However, the couple agreed that Anna would review the lawsuit and seek legal separation rather than divorce while the couple tried to reconcile.
Reconciliation was not to be possible as Anna filed for divorce again in March 1995. Anna explained why she wanted to divorce her husband in a letter to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution noble shatteredin which she wrote:
“I had experienced many years of discouraging disappointments and marital conflicts. …Charles did, in effect, leave our marriage. He chose his priorities and I have not been one of them ”.
The couple were judicially separated when the court finalized the couple’s divorce in 2000. Stanley had promised to resign after completing the divorce proceedings, but members of his church voted overwhelmingly to retain him as their pastor.
According to First Baptist Atlanta’s bylaws, Stanley can only lose his position when he remarries. Anna Stanley died in November 2014. Her cause of death was not made public, but her family says she died peacefully in her sleep.
Andy claimed that Charles and Anna’s marriage had died long before the divorce.
in his book deep and wide, Andy briefly talks about his parents’ marriage. He says the relationship was dead long before the couple opted for divorce.
Charles and Anna tried to save their marriage, Andy writes. They tried marital counseling with therapists, but their attempts failed.
Despite their problems, neither wanted to start divorce proceedings: the couple did not believe in divorce.
An unfortunate misunderstanding between Andy and Charles forced Andy to leave his father’s church.
Andy’s talent as a preacher became apparent when he took over one of his father’s satellite churches. Soon enough, he had to turn away the parishioners because the church had no space for them to sit. In some ways, Charles and Andy seemed like a father and son duo working together, but at other times they seemed like competitors. Almost 20 years later, when asked in an interview with CNN if he was racing his father, Andy said, “Not intentionally, but I felt like what we were doing was better.”
Andy was perceived as the heir to his father’s throne once Charles stepped aside. It was widely expected that Charles would resign due to his divorce, but he had no intention of doing so. Andy didn’t want his father to resign, but thanks to a misunderstanding, Charles thought Andy supported his resignation. Andy decided to leave Charles’s church after his father confronted him about siding with his enemies.
“It was really bad,” Andy said. CNN. “It was horrible. But you know what? I had perfect peace. I’ve never been so sure of a decision, even when the whole world exploded around us.”
Charles and Andy rebuilt their relationship by spending time together and seeking counselling. Finally, they reestablished the link they had mistakenly broken. In 1995, Andy formed North Point Community Church with a group of friends. When Charles heard the news, he interrupted his usual Sunday morning order of service to tell his congregation: “And you have my blessing,” he said.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn