WASHINGTON (RNS)—C. Welton Gaddy, a Baptist pastor who became an advocate for interfaith relations and progressive causes, died June 7. He was 81.

The Interfaith Alliance—where Gaddy served as president from 1997 to 2014—announced Gaddy died in his home in Monroe, La.

“Welton stood as a source of inspiration to many,” the statement from the Interfaith Alliance read. “He showed us that it was possible to hold on to our faith while also fighting for the rights of others who did not share our religious tradition.”

Growing up in Tennessee, Gaddy went to Union University there before attending Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., where he earned a master’s and a Ph.D.

He went on to become a Southern Baptist minister, serving with the Southern Baptist Convention Christian Life Commission and as pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth. He also served on the SBC Executive Committee.

When the SBC moved sharply to the right, Gaddy helped to found the Alliance of Baptists in 1987 as a progressive alternative. He also served on the general council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

In addition to his ministry, Gaddy also threw himself into the public sphere. He was president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State before taking leadership of the Interfaith Alliance, where he remained 16 years until his retirement.

While leading the Interfaith Alliance, he also was senior pastor of Northminster Baptist Church in Monroe, La., until 2016 and pastor emeritus until his death.

Gaddy was a frequent critic of the religious right throughout the 1990s. He told Religion News Service he fashioned the Interfaith Alliance to demonstrate Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and others, who he said had “co-opted” the language of religious freedom, “don’t represent all Christians.” Indeed, Gaddy often sparred with Falwell and Robertson—the founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network who also died this week.

Gaddy also voiced opposition to government-endorsed prayer and once served on a White House task force focused on “making the (White House faith-based) office constitutional,” despite telling officials at the time “You know, I still want it closed.”

He also organized in support of hate-crimes legislation and railed against the mistreatment of Muslims and Jews, once helping organize a ceremony at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to apologize on behalf of Baptist Christians for sins of “complicity” and “silence” regarding theology used to justify the oppression of Jewish people during the Holocaust.

 “It was my privilege to know the man, not just the pastor or the public figure,” Rabbi Jack Moline, an emeritus president of Interfaith Alliance, said.

“In my Jewish tradition, we respond to a loss like this with the prayer, ‘May his memory be a blessing.’ It is and will continue to be.”

Gaddy, who hosted a regular “State of Belief” radio show that later became a podcast, was known for elevating religious voices in support of same-sex marriage and LGBTQ Christians.

“It does not go without notice that we are remembering Welton just as the LGBTQ+ community is celebrating Pride Month,” said Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, Interfaith Alliance’s president.

“Welton wrote about full inclusion and dignity for LGBTQ+ people long before many other religious leaders. Across so many areas, Welton used his platform to project a vision for America that was inclusive of different beliefs and respectful of every individual’s inherent dignity.”

Gaddy is survived by his wife, Judy, as well as his son James and two grandsons. Another son, John Paul, died in 2014.

The Alliance of Baptists issued a statement celebrating the life of the group’s foundational leader, calling him “an integral member of a small group of Baptists who were committed to ensuring that all Baptists were not synonymous with fundamentalism.”

Gaddy may be gone, the statement said, but his legacy of forging a different vision for his Christian faith, as well as preaching respect for others, will endure.

“We will continue the work that he started,” the statement read.

With additional reporting by Managing Editor Ken Camp. 

Frankie Rainey Jr., former pastor and professor, died May 19. He was 84. He was born Sept. 6, 1938, in Corsicana to Frankie and Mary Rainey. He was a graduate of Wayland Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he earned his doctorate. He served seven Texas Baptist churches as pastor. He was a professor of Christian studies 18 years at Howard Payne University and professor of biblical languages and campus pastor 10 years at Canadian Baptist Theological Seminary. He is survived by his wife of 65 years Sue Rainey, son Paul Rainey and his wife Tracie, daughter Rhonda Bertrand and her husband Ray, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on May 26 at First Baptist Church in Burleson.

Betty Jean Law, former Baptist missionary and missions administrator, died April 16 in Fort Worth. She was 94. Law was born Nov. 8, 1928, in Fort Worth, where she grew up attending College Avenue Baptist Church. Through the ministry of the Baptist Student Union at what is now Texas Woman’s University in Denton, she felt God’s call to vocational ministry. After she and Thomas Lee Law Jr. married in 1949, they attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth before they were appointed by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Home Mission Board as missionaries to Cuba. They returned to Texas in 1960, and her husband became director of missions for the Rio Grande Valley Baptist Association. In 1964, the Laws and their four young sons relocated to Spain, where they served with the SBC Foreign Mission Board as church planters, mission team leaders and seminary teachers. After they returned to the United States due to her husband’s health, she accepted an administrative post with the FMB in Richmond, Va., in the Western South America office. She served in a series of roles, eventually being named regional vice president for the Americas in 1990. She resigned from the FMB in 1992 and helped establish Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions. When she retired from CBF in 1996, she moved back to Fort Worth and joined Gambrell Street Baptist Church, where she was a deacon and trustee. She served on several Baptist General Convention of Texas committees and boards. She was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Lee Law Jr.; her sister, Dorothy Mae Freeman Morrison; and by a great-grandson, Gideon Levi Stegner. She is survived by four sons, Thomas Lee “Tom” Law III of Norman, Okla; John Richard “Dick” Law of Austin; Charles Rush Keith Law of Fort Worth; Stephen Paul “Steve” Law of Richmond; 14 grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren. A memorial service is scheduled at 1 p.m. on July 15 at Gambrell Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth.

William “Bill” King Robbins Jr. of Houston, philanthropist and Baptist deacon, died April 13. He was 91. Robbins was born Nov. 29, 1931, to Helen and William King Robbins Sr. After he graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown, he earned Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees from Baylor University and a Juris Doctor degree from Baylor Law School. In his early years, he served as an officer and director of various international subsidiary companies of Union Carbide Corporation and as legal counsel for Humble Oil and Refining Company, now Exxon Corporation. A Korean War veteran, Robbins was the founder and CEO of Houston-based North American Corporation, which engages in consulting, finance and investments, along with oil, gas and energy activities. He and his wife Mary Jo created the Robbins Foundation to support Christian missions causes, education and health care internationally. At Baylor University, their philanthropy supported institutional initiatives and scholarships to the Robbins Institute for Health Policy and Leadership within the Hankamer School of Business, as well as supporting Robbins Chapel within Brooks College. In March, Baylor dedicated the Mary Jo Robbins Clinic for Autism Research and Practice, named as part of a leadership gift by Bill Robbins in his wife’s honor. The clinic is housed within the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, named in recognition of a 2014 gift from the couple. “We are praying for Mary Jo, their family and so many in our Baylor community who had formed deep friendships with Bill over so many decades of support,” Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone said. “We mourn his passing, but we honor his life of service and the tremendous faith that guided and inspired him. The impact he leaves behind at Baylor is nothing short of transformational. He has supported, guided and exhorted our faculty and administration in the areas of healthcare and leadership, and the legacy that he and Mary Jo have created is truly humbling. Bill was renowned as a business leader and healthcare expert, but, most of all, he was known as a man of faith. What a powerful legacy.” At Baylor, Robbins was a member of the Endowed Scholarship Society, the Bear Foundation, the Old Main Society, the 1845 Society and the Heritage Club. He also was a life member of the Baylor Law Alumni Association. He served on the advisory councils of the Honors College and the Hankamer School of Business Robbins Institute for Health Policy and Leadership. He also was on the Robbins College of Health and Human Services board of advocates and the Baylor University Foundation board. He formerly served on the Baylor University board of regents and on the board of trustees at Baylor College of Medicine. He also supported Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Hillcrest in Waco and the Baylor Louise Herrington School of Nursing in Dallas. Survivors include his wife Mary Jo Huey Robbins; children Cynthia K. Robbins, Jackson Gorman and wife Cheryl Scoglio, and Crystal Baird; and two grandchildren. Visitation is scheduled April 20 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. for the family and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Grand Chapel at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home in Houston. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. on April 21 at Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston. Memorial gifts may be made to the Robbins Foundation, 4265 San Felipe, Suite 300, Houston, TX 77027 or to Tallowood Baptist Church, 555 Tallowood Rd, Houston, TX 77024.

Ide P. Trotter, Baptist layman and a former dean and professor of finance at Dallas Baptist University, died April 4. He was 90. He was born Oct. 27, 1932, in Colombia, Mo., to Ide P. Trotter Sr. and Lena Ann Breeze Trotter. His family moved to the College Station area when his father became head of the Department of Agronomy at Texas A&M University, and he made a profession of faith in Christ at age 9 at First Baptist Church in Bryan. After graduating from Stephen F. Austin High School in Bryan, he enrolled at Texas A&M, where he began attending the campus chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. As a senior, he was chaplain of the Corps of Cadets and president of the Student Senate. He graduated as valedictorian of his class with both a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and a National Science Foundation Fellowship to attend Princeton University, where he earned his doctorate. He completed his military service in the Chemical Corps School at Ft. McClellan in Alabama and worked for Humble Oil and Refining Company. While working in Baytown, he and his wife Luella taught a Sunday school class at First Baptist Church of Baytown. While he worked on a one-year assignment with Esso Research and Engineering Co. in New Jersey, his family was involved in helping a mission church established by Madison Baptist Church. His work in management at Humble Oil—and later Exxon—took him and his family first to Houston and then to Millings, Mont., and Stamford, Conn., where he was chairman of deacons at Greenwich Baptist Church. While in Tokyo, Japan, and he and his wife taught a Bible class for couples at Tokyo Baptist Church. While they were in Brussels, Belgium, he was chair of deacons at International Baptist Church. After completing his career at Exxon in 1986, he became dean of the College of Management and Free Enterprise and professor of finance at Dallas Baptist University, where he served until 1990. He served as a deacon and Sunday school department director at First Baptist Church in Dallas and as chair of the Dallas Life Foundation homeless shelter. He founded Trotter Capital Management, and he served as a spokesman for Texans for Better Science Education. He was also instrumental in helping establish the Trotter Prize and Endowed Lecture Series at Texas A&M University. He was preceded in death by his wife Luella. He is survived by daughter Ruth Penick and her husband Jim; daughter Reni Pratt and her husband Randall; daughter Cathy Trotter Wilson and her husband Kevin; 13 grandchildren; and his brother Ben.

Julian C. Bridges, former missionary and longtime professor at Hardin-Simmons University, died March 20. He was 91. He was born April 3, 1931, in Miami, Fla. At age 10, he and his mother became believers in Jesus Christ on the same day, through the ministry and friendship of his after-school sitter, who began taking him to church. After he graduated from Miami High School, he went to the University of Florida, where he became actively involved in the Baptist Student Union. His experience as a summer missionary to Mexico led to his lifetime of service in Christian service and ministry. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Bridges went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, where he met and married Charlotte Martin, who quickly became a great partner in ministry and “the delight of his life.” During that time, Julian preached, and she played the piano for a small Spanish-language church in Dallas. Their courtship blossomed into marriage in 1954 and the strong bond of partnership and love in ministry continued through the next 68 years together. Upon graduation, the Bridges were appointed as foreign missionaries. They attended language school in Costa Rica, and their family grew quickly with the birth of three daughters. In 1961, the family of five moved to Mexico City. Julian Bridges became the minister to students, overseeing the work in two student centers and a university student Baptist residential home. The Bridges also served at the First Baptist Church of Mexico City and then created a small church, ministering to hundreds of poor children, students and families, until leaving Mexico in 1973. Bridges had received a Doctor of Theology degree in 1958, and while on furlough in 1968, he earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Florida. Hardin-Simmons University invited him to join the faculty in 1973, and he began teaching sociology. For several years, he was dean of the department of sociology and social work. After 31 years,  he retired from Hardin-Simmons in 2004 and was named professor emeritus of sociology. As a deacon at  First Baptist Church, Bridges was a strong advocate for City Light Ministries, an organization serving primarily the Abilene homeless and the poor. Through the decades, Bridges preached at City Light and many area churches in neighboring communities, and he served as interim pastor at Southside Baptist Church. The Bridges enjoyed visiting and praying with people in the hospital each week. One of his most enjoyable tasks was driving the First Baptist Church van to pick up children for Sunday school or Vacation Bible School. Bridges was a licensed marriage and family therapist and worked as a professional counselor through First Baptist Church. He was the author of six books, three of them written in Spanish. One of his last and largest projects in later retirement years was creating the largest pronunciation guide—both in print and audio—of Spanish names for English-Speakers ever produced at the time and marketed it online. In the most recent years, he has served as a bilingual translator for non-English-speaking defendants and inmates in the Abilene District and Federal court system. He was a longtime member of Rotary in Abilene and received its Lowell W. Queen Award of Excellence in 2011. He was elected to the Abilene City Council in 1982, served as mayor pro tempore in 1984-85 and chaired the human relations committee. Over the years Bridges was honored with various awards for civic service. He is survived by his wife of 68 years Charlotte, his three daughters Rebecca A. Bridges, Deborah L. Gil and Marelyn Shedd; and three grandchildren.

C. Ewing Cooley, retired professor and dean at Dallas Baptist College, died April 1 in Tyler. He was 87. He was born April 28, 1935, in McKinney to Waldron and Velma Snider Cooley. After graduating from Denton High School, he earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees, as well as a Doctor of Education degree, from North Texas State University. He also received a Master of Religious Education degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. While in college he met his wife, Jeannine, and they raised three daughters together. At Dallas Baptist College, he served as dean of students, professor of psychology, and head of the learning center. He then established a private counseling business and never completely retired from this vocational calling. He was the longtime caregiver for his wife, who lived with disabilities many years and preceded him in death. He was honored for more than 50 years of Bible study leadership, primarily teaching the Etc. class at First Baptist Church in Arlington. He enjoyed spending time outdoors with family in East Texas. He is survived by his daughter Robbyn Steele and husband Gary; daughter Kathy Cooley; daughter Kristy Brown and husband Phil; seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. A memorial service is scheduled at 2 p.m. on April 7 at First Baptist Church in Arlington.

George McRay Standley, who served five decades as a Texas Baptist pastor, died Feb. 28. He was 95. He committed his life to Christ at age 9 in Port Arthur, and he felt God’s call to the gospel ministry while still in high school. Standley was licensed and ordained in 1945 at First Baptist Church in Warren at age 17, just two months after graduating from high school. He began his pastoral ministry at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, while he was a student at East Texas Baptist College in Marshall. He regularly rode a bus part of the way to Tyler and then hitchhiked the rest of the trip so he could preach each Sunday. Standley later served at Pinehill Baptist Church in Henderson, First Baptist in Clayton, Pine Ridge Baptist in Sour Lake, First Baptist in Devers, London Baptist in New London and First Baptist in LaPorte. For the last 30 years of his ministry, he was the bivocational pastor of Caney Creek Baptist Church in Chester. In retirement, he served as a volunteer chaplain at Tyler County Hospital in Woodville. He was married to his high school sweetheart, Ola Jean Swearingen, 65 years before her death in 2012. He is survived by son Dale Standley and wife Bertie of Silsbee; daughter Lynette Wasson and husband Ben of El Dorado, Ark.; son Royce Standley and wife Kathy of Chester; son Richard Standley and wife Janet of Silsbee; and son David Standley and wife Karen of Warren; 11 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; and one sister, Beverly Reese.

Herbert Brisbane of Fort Worth, a trailblazing African American Southern Baptist denominational leader in evangelism and church planting, died March 2. He was 68. He was born June 21, 1954, to Marjorie Tatum and Herbert Brisbane Sr. in Wichita Falls. He attended Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls on a basketball scholarship and was featured in Sports Illustrated in 1975 for his athletic accomplishments. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. He served as associate director of the Baptist Student Union at Sam Houston State University and as director of the BSU at Texas Southern University. He was director of evangelism for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board before he joined the staff of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Home Mission Board, later the North American Mission Board, where he served in a series of roles—director of Black church evangelism, associate director of Black church extension and manager of multicultural evangelism. He was minister of missions and singles at Brentwood Baptist Church in Houston; director of pastoral care and evangelism at Antioch Baptist Church in Fairfax Station, Va.; and a chaplain at Baylor Scott & White in Grapevine. He most recently served on the ministerial staff at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth. He was a trustee of the SBC International Mission Board from 2010 to 2013. He was the author of The Journey of Brokenness, published in 2017. Brisbane is survived by his wife of 45 years, Wanda; son Marlin and his wife Melissa; daughter Tennille Gavin and her husband Cedric; son Marcus and his wife Ruth; and five grandchildren.

Earl Gene Goatcher, a foreign missionary who also supported the medical missions programs of Texas Baptists’ River Ministry, died Feb. 7. He was 94. He was born Aug. 2, 1928, near Formosa in Van Buren County, Ark., to James M. and Ruth Allen Goatcher. He served in the Armed Forces during the Korean War. Goatcher graduated from the University of Arkansas and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and completed the administrative residency program of Arkansas Baptist Hospital in Little Rock. In 1957, he married Dr. Joann Horton, the chief resident in pediatrics at the University of Arkansas Medical School. In 1962, the Goatchers were appointed as medical missionaries to Thailand by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Foreign Mission Board. During more than 22 years with the FMB, they ministered in more than 30 countries on four continents. Their missionary service began in Thailand, where he worked as a hospital administrator. After nine years in Thailand, they returned to the United States for a few years, when he served as administrator of a hospital in Van Horn. During that time, he helped with River Ministry medical programs along the Rio Grande, which his wife directed. In 1979, the Goatchers were asked to return to Thailand, where he directed the FMB response to the hundreds of thousands of Indochina refugees pouring into Thailand. That response entailed providing food, fuel, water and other services to 45,000 refugees daily, including complete medical services in a camp of 22,000. At the same time, he joined the board of directors of Bangalore Baptist Hospital in Bangalore, India, serving 11 years during which he served twice as chairman of the board and twice as interim administrator. When the Indochina refugee crisis subsided, he became director of refugee response and disaster relief in Southeast Asia for the FMB, initiating and monitoring health care and agriculture development projects in the region. In 1983, he became administrator of the Thailand Baptist Mission. In 1987, he joined the FMB administrative staff in Richmond, Va., monitoring and evaluating health care, refugee response and agriculture development projects on a worldwide basis. After retirement to Clinton, Ark., he served 12 years on the board of Ozark Health Medical Center in Clinton. He also served on the board of the Arkansas Hospital Association and served two years as president of the Arkansas Association of Hospital Trustees. He also served four years as pastor of Formosa Baptist Church. In 2012, the Goatchers moved to the Parkway Village Retirement Center in Little Rock, where they became active members of Immanuel Baptist Church. He was preceded in death by his older brother, Truett. He is survived by his wife of more than 65 years, Dr. Joann Horton Goatcher; children, Lisa Schuttger and James Goatcher; sister, Lavelle Rollins; eight grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.