Joel C. Gregory Biography and Wiki
Dr. Joel C. Gregory holds the George W. Truett Endowed Chair in Preaching and Evangelism and serves as the Director of the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University. Last year he spoke or taught 170 times in 32 churches and 20 conferences in 18 states, Greece and Oxford, UK.
He has just completed a sabbatical at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University where he did research in applied homiletics and 19th century British Baptist history for a forthcoming book and article. He will bring the concluding message at the Baptist World Congress in Durban, South Africa this summer. He also serves on the BWA Commission on Worship and Spirituality. In that connection and with Baylor University Press he edited and was the lead author of Baptist Preaching: A Global Anthology.
Joel C. Gregory Age and Birthday
Gregory was born on April 9th, 1948 in the United States. He is currently at the age of 72 as of 2020. He always celebrates his birthday on April 9th, every year.
Joel C. Gregory Height and Weight
Have you been asking yourself this question how tall is Joel C. Gregory, unfortunately, there are no clear records about his height, this information is still under research and will soon be updated when we come across any detail concerning his height
Joel C. Gregory Education
Talking about his educational background, he holds the B.A summa cum laude and Ph.D. from Baylor University. He received the M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (1973) and taught preaching there 1982-1985.
Joel C. Gregory Parents, Family, Siblings
After doing our research, details about his parents are not known to the public and it is also not known if he has any siblings. We are keeping tabs and will update this information once we get it from a credible source.
Joel C. Gregory Wife
Have you been wondering if the preacher is married, the answer is yes. According to our research, he is the husband of Joanne Michele Gregory (B.A., RN), a Baylor alumna, and they are the parents of four adult children.
Joel C. Gregory Facts and Body Measurements
- Full Name: Dr. Joel C. Gregory
- Age: 72 years (2020)
- Date of Birth: April 9th, 1948
- Place of Birth: United States.
- Education: Baylor University
- Birthday: April 9th,
- Nationality: American
- Father’s Name: Mr. Gregory
- Mother’s Name: Mrs. Gregory
- Spouse: Joanne Michele Gregory
- Children: Four Children
- Profession: Pastor
Joel C. Gregory Net Worth
Gregory has not revealed his net worth. He is a simple person and never likes to attract public attention by publicly displaying his wealth. However, this section is under review, we will update you when details about his net worth are revealed.
Joel C. Gregory Ministry
He received the M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (1973) and taught preaching there 1982-1985. He served for two terms unanimously elected as President of the 5400-church Baptist General Convention of Texas. He has preached at venues as varied as Westminster Chapel, Spurgeon’s College, and Kensington Temple, all in London, as well as Regent’s Park College, Oxford.
He has preached at the Baptist World Congress in Seoul, the International Seminary in Buenos Aires, Princeton Seminary, and Princeton University chapels as well as scores of seminaries and colleges. Among his pastorates were Travis Avenue, Fort Worth, and First Baptist Dallas.
His Proclaimers Place seminars have been conducted in 17 states, Oxford, Paris, Rome, and Athens with more than 70 four-day seminars and more than 1000 pastors trained over the last ten years. For the last ten years, He has taught the seminar at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University.
For years Joel was the preacher on the International Baptist Hour radio program heard on more than 500 stations. He brought the annual sermon at the critical 1988 Southern Baptist Convention in San Antonio, “The Castle and the Wall,” widely considered a watermark message in recent Baptist history. He is the author of five books, editor of three anthologies and the subject of a nationally performed play, God’s Man in Texas. He was recently recognized by Baylor and his peers for his 50th preaching anniversary.
Joel C. Gregory News
A pastor is led into temptation by the allure of a megachurch
Not all is serene among the fundamentalists who control the theologically divided, 16 million-member Southern Baptist Convention — the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Rev. Joel Gregory’s gossipy book is readable evidence. Selectively candid and self-serving though it is, his first-person account of the troubles of a Dallas “super church” and his sometimes dreary, sometimes tumultuous 21 months as its pastor provides fascinating insights into the inner workings of an increasingly influential wing of American Christianity.
The author makes no bones about the “seductive appeal” and “allure” that First Baptist Church of Dallas held for him in 1990. That was when, at age 42, Dr. Gregory received the flattering summons — and what was to turn out to be a strangely ambiguous commission — to succeed First Baptist’s legendary “Great One,” its pastor since 1944, the Rev. Wallie Amos Criswell. The contest that developed between the younger man and the patriarch proved unequal.W. A., as Dr.
Criswell is usually called — “a virtual apotheosis, an icon standing above confrontation,” Dr. Gregory adds acidly — is still going strong at age 84. He celebrated his 50th-anniversary last month as First Baptist’s venerable survivor.Dr. Gregory, meanwhile, was living quietly in his native Fort Worth 30 miles away. He was married to a new wife and selling funeral services and burial plots door-to-door.
The Dallas congregation, in its nearly 100 years, had had only two pastors before Dr. Gregory. Under W. A. Criswell, it became the prototype of today’s “megachurches,” with a staff of 300 and an annual payroll of $5 million, two radio stations, two schools, a college, and 47 kitchens in its 5 square blocks of downtown real estate.”What Rome is to the Catholic, Salt Lake City to the Mormon, or Canterbury to the Anglican,” the author writes, “so is FBC Dallas to the Baptist.”But that does not express it.
There is also the appeal that Maxim’s has to the gourmet, the Burgundy region of France to the connoisseur of wine, with a — of the attraction Las Vegas has for the gambler.”First Baptist of Dallas “evokes something in the spiritual realm akin to sexual lust in the fleshly realm,” Dr. Gregory writes.
While it claimed — and still claims — more than 28,000 congregants, he shocked insiders and outsiders alike during his brief tenure by publishing audited attendance figures showing there were fewer than a fourth of that number in the pews and classrooms on Sunday. Whatever its true size, the congregation is said to include more millionaires than most churches have members.
It sits where “the Way of the Cross intersects the American Dream — Via Dolorosa at Wall Street,” says the author, who is never at a loss for colorful hyperbole. He states unequivocally that First Baptist of Dallas is “the nation’s most powerful Protestant church.”His book offers varied perspectives on the state of the country and of the country’s religion. There are his contrasting pictures of nouveau riche Dallas and down-to-earth Fort Worth: “In Fort Worth, no one much gives a hoot what you look like. I’m sure that in some of the downtown law firms a few genteel Cowtown yuppies care, but not like Dallas. When I entered a Dallas church as guest preacher, the greeters and other members did not even try to hide a head-to-toe scan of coiffure, shave, tie, shirt, suit, and shoes. . . . The X-ray you.”
Political allegiances enter the picture: “To say that First Baptist had a high identity with the Republican Party is to say that fish have a high identity with the ocean. If there were Democrats in the church, they could have gathered in a janitor’s closet.” Though faithful to fundamentalist theology, the author finds himself out of step with the politics of the church. “The identification of conservative evangelicals with the Republican Party always made me nervous,” he writes.
There are the deferred disclosures, the awakened conscience, the calls for reforms. “When a church becomes so large that it is master rather than servant, it has become too large,” he discovered. While pastor, he followed the accepted practice and did not disclose to the congregation as a whole of his $165,000 annual salary. Secrecy was a mistake, he now believes. The author’s scathing descriptions of W. A.’s meddlesome wife, Betty, and the power she exercised at First Baptist are grist for the mill of Roman Catholic traditionalists resisting the idea of married clergy.W. A. himself may be the “Baptist pope,” as the book characterizes him, but decorum is stripped away.
“He would get into the bath, fill the tub with water, set a basket of oranges by the tub, peel them and eat them right there,” the author writes. “He said in his famous vibrato, ‘The juice runs down my chin and down my arms, but I just splash the water on me and am never sticky.’ “Dr. Gregory says his sudden resignation from First Baptist’s prestigious pastorate was the result of W. A.’s refusal to vacate the premises as he had promised, but the book contains a more persuasive, more engaging reason.
The allure of huge, expensively furnished executive offices was transitory: “I longed for earlier, simpler days when I would play dominoes with humble folk after Sunday night church, sit on a front porch and crank homemade ice cream with a deacon or crawl around in the attic of the church trying to fix the air conditioning.”.
Frequently Asked Questions About Joel C. Gregory
Who is Joel C.?
Dr. Joel C. Gregory holds the George W. Truett Endowed Chair in Preaching and Evangelism and serves as the Director of the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University.
How old is Joel C.?
Gregory was born on April 9th, 1948 in the United States. He is currently at the age of 72 as of 2020. He always celebrates his birthday on April 9th, every year.
How tall is Joel C.?
Have you been asking yourself this question how tall is Joel C. Gregory, unfortunately, there are no clear records about his height, this information is still under research and will soon be updated when we come across any detail concerning his height
Is Joel C. married?
Have you been wondering if the preacher is married, the answer is yes. According to our research, he is the husband of Joanne Michele Gregory (B.A., RN), a Baylor alumna, and they are the parents of four adult children.
How much is Joel C. worth?
Gregory has not revealed his net worth. He is a simple person and never likes to attract public attention by publicly displaying his wealth. However, this section is under review, we will update you when details about his net worth are revealed.
Where does Joel C. live?
Because of security reasons, Gregory has not shared his precise location of residence. We will immediately update this information if we get the location and images of his house.
Is Joel C. dead or alive?
Gregory is alive and in good health. There have been no reports of him being sick or having any health-related issues.
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