|death_date=
|death_place=
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/charles-stanley/e792049411116|title=Charles F. Stanley|publisher=mylife.com|accessdate=August 2, 2021}}</ref>|occupation=[[Pastor]]-emeritus of <br> First Baptist Church of (Atlanta)<br>President of In Touch Ministries><br>[[Televangelist]], [[theologian]], [[author]], [[photographer]]
|spouse=Anna Margaret Johnson Stanley (married 1955-1992, separated, divorced finalized 2000)
|children=Rebecca "Becky" Stanley Brodersen<br>
|website=In Touch Ministries – Home }}
'''Charles Frazier Stanley''' (born September 25, 1932) is the pastor emeritus of the 15,000-member megachurch, the First [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia]]. He left the full-time pastorate in 2020 after fifty-one years in the pulpit. In 1977, he founded In Touch Ministries, which he still heads as president. He preaches regularly, and his sermons are carried via cable [[television]].<ref>Charles Stanley Stepping Down as Pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta (faithit.com), accessed August 1, 2021.</ref>
From 1984 to 1986, he was the president of the [[Southern Baptist Convention]]. His ''Life Principles Bible'' has sold more than one million copies.<ref>Shelia Poole, "Atlanta Pastor Charles Stanley 's Life Principles Bible' hits 1 million mark, ajc.com, December 19, 2017.</ref> In 1988, he was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame.<ref>Charles Stanley Biography, Wife, Age, Children, In Touch, Books, Worth (biographyscoop.com), accessed August 2, 2021.</ref>
==Background==
Stanley was born in Dry Fork (current population 4,200) in Pittsylvania County near Danville in south central [[Virginia]].<ref>Dr Charles Stanley (June-14-2021) Sermons : God's Rewards to the Church (sermons-online.org), accessed August 2, 2021.</ref> His father, also named Charles, died in 1933 nine months after Stanley's birth, and he was reared by a [[Christian]] mother, Rebecca, who worked at the Dan Mills textile mill for small wages and later remarried. In his early years, he ran newspaper routes to support himself. At the age of twelve, he became a [[Salvation|born-again]] [[Christian]] a term coined by [[Jesus Christ]] in the Bible but shunned by some [[liberal]] Protestant denominations. He surrendered to the ministry at the age of fourteenHe later expressed regret over neglecting his studies in public school.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://marriedbiography.com/charles-stanley-biography/|title=Charles Stanley|publisher=marriedbiography.com|accessdate=August 2, 2021}}</ref>
Stanley obtained his bachelor's degree from the private liberal arts school, the University of Richmond in [[Richmond]], the capital of Virginia. He then obtained a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in [[Fort Worth]], [[Texas]]. The private theologically [[conservative]] Luther Rice College and Seminary awarded Stanley both Master of Theology and Doctor of Ministry. The private institution was founded in 1962 in [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]], [[Florida]], and was relocated in 1991 to Lithonia in DeKalb County in suburban Atlanta.<ref>Charles Stanley Bio, Age, Family, Education, Career, Management, Worth (hustleinboots.com), accessed August 2, 2021.</ref>
Stanley married the former Anna Margaret Johnson (1931-2014), a native of North Carolina, who accompanied her husband in Christian activities in North Carolina, [[Ohio]], and [[Florida]], until he accepted the Atlanta pastorate in 1969. The couple separated in 1994, and their divorce was finalized in 2000. They had two children, Rebecca "Becky" Stanley Brodersen (born 1961) of [[Dallas]], [[Texas]] , and the Reverend Charles Andrew "Andy" Stanley of the North Point Community Church in Alpharetta in northern Fulton County, Georgia.She was cremated.<ref>Anna Margaret Johnson Stanley (1931-2014) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed August 2, 2021.</ref> According to First Baptist Atlanta's bylaws, Stanley was allowed to continue his pastorate so long as he did not remarry.
==Christian ministry==
After stints at churches in [[North Carolina]], [[Ohio]], and Florida, Stanley moved in 1969 from Florida to the First Baptist staff in downtown Atlanta. Two years later, he was named senior pastor. Georgia Governor [[Brian Kemp]] attended FBC to celebrate Stanley's milestone of service.<ref>Buck Lanford, Dr. Charles Stanley honored for 50 years of ministry (fox5atlanta.com), accessed August 2, 2021.</ref>
In 1972, he launched a half-hour religious television program, ''The Chapel Hour,'' the forerunner to his establishment in 1977 of In Touch Ministries with the mission tof teaching, evangelism, and strengthening the church.<ref name="religionnews.com">Emily McFarlan Miller, [https://religionnews.com/2020/09/14/influential-pastor-charles-stanley-steps-down-at-first-baptist-church-atlanta-after-50-years/ Influential pastor, Charles Stanley, steps down at First Baptist Church Atlanta after 50 years], religionnews.com, USA, September 14, 2020</ref> The [[Christian Broadcasting Network]] began televising this show in 1978. The program has been translated in fifty languages. In the United States, "In Touch" is broadcast on approximately 2,600 [[radio]] stations, three hundred television outlets, and several satellite networks, such as the [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]].<ref>Patricia Holbroook, Dr. Charles F. Stanley leads life of unwavering faith (ajc.com), accessed August 2, 2021.</ref>
His sermons and other programming are available on the ''In Touch'' website. The ministry also publishes ''In Touch'' magazine. Stanley often focuses on finances, parenting, and emotion matters as well as theological Christianity. He stresses the inerrancy Scripture. Over the course of his ministry, Stanley has developed "30 Life Principles" that have guided his Christian life.<ref>30 Life Principles (intouch.org), accessed August 2, 2021.</ref>He credits his grandfather, George Washington Stanley, with his command, “Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.” In his book ''Courageous Faith: My Story from a Life of Obedience,''<ref>Courageous Faith: My Story From a Life of Obedience (HB) (intouchaustralia.org, accessed August 2, 2021.</ref> Stanley writes, “Granddad told me, ‘Charles, if God tells you to run your head through a brick wall, you head for the wall, and when you get there, God will make a hole for it..''<ref>charles_stanley_abstract_finalCharles_stanley_abstract_final.pdf (hughsnews.com), accessed August 2, 2021.</ref>
In addition to his work in Christian ministry, Stanley is an avid photographer, much of his work being mountain scenes. Many of his current photographs come from such distance locations as [[Alaska]] and [[Zanzibar]] and can be accessed on the In Touch website.<ref>Charles Stanley Photography (intouch.org), accessed August 2, 2021.</ref>
[[Category:Radio]]
[[Category:Television]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]