Duke Kimbrough McCall (September 1, 1914April 2, 2013)
was an American
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
religious leader who served as Chief Executive Officer of the
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...
(SBC) Executive Committee, as president of two theological seminaries, as president of the
Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...
, and as a
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
pastor.
Childhood, college and marriage
Born in
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...
, McCall grew up in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, one of five children of John W. McCall, an attorney and judge, and Lizette Kimbrough McCall, a leader in Southern Baptist mission support.
McCall attended
Furman University
Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...
,
Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...
, from which he graduated summa cum laude as valedictorian in 1935.
While attending Furman, McCall met Greenville resident Marguerite Mullinnix. The couple married shortly after McCall's graduation and raised four sons: Duke Jr. and Douglas McCall (twins), John Richard McCall, and Michael McCall.
Following his first wife's death in 1983, McCall married Winona Gatton McCandless, the widow of Louisville telephone company executive Paul McCandless.
Early career
After deciding to pursue ministry instead of law, McCall declined his acceptance from Vanderbilt Law School to enroll at the
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at ...
in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, earning the
Th.M.
Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a stand ...
degree in 1938 while serving as a fellow to the seminary's president, John R. Sampey. McCall then earned a
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
from the seminary in 1942. While completing his Ph.D., he served as pastor of a small Baptist church in Woodville, Tennessee.
McCall's first full-time pastorate, during the early years of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, was at Broadway Baptist Church, a prominent congregation in downtown Louisville.
In 1943, McCall was elected president of the Baptist Bible Institute of
, which less than three years later became
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Missions and evangelism are core focuses of the seminary.
NOBTS offers doctoral ...
.
Denominational leadership
In 1946, McCall became Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the SBC Executive Committee, the
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...
's central coordinating body. During his tenure the SBC became the largest Protestant faith group in the United States.
Presidency of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
McCall's tenure as president of the
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at ...
was from 1951 to 1982. During that time the seminary's student body grew from 800 to more than 2,000 students, ranking as the second largest of the 200 accredited theological schools in the United States. The school celebrated its centennial year in 1959, during McCall's presidency.
Soon after becoming president, McCall integrated the seminary's classrooms in defiance of Kentucky's segregationist state law. Later, at the height of the civil rights movement, McCall invited Martin Luther King Jr. to speak on campus, making Southern the only SBC institution to host the Baptist civil rights leader.
McCall completed three capital campaigns, one of them funding the construction of the James P. Boyce Centennial Library; another endowing the Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism; and a third that, at more than $10 million, was at the time the largest financial campaign in American theological education.
In 1953 McCall organized Southern into three graduate schools—theology, Christian education, and church music. In 1984, a school of church social work was added, and became the first seminary-based school of social work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. He also led the seminary to launch Boyce Bible School (now called Boyce College), an adult education division for students without college prerequisites.
Writing and television
McCall wrote several books, including ''What is the Church?, God's Hurry'', and ''A Story of Stewardship''. For 30 years he wrote a monthly opinion column, ''Thinking Aloud''. In the early 1960s he helped inaugurate a weekly interfaith dialogue, ''Moral Side of the News'', on Louisville's
WHAS-TV
WHAS-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on West Chestnut Street in Downtown Louisville, and its transmitter is located in rural ...
in which Protestant, Catholic and Jewish leaders discussed the week's headlines in light of faith.
Later career
In 1980, McCall was elected to a five-year term as president of the
Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...
, representing 37 million Baptists in 120 nations. He had long been active in the Alliance, beginning with his attendance at the first BWA-sponsored Baptist World Youth Conference, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, when he was 16 years old.
In 1982, McCall ran for and lost in the SBC presidential election to conservative Texas pastor
James T. Draper
In 1990, McCall and several others established the Baptist Cooperative Missions Program, which provided resources to help launch the
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) is a Baptist Christian denomination in the United States. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Decatur, Georgia.
History
The Cooperative Baptist Association has its or ...
, an alternative association of about 2,000 moderate and progressive Baptist congregations.
Honors
McCall has been recognized through the endowment of the Duke K. McCall Chair of Christian Mission and World Christianity at the
Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond
Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (BTSR) was a free-standing seminary in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded in March 1989 by Virginia Baptists related to the Southern Baptist Alliance (now the Alliance of Baptists) and Baptist General Assoc ...
, Virginia, and in the naming of the Duke McCall Welcome Center on the Southern Seminary campus in Louisville, Kentucky.
At Southern Seminary in August 2019, Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. announced the establishment of the Duke McCall Chair of Pastoral Leadership. He also held several honorary doctorates.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCall, Duke Kimbrough
Southern Baptist ministers
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary presidents
American religious leaders
People from Meridian, Mississippi
1914 births
2013 deaths
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni
Southern Baptists
Baptists from Mississippi
Baptists from Kentucky