George Washington Truett, also known as George W. Truett (May 6, 1867 – July 7, 1944), was an American
clergy
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
man who was the pastor of the
First Baptist Church of
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
, from 1897 until 1944, and the president of the
Southern Baptist Convention from 1927 to 1929.
[George Washington Truett Papers]
Accession #0095, The Texas Collection, Baylor University He was one of the "most famous
Southern Baptist" preachers and writers of his era.
Early life and education
Truett was born on a farm
in
Hayesville in
Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman:
* Clay County, Alabama
* Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County)
* Clay County, Fl ...
in remote
Western North Carolina
Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United ...
, the seventh child of Charles L. Truett and the former Mary R. Kimsey.
His ancestors were of English and Scots-Irish descent, and were pioneers in Appalachia. Several were well-known Baptist preachers. He entered school at Hayesville Academy in 1875 and graduated in 1885.
He had a dramatic conversion experience at a camp meeting revival in 1886.
Truett taught in a
Towns County, Georgia
Towns County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,493. Its county seat is Hiawassee. The county was created on March 6, 1856, and named for United States lawyer, ...
, school. In 1887, he founded the
Hiawassee Academy in that same county, with the intention of making enough money from private students to pay for law school.
In 1889, however, he left his position with the Academy to move with his parents to
Whitewright, Texas
Whitewright is a town in Fannin and Grayson Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 1,604 at the 2010 census, down from 1,740 at the 2000 census.
The Grayson County portion of Whitewright is part of the Sherman– Denison ...
. There he joined the Whitewright
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 compe ...
Church and attended
Grayson College
Grayson College is a public community college in Grayson County, Texas. The main campus is in Denison and it has branch campuses in Denison (west extension, at the site of the old Perrin Air Force Base) and Van Alstyne (south campus).
Histo ...
.
He was ordained to the Baptist ministry at the Whitewright church in 1890.
He preached his first sermon at the First Baptist Church in nearby
Sherman
Sherman most commonly refers to:
*Sherman (name), a surname and given name (and list of persons with the name)
** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General
*M4 Sherman, a tank
Sherman may also refer to:
Places United St ...
, Texas.
Baylor University
In 1891, Truett was hired by the president of
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...
in
Waco
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
, Texas, to serve as its financial secretary. Enterprising and energetic, Truett raised $92,000 in less than two years and completely wiped out the school's indebtedness.
After his stint as the school's financial secretary, Truett enrolled as a freshman at Baylor in 1893. From 1893 to 1897, he studied at Baylor and served as a student-pastor of the East Waco Baptist Church to pay for his tuition.
He graduated in June 1897 with an
A.B. degree.
Truett would later serve as a Baylor trustee from 1934 to 1939.
Pastoral career
Truett accepted the position of pastor of the
First Baptist Church in Dallas in September 1897, a position he would hold until his death.
During his 47-year pastorate, membership increased from 715 to 7,804; a total of 19,531 new members were received, and total contributions were $6,027,741.52.
The church was rebuilt three times during his tenure there to accommodate the expanding congregation.
His preaching made him nationally famous, as he criss-cross the nation leading revivals, participating in religious organizations, and raising funds for churches. He was a leader in the national "Seventy-Five Million Campaign," but the financial results were disappointing. In Texas he led the fundraising for the Texas Baptist Memorial Sanitarium, the forerunner of Baylor Hospital. He avoided politics except for prohibition issues and gambling.
Truett was the
president of the Southern Baptist Convention
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention heads the convention and is elected at the Annual Meeting. The president's duties include presiding over the annual meeting; appointing members to SBC committees; serving as an ex officio member of ...
from 1927 to 1929 and 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 ...
from 1934 to 1939.
During World War I, he was appointed by President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
as one of 20 preachers sent by the president for a six-month tour to preach to the
Allied forces.
One of Truett's most famous sermons, "Baptists and Religious Liberty", was delivered on the steps of the Capitol in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, on May 16, 1920.
In this sermon, he claimed that the United States was founded on the principles of religious freedom and separation of church and state.
He elaborated anti-Catholic views as the core element in his defense of religious liberty and the separation of church and state. He argued that the Catholic doctrine of baptismal regeneration and transubstantiation is fundamentally subversive of the gospel of Christ. Likewise, the Catholics built their church to separate the individual soul from God, making it "a ghastly tyranny" that frustrates the grace of God, destroys freedom of conscience, and hinders the coming of Kingdom of God. He warned his flock that America was “menaced by our vast and fast-growing cities,” which had become dens of “lawlessness.” Urban centers drew “the alien populations of the world with their strange customs and beliefs and ideals and sentimentalisms.” He said that Catholics rejected separation of church and state and were secretly plotting papal control of the American government.
Truett never attended a seminary and he paid little attention to theological debates. He was orthodox in his beliefs, but opposed efforts in the 1920s to pass state laws against the teaching of evolution. Fundamentalist elements attacked him for welcoming Northern Baptists to preach at his church in Dallas, and for fighting against the divisive influence of
J. Frank Norris
John Franklyn Norris (September 18, 1877 – August 20, 1952) was a Baptist preacher and controversial Christian fundamentalist.
Biography
J. Frank Norris was born in Dadeville in Tallapoosa County in eastern Alabama, but the family shortly ...
. Over the course of his pastoral career, he published ten volumes of sermons, two volumes of addresses, and two volumes of Christmas messages.
Truett worried that cowboys who worked the
cattle drive
A cattle drive is the process of moving a herd of cattle from one place to another, usually moved and herded by cowboys on horses.
Europe
In medieval central Europe, annual cattle drives brought Hungarian Grey cattle across the Danube River ...
s were too isolated from family, church, and society. He made annual trips through the
Davis Mountains
The Davis Mountains, originally known as Limpia Mountains, are a range of mountains in West Texas, located near Fort Davis, after which they are named. The fort was named for then United States Secretary of War and later Confederate President J ...
of
West Texas
West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio.
No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
for thirty-seven years, traveling with cattle drives there and preaching.
Personal life and death
Truett married fellow Baylor student Josephine Jenkins on June 28, 1894, with whom he had three children, all daughters.
He died in Dallas on July 7, 1944. His wife died twelve years later. Both are interred at
Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas.
Legacy
According to John S. Ezell:
:In his prime George W. Truett was nearly six feet tall and weighed about 200 pounds, with unusually broad shoulders and erect carriage. Solemn in appearance, he was black-haired, with blue-gray eyes and a wide, sensitive mouth. His remarkable voice made him audible to large crowds without the aid of an amplifying system. He was orthodox in theology, and his oratory, which led him to be compared with
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President ...
, was characterized by directness and conviction; it earned him a place as one of the great preachers of his day.
In 1957 Truett was portrayed by
Victor Jory
Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer N ...
in the episode "Lone Star Preacher" of the
syndicated television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
, ''
Crossroads
Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to:
* Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet
Film and television Films
* ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa
* ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...
''. The actress Barbara Eiler was cast as Truett's wife, Jo, who died eleven months before the episode aired.
An authorized but unsourced biography of Truett written by Powhatan James was published in 1939 by
Macmillan.
Namesakes
* The seminary at Baylor University,
George W. Truett Theological Seminary
George W. Truett Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological seminary in Waco, Texas. The seminary, named after Southern Baptist preacher George Washington Truett, was founded in 1993 as part of Baylor University and is affiliated with the Ba ...
Baylor University , , George W. Truett Theological Seminary , , The History of Truett Seminary
at Baylor.edu
* Truett-McConnell College
Truett McConnell University is a private Baptist university in Cleveland, Georgia. It is operated under the auspices of the Georgia Baptist Convention and controlled by a board of trustees elected by the convention. The university was named to ...
(named for both Truett and Truett's cousin, Fernando C. McConnell)
* George W. Truett Elementary School, part of the Dallas Independent School District
The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD or DISD) is a school district based in Dallas, Texas ( USA). It operates schools in much of Dallas County and is the second-largest school district in Texas and the seventeenth-largest in the ...
.
* S. Truett Cathy
Samuel Truett Cathy (March 14, 1921 September 8, 2014) was an American businessman, investor, author, and philanthropist. He founded the fast food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A in 1946.
Early life
Cathy was born on March 14, 1921, in Eatonto ...
, founder of Chick-fil-A restaurant chain
* Truett Memorial First Baptist Church, Hayesville, North Carolina
* Truett Hospital, located at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas
Baylor University Medical Center (Baylor Dallas or BUMC), part of Baylor Scott & White Health, is a Non-profit hospital, not-for-profit hospital in Dallas, Texas. It has 1,025 licensed beds and is one of the major centers for patient care, medic ...
* Truett Auditorium, located at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and is one of the largest seminaries in the world. It ...
* Truett Conference Center & Camp, Hayesville, North Carolina
Published works
*
*
*
*
*
See also
*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 ...
*Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...
*First Baptist Church (Dallas, Texas)
First Baptist Dallas is a Baptist megachurch located in Dallas, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1868 and, as of 2018, has a congregation of about 13,000. In 2017, weekly attendance for worship ...
*List of Southern Baptist Convention affiliated people
This list List of Southern Baptist Convention affiliated people includes notable individuals who are or were members of a church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) or who are otherwise affiliated with the SBC.
Presidents, pre ...
* Southern Baptist Convention
*Southern Baptist Convention Presidents
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention heads the convention and is elected at the Annual Meeting. The president's duties include presiding over the annual meeting; appointing members to SBC committees; serving as an ex officio member of ...
References
Further reading
* Canipe, Christopher L. "A captive church in the land of the free: EY Mullins, Walter Rauschenbusch, George Truett, and the rise of Baptist democracy, 1900–1925" (PhD. Diss. Baylor University, 2004)
online
* Canipe, Lee. “The Echoes of Baptist Democracy: George Truett’s Sermon at the U.S. Capitol as Patriotic Apology.” ''American Baptist Quarterly'' 21.4 (December 2002): 415-431.
* Durso, Keith E. ''Thy Will Be Done: A Biography of George W. Truett'' (Mercer University Press, 2009), a standard scholarly biography
* Ezell, John S. "Truett, George Washington, (May 6, 1867 - July 7, 1944)" in ''Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 3'' (1973)
* Farnsley, Arthur Emery. ''Southern Baptist Politics: Authority and Power in the Restructuring of an American Denomination'' (Pennsylvania State UP, 1994
online
* Hankins, Barry. ''Uneasy in Babylon: Southern Baptist Conservatives and American Culture'' (U Alabama Press, 2002
online
* Hatch, Derek Christopher. "E.Y. Mullins, George W. Truett, and a Baptist theology of nature and grace" (PhD Theology. Diss. University of Dayton, 2011
online
* Holcomb, J. David. “A Millstone Hanged about His Neck?: George W. Truett, AntiCatholicism, and Baptist Conceptions of Religious Liberty.” ''Baptist History and Heritage'' 43.3 (Summer/Fall 2008): 68-81
online
* James, Powhatan W. ''George W. Truett: A Biography'' (Broadman Press, 1939)
online
* Locke, Joseph. "Making the Bible Belt: Preachers, Prohibition, and the Politicization of Southern Religion, 1877-1918" (PhD . Diss. 2012
online
** Locke, Joseph L. ''Making the Bible Belt: Texas Prohibitionists and the Politicization of Southern Religion'' (Oxford UP, 2017).
* McBeth, H. Leon. "George W. Truett: Baptist Statesman" ''Baptist History and Heritage'' 32.2 (April 1997): 9-22.
* McBeth, H. Leon. '' Texas Baptists: A Sesquicentennial History'' (Dallas: Baptistway Press, 1998).
* Thompson, James J. ''Tried as by Fire: Southern Baptists and the Religious Controversies of the 1920s.'' (Mercer UP, 1982).
* Young, Doyle L. "Leadership That Motivates: A Study in the Life of George W. Truett." ''Baptist History and Heritage'' 20#1 (1985): 45-51.
External links
Believer's Web Biography of Truett
{{DEFAULTSORT:Truett, George W.
1867 births
1944 deaths
Baylor University alumni
Southern Baptist ministers
Southern Baptist Convention presidents
20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States
American evangelicals
Baptist writers
People from Clay County, North Carolina
People from Waco, Texas
People from Whitewright, Texas
People from Dallas
Burials at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery
Baptists from North Carolina
Critics of the Catholic Church