Charles Frazier Stanley (born September 25, 1932; died April 18, 2023) was an American Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and author based in Atlanta, Georgia.
He led First Baptist Church Atlanta as senior pastor for nearly 50 years and founded In Touch Ministries, the broadcast ministry that carried his sermons into more than 100 countries.
Stanley served two terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention and wrote more than 70 books, making him one of the most recognized preachers of his generation.
Charles Stanley at a Glance
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Charles Frazier Stanley |
| Born | September 25, 1932, Dry Fork, Virginia, USA |
| Died | April 18, 2023 (age 90), Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Anna Johnson Stanley (m. 1955; div. 2000; d. 2014) |
| Children | Andy Stanley; Becky Stanley Brodersen |
| Parents | Charles Stanley Sr. (father, died when Stanley was 9 months old); Rebecca Stanley (mother) |
| Education | |
| University | University of Richmond (BA) |
| Seminary | Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity); Luther Rice Seminary (ThM, DTh) |
| Ministry | |
| Title | Senior Pastor (1971–2020), then Pastor Emeritus |
| Church | First Baptist Church Atlanta |
| Denomination | Southern Baptist Convention |
| Broadcast ministry | In Touch Ministries, founded 1972 (incorporated 1982) |
| SBC President | 1984–1986 |
| Successor at First Baptist | Anthony George (2020) |
| Career | |
| Books | 70+ published titles |
| Net worth | Unverified; aggregator estimates range from $1.5 million to $15 million |
Early Life and Background
Charles Stanley was born September 25, 1932, in Dry Fork, Virginia, during the depths of the Great Depression.
His father, Charles Stanley Sr., died when Stanley was only nine months old. His mother Rebecca raised him alone for years before remarrying.
That second marriage brought hardship, not stability. Stanley’s stepfather drank heavily and turned violent in the home.
Stanley later admitted he once pulled a knife on the man during a fight, and he begged his mother to leave. She stayed, holding to her faith, and the tension shaped Stanley for the rest of his life.
He said the experience left him “very, very uneasy unless I was in charge,” a drive that would follow him straight into the pulpit.
Stanley said he became a born-again Christian at age 12, and received his call to ministry at 14. He earned a scholarship, one his mother had prayed for, to attend the University of Richmond, where he studied and met an art student named Anna Margaret Johnson.
He went on to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, for his Master of Divinity, then later earned a master’s and a doctorate in theology from Luther Rice Seminary in Atlanta.
Ministry and Career
Early Pastoral Roles
Before Atlanta, Stanley pastored a string of churches across the South. He served Fruitland Baptist near Hendersonville, North Carolina (1957–1959), First Baptist of Fairborn, Ohio (1959–1962), First Baptist of Miami, Florida (1962–1968), and First Baptist of Bartow, Florida (1968). Each stop sharpened the direct, practical preaching style he’d become known for.
First Baptist Church Atlanta
Stanley joined First Baptist Church Atlanta as associate pastor on October 1, 1969. Two years later, on October 1, 1971, he became senior pastor.
He would hold that role for 49 years, building the church into one of the largest and most influential congregations in the country.
In Touch Ministries and the Rise of a Broadcast Pastor
In 1972, Stanley launched a 30-minute local TV program called The Chapel Hour on Atlanta stations WXIA and WANX. In 1978, the Christian Broadcasting Network asked him to take the show national.
Renamed In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley, it went from 16,000 local viewers to a nationwide audience within a single week.
By 1982, Stanley had incorporated the broadcast as its own non-profit: In Touch Ministries. At no cost to First Baptist Atlanta, In Touch grew into a global operation, eventually reaching viewers and listeners in more than 100 countries in dozens of languages. Stanley became known as the country’s longest-serving pastor with a continuous weekly broadcast.
Southern Baptist Convention President
Stanley was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1984 and reelected in 1985, serving two consecutive one-year terms during a period of sharp theological division within the denomination.
His election marked a turning point for the conservative resurgence inside the SBC, and the internal battle largely settled once his presidency was underway.
Charles Stanley Books and Sermons
Stanley wrote more than 70 books over his lifetime, several landing on the New York Times bestseller list. His writing leaned practical rather than academic, covering prayer, obedience, forgiveness, and spiritual warfare. Titles like The Gift of Forgiveness and Handle with Care became staples in Christian bookstores for decades.
His sermons followed the same pattern: plain language, one clear point, and a call to obey. In 2007 he introduced his “30 Life Principles,” a framework built around the idea that obedience to God always brings blessing.
Those principles became a recurring feature across his TV and radio programs and still circulate today through In Touch’s archives.
Personal Life
Marriage to Anna Johnson Stanley
Stanley married Anna Margaret Johnson in 1955. She was an art student and gifted pianist and Bible teacher who served alongside him at every church he pastored, from North Carolina to Florida to Georgia. Together they had two children: Andy Stanley and Becky Stanley Brodersen.
This is the answer to how many times Charles Stanley got married: once. He married Anna in 1955 and never remarried after their divorce.
Why Anna Stanley Filed for Divorce
Anna Stanley first filed for divorce on June 22, 1993, after the couple had separated. Stanley persuaded her to amend the filing to a legal separation while they attempted reconciliation.
It didn’t hold. She filed again on March 20, 1995, and the case moved forward. The final divorce was filed February 16, 2000, and a judge signed it that year, ending a marriage of more than 40 years.
Court filings cited “irreconcilable differences.” Beyond that, the specific personal reasons behind the split were never made public by either party.
The divorce created real tension inside First Baptist Atlanta. The church’s bylaws had barred divorced men from serving as pastor, and Stanley had once said publicly he would resign if his wife ever left him.
When it happened, church members voted to let him keep his position anyway, on the condition he did not remarry.
Some inside the congregation, including his own son Andy, wanted him to step down and let the church decide his future.
Andy left First Baptist over the disagreement and went on to found North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, now North Point Ministries, an eight-church network in the Atlanta area.
Is Charles Stanley’s Wife Still Alive?
No. Anna Johnson Stanley died on November 10, 2014, at age 83, surrounded by family. She was born October 9, 1931, in Smithfield, North Carolina.
Did Charles Stanley Remarry?
No credible record shows that Charles Stanley ever remarried after his 2000 divorce. Church leadership had made staying unmarried a condition of him keeping his pastorate, and no named news source, obituary, or church statement from his lifetime documents a second marriage. Claims online naming a “second wife” for Stanley are unsourced and should be treated as false.
Theology and Ministry Philosophy
Stanley preached a straightforward, expository style built around one motto he learned from his grandfather: “Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.” He repeated it for decades, and it defined how he approached both his ministry and his personal crises.
His theology was evangelical, dispensationalist, and unmistakably Southern Baptist in its emphasis on personal salvation and biblical authority.
He believed obedience to scripture came first, ahead of comfort, popularity, or even his own reputation, which is exactly the stance he took when the church debated whether he should stay in the pulpit after his divorce.
Influence and Legacy
Stanley’s reach went far beyond Atlanta. In Touch Ministries carried his sermons into more than 100 countries, giving him one of the largest television and radio audiences of any American pastor.
He trained a generation of preachers in expository preaching, mentored church leaders through In Touch’s resources, and left First Baptist Atlanta as one of the largest Southern Baptist congregations in the country.
He’s also connected to one of modern evangelicalism’s more visible father-son stories. His son Andy Stanley became a major pastor and author in his own right, leading North Point Ministries and taking a notably different theological approach than his father on several issues, a contrast that continues to draw attention from religious commentators.
Who Replaced Charles Stanley at First Baptist Atlanta?
Stanley stepped down as senior pastor in 2020 after nearly 50 years in the role, taking the title of pastor emeritus. He named Anthony George as his successor.
George took over daily leadership of the church while Stanley remained connected to In Touch Ministries until his death.
Net Worth and Financial Information
Charles Stanley’s net worth was never confirmed through financial disclosures. Third-party “net worth” sites list wildly inconsistent figures, ranging from $1.5 million to $15 million, with no shared methodology or sourcing behind any of them.
What’s documented is that Stanley lived modestly relative to his platform, and In Touch Ministries operated as a non-profit rather than a personal income vehicle.
Awards and Recognition
- President of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1984–1986
- National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame
- Multiple New York Times bestselling titles across his 70+ books
Interesting Facts About Charles Stanley
- He was an only child, and his father died when he was just nine months old.
- He said he received his call to ministry at age 14, years before he ever stepped into a pulpit professionally.
- He was an avid nature photographer, and many of his own travel photos were reproduced in In Touch publications.
- His broadcast grew from 16,000 local viewers to a national audience in a single week after CBN picked it up in 1978.
- He served as senior pastor of First Baptist Atlanta for 49 years, longer than most American pastors serve in their entire careers.
Timeline of Key Events
- September 25, 1932 – Born in Dry Fork, Virginia
- 1955 – Marries Anna Margaret Johnson
- 1957–1968 – Pastors churches in North Carolina, Ohio, and Florida
- 1969 – Joins First Baptist Church Atlanta as associate pastor
- 1971 – Becomes senior pastor of First Baptist Atlanta
- 1972 – Launches The Chapel Hour local broadcast
- 1978 – Broadcast goes national as In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley
- 1982 – In Touch Ministries formally incorporated
- 1984–1986 – Serves as president of the Southern Baptist Convention
- 1993 – Anna Stanley first files for divorce; later amended to legal separation
- 1995 – Anna Stanley refiles for divorce
- 2000 – Divorce finalized after more than 40 years of marriage
- 2007 – Introduces his “30 Life Principles” teaching series
- 2014 – Anna Johnson Stanley dies at age 83
- 2020 – Steps down as senior pastor; Anthony George succeeds him
- April 18, 2023 – Dies at his home in Atlanta at age 90
Charles Stanley’s Obituary and Death
Charles Stanley died peacefully at his Atlanta home on the morning of April 18, 2023, at age 90. In Touch Ministries confirmed his passing publicly that day.
No official cause of death was ever released by the family or the ministry. Reporting at the time noted Stanley had been in declining health and largely confined to a chair in his home for the several months prior to his death.
His family requested that the memorial service remain private, limited to family. The public was invited to a visitation on April 22 at First Baptist Church Atlanta, where his body lay in repose.
He was survived by his son Andy, his daughter Becky Stanley Brodersen, his sister Susie, and six grandchildren.
Charles Stanley’s Last Words
In the final weeks of his life, Stanley was largely confined to a chair in his home. His son Andy visited regularly, and at the end of each visit, the elder Stanley would ask Andy to pray for him, which Andy did, kneeling beside the chair.
On his final visit that Saturday night, something shifted: this time, Charles asked if he could pray for Andy instead, “as if he knew” it was coming to an end.
“I couldn’t be prouder of you, Andy.”
Those were the last words Charles Stanley said to his son. Andy Stanley shared the moment publicly the day after his father’s death, calling those final weeks “precious beyond words.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Charles Stanley famous for?
Charles Stanley is best known as the longtime senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta and the founder of In Touch Ministries, the broadcast ministry that carried his sermons to more than 100 countries. He also served two terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention and wrote more than 70 books.
What were Charles Stanley’s last words before he died?
According to his son Andy Stanley, Charles Stanley’s final words to him were, “I couldn’t be prouder of you, Andy,” spoken during their last visit together before his death on April 18, 2023.
What did Charles Stanley die from?
No official cause of death was ever released. He had been in declining health for months and died peacefully at his Atlanta home at age 90.
Who replaced Charles Stanley at First Baptist Church Atlanta?
Anthony George succeeded Charles Stanley as senior pastor in 2020, when Stanley stepped down and took the title of pastor emeritus.
How much money did Charles Stanley have?
No verified net worth figure exists. Aggregator estimates range from $1.5 million to $15 million, but none are backed by financial disclosures or credible sourcing.
How many times did Charles Stanley get married?
Once. He married Anna Johnson Stanley in 1955, and the marriage ended in divorce in 2000. He did not remarry.
Is Charles Stanley’s wife still alive?
No. Anna Johnson Stanley died on November 10, 2014, at age 83, nearly nine years before Charles Stanley’s own death.
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