ATLANTA — Pastor Charles Stanley's son, Andy, shared a heartfelt message about how he spent the final weeks visiting and praying with his father.
Charles Stanley died Tuesday at 90 at his home in Atlanta. He was the driving engine of one of the largest faith organizations in the world, In Touch Ministries, and was long the influential pastor of First Baptist Church of Atlanta.
Andy Stanley is now a hugely influential minister in his own right, as pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta.
On Twitter Wednesday, Andy Stanley shared his final memories with his dad.
He wrote:
These final few weeks with my dad have been precious beyond words. At the end of every visit, he asked me to pray for him. Which of course I did. On my knees beside the big leather chair he was confined to for the past several months. But as I was leaving his house this past Saturday night, he asked if he could pray for me. As if he knew. Then, as was his habit, he said, “I couldn’t be prouder of you Andy.”
The source of a word determines its weight. Those were wonderfully weighty words. And his final words to me.
I’ll miss him every day until I see him again.
Upon the news of his death Tuesday, Charles Stanley's church said he will be truly missed as his reach extended far beyond the metro area.
Stanley was born on September 25, 1932 in Virginia. The church said he first got a calling to ministry at 14. He would then go to school in Texas to get his degree in divinity. He moved to Atlanta to get his doctorate degree in theology.
Stanley preached all over the country -- from Ohio to Florida before landing in Atlanta.
His show, "The Chapel Hour," aired on 11Alive in the '70s. The show would then be syndicated nationwide. It was renamed to "In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley," where he taught the country about the bible. The show still currently airs on 11Alive.
The show, which reached more than millions of homes, would then lead to the growth of his ministry as a separate non-profit organization called In Touch Ministries in the early '80s.
He would become the driving force of one of the largest ministries in the world.
"From that point on, Dr. Stanley tirelessly sought out and employed innovative technologies to send the message of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth," his biography reads.
A public repose is scheduled for Saturday, April 22 at First Baptist Church of Atlanta. The program will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
At this time, his family has requested that the memorial service honoring his life be private. If you cannot attend the public repose, a livestream of the ceremony will be available on the Charles Stanley website. To view the site, click the link here.
The family asks that donations be made to the ongoing mission of In Touch Ministries instead of flowers.