BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - Every spring for nearly 50 years, evangelist Humphrey Foutz and the Central church have held a gospel meeting at the inner-city congregation where Foutz helped lead thousands of souls to Jesus. So when the 73-year-old Foutz died recently after a long illness, the 1,600-member congregation and his widow, Annie Jewel Foutz, did more than eulogize him as a mighty man of God. They also honored the memory of a minister known for mixing sound doctrine, kindness and a big smile by proceeding with the meeting that started just two days after his death. “The most blessed way that we could celebrate his life was to hold the gospel meeting,” Annie Foutz said. “Where ever he went, he wanted to see Christians that had been baptized.” Whether speaking at national lectureships and seminars or appearing on television programs such as the Herald of Truth, Foutz distinguished himself as a bridge builder in the Church of Christ, those who eulogized him said.

“He was a true pillar in the African-American Churches of Christ, but had a reputation that crossed all cultures,” said Kevin Bethea, minister of the East Baltimore church. “Brother Foutz was a church planter and a producer of many young preachers.”

At Foutz’s April 22 memorial service, Jack Evans, president of Southwestern Christian College in Terrell, Texas, called him “a great preacher with sound doctrine.”

Roosevelt Wells, an evangelist in New York City, said Foutz had gone from “labor to reward,” and William F. Washington of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., said that the greatest tribute the church could show Foutz would be to “stand firm against the devil.”

Foutz stood firm in his faith until his April 13 death. He preached in congregations in 34 states and was a popular speaker at Christian college lectureships, from Texas to California to Michigan.

“We are here to celebrate the life of a great preacher, a great church builder and a great defender of the faith,” evangelist Eugene Lawton of Newark, N.J., said during the funeral. “A great giant has fallen. His death represents the end of an era in the Mid-Atlantic area.”

Foutz served on the board of directors of Southwestern Christian, the historically black college that sponsors the annual National Church Lectureship.

Born Feb. 1, 1933, in Mexia, Texas, he was the son of George and Alma Foutz, who later moved the family to Dallas. Foutz was raised as a Catholic and attended Catholic University, a Jesuit school in New Orleans.

He later moved back to Dallas and was baptized at the Ninth Street Church of Christ in Dallas. He preached for two years at Churches of Christ in Texas, before he and his wife moved to Baltimore, where over the next 48 years they built one of the largest ministries in the country.

Foutz began his Baltimore ministry at the Gilmore Street church, using filmstrips and Bible correspondence courses to share the gospel. In the first15 years, the congregation grew to nearly 400 members and outgrew several locations.

Starting in 1974, he had a radio show called “The Morning Bible Study.” A bus ministry and other efforts also helped fuel the church’s growth. The Central church planted additional congregations in Wilmington, Del.; Annapolis, Md.; York, Pa.; and Cambridge, Md.

After Foutz suffered a stroke last October, the congregation chose assistant minister Clinton Miles to succeed him. Even though the church doesn’t have deacons or elders, members said the transition has been smooth.

“Brother Foutz encouraged us to be doers of the word,” Miles said during an interview with a group of men who lead the church. “He always said that the most important thing that we need to do is to be soul winners.”

Members and leaders at Central said the best way to celebrate his life would be to continue his legacy of love and outreach.

“He had compassion for every man,” longtime member Perrin Tinsley said. “He didn’t look at what a person did or their occupation. He looked at the content of their character. He told all of us: ‘You are important and you have a purpose in live to save souls.’”

Central member Lillas Beckford recalled that before she became a Christian, her daughter visited Foutz’s office and voiced concern that her mother had not yet obeyed the gospel.

“His response was, ‘Is that right, sister? Just keep her coming and she will obey,’” Beckford recalled. “That is exactly what happened shortly.”

Beckford said Foutz always stressed the important of “having a relationship with God, reminding us that we are buried with Christ.”

“I cannot recall Brother Foutz ending a sermon without expressing that the most important thing that one can do is to give their life to Christ,” she said.

Hamil R. Harris, a reporter for The Washington Post, is a deacon at the University Park church, Hyattsville, Md.

May 8, 2006