A. T. Powers
Encyclopedia
Austin Toliver Powers, known as A. T. Powers (June 26, 1896 – October 14, 1975), was a leading figure from the 1930s to the 1970s in the theologically conservative
American Baptist Association
, based in Texarkana
, Texas
. He served as ABA president from 1957–1959, having been initially elected at the annual conference in Fresno
, California
.
near Brownwood
in West Texas
. He was descended from veterans of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War
. James Powers was the oldest son of Samuel Hopkins Powers, an Indian
fighter who surrendered late in life to the Baptist ministry, with his spiritual undertakings confined to rural churches. Samuel and James Powers were both tenant farmer
s. A. T. Powers recalled that despite modest circumstances, his father was civic-minded, self-educated, and among the best read men in the community. Mary Powers was the oldest daughter of William H. Cole, a slaveholder, preacher, and a soldier in the Confederate States Army who had been born in Cass County
, Texas
, but settled further west in Comanche. In his autobiography, Powers indicates that his Grandfather Cole was "a general", but the rank has not been confirmed.
After Comanche, the Powers family lived in several other Texas locations, including Lamesa
in Dawson County and Port Lavaca
in Calhoun County
on the Texas Gulf Coast near Victoria. Their constant moving was spurred by James Powers’s efforts to find good drinking water.
After high school
, Powers entered the United States Army
during World War I
. However, a lifelong knee injury occurred while he was on duty in Hawaii
and led to a prompt honorable discharge from the military. On August 3, 1918, he married the former Ida Lee Chapman (April 17, 1899–March 1980), the daughter of Andrew Berry and Willie Chapman, in Mangum
, the seat of Greer County
in southwestern Oklahoma
, where James Powers had relocated his family. Ida was a diminutive woman in size, in striking contrast to her husband, who was physically large, 6 ft 6 in tall, and wore a size 16 shoe.
meeting featuring the Southern Baptist evangelist J.R. Caviness, who preached "Justification by Faith" from the Book of Romans, a message that during the Reformation had prompted Martin Luther
to demand unfulfilled reforms in Roman Catholicism. Spurred by that sermon, Powers declared that he had found salvation in Jesus Christ and was baptized by immersion, the only method accepted by Baptists. After a short period of farming on a rented 140 acres near the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester
, Powers underwent the call of the ministry. He and Ida joined the Pleasant View Baptist Church in nearby Ledessa, which later entered the "New Convention" of Oklahoma, one of several founding bodies of the ABA. In October 1919, Pleasant View licensed Powers to preach.
Upon receiving the call to the ministry, Powers attended from 1921-1925 the Missionary Baptist College in Sheridan
in Grant County, south of Little Rock
. With assistance from the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1918, he received his Bachelor of Theology
degree. At Missionary Baptist College, Power became a close friend of the clergyman Conrad Nathan Glover (1895–1986), whose father, Robert W. Glover
, had been a member of both houses of the Arkansas General Assembly
. Powers and Glover were the only two individuals ever named moderator-emeriti of the ABA. Missionary Baptist College closed in 1934, and Missionary Baptist Seminary thereafter opened in Little Rock through the auspices of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.
Powers was a pastor while in Sheridan and then from 1925-1936 at the Promise Land Missionary Baptist Church in Hamburg
in Ashley County in southeastern Arkansas. In 1931, while in Hamburg, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity
degree from Missionary Baptist College. From 1936-1939, he was the pastor of the Pauline Missionary Baptist Church in Monticello
, the seat of Drew County, also in southeastern Arkansas. The Pauline congregation consisted primarily of blue collar
members who worked for low wages in a cotton mill
. The church paid Powers only $12.50 per month; therefore, he sold burial insurance to support his family during the height of the Great Depression
. At the time, no Missionary Baptist pastor earned more than the $100 per month paid to Ben T. Bogard, a leading figure in the denomination, by the Antioch church in Little Rock.
Powers then moved to the Main Street Missionary Baptist Church in Pine Bluff
(since the Olive Street Missionary Baptist Church), where he served from 1939-1943. He was the pastor at Oak Lawn Missionary Baptist Church in Hot Springs
, the seat of Garland County, Arkansas, from 1943-1948.
region, including a visit to Minden
, Louisiana, where he would later relocate. His speech was at the Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, then under the pastor Julian Pope. In 1952, Powers left the denominational position to become the pastor of the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Henderson
in Rusk County
in east Texas. He remained in Henderson until 1956, when he became the dean of the Louisiana Missionary Baptist Institute and Seminary in Minden, Louisiana, where his service extended until 1961. While in Henderson, Powers had taught at the still functioning Texas Baptist Institute and Seminary, which opened in 1949.
LMBIS was founded in 1952 by Powers’s colleague, L. L. Clover
, a native of Clark County
, Arkansas, who was pastor of the larger Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Minden from the fall of 1948 until 1964. The faculty in these institutions is drawn from among area Missionary Baptist pastors. In 1957, Powers accepted the pastorate at Eastside Missionary Baptist Church in Minden after the death of the founding pastor, Charles C. Samuel. Powers worked closely with Clover during their five years together in Minden. In 1961, Powers returned to Texarkana to become the pastor of his last congregation, the West Lawn Missionary Baptist Church in Bowie County
, Texas, a position that he held until his retirement and Mrs. Powers’s diagnosis of Parkinson's disease
.
While with the ABA, Powers wrote Sunday school literature and co-authored with Conrad Glover, The American Baptist Association, 1924-1974, known as the Landmark Association. The findings of Glover and Powers are cited in Samuel S. Hill’s Religion in the Southern States: An Historical Study and also in Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices by J. Gordon Melton
and Martin Baumann, published in 2002.
Elected unexpectedly as ABA president in Fresno in 1957, Powers gave his acceptance speech in shirtsleeves because of the heat in the convention hall. He vowed never again to appear in public except in coat and tie, for he did not know when he might be called upon to speak.
On June 24, 1958, Powers delivered a stirring address at the AMA convention in Fort Worth
, Texas, where the delegates, called "messengers," elected him to a second term as president. In a speech entitled "The Freedom and Sovereignty of a New Testament Church," Powers decried
On June 13, 1959, at the downtown Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium
, Powers delivered his second and last ABA presidential address. He rejected the label "Protestant" and declared that the history of Missionary Baptists begins, not with the Reformation
, but on the Jordan River with "John, called the Baptist
, and to our Lord, who started us on our way. In spite of our glorious history, we still face needs, supreme needs. We must realize these are to be found only in the mercies of God and faith in His Son. . . ."
in Ray County in northwestern Missouri
; Alice P. Vining (1923–2005) of Malvern
in Hot Spring County, Arkansas; Austilene P. Porter (1925–2001), who lived with her engineer-husband in both Venezuela
and Florida
, Miss Opal Margaret Powers (born 1928), a retired ABA bookkeeper from Texarkana, Arkansas, and Coy P. Green (born 1931), a former county employee from Greenville
, east of Dallas
, Texas.
Powers died at a hospital in Texarkana, Texas, at the age of seventy-nine from complications of a fall. The couple and their son, who subsequently died of cancer, are interred at East Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Miller County, Arkansas.
Irvie Keil Cross, one of Powers’s colleagues at the ABA headquarters, wrote a biography of his friend entitled Austin T. Powers As I Knew Him. Recalling Powers's unique manner of preaching, Cross writes:
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
American Baptist Association
American Baptist Association
The American Baptist Association , formed in 1924, is an association of nearly 2,000 theologically conservative churches that are Landmark Baptist in their missions and teachings...
, based in Texarkana
Texarkana, Texas
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. He served as ABA president from 1957–1959, having been initially elected at the annual conference in Fresno
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Background
Powers was born to James H. Powers and the former Mary Eliza Cole in ComancheComanche, Texas
Comanche is a city located in Comanche County in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 4,482 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Comanche County. The town square has been renovated and is becoming a popular tourist attraction. With "Star Beaus" and "karens" on the square and their...
near Brownwood
Brownwood, Texas
Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,813 at the 2000 census.-History:The original site of the Brown County seat of Brownwood was on the east of Pecan Bayou. A dispute arose over land and water rights, and the settlers were forced...
in West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
. He was descended from veterans of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. James Powers was the oldest son of Samuel Hopkins Powers, an Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
fighter who surrendered late in life to the Baptist ministry, with his spiritual undertakings confined to rural churches. Samuel and James Powers were both tenant farmer
Tenant farmer
A tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management; while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying...
s. A. T. Powers recalled that despite modest circumstances, his father was civic-minded, self-educated, and among the best read men in the community. Mary Powers was the oldest daughter of William H. Cole, a slaveholder, preacher, and a soldier in the Confederate States Army who had been born in Cass County
Cass County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 30,438 people, 12,190 households, and 8,654 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 people per square mile . There were 13,890 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, but settled further west in Comanche. In his autobiography, Powers indicates that his Grandfather Cole was "a general", but the rank has not been confirmed.
After Comanche, the Powers family lived in several other Texas locations, including Lamesa
Lamesa, Texas
Lamesa is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,952 at the 2000 census. Located south of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado, Lamesa was founded in 1903. Most of the economy is based on cattle ranching and cotton farming. The Preston E...
in Dawson County and Port Lavaca
Port Lavaca, Texas
Port Lavaca is a city in Calhoun County, Texas, United States. The population was 12,248 at the 2010 census. The County had a 3.6% growth which brought the county population to 21,381. The city itself is bringing in more business into the area. It is the county seat of Calhoun County...
in Calhoun County
Calhoun County, Texas
Calhoun County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, the population was 20,647. Its county seat is Port Lavaca. It is a part of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area...
on the Texas Gulf Coast near Victoria. Their constant moving was spurred by James Powers’s efforts to find good drinking water.
After high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, Powers entered the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. However, a lifelong knee injury occurred while he was on duty in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and led to a prompt honorable discharge from the military. On August 3, 1918, he married the former Ida Lee Chapman (April 17, 1899–March 1980), the daughter of Andrew Berry and Willie Chapman, in Mangum
Mangum, Oklahoma
Mangum is a city in Greer County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,010 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Greer County....
, the seat of Greer County
Greer County, Oklahoma
Greer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 6,061. Its county seat is Mangum. From 1860 to 1896, the state of Texas claimed an area known as Greer County, Texas, which included present-day Greer County along with neighboring...
in southwestern Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, where James Powers had relocated his family. Ida was a diminutive woman in size, in striking contrast to her husband, who was physically large, 6 ft 6 in tall, and wore a size 16 shoe.
Pastor on the move
While A.T. and Ida Powers were residing in Greer County near the town of Hester, Oklahoma, they attended a revivalRevival
Revival may refer to:*Resuscitation of a person*Language revival of an extinct language*Revival of a defunct team*Revival of a former television series*Revival of a former hit play in a new production...
meeting featuring the Southern Baptist evangelist J.R. Caviness, who preached "Justification by Faith" from the Book of Romans, a message that during the Reformation had prompted Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
to demand unfulfilled reforms in Roman Catholicism. Spurred by that sermon, Powers declared that he had found salvation in Jesus Christ and was baptized by immersion, the only method accepted by Baptists. After a short period of farming on a rented 140 acres near the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester
McAlester, Oklahoma
McAlester is a city in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 17,783 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pittsburg County. It is currently the largest city in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, followed by Durant....
, Powers underwent the call of the ministry. He and Ida joined the Pleasant View Baptist Church in nearby Ledessa, which later entered the "New Convention" of Oklahoma, one of several founding bodies of the ABA. In October 1919, Pleasant View licensed Powers to preach.
Upon receiving the call to the ministry, Powers attended from 1921-1925 the Missionary Baptist College in Sheridan
Sheridan, Arkansas
Sheridan is the largest city and county seat in Grant County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 3,872 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area. .-History:Robert W...
in Grant County, south of Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. With assistance from the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1918, he received his Bachelor of Theology
Bachelor of Theology
The Bachelor of Theology is a three to five year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines. Candidates for this degree typically must complete course work in Greek or Hebrew, as well as systematic theology, biblical theology, ethics, homiletics and Christian ministry...
degree. At Missionary Baptist College, Power became a close friend of the clergyman Conrad Nathan Glover (1895–1986), whose father, Robert W. Glover
Robert W. Glover
Robert W. Glover, sometimes known as Bob Glover , was a Baptist pastor and a Democratic politician from Sheridan in Grant County in south Arkansas.-Background:...
, had been a member of both houses of the Arkansas General Assembly
Arkansas General Assembly
The Arkansas General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 100 members. All 135 representatives and state senators...
. Powers and Glover were the only two individuals ever named moderator-emeriti of the ABA. Missionary Baptist College closed in 1934, and Missionary Baptist Seminary thereafter opened in Little Rock through the auspices of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.
Powers was a pastor while in Sheridan and then from 1925-1936 at the Promise Land Missionary Baptist Church in Hamburg
Hamburg, Arkansas
Hamburg is a city in Ashley County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 3,039 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Ashley County.-Geography:...
in Ashley County in southeastern Arkansas. In 1931, while in Hamburg, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
degree from Missionary Baptist College. From 1936-1939, he was the pastor of the Pauline Missionary Baptist Church in Monticello
Monticello, Arkansas
Monticello is a city in Drew County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 9,327. The city is the county seat of Drew County. It is the home of the University of Arkansas at Monticello.-History:...
, the seat of Drew County, also in southeastern Arkansas. The Pauline congregation consisted primarily of blue collar
Blue collar
Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...
members who worked for low wages in a cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
. The church paid Powers only $12.50 per month; therefore, he sold burial insurance to support his family during the height of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. At the time, no Missionary Baptist pastor earned more than the $100 per month paid to Ben T. Bogard, a leading figure in the denomination, by the Antioch church in Little Rock.
Powers then moved to the Main Street Missionary Baptist Church in Pine Bluff
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff is the largest city and county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Combined Statistical Area...
(since the Olive Street Missionary Baptist Church), where he served from 1939-1943. He was the pastor at Oak Lawn Missionary Baptist Church in Hot Springs
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...
, the seat of Garland County, Arkansas, from 1943-1948.
Leader in the ABA
In 1948, Powers became the secretary-treasurer of missions for the ABA in Texarkana, Texas. In that capacity he spoke at various denominational meetings, particularly in the Arkansas, Texas, and LouisianaLouisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
region, including a visit to Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
, Louisiana, where he would later relocate. His speech was at the Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, then under the pastor Julian Pope. In 1952, Powers left the denominational position to become the pastor of the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Henderson
Henderson, Texas
Henderson is a city in Rusk County, Texas, United States. The population was 11,273 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Rusk County...
in Rusk County
Rusk County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 47,372 people, 17,364 households, and 12,727 families residing in the county. The population density was 51 people per square mile . There were 19,867 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile...
in east Texas. He remained in Henderson until 1956, when he became the dean of the Louisiana Missionary Baptist Institute and Seminary in Minden, Louisiana, where his service extended until 1961. While in Henderson, Powers had taught at the still functioning Texas Baptist Institute and Seminary, which opened in 1949.
LMBIS was founded in 1952 by Powers’s colleague, L. L. Clover
L. L. Clover
Leander Louis Clover, known as L. L. Clover , was an American Baptist Association clergyman who in 1952 established Louisiana Missionary Baptist Institute and Seminary in Minden, Louisiana...
, a native of Clark County
Clark County, Arkansas
Clark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 22,995. The county seat is Arkadelphia.The Arkadelphia Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Clark County.-Geography:...
, Arkansas, who was pastor of the larger Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Minden from the fall of 1948 until 1964. The faculty in these institutions is drawn from among area Missionary Baptist pastors. In 1957, Powers accepted the pastorate at Eastside Missionary Baptist Church in Minden after the death of the founding pastor, Charles C. Samuel. Powers worked closely with Clover during their five years together in Minden. In 1961, Powers returned to Texarkana to become the pastor of his last congregation, the West Lawn Missionary Baptist Church in Bowie County
Bowie County, Texas
Bowie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Texarkana, Texas - Texarkana, Arkansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2000, the population was 89,306. Its legal county seat is Boston, though its courthouse is located in New Boston...
, Texas, a position that he held until his retirement and Mrs. Powers’s diagnosis of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
.
While with the ABA, Powers wrote Sunday school literature and co-authored with Conrad Glover, The American Baptist Association, 1924-1974, known as the Landmark Association. The findings of Glover and Powers are cited in Samuel S. Hill’s Religion in the Southern States: An Historical Study and also in Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices by J. Gordon Melton
J. Gordon Melton
John Gordon Melton is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently a research specialist in religion and New Religious Movements with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara...
and Martin Baumann, published in 2002.
Elected unexpectedly as ABA president in Fresno in 1957, Powers gave his acceptance speech in shirtsleeves because of the heat in the convention hall. He vowed never again to appear in public except in coat and tie, for he did not know when he might be called upon to speak.
On June 24, 1958, Powers delivered a stirring address at the AMA convention in Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, Texas, where the delegates, called "messengers," elected him to a second term as president. In a speech entitled "The Freedom and Sovereignty of a New Testament Church," Powers decried
“These days of religious pussyfooting, fence-straddling, complacency and inertia on the part of the religious world [and called on Missionary Baptists to be] more energetic and aggressive toward old-time, fundamental truths.
“No truth is more precious to Bible-loving Baptists than [that] a New Testament church is free and sovereign. . . . in sending forth missionaries and in fulfilling the commands of the Lord to go 'into all the world.' . . . Baptists have been ostracized, persecuted, maligned, called narrow-minded bigots for preaching this, but they have steadfastly clung to this truth. Our churches believe this and shall preach it until Jesus comes.”
On June 13, 1959, at the downtown Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium
Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium
Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium, in Shreveport, Louisiana, is an Art Deco building constructed between 1926 and 1929 during the administration of Mayor Lee Emmett Thomas as a memorial to the servicemen of World War I....
, Powers delivered his second and last ABA presidential address. He rejected the label "Protestant" and declared that the history of Missionary Baptists begins, not with the Reformation
Reformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
, but on the Jordan River with "John, called the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
, and to our Lord, who started us on our way. In spite of our glorious history, we still face needs, supreme needs. We must realize these are to be found only in the mercies of God and faith in His Son. . . ."
Family, death, and legacy
A.T. and Ida Powers had a son, James Berry Powers (March 9, 1921–August 3, 1992), former pastor of County Line Missionary Baptist Church and an ABA official in Texarkana, and five daughters, Mildred P. Alder (1919–2007) of RichmondRichmond, Missouri
Richmond is a city in Ray County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,797 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ray County.-Geography:Richmond is located at...
in Ray County in northwestern Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
; Alice P. Vining (1923–2005) of Malvern
Malvern, Arkansas
Malvern is the county seat of Hot Spring County, Arkansas. The city had a population of 10,318 at the time of the 2010 census and is also called the "Brick Capital of the World" because of the three Acme Brick plants in the area...
in Hot Spring County, Arkansas; Austilene P. Porter (1925–2001), who lived with her engineer-husband in both Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Miss Opal Margaret Powers (born 1928), a retired ABA bookkeeper from Texarkana, Arkansas, and Coy P. Green (born 1931), a former county employee from Greenville
Greenville, Texas
Greenville is the county seat, and the largest city, of Hunt County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,557....
, east of Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas.
Powers died at a hospital in Texarkana, Texas, at the age of seventy-nine from complications of a fall. The couple and their son, who subsequently died of cancer, are interred at East Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Miller County, Arkansas.
Irvie Keil Cross, one of Powers’s colleagues at the ABA headquarters, wrote a biography of his friend entitled Austin T. Powers As I Knew Him. Recalling Powers's unique manner of preaching, Cross writes:
He was equal to any occasion, and you could count on an unusual message when he stepped on the platform. He also had an inexhaustible supply of personal illustrations. These were not something he had read in a book. That is what made them so valuable. They all happened to him or to someone he knew. He always had one that fit the occasion. . . . He seemed to have experienced more unusual situations than the average man. He also never forgot an event.”