Distinguished Preacher and Civil Rights Leader Dr. Emmanuel McCall Awarded Honorary Doctorate

(Abilene, Texas) Hardin-Simmons University conferred an Honorary Doctorate degree to Dr. Emmanuel McCall at the Spring Commencement ceremony held Saturday morning. McCall received a Doctor of Divinity.  

HSU President Dr. Lanny Hall presented the honorary degree, the highest recognition that the University bestows on outstanding individuals who have made a difference at Hardin-Simmons and in other communities. HSU has conferred only 226 honorary degrees in its 125 year history.

“By honoring you, you bring honor to our institution, to Hardin Simmons University, and all for which it stands. We appreciate you very much,” said Hall.   

Dr. Donald Williford, dean of the Logsdon School of Theology and Logsdon Seminary, read McCall’s citation. Dr. Larry Baker, professor of pastoral ministry and director of the Doctor of Ministry Program, also stood in support during the presentation.

Williford called McCall a Baptist hero for his role as a bridge-builder in the Baptist community during his six-decade career as a distinguished preacher, pastor, scholar, and civil rights leader. McCall has served as an adjunct professor at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology since 1996 and has pastored many prominent churches. He developed the Black Church Studies program while serving as a visiting faculty member at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. McCall also served as an adjunct professor at Logsdon Seminary and was the featured speaker at 2009’s Maston Lectures held at HSU. (The full citation for McCall is included at the bottom of the article.)  

Upon receiving the award, McCall said he was grateful to President Hall, Dr. Williford and Dr. Baker for their continued friendship. He said his life has allowed him to meet many great people across the nation.  

“Our greatness is not in achievements, it is in walking humbly with our God,” he said. He said his wife, Emma Marie, is one of the people who has walked with him the longest; the two will celebrate 58 years of marriage in August.

“She’s been with me in all the ministries and struggles that I have experienced in life,” he said.

McCall said among the people he has met in life were several Texans. He said Arthur Rutledge, pastor of First Baptist Marshall and head of the Home Mission Board, did an unpopular and “very daring” thing when he hired McCall in 1968. Rutledge had a conviction to diversify the staff to allow the Southern Baptists organization to better reach all people.

 “He risked it all and brought me to the staff,” McCall said.

He mentioned other Texans who have played a role in his life including Marie Mathis, Dr. Baker, and Dr. T.B. Maston.

“I’m so grateful to have walked with these who love the Lord and are determined to serve him,” he said.     

The awarding of the honorary doctorate can be viewed in this video of the Spring Commencement Ceremony: http://bit.ly/1WVvaGH.   

Full citation:    

“Dr. Emmanuel McCall’s distinguished career spans over sixty years. He is a gifted preacher, beloved pastor, respected educator, masterful denominational leader, and prominent figure in the civil rights movement. Born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, Emmanuel was named by the Rev. Samuel De Lane, his adopted grandfather. Rev. De Lane named his grandson Emmanuel Lemuel McCall, announcing that one day this child would preach. Fittingly, Emmanuel accepted his call to ministry at age 14. The son of George and Myra McCall, he spent his childhood years in Sharon attending the public schools of West Shenango Township.

His Pastor persuaded Emmanuel to go to Louisville, to attend Simmons College. Upon graduation, Emmanuel pursued degrees from the University of Louisville, and Southern Seminary. He earned his Doctorate at Emory University. Emmanuel met Emma Marie at the Joshua Tabernacle Baptist Church, where he was a pastor’s assistant and Emma was a pianist. Their courtship turned into marriage in 1958. He and Emma have two children, Emmanuel Jr. and Evalya Morris, and four grandchildren.

Dr. McCall served as a visiting faculty member at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he developed the Black Church Studies program used by three other seminaries, as well as Visiting Professor at seminaries in Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria; and Emory University.  He served as Adjunct Professor at McAfee School of Theology since 1996, and at Logsdon Seminary.

Emmanuel was a trustee on numerous boards, serving as Chair of the Board of several. Among his numerous awards and honors are the E. Y. Mullins Distinguished Denominational Service Award, the James H. Costen Award, the Judson/Rice Award, and the Candler School of Theology Centennial Award. In April 1999 Morehouse College inducted him into the “M. L. King Board of Preachers.”

Emmanuel pastored prominent churches, including of Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, College Park, GA as the founding Pastor, Twenty-Eighth Street Baptist Church, Louisville, and Interim Pastor for more than three years of the Historic Friendship Baptist Church, Atlanta. He served on the staff of the SBC Home Mission Board, as the National Moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship from 2006-2007, the first person of color to serve in each capacity, and Vice President of the Baptist World Alliance from 2005-2010.

Emmanuel McCall is a towering figure in the Baptist family. First, and foremost he is a Pastor doing all he has done with a Pastoral spirit and heart. More than any other person, Emmanuel was responsible for helping the SBC relate to African American churches, resulting in many affiliating with the SBC. He helped draft the historic “Resolution on Race” adopted by the SBC in 1995.

He was the first National Youth Director for the Progressive National Baptist Convention, organized in the midst of the civil rights struggle. He was personal friends with Martin Luther King Sr. and other pioneers in the civil rights movement, and a fellow pastor with MLK, Jr. Emmanuel is a “Baptist hero” — a man of impeccable integrity and Christian humility.

Dr. McCall has been a bridge-builder throughout his career. May our graduates be such bridge-builders in their generation. Dr. Emmanuel L. McCall is truly one whose life and example are worthy of emulation.

Dr. Hall, it is fitting that we honor one whose ministry so closely parallels that of one of our great benefactors and patriarchs, Dr. James B. Simmons, himself a champion of the rights of freed slaves and racial justice. Both served as pastors of historic congregations, demonstrated courageous leadership in the cause of civil rights and racial justice, been humble servants in the advancement of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Both are exemplars of the greatness of the mission of Hardin-Simmons University.”