Dr. Charles Frazier Stanley, the distinguished senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta and the visionary behind In Touch Ministries, has passed away. Anthony Georgia, the current Senior Pastor of First Baptist Atlanta, confirmed the news of the esteemed Atlanta faith leader's passing, which took place peacefully at his home on Tuesday morning.

For over 50 years, Dr. Stanley served as a pastor, broadcaster, and author at First Baptist Atlanta. He took on the role of Senior Pastor in 1971, becoming the church's 16th pastor since its establishment in 1848. Under his guidance, the church experienced extraordinary growth. To accommodate its diverse and growing congregation of more than 15,000, First Baptist Atlanta relocated from its Midtown Atlanta location on Peachtree Street to the former Avon property in Dunwoody in 1997.

Born in Dry Fork, Virginia, in 1932, Dr. Stanley was a trailblazer in religious broadcasting. He established In Touch Ministries in 1977 with the mission of spreading the Gospel truth to as many people as possible. His sermons, podcasts, and devotionals reached over 115 million households per week in more than 126 countries. By the time of his passing, his message could be accessed in every nation through radio, shortwave, or television broadcasts. In the United States alone, In Touch television and radio programs were available on numerous stations and satellite networks. Dr. Stanley was honored with an induction into the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1988. As an accomplished author, he penned over 60 books, including multiple New York Times bestsellers, and served as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention for two terms in the 1980s.

Nature photography was Dr. Stanley's favorite pastime, and his captivating photos adorned the walls of the In Touch studios. One of his photographs, gifted to the late Reverend Billy Graham, hung on the wall in Graham's bedroom when he passed away.

Dr. Stanley is survived by his two children, his daughter Becky and son Andy, who is the founder and senior pastor of Northpoint Ministries. Reflecting on his father's life, Andy praised him as a role model for pastors, saying, "Not just how to preach or how to build a church. But how to get to a finish line with integrity and to be able to look back and be proud of everything that came before, and unfortunately that’s increasingly rare."