What can be learned from the life and ministry of Dr. W. A. Criswell, the pastor who served for fifty years as the leader of one of the largest churches of the largest Baptist denomination in America?
Certainly, his hardscrabble childhood, his parentage (especially his opinionated and forceful mother), and his preacher-models and professors all helped to mold him into the leader, pulpiteer, and winsome personality that helped to produce his advance. Still, the gifts, abilities, and motivations of God should not be minimized as reasons for his success. Criswell's approach to preaching, to doctrine, and to his pastoral duties endeared him to his congregation. If he was not the architect or the chief strategist of the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention, he was at least one of the chief motivators of it. Appreciated for his scholarly preaching and for his many books, he received attention from people in all walks of life. He had critics among both those referred to as liberals and those referred to as conservatives. Some of the criticism was deserved and some was not.
He left an enduring legacy of ministers whose lives he influenced, of a college bearing his name, of more than four thousand recorded sermons, and of more than fifty books.
LLOYD L. STREETER is a veteran pastor of more than forty-five years. He served as pastor of three Baptist churches in Michigan and Illinois, including a thirty year ministry at First Baptist in LaSalle, Illinois. He led his congregation in founding LaSalle-Peru Christian School, which has operated successfully since 1978.
Pastor Streeter grew up in Alcona County, Michigan. He received Christ as his personal Savior at age sixteen. He holds both university and seminary degrees. Several articles, pamphlets, and books from his pen have been published. He is
known for his expository preaching and for his uncompromising separatist stand for the Word of God and for fundamental Truth.
He and his wife, Karen, have been married for more than fifty-two years. They have three children, all married, and nine grandchildren.
Retired since 2008, Lloyd continues to fill pulpits from time to time. He enjoys traveling, collecting Wedgewood Jasperware, and working on his properties. The Streeter's make their home in Lake City, Florida, where they own a small real estate rental business.
