March 3, 1999

THE BODY OF ROBERT NAYLOR, president emeritus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is carried out of the seminary's rotunda en route to Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, where his memorial service was held Feb. 24. Naylor died Feb. 21 at age 90. (Photo by Morris Abernathy/Southwestern Seminary)

Robert Naylor remembered
as preacher & mentor
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___FORT WORTH--Robert Naylor was remembered at a Feb. 24 memorial service as a passionate preacher, adept administrator and faithful friend.
___Naylor, president emeritus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, died Feb. 21 at age 90. Although a specific cause of death was not cited, he had been diagnosed in November with Lou Gehrig's disease.
___"A giant has walked among us, and we shall miss him," said a tearful Ken Hemphill,

ROBERT NAYLOR is shown in a file photo preaching at a Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting.

Southwestern's current president and one of four speakers at Naylor's funeral, held at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth.
___Naylor was pastor at Travis Avenue from 1952 to 1958, before assuming the seminary presidency in September 1958.
___He led the seminary for 20 years, presiding over an era of explosive growth that established Southwestern not only as the largest of the Southern Baptist Convention's six seminaries but as the world's largest seminary. During his tenure, Southwestern's enrollment grew from 2,400 to 4,100, its faculty increased from 53 to 125 and its annual budget grew from $1.3 million to $6.3 million.
___Naylor presided over a massive expansion of the seminary's fund-raising efforts, as well as construction of several new buildings and renovation of virtually every existing building on campus.
___Hemphill hailed Naylor as a man of integrity, who personified the charge he gave to incoming students at each semester's opening chapel service. Even after his retirement, Naylor returned to address new students, asking them to stand as he pronounced this blessing and warning: "I officially declare you Southwesterners. And you'd be better off dead than bringing dishonor to that name."
___Naylor, Hemphill said, "personified what it means to be a Southwesterner."
___"Perhaps no single president in the history of this school will have had such an impact on the seminary," Hemphill said, referring not only to Naylor's 20 years as president, but his 17 years as a seminary trustee and 21 years as president emeritus.
___John Earl Seelig, one of Naylor's closest friends and the seminary's retired vice president for public affairs, praised Naylor as "a man of faith who loved God's word."
___"He was my mentor ..., my friend," Seelig said. "But he was more than my friend. ... Some people come into your life and leave footprints on your heart, and you are never ever the same again."
___James Coggin, who followed Naylor as pastor at

NAYLOR poses with evangelist Billy Graham in 1962.

Travis Avenue, called Naylor "the greatest preacher I ever heard." Naylor was a "great administrator, great organizer, great promoter ... but above all those, he was a great, great preacher," Coggin said.
___Michael Dean, Travis Avenue's current pastor, noted the symbolism of Naylor's funeral being held in the church's vast, ornate sanctuary, a worship center designed and built under Naylor's direction as pastor. "This sanctuary, constructed 40 years ago, was birthed in the heart and spirit of Robert Naylor," Dean said.
___The former seminary president was "an enormous figure in the kingdom of God for this generation," he added.
___An estimated 1,700 friends, family members, colleagues, former students and Baptist leaders attended the funeral. The Seminary Chorus sang two selections, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" and "Hallelujah Chorus."
___Seelig noted that both Naylor and his wife, Goldia, enrolled at Southwestern at such a young age that they had to receive special permission from then-president L.R. Scarborough. Naylor had graduated from East Central State University in Ada, Okla., at 19 and immediately came to Southwestern. But the minimum age for seminary enrollment at the time was 20.
___Naylor earned a master of theology degree from Southwestern in 1932 and later was awarded honorary doctorates from Ouachita Baptist University and Texas Christian University. In addition to his pastorate at Travis Avenue, he served as pastor of churches in Ada, Okla.; Nashville, Ark.; Malvern, Ark.; Arkadelphia, Ark.; Enid, Okla.; and Columbia, S.C.
___He is survived by his wife, Goldia; a daughter, Rebekah Naylor, a medical missionary in India; two sons, Robert E. Naylor Jr. of West Chester, Pa., and Richard D. Naylor of Austin; a brother, William Naylor of Duncan, Okla.; a sister, Francene Mounts of Guthrie, Okla.; three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
___

---

Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!