Lee Roberson

Lee Roberson was born on April 24, 1909, in Tennessee, in a family of modest means. He grew up in the American South in the years before the Depression. He was converted as a boy, and he felt a call to the ministry. He studied at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, and then went to the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Fort Worth. He was a hardworking student who was drawn to the fundamentalist cause. After graduation, he served as a pastor in several small Baptist churches in Tennessee and Texas.

In 1942, he was called to the pastorate of the Highland Park Baptist Church, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a church of a few hundred members. He served there for forty-one years, until his retirement in 1983. Under his leadership, it grew to be one of the largest churches in the nation, with a membership of over fifteen thousand and a Sunday school attendance of thousands. It was known for its zeal in soul winning and its use of buses to bring children and adults to church. Roberson was a strong preacher, with a plain style and a booming voice. He called for decision and often told the people that a church was a lighthouse and not a clubhouse.

He founded a number of institutions. In 1946, he started Tennessee Temple Schools, a Bible college, which began with a handful of students. It grew to become a university, with several thousand students. He also founded a seminary, a high school and a number of other schools. He started a publishing house, a radio ministry and a mission board. He was a leader of the independent Baptist movement and was an early supporter of John R. Rice and the Sword of the Lord. He wrote a number of books, including Real Revival and Revival Among Us.

He was a man of stern discipline and strict principles. He insisted on a high standard of conduct for the students at his schools. He believed that a Christian should avoid worldly amusements, such as the theater and dancing. He required modest dress and a short haircut for men. He also held to a strong view of separation from those who did not share his faith. He was involved in the controversies of the fundamentalist movement. He took a stand against the ecumenical movement and against the modernists in the church.

He was a man of great energy and also of an authoritarian temper. His critics said that he ran the church and the schools with an iron hand and that he allowed little dissent. He was sometimes accused of being too harsh and of caring more for numbers than for people. There were conflicts in the church, and in the 1980s, a number of leaders left. Roberson admitted that he had made mistakes. He was a man who sought to do the will of God as he saw it.

After his retirement from the pastorate, he moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he continued his ministry of preaching and writing. He took part in conferences and served as chancellor of Tennessee Temple. His wife, Mary, was his companion for many years. He died on January 21, 2007, at the age of ninety-seven. His life shows the power of long and steady work in one place, and the weight of strong convictions. The schools that he began have trained thousands of pastors and missionaries.