STANLEY DIVORCED, WILL REMAIN AS PASTOR The long-troubled marriage of Dr. Charles Stanley, senior pastor of Atlanta's First Baptist Church and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, ended last month. Stanley, whose In Touch TV ministry spans the globe, stunned his congregation by telling them he and wife Anna are divorced. When the congregation was told that Stanley, 67, will stay on as the church's senior pastor, a position he has held since 1972, it stood and applauded. Stanley's estrangement from his wife caused strife in the church in the mid-1990s because of a traditional but unwritten policy that First Baptist not allow divorced men to serve as deacons or ministers. Stanley's son Andy, now senior pastor of North Point Community Church, left his job as his father's senior associate at the time, citing concerns about his father's leadership.

The elder Stanley told a 1995 meeting, "If my wife divorces me, I would resign immediately." "We hate it that things like this happen, but our church is moving right along," said the deacon board vice-chairman. "He is our pastor, and he will remain our pastor." Anna Stanley filed a petition Feb.20 16 requesting a divorce on grounds that their marriage of 44 years was "irretrievably broken." The judge signed the final decree May 11. The Stanleys executed a property agreement April 5. SBC president Dr. Paige Patterson said this "ought to be a wake-up call for America " [Adapted, 5/23 Atlanta Jrnl.-Con.] Note: Stanley is still listed in Jerry Falwell's paper as a major speaker at his Oct. Super Conference. [Source: Messengers of Christ Ministries
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