Nearly 18 years after his death, the reach of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s first full-time evangelism professor C.E. Autrey continues.
In 2008, a letter addressed to Autrey made its way from Nigeria to Southwestern Seminary and was forwarded to Autrey’s grandson Denny Autrey, dean and professor of pastoral ministries at the seminary’s Havard School for Theological Studies in Houston.
The letter — a plea for help addressed to his grandfather — prompted Denny Autrey to respond by venturing to Africa this summer.
“A need for help,” the author of the letter, an Anglican theology student, wrote as a heading to his letter.
“Thanks be to God almighty,” the student wrote to the late professor, “for the gift and opportunity given to you for opening the eyes of many towards the understanding of the Scriptures, mostly to seminarians and individuals who are seeking to know the facts of the written word of God.”
For many years, C.E. Autrey equipped men and women to understand and proclaim the gospel. After receiving master’s and doctoral degrees from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he served as a pastor and then as director of evangelism for the state of Louisiana. Then, after serving with the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board), Autrey became the seminary’s first full-time professor of evangelism, filling the seminary’s L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism (“The Chair of Fire”). He then returned to the Home Mission Board as an executive director of evangelism, where he wrote his book, “Basic Evangelism.”
In 2008, a guest lecturer at the Ezekiel College of Theology in Ekpoma, Nigeria, drew from C.E. Autrey’s book on evangelism, leaving a photocopy in the library. One of the students, not realizing that Autrey had passed away years before, wrote a letter to the professor and sent it to Southwestern Seminary.
“It was just a plea for help,” Denny Autrey said, summarizing the Nigerian student’s request. “He said, we realize you’re a man of God by what you’ve written in this book, and we were hoping there were other books that you might have that you might make available to us and help us with additional resources for our library.
“It was really humbling for me to receive the letter,” Autrey said, amazed that his grandfather continues to influence lives on the other side of the world. “My grandfather has been dead almost 18 years, and his legacy, his ministry, his witness continues on through his writing.”
When Autrey received the letter, he had never heard of the Ezekiel School of Theology. But with the help of John Olagbemi, a Nigerian M.Div. student at Southwestern’s Houston campus, Autrey made contact with the Nigerian school and traveled there this summer. He gave them a copy of “Basic Evangelism” and another of his grandfather’s books, “The Theology of Evangelism,” along with two books by Southwestern Seminary faculty members, “Calling out the Called” and “Text-Driven Preaching.” He also provided a cash donation to help the school continue to build its library collection. (BP)
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