Former SBC leader Phil Harris dies at 89

NASHVILLE — Phil Harris, former head of the discipleship area at LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, died March 16, nearly 25 years after retiring from the agency. He was 89. The funeral was March 19 at First Baptist Church, Nashville. Mariam Harris, his wife of 59 years, died Feb. 15.

Director of the Training Union Department at the Sunday School Board (now LifeWay) in Nashville  1960–1977, Harris was recognized as a visionary in discipleship.

Harris was professor of youth religious education at Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, 1949–1959 before joining the Sunday School Board. He served as Sunday School and Training Union Director for Southern Baptist churches in Illinois 1939–1943.