Former Alabama pastor, congressman dies
John Hall Buchanan Jr., a former Alabama Baptist pastor and congressman, died March 5. He was 89.
Buchanan founded and pastored Centercrest Baptist Church, Birmingham, before moving on to represent Birmingham in Congress for 16 years. He served as part of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations (UN) and on the UN’s Human Rights Committee.
Buchanan was raised in Birmingham and graduated from Howard College (now Samford University) in Birmingham after serving in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1946. He earned a master of divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to Centercrest, he also served as pastor of churches in Tennessee and Virginia.
An alumnus of Samford’s A Cappella Choir, Buchanan once arranged for the choir to sing at the 1975 National Prayer Breakfast, where the choir was on the podium with then President Gerald Ford and Billy Graham, according to the Birmingham News.
Buchanan is preceded in death by Betty, his wife of more than 50 years. He is survived by two daughters and three granddaughters. (TAB)
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