BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama Baptist historian Wayne Flynt will receive Baptists Today’s annual Judson-Rice Award for leadership with integrity April 20. Flynt, professor emeritus at Auburn University, will receive the national news journal’s award during a banquet at a Birmingham hotel.
Flynt — who taught at his alma mater, Samford University in Birmingham, before joining the Auburn faculty in 1977 — is regarded as a strong advocate for the poor and as a bridge builder across racial divides. A tutoring program he organized at Rosedale High School in Homewood produced the first black students to attend Samford.
More recently, Flynt helped found Sowing Seeds of Hope, a long-term ministry effort in rural Perry County, and the Alabama Poverty Project. He has written and lectured extensively on race and poverty. An active member of First Baptist Church, Auburn, Flynt is also author of a 1998 history of Baptists in Alabama.
The Judson-Rice Award was created in 2001 to commemorate the contributions of early Baptist leaders Adoniram Judson, Ann Hasseltine Judson and Luther Rice. It honors a current Baptist leader who has demonstrated important leadership skills while maintaining the highest integrity.
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