John Herndon – Alabama pastor, missionary to Portugal – dies at 93

John Herndon, an Alabama Baptist pastor and missionary to Portugal, died May 17. He was 93.

A native of Greene County, Herndon attended Howard College in Birmingham (now Samford University), then seminary at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Herndon accepted his first pastorate at Sumterville Baptist Church in Epes in 1951, then went on to serve at Berry Baptist Church and First Baptist Church Vernon. In 1964, He and his wife, Norma, and their three children sailed for Lisbon, Portugal, to serve as missionaries with the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board).

Making an impact

While there, Herndon made a lot of contributions to gospel work. He served as general secretary and executive secretary of the Portuguese Baptist Convention and started a Baptist radio program and a Baptist bookstore. Herndon was the driving force and director of Agua de Madeiros, a summer camp, every summer while living in Portugal. He also started a church in Caçem and served as its pastor.

In 1977, the family relocated to the Azores Island because of political revolution in Portugal. On the island of Terçeria, Herndon pastored the Azorean Baptist Church, which served U.S. military families. He established a radio station there before bringing his family back to the United States in 1982.

Herndon then served at Round Oak Baptist Church in Corbin, Virginia, and in 1983 he accepted a position at Jefferson Park Baptist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia. He served at Jefferson Park Baptist until he retired in 1995 and they returned to Alabama. He served as interim pastor several times in Alabama, and he and his wife moved to Huntsville in 2005. At the time of his death, Herndon was a member of Mount Zion Baptist Church.

Herndon is preceded in death by his wife of 68 years and infant son Charles Michael. He is survived by his daughters, Debbie and Susan; son, Mark; nine grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.