Charles Stanley Story: From Family To Profession Explained

August 2024 · 11 minute read

Charles Stanley is an American who is also known as Dr. Charles F. Stanley. He started In Touch Ministries, a Christian Evangelical non-profit organization, and is the youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Pastor Charles, who led the Southern Baptist Convention for two terms from 1984 to 1986, is evangelical and dispensationalist.

He is also a best-selling author in the New York Times. The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) put him in their Hall of Fame in 1988.

Charles Frazier Stanley is the person in charge of the First Baptist Church. He will be 89 years old on September 25, 2021.

In 1932, he was born in Dry Fork, Virginia, in the United States.

Early life and Education

Dr. Stanley’s earliest childhood memories are of how God helped him through the hard times after his father died. His godly mother and grandfather taught him to trust and follow God’s Word by what they said and did. At 14, Dr. Stanley felt a clear call to the ministry.

Thus, he earned his BA from Richmond University and his B.Div. from Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. The master’s and doctoral degrees he earned were at Luther Rice Seminary.

Charles was born in Dry Fork, Virginia, to Rebecca and Charley Stanley. He grew up on the edge of Danville with his family. His father died nine months after Dr. Charles was born, which was sad. The senior pastor Charles became a Christian at 12 and started working in the Christian Ministry when he was 14.

He went to the University of Richmond to get his bachelor’s degree and then to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, to get his master’s degree in religion. Pastor Charles got a Master of Theology from Luther Rice Seminary in Florida, and then he got a Doctor of Theology.

Family details

Dr. Charles does not have a spouse. But from 1958 until they split up in 2000, he was married to the late Anna Johnson Stanley. Anna filed for divorce from the senior pastor for the first time on June 22, 1993. They had been living apart since the spring of 1992.

Then they sat down and decided to get a divorce while they tried to get back together. It didn’t seem to work, though, because, on March 20, 1995, Anna filed for divorce once more. They filed the divorce papers again on February 16, 2000, and a judge signed the final divorce decree on May 11, 2000.

Charles and Anna were married for 40 years. During that time, they had a son named Andy Stanley and a daughter named Becky Stanley. Andy Stanley is a pastor at the North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, just like his father. Becky is married and has kids, but that’s all we know about her. Her dad has talked about her in a few sermons as well.

Personal life

Charles and Stanley’s marriage seemed to be going well, but things were not what they seemed to be. In his book How to Handle Adversity, which he wrote in 1991, the pastor talks about how busy he got when they moved to Atlanta.

He says he stopped caring for his family after marrying a minister. He says that this made Anna feel very hurt and rejected. It took him a few years to figure out how much damage he had done.

The public does not know about the personal details of that season, but the couple’s children have tried to talk about it. In Charles Stanley’s book Deep and Wide, Andy Stanley looks at his parents’ marriage. He says that the marriage was over long before his parents decided to get a divorce.

Andy talks about how they tried marriage counseling with trained therapists and doctors for a long time. But he also writes that his parents didn’t want a divorce, even though there were problems, so none of them wanted to start it.

Anna Stanley chose to start the process in 1993. She filed for divorce but later changed it to a request for “separate maintenance,” a legal separation. Anna and Stanley couldn’t agree on the terms, so Anna filed again in 1995 and asked for a trial by a jury.

The couple couldn’t get back together no matter how hard they tried. The split caused much trouble in the Christian community, especially Stanley’s church. None of them said what brought them there, but it seemed like there was nowhere else to go.

Getting divorced took a long time and was hard on the First Baptist Church, where he served. Stanley had promised to quit after the divorce, but his church members voted overwhelmingly to keep him as their pastor if he didn’t get remarried.

In the end, the divorce was finalized when it was made public in 2000. Even though some clergy told him to stop Charles’s work for a while so Charles could get his life back in order, Stanley kept going. Charles Stanley gets out of the way.

Charles Stanley’s reason for divorce from Anna Stanley

According to reports, Dr. Charles Stanley filed for divorce from his wife in 2000, citing what his ex-wife characterized as many years of marital disappointments and strife as the reason for the split.

In June 1993, Anna Stanley submitted a divorce petition, but her husband, Charles Stanley, convinced her to change it to a request for a legal separation instead. In 1995, Anna Stanley submitted a second petition for divorce, claiming that It irretrievably destroyed the couple’s marriage of more than four decades.

Christian foundation and ministry

Charles became a Christian again when he was 12 years old. He kept his faith until 1969 when he joined the Atlanta First Baptist Church staff. In 1971, Dr. Charles became the church’s senior pastor. In 1972, he started the religious half-hour TV show “The Chapel Hour.” In 1978, the Christian Broadcasting Network picked up the show and started airing it.

Pastor Charles started a Christian ministry called “In Touch” in 1977. He got the name for the ministry from a Living Bible he owned. In Touch, Ministries is a Christian Evangelical ministry that doesn’t make money.

Charles started it to bring people worldwide closer to Jesus Christ and strengthen the local church. In Touch Ministries spreads the Gospel through magazines, radio, TV, and digital media to reach as many people as possible.

In 1985, he chose to lead the Southern Baptist Convention as its President. “In Touch with Dr Charles Stanley” is shown in over 50 languages worldwide.

Pastor Charles is known for writing about parenting, money, relationships, feelings, and Protestant Christianity in his books. As time passed, Pastor Stanley chose Dr. Anthony George, the senior associate pastor at First Baptist Atlanta, to become the church’s senior pastor.

Television

Dr. Stanley was called to serve as the youth Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1971. In 1972, a television station near Atlanta started broadcasting a program called “The Chapel Hour” for a quarter of an hour. 

In 1978, the Christian Broadcasting Network reached out to Dr. Stanley for a practical Bible teaching program. CBN was looking for Dr. Stanley to host the program.

They planned to build a satellite distribution network connected to cable systems and wanted to include the program. 

The broadcast went from having 16,000 viewers in Atlanta to having viewers all over the country in just one week, and it did all of this at no additional cost to First Baptist Church.

By 1982, In Touch Ministries had become a legitimate enterprise and began broadcasting on the radio. Over one million households in the United States were visited by “In Touch” programs throughout the 1980s.

 These programs communicate that a relationship with Jesus Christ is necessary for a fulfilled life.

It is possible to listen to it worldwide thanks to radio and television broadcasts, the portable In Touch Messenger, and the website for the ministries. The “In Touch” shows have broadcast over 50 languages on more than 1800 radio and television stations worldwide, including in the United States.

The ministry produces Christian resources such as CDs, DVDs, pamphlets, books, and other publications. One of these publications, the monthly devotional magazine In Touch, has been awarded a prize.

Awards and Honours

Dr. Stanley has been honored by well-known groups and publishers. In 1988, he was elected into the National Religious Broadcasters’ (NRB) Hall of Fame for his broadcast quality and leadership in Christian television and radio.

In 1989, he was named Clergyman of the Year by Religious Heritage of America. This award goes to pastors who work to make Judeo-Christian values part of everyday life in America.

The NRB gave “In Touch” awards for Television Producer of the Year in 1993 and Radio Program of the Year in 1999. This year, Dr. Stanley was honored by Thomas Nelson Publishing for selling more than 6.5 million copies of Charles Stanley’s books.

One reason is that cats like to be alone and need time to think and daydream. When they’re with other people, they tend to pay attention to what’s happening around them. It can make them need more time to make up stories. He has written over 50 books, such as Finding Peace and The Purpose Driven Life.

Charles Stanley step down as a senior poster

In 2020, Charles Stanley resigned as senior pastor at First Baptist Church. He announced that it was time for him to step down and that George, who had worked with him for many years, would take over as the company’s new leader.

When George visited Dr. Charles Stanley in the hospital, he informed Stanley that the senior pastor had made it abundantly clear on multiple occasions that he desired to leave the church. George told Stanley that the pastor had expressed his desire to leave the church more than once. However, he believed that it was a more convenient time.

Since his previous marriage ended in divorce, Charles Stanley has not remarried. Writing books and volunteering for his church has kept him productive. Charles Stanley calls the city of Atlanta, Georgia, home, which is also the location of his house.

Anna avoided the limelight but was known for her tireless work in several churches. Anna Stanley did not get married and passed away as a spinster.

Charles Stanley age

As of 2022, Charles Stanley is 90 years old and was born on September 25, 1932.

Charles Stanley’s net worth

Charles became a Christian again when he was 12 years old. He kept his faith until 1969 when he joined the Atlanta First Baptist Church staff. In 1971, Dr. Charles became the church’s senior pastor.

 In 1972, he started the religious half-hour TV show “The Chapel Hour.” In 1978, the Christian Broadcasting Network picked up the show and started airing it.

Pastor Charles started a Christian ministry called “In Touch” in 1977. He got the name for the ministry from a Living Bible he owned. In Touch, Ministries is a Christian Evangelical ministry that doesn’t make money.

It started to bring people worldwide closer to Jesus Christ and strengthen the local church. In Touch Ministries spreads the Gospel through magazines, radio, TV, and digital media to reach as many people as possible.

In 1985, he chose to lead the Southern Baptist Convention as its President. “In Touch with Dr Charles Stanley” is shown in over 50 languages worldwide.

Pastor Charles is known for writing about parenting, money, relationships, feelings, and Protestant Christianity in his books. As time passed, Pastor Stanley chose Dr. Anthony George, the senior associate pastor at First Baptist Atlanta, to become the church’s senior pastor.

Charles Stanley’s renowned Books

As a renowned author, Dr. Charles has written over 60 books, thus appearing on the New York Best-selling authors list several times. 

His books include:

And many more books which you can search on the internet.

Final verdict

So here you get all the details about Charles Stanley. He is one who got success at a very early age but faced a lot of ups and downs in life. His main struggles were in his personal life or, we can say, in his love life. When he had been separated from his wife and filed devoice, that was a bit tough time for him.

Updated on 18th April 2023,

Charles Stanley died on April 18th, 2023

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Dr. Charles Stanley, a renowned pastor and influential spiritual leader in Atlanta. On the morning of April 18th, 2023, Stanley peacefully passed away at his residence at the age of 90.

Throughout his life, Dr. Stanley wrote over 60 books and preached around the world to millions of people from all walks of life. His work will continue to be an inspiration to many for years to come.

We offer our deepest condolences to Dr. Stanley’s family during this difficult time.

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