An Ordinary Man with a God-Sized Vision

Dr. Homer Gentry Lindsay, Jr. was one of the great pastors, evangelists and church builders of the twentieth century. A humble man who cared little about the latest fashions and trends, he once remarked early in his ministry that he was not adequate to pastor even a small church with 300 members. Years later, he would shepherd one of the largest congregations in America with more than 28,000 members and hundreds yearly professions in Christ Jesus.

 

Perhaps Dr. Lindsay Jr.'s humble approach to life is a reflection of his simple beginnings. Born to Dr. Homer Lindsay, Sr. and Mrs. Ruth Lindsay on July 10, 1927 in the rural countryside near Nashville, Tennessee, the younger Lindsay would often reflect in his messages about the joy he remembered indulging in the simple pleasures of life as a boy.

 

In 1940, Homer Linsday, Sr. would follow the call to become pastor of the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. At the time, the church was encumbered with significant debt, and the Lindsays found themselves on a mission to lead the church into health and financial freedom. It was during those formative years at the age of sixteen that a young Dr. Lindsay, Jr. would surrender his life to God's calling as a pastor. After graduating high school, he would attend Stetson University in DeLand, Florida and later Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas where he would earn a Doctorate of Divinity.

 

At the age of twenty-five, Dr. Lindsay, Jr. attended the Southern Baptist Convention. It was at this conference in 1952 that he would meet Shirley Tillman. By the end of the year, the two would be married in Lake Wales, Florida. Immediately after, they would move to Miami to pastor Northwest Baptist Church with only thirty-two members. Shirley would become the model for a pastor's wife, and she faithfully and lovingly served beside Homer for the remainder of his life. In a decade and a half, the ministry in Miami would grow nearly 100-fold. When Dr. Lindsay, Jr. left the church sixteen years later to join his father in Jacksonville as co-pastor, Northwest's member rolls listed more than 3,000 members strong.

 

God continued to grow and use Homer, Jr. as he served at First Baptist with his father. Through the 1970s and 1980s, the church would add more than 12,000 members. The church quickly expanded its footprint in the northeast corner of downtown Jacksonville, and in 1976, a new 3,500-seat auditorium (now the Lindsay Memorial Auditorium) was constructed to increase worship and preaching capacity.

 

In 1981, Dr. Lindsay, Sr. passed away from cancer, but the church fellowship that had become known as the "Miracle of Downtown Jacksonville" continued to flourish. Dr. Lindsay, Jr. was often described as "marching to a different drum." He boldly led the church in ways uncommon for the time, and became fascinated with the reach of broadcast radio and television. The church would later build production space and air live church services on broadcast television for more than twenty-five years. 

 

When Dr. Jerry Vines was asked by Dr. Lindsay, Jr. to co-pastor the church in 1982, growth continued. Just over a decade later, with nearly eight blocks of buildings, First Baptist Church would build one of the largest worship facilities in the country. With seating for nearly 10,000 people, the "Main Auditorium" would also be home to state-of-the art audio and video production space and would allow for the recording, editing and distribution of gospel content to Northeast Florida and beyond. The unique partnership of Lindsay and Vines as shepherds of the mega-congregation, combined with a signature worship style that merged classic hymns and southern gospel with a 300-voice choir and fifty piece live orchestra would become a model for other ministries across the globe well into the 21st century. In his later years of ministry, Dr. Lindsay, Jr. would use the "lighthouse" as a symbol of leading people to the truth of Jesus Christ. The church would even build a large lighthouse replica on-stage and another 100-foot tall functional lighthouse on the corner of one of its parking garages in downtown Jacksonville.

 

Dr. Lindsay, Jr. entered heaven and met his Savior face-to-face on February 13, 2000, after a brief battle with lymphoma. Shirley Lindsay would join him in heaven in eight years later. But the legacy of Dr. Lindsay, Jr. shines brightly to this day. Countless people whose lives have been saved, healed, strengthened and made whole through the saving work of Christ, came into that relationship with their Savior after hearing, watching or meeting Dr. Lindsay. He never believed himself to be special outside of the power and calling of God. Inwardly a timid person, he obediently preached the gospel of the Lord without fail, becoming emboldened and lively while passionately proclaiming the love of Christ. Through Dr. Lindsay's ministry, countless lives over many decades have been changed. Dr. Lindsay was famous for encouraging believers to "sell out to Jesus;" and his life reflected that same fervor and dedication.

 

Won't you join the ministry of LMI in helping to preserve and make Dr. Lindsay's sermons available to a new generation of people who need to hear their timeless truth?