George Washington Truett was a very successful evangelist who preached in most major U.S. cities, went on preaching tours in South America and the Far East, and spoke to U.S. troops in Europe. In communicating his message, he achieved a reputation of a great preacher in the evangelical tradition. George was born on a farm in Clay County, North Carolina on May 6, 1867. His parents were Mary R. and Charles L. Truett. His father was of English and Scots-Irish ancestry and his mother was of Scots-Irish descent. His mother was the daughter of James Kimsey and the niece of Elijah Kimsey, both well-known Baptist preachers in the North Carolina mountains. From 1875 to 1885, George attended Hayesville Academy. He became Christian at an evangelical revival at Hayesville Baptist Church in 1886, and, from that point on, he devoted his life to sharing the gospel. In 1889, he followed his parents to Whitewright, Texas. While attending Grayson Junior College, George taught Sunday school and often filled in for the pastor at the local Baptist church. He was officially ordained a Baptist minister in 1890. He became the financial secretary of Baylor University and was able to pay off $92,000 of the University’s debt in twenty-three months. In 1893, he enrolled at Baylor University as a freshman and paid his tuition by serving as pastor of the East Waco Baptist Church. On June 28, 1894, he married Josephine Jenkins, a student at Baylor University, and they had three daughters.
George graduated from Baylor University in 1897, and that same year, he was called to be the pastor at the First Baptist Church in Dallas. He held this position until his death forty-seven years later. During these years, the church’s membership grew from 715 to 7,804, which required a rebuilding of the church three times. George’s ministry included annual summer camp meetings for the cowboys in the Davis Mountains of West Texas (1902-1938), revivals in most major United States cities, fund-raising for hospitals (especially Baylor Hospital, where he served as trustee) and school endowments, and in 1918, an appointment by President Woodrow Wilson as one of the twenty men sent by the YMCA to preach to American troops in Europe. He served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1927 to 1929, and in summer of 1930, he made a preaching tour of South America. After being unanimously chosen to serve a five-year term as the president of the Baptist World Alliance (1934-1939), he toured the Baptist missions of the Far East in 1935 and 1936. British Baptists chose him to deliver the principal address at the Spurgeon Centenary at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1934. He returned frequently to North Carolina, and he once told an audience in Raleigh “Every thought of North Carolina, my native land, warms my heart to the depths. The spirit of the people is the great thing about them.” The Charlotte Observer called him “America’s greatest preacher”.
George died on July 7, 1944, after a year-long illness. Throughout his long career, George published ten volumes of sermons, two volumes of addresses, and two volumes of Christmas messages. Sixty-one of his sermons have been collected, printed in book form, and published in three volumes- We Would See Jesus (1915), A Quest for Souls (1917), and God’s Call to America (1923). All three have also been collected into one volume, Follow Thou Me (1932). I respect George Washington Truett for working hard to become a successful preacher and playing such a big role in spreading the gospel. He wanted to “help human life to realize its true destiny”, and he believed that money and power were to be used to help others. These values are something that I believe that everyone should believe in, so I really enjoyed learning about my ancestor’s quest to communicate this message to people all over the world.
Works Consulted
George Washington Truett Collection #0095 (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
Perez, Joan J. “TRUETT, GEORGE WASHINGTON.” PEREZ, JOAN JENKINS. Texas State Historical Association, 15 June 2010. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
Stroupe, Henry S. “Truett, George Washington.” NCpedia Home Page. University of North Carolina Press, 1 Jan. 1996. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
George W. Truett. Digital image. North Carolina Office of Archives & History, n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
A Quest for Souls – Trade Paperback (2009) by George W. Truett. Digital image. Alibris. N.p., n.d. Web.
George W.Truett We Would See Jesus. Digital image. EBay. N.p., n.d. Web.