BIO:George Beauchamp Vick

1901-1975
George Beauchamp Vick was born in Russellville, Kentucky, the 
son of a lawyer-politician. When young Beauchamp was a year 
old, his father quit politics and entered Louisville Seminary 
as a student pastor. As a young child, Vick assisted his ail-
ing father on pastoral visits, and the experience undoubtedly 
influenced his later emphasis on the visitation program as 
the key to church growth.
        Vick's first paid position was the superintendency of 
the young people's department at J. Frank Norris's First Bap-
tist Church of Fort Worth, Texas. Under Vick's dynamic lead-
ership, the department averaged nearly a thousand per Sunday, 
and annually led First Baptist in additions.
        In 1929 Vick "hit the sawdust trail" as the advance 
man-song leader for evangelists Wade House and Mordecai Ham. 
In 1936 Ham held a revival at the Temple Baptist Church in 
Detroit, where Norris was attempting a dual-pastorate. Due to 
the 1,300-mile distance involved, Norris was unable to con-
serve the results achieved during his visits, and Vick was 
induced to assume the role of "general superintendent," 
which, due to Norris's protracted absences, was tantamount to 
the pastorate. He became co-pastor in 1948 and sole pastor in 
1950.
        For nearly 40 years, Vick led the Temple Baptist 
Church to the pinnacle of influence among fundamentalists. 
During that period, he also became president of the World 
Fundamental Baptist Missionary Fellowship, president of the 
Bible Baptist Seminary, president of Baptist Bible College, 
primary founder and titular head of the Baptist Bible Fellow-
ship, leading figure in the Fundamental Baptist Congresses, 
and a spiritual diplomat who most successfully bridged the 
gaps between the sundry fundamentalist islands.

Ruckman '76
