Glenn Bryant
| Glenn Earl Bryant.
(Southern Baptist clergyman and civic leader from Alexandria, Louisiana) | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 27, 1922 Shawnee Pottawatomie County |
| Died | July 16, 2003 (aged 80) Alexandria, Louisiana Resting place: |
| Spouse | Mildred Euvone Ayers Bryant (married c. 1941-2002, her death) Children: |
Glenn Earl Bryant (July 27, 1922 – July 16, 2003) was a Southern Baptist clergyman from, principally, Alexandria, Louisiana.
Contents
Background
Bryant was born in Shawnee in Pottawatomie County in central Oklahoma, to Charles L. Bryant (1888-1925), who died when Glenn was only three years of age, and the former Eva Poe. In 1941, he accepted salvation and surrendered his life to the ministry of Jesus Christ. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee and three seminary degrees, including Doctor of Theology from the Central Baptist Theological Seminary,[1] an Independent Baptist institution founded in 1956 in Plymouth, Minnesota, fifteen miles west of Minneapolis.
Career
From 1943 to 1965, Bryant was the pastor of five congregations, First Baptist churches of Asher and St. Louis, both lin Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Fairport in DeKalb County in northwestern Missouri, the Grant Avenue Baptist Church at 1033 North Grant Avenue in Springfield in southwestern Missouri, and the Emmanuel Baptist Church in downtown Alexandria, Louisiana. For twenty-three years, he was affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Foundation, from which he retired in 1987 as the executive director. From 1980 to 1981, he was the annual president of the Association of Foundation Executives within the Southern Baptist Convention, based in Nashville, Tennessee.[1]
After leaving Emmanuel church as pastor, he was an interim pastor of eighteen area churches from 1965 to 1995,[1] including the small First Baptist congregation in rural Montgomery in Grant Parish north of Alexandria. From 1978 to 1979, Bryant was a member of the Rapides Regional Medical Board and was the interim chaplain for that group in 1993.[1]
From 1972 to 1977, Bryant was the first chairman of the board of the Renaissance Home for Youth, a detention and rehabilitation center for abused or law-breaking children located to the west of Alexandria. He was named an emeritus board member in 1985.[1] Working with Bryant on the Renaissance project were Judge Guy Humphries of the 9th Judicial District Court and George M. Foote, the long-term Alexandria municipal judge.
Bryant was an executive board member of the Attakapas Councl of the Boy Scouts.and received the "Good Sheperd" Award in 1982 and the "Silver Beaver" designation in 1983. In 1982, he was named "Outstanding Citizen" award from Lions International, and he was elected Rotarian of the year in 1988. In 1989, he received the "Boys and Girls" award of the year and in 1988, he was the "Rotarian of the Year". He served as well on the board of the Central Louisiana Rehabilitation Hospital.[1]
From 1951 to 1965, he conducted a radio program, "The Abundant Life" and a weekly half-hour television program, Life at Its Best. On April 4, 1993, he began another radio ministry on KTLD in Alexandria, since KTTP in Pineville, which aired on Sunday morning. On March 1, 1995, he launched a weekday radio program on the same station. He wrote a series of books also entitled Life at Its Best.[1]
Death
Bryant died in Alexandria eleven days before his 81st birthday. He was predeceased by his wife, the former Mildred Euvone Ayers (1921-2002), and a son, Louis Earl Bryant (1942-1990), a contractor from Houston, Texas. He was survived by another son, Larry L. Bryant (born August 1, 1959) and wife, the former Karen Denise Cook (born June 9, 1959), of Alexandria, and daughter, Betty Jones and husband, Noel, then of Houston, and Becky Sue Dufour (born July 13, 1952) and husband, Gary Leo Dufour (born November 18, 1950), the director of the Armadillo Hills Hunting Club, of Alexandria,[2] eight grandchildren, and a brother, Lewis Lee Bryant (1919-2008) of Modesto, California.[1]
His services were held at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Alexandria with pastors Larry Taylor and B. David Brooks, now at Calvary Baptist Church, officiating. His long-time friend, Judge George Foote, delivered the eulogy. Bryant is interred with his wife and son at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville, Louisiana.[1]
See also
Other Alexandra-Pineville clergy:
