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(Southern Baptist clergyman from Alexandria, Louisiana)

(Southern Baptist clergyman from Alexandria, Louisiana)

|birth_date=December 10, 1934

|birth_date=December 10, 1934

|birth_place=Springhill, Webster Parish<br>[[Louisiana]]

|birth_place=Conroe, [[Texa]]<br>

Reared in Springhill,<br> Webster Parish, [[Louisiana]]

Resident of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], Louisiana  

Resident of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], Louisiana  

|death_date=August 25, 2023 (aged 88)  

|death_date=August 25, 2023 (aged 88)  

|death_place=

|death_place=

|spouse=Carolyn Anne Byrd Alley<br> (married 1956-2023, her death)<br>

|spouse=Carolyn Anne Byrd Alley<br> (married 1956-2023, her death)<br>

Two daughters:<br>

Two daughters:<br>

==Background==

==Background==

An only child, Alley was born in Springhlll in northern Webster Parish near the [[Arkansas]] state line, to Arthur Robert Alley (1910-1998) and the former Edna Gallemore (c. 1918-2010).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?pid=144583662|title=Edna Alley obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=August 9, 2010|accessdate=July 27, 2018}}</ref> His parents were too poor to afford an automobile.<ref name=LCarticle>"Alumnus John Alley Recalls his LC Experience," ''Columns: The Magazine for Louisiana College Alumni & Friends,'' Summer 2020, p. 16.</ref> A native of Conroe, [[Texas]], Arthur Alley worked for thirty-eight years in the maintenance department at International Paper Company in Springhill, a firm since dissolved. He was a [[deacon]] at Central Baptist Church in Springhill but later relocated to Alexandria to be near his son and grandchildren. Then he joined Calvary Baptist Church at 5011 Jackson Street in Alexandria, where his son was the senior pastor<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/217736437/|title=Arthur Robert Alley|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=September 12, 1998|accessdate=July 27, 2018}}</ref> from 1971 to 1999.<ref name=LCarticle/>

An only child, Alley was born in Conroe, [[Texas]], and reared in Springhlll in northern Webster Parish near the [[Arkansas]] state line, to Arthur Robert Alley (1910-1998) and the former Edna Gallemore (c. 1918-2010).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?pid=144583662|title=Edna Alley obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=August 9, 2010|accessdate=July 27, 2018}}</ref> His parents were too poor to afford an automobile.<ref name=LCarticle>"Alumnus John Alley Recalls his LC Experience," ''Columns: The Magazine for Louisiana College Alumni & Friends,'' Summer 2020, p. 16.</ref> A native of Conroe, [[Texas]], Arthur Alley worked for thirty-eight years in the maintenance department at International Paper Company in Springhill, a firm since dissolved. He was a [[deacon]] at Central Baptist Church in Springhill but later relocated to Alexandria to be near his son and grandchildren. Then he joined Calvary Baptist Church at 5011 Jackson Street in Alexandria, where his son was the senior pastor<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/217736437/|title=Arthur Robert Alley|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=September 12, 1998|accessdate=July 27, 2018}}</ref> from 1971 to 1999.<ref name=LCarticle/>

   

   

Alley graduated 70th in a class of 76 in 1952 from Springhill High School, since North Webster High School following school consolidations. On the recommendation of his [[Sunday school]] teacher, Joe Mayor, Alley enrolled at the Baptist-affiliated [[Louisiana College]] in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]] prior to his pastorate at Calvary church.<ref name=facebook>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/john.alley.545|title=John Alley|publisher=[[Facebook]]|accessdate=July 27, 2018}}</ref> Alley stayed five years at LC and in 1957 obtained a degree in Psychology and a minor in the English language. He then studied at the [[New Orleans]] Baptist Theological Seminary, from which he earned a degree in Philosophical Theology with minors in biblical languages. "All of it was a difficult time of learning. (One of his professors mistakenly predicted that Alley would drop out of college.) But I am grateful to [[God]] and the kind people who helped me," Alley recalled.<ref name=LCarticle/>

Alley graduated 70th in a class of 76 in 1952 from Springhill High School, since North Webster High School following school consolidations. On the recommendation of his [[Sunday school]] teacher, Joe Mayor, Alley enrolled at the Baptist-affiliated [[Louisiana College]] in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]] prior to his pastorate at Calvary church.<ref name=facebook>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/john.alley.545|title=John Alley|publisher=[[Facebook]]|accessdate=July 27, 2018}}</ref> Alley stayed five years at LC and in 1957 obtained a degree in Psychology and a minor in the English language. He then studied at the [[New Orleans]] Baptist Theological Seminary, from which he earned a degree in Philosophical Theology with minors in biblical languages. "All of it was a difficult time of learning. (One of his professors mistakenly predicted that Alley would drop out of college.) But I am grateful to [[God]] and the kind people who helped me," Alley recalled.<ref name=LCarticle/>

==Career==

==Career==

In 1997, Alley participated in a committee of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, based in Alexandria, to select a consensus choice as president of the body. The convention settled on [[Robert E. Anderson|Robert E. "Brother Bob" Anderson]], the pastor emeritus of Parkview Baptist Church in [[Baton Rouge]], who came to heal political wounds that had divided the Baptists for a number of years into politically [[conservative]] and "moderate" wings. Alley said that he believed the Baptists were "slowly but surely dissipating our strength and not giving our best energies to winning the lost in Louisiana but to politics in the convention." He noted that recent baptism statistics were down in each church involved in the state convention conflict.<ref name=bpnews/>  

 

In 1997, the Reverend Alley participated in a committee of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, based in Alexandria, to select a consensus choice as president of the body. The convention settled on [[Robert E. Anderson|Robert E. "Brother Bob" Anderson]], the pastor emeritus of Parkview Baptist Church in [[Baton Rouge]], who came to heal political wounds that had divided the Baptists for a number of years into politically [[conservative]] and "moderate" wings. Alley said that he believed the Baptists were "slowly but surely dissipating our strength and not giving our best energies to winning the lost in Louisiana but to politics in the convention." He noted that recent baptism statistics were down in each church involved in the state convention conflict.<ref name=bpnews/>  

Alley further explained:

Alley further explained:

Though a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]],<ref name=mylife/> Alley posted in 2018 on his [[Facebook]] page a long quotation from the [[Objectivism|objectivist]] [[Ayn Rand]] in her 1957 [[novel]] ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', which decries how productive citizens must obtain favor from the indolent and dispossessed class to proceed with their enterprises and notes how graft and influence often dominate  hard work. In such situations, "You may know that your society is doomed," Rand warned.<ref name=facebook/>   

Though a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]],<ref name=mylife/> Alley posted in 2018 on his [[Facebook]] page a long quotation from the [[Objectivism|objectivist]] [[Ayn Rand]] in her 1957 [[novel]] ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', which decries how productive citizens must obtain favor from the indolent and dispossessed class to proceed with their enterprises and notes how graft and influence often dominate  hard work. In such situations, "You may know that your society is doomed," Rand warned.<ref name=facebook/>   

The current Calvary Baptist senior pastor, B. David Brooks, supervises a staff of twenty.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.calvarynet.net/connect/our-team1/|title=Our Team|publisher=Calvarynet.net|accessdate=July 27, 2018}}</ref> Brooks joined the Calvary staff in 1979 at the age of twenty-three. He said that he still communicates with his predecessor nearly every day. "From day one he became my father in ministry and my father in life. He saw potential in me … He nurtured, developed, and held me accountable. Even in his retirement he continues to mentor me and clarifies the glory and power  pf a local church where there is vision, leadership, hard work, and unity within a church."<ref name=LCarticle/>

The current Calvary Baptist senior pastor, B. David Brooks, supervises a staff of twenty and officiated at Alley's funeral.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.calvarynet.net/connect/our-team1/|title=Our Team|publisher=Calvarynet.net|accessdate=July 27, 2018}}</ref> Brooks joined the Calvary staff in 1979 at the age of twenty-three. He said that he still communicates with his predecessor nearly every day. "From day one he became my father in ministry and my father in life. He saw potential in me … He nurtured, developed, and held me accountable. Even in his retirement he continues to mentor me and clarifies the glory and power  pf a local church where there is vision, leadership, hard work, and unity within a church."<ref name=LCarticle/>

In the summer of 2023, Reverend Alley died at the age of eighty-eight.

In the summer of 2023, Reverend Alley died at the age of eighty-eight.