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While A.T. and Ida Powers were residing in Greer County near the town of Hester, Oklahoma, they attended a revival meeting featuring the Southern Baptist evangelist J.R. Caviness, who preached "Justification by Faith" from the Book of Romans, a message that during the Reformation had prompted Martin Luther to demand unfulfilled reforms in Roman Catholicism. Spurred by that sermon, Powers declared that he had found salvation in Jesus Christ and was baptized by immersion, the only method accepted by Baptists. After a short period of farming on a rented 140 acres near the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester, Powers underwent the call of the ministry. He and Ida joined the Pleasant View Baptist Church in nearby Ledessa, which later entered the "New Convention" of Oklahoma, one of several founding bodies of the ABA. In October 1919, Pleasant View licensed Powers to preach.[7]

While A.T. and Ida Powers were residing in Greer County near the town of Hester, Oklahoma, they attended a revival meeting featuring the Southern Baptist evangelist J.R. Caviness, who preached "Justification by Faith" from the Book of Romans, a message that during the Reformation had prompted Martin Luther to demand unfulfilled reforms in Roman Catholicism. Spurred by that sermon, Powers declared that he had found salvation in Jesus Christ and was baptized by immersion, the only method accepted by Baptists. After a short period of farming on a rented 140 acres near the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester, Powers underwent the call of the ministry. He and Ida joined the Pleasant View Baptist Church in nearby Ledessa, which later entered the "New Convention" of Oklahoma, one of several founding bodies of the ABA. In October 1919, Pleasant View licensed Powers to preach.[7]

Upon receiving the call to the ministry, Powers attended from 1921-1925 the Missionary Baptist College in Sheridan in Grant County, south of Little Rock. With assistance from the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1918, he received his Bachelor of Theology degree. At Missionary Baptist College, Power became a close friend of the clergyman Conrad Nathan Glover (1895–1986), whose father, R. W. Glover, had been a member of both houses of the Arkansas General Assembly. Powers and Glover were the only two individuals ever named moderator-emeriti of the ABA.[8] Missionary Baptist College closed in 1934, and Missionary Baptist Seminary thereafter opened in Little Rock through the auspices of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.[9]

Upon receiving the call to the ministry, Powers attended from 1921-1925 the Missionary Baptist College in Sheridan in Grant County, south of Little Rock. With assistance from the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1918, he received his Bachelor of Theology degree. At Missionary Baptist College, Power became a close friend of the clergyman Conrad Nathan Glover (1895–1986), whose father, Robert W. Glover, had been a member of both houses of the Arkansas General Assembly prior to 1912. Powers and Glover were the only two individuals ever named moderator-emeriti of the ABA.[8] Missionary Baptist College closed in 1934, and Missionary Baptist Seminary thereafter opened in Little Rock through the auspices of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.[9]

Powers was a pastor while in Sheridan and then from 1925-1936 at the Promise Land Missionary Baptist Church in Hamburg in Ashley County in southeastern Arkansas. In 1931, while in Hamburg, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Missionary Baptist College. From 1936-1939, he was the pastor of the Pauline Missionary Baptist Church in Monticello, the seat of Drew County, also in southeastern Arkansas. The Pauline congregation consisted primarily of blue collar members who worked for low wages in a cotton mill. The church paid Powers only $12.50 per month; therefore, he sold burial insurance to support his family during the height of the Great Depression. At the time, no Missionary Baptist pastor earned more than the $100 per month paid to Ben T. Bogard, a leading figure in the denomination, by the Antioch church in Little Rock.[10]

Powers was a pastor while in Sheridan and then from 1925-1936 at the Promise Land Missionary Baptist Church in Hamburg in Ashley County in southeastern Arkansas. In 1931, while in Hamburg, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Missionary Baptist College. From 1936-1939, he was the pastor of the Pauline Missionary Baptist Church in Monticello, the seat of Drew County, also in southeastern Arkansas. The Pauline congregation consisted primarily of blue collar members who worked for low wages in a cotton mill. The church paid Powers only $12.50 per month; therefore, he sold burial insurance to support his family during the height of the Great Depression. At the time, no Missionary Baptist pastor earned more than the $100 per month paid to Ben T. Bogard, a leading figure in the denomination, by the Antioch church in Little Rock.[10]

==Leader in the ABA==

==Leader in the ABA==

   

   

In 1948, Powers became the secretary-treasurer of missions for the ABA in Texarkana, Texas, a position that he filled until 1952, when he accepted a call to become the pastor of the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Henderson in Rusk County in east Texas. He remained in Henderson until 1956, when he became the dean of the Louisiana Missionary Baptist Institute and Seminary in Minden, Louisiana, where his service extended until 1961. While in Henderson, Powers had taught at the Texas Baptist Institute and Seminary, which opened in 1949.[12] LMBIS was founded in 1952 by Powers’s colleague, L. L. Clover, a native of Clark County, Arkansas, who was pastor of the larger Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Minden from 1948-1964. The faculty in these institutions is drawn from among area Missionary Baptist pastors. In 1957, Powers accepted the pastorate at Eastside Missionary Baptist Church in Minden after the death of the founding pastor, Charles Samuel. Powers worked closely with Clover during their five years together in Minden. In 1961, Powers returned to Texarkana to become the pastor of his last congregation, the West Lawn Missionary Baptist Church in Miller County, Arkansas, a position that he held until his retirement and Mrs. Powers’s diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.[13]

In 1948, Powers became the secretary-treasurer of missions for the ABA in Texarkana, Texas, a position that he filled until 1952, when he accepted a call to become the pastor of the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Henderson in Rusk County in east Texas. He remained in Henderson until 1956, when he became the dean of the Louisiana Missionary Baptist Institute and Seminary in Minden, Louisiana, where his service extended until 1961. While in Henderson, Powers had taught at the Texas Baptist Institute and Seminary, which opened in 1949.[12] LMBIS was founded in 1952 by Powers’s colleague, [[L. L. Clover]], a native of Clark County, Arkansas, who was pastor of the larger Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Minden from 1948-1964. The faculty in these institutions is drawn from among area Missionary Baptist pastors. In 1957, Powers accepted the pastorate at Eastside Missionary Baptist Church in Minden after the death of the founding pastor, Charles Samuel. Powers worked closely with Clover during their five years together in Minden. In 1961, Powers returned to Texarkana to become the pastor of his last congregation, the West Lawn Missionary Baptist Church in Miller County, Arkansas, a position that he held until his retirement and Mrs. Powers’s diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.[13]

While with the ABA, Powers wrote Sunday school literature and co-authored with Conrad Glover, The American Baptist Association, 1924-1974, known as the Landmark Association.[14] The findings of Glover and Powers are cited in Samuel S. Hill’s Religion in the Southern States: An Historical Study and also in Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices by J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, published in 2002.[15]

While with the ABA, Powers wrote Sunday school literature and co-authored with Conrad Glover, The American Baptist Association, 1924-1974, known as the Landmark Association.[14] The findings of Glover and Powers are cited in Samuel S. Hill’s Religion in the Southern States: An Historical Study and also in Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices by J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, published in 2002.[15]

Powers died at a hospital in Texarkana, Texas, at the age of seventy-nine from complications of a fall. The couple and their son, who subsequently died of cancer, are interred at East Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Miller County, Arkansas.

Powers died at a hospital in Texarkana, Texas, at the age of seventy-nine from complications of a fall. The couple and their son, who subsequently died of cancer, are interred at East Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Miller County, Arkansas.

Irvie Keil Cross (1917–2008), one of Powers’s colleagues at the ABA headquarters, wrote a biography of his friend entitled Austin T. Powers As I Knew Him. Recalling Powers's unique manner of preaching, Cross writes:

[[I. K. Cross]], one of Powers’s colleagues at the ABA headquarters, wrote a biography of his friend entitled ''Austin T. Powers As I Knew Him.'' Recalling Powers's unique manner of preaching, Cross writes:

He was equal to any occasion, and you could count on an unusual message when he stepped on the platform. He also had an inexhaustible supply of personal illustrations. These were not something he had read in a book. That is what made them so valuable. They all happened to him or to someone he knew. He always had one that fit the occasion. . . . He seemed to have experienced more unusual situations than the average man. He also never forgot an event.”[20]

He was equal to any occasion, and you could count on an unusual message when he stepped on the platform. He also had an inexhaustible supply of personal illustrations. These were not something he had read in a book. That is what made them so valuable. They all happened to him or to someone he knew. He always had one that fit the occasion. . . . He seemed to have experienced more unusual situations than the average man. He also never forgot an event.”[20]