COSBE “Hall of Faith” Induction Dinner

By Mickey Noah

For four hours last night, thunder and lightening flashed outside the huge windows at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Union Station ballroom on Illinois Street in downtown Indianapolis. A tornado watch had been issued outside and the skies turned yellow. But inside, no one cared. Some 200 Southern Baptists were enjoying the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists' inaugural "Hall of Faith" induction ceremony banquet.

After a welcome by Dr. Jerry Pipes of NAMB, a brief performance by the ventriloquist team of "Geraldine and Ricky," some praise and worship music, Dr. Johnny Hunt, COSBE advisor and senior pastor of FBC, Woodstock, Ga., charged up the audience with some of his own God-inspired thunder and lightning.

After Dr. Hunt's challenge to COSBE to keep on preaching the Gospel, COSBE president Brian Fossett presented crystal trophies to 29 living and deceased preachers—some of the SBC's greatest evangelists and revivalists. 

The evangelists honored included Billy Graham and three other members of his team: Cliff Barrows, George "Bev" Shea and the deceased T.W. Wilson. Honored posthumously were evangelists Walter K. Ayers, Manley Beasley, E.J. Daniels, Ron Dunn, Mike Gilchrist, Vance Havner, Jesse Hendley, Rudy Hernandez, Eddie Martin, Angel Martinez and J. Harold Smith.

Living evangelists honored and inducted into COSBE's "Hall of Faith" included Wayne Bristow, Sam Cathey, Clyde Chiles, Freddie Gage, Junior Hill, Homer Martinez, Bailey Smith, Jerry Spencer, Bill Stafford, Jay Strack and Don Womack.

But it was 78-year-old Bette Stalnecker-Gibson, inducted for her long career as an evangelistic soloist, who brought the house down—earning the only standing ovation of the night with her rendition of "His Eye is On the Sparrow."