Dr. Charles Stanley, a longtime megachurch pastor, prolific author, and pioneering evangelical broadcaster, died in his home in Atlanta Tuesday morning, First Baptist Church of Atlanta announced.
Dr. Stanley was 90 years old.
"In Touch Family, this morning, God called our beloved pastor, Dr. Charles Stanley, home to heaven. Dr. Stanley lived a life of obedience and is now receiving the joy of his soul—seeing his Savior face-to-face. Please join us in praying for the Stanley family," the ministry Dr. Stanley first launched nationwide as "The Chapel Hour" in 1978 tweeted Tuesday.
\u201cIn Touch Family, this morning, God called our beloved pastor, Dr. Charles Stanley, home to heaven. Dr. Stanley lived a life of obedience and is now receiving the joy of his soul\u2014seeing his Savior face-to-face. Please join us in praying for the Stanley family.\u201d— In Touch Ministries (@In Touch Ministries) 1681831661
Dr. Stanley ministered as a pastor, teacher, author, and broadcaster for 65 years. He retired as First Baptist Church of Atlanta's senior pastor in 2020, after 50 years of service.
Responses from the faith community and others celebrating Stanley's life quickly flooded social media.
"Our prayers are with the family of Dr. Charles Stanley, who went home to Heaven today at the age of 90. Dr. Stanley was the founder of @InTouchMin and pastored @FirstBaptistATL for 50 years. I appreciate his faithfulness in unashamedly teaching the Word of God. For many who travel, and also during Covid-19 when people couldn’t attend their own churches, Dr. Stanley’s messages on television not only inspired us but fed us spiritually," Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and president of Samaritan's Purse tweeted.
"His teaching was solid—He did not compromise on God’s Word like so many others do today. God used him to impact so many lives around the world, and he will be greatly missed. Dr. Stanley and my father @BillyGraham were together on several occasions. They’re pictured here in 1994 in Atlanta, Georgia."
\u201cOur prayers are with the family of Dr. Charles Stanley, who went home to Heaven today at the age of 90. Dr. Stanley was the founder of @InTouchMin and pastored @FirstBaptistATL for 50 years. I appreciate his faithfulness in unashamedly teaching the Word of God. For many who\u2026\u201d— Franklin Graham (@Franklin Graham) 1681842417
"Dr. Charles Stanley was a great friend and encourager to me. He was always solidly biblical and extremely practical in his preaching. He will be greatly missed by all," said Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas.
\u201cDr. Charles Stanley was a great friend and encourager to me. He was always solidly biblical and extremely practical in his preaching. He will be greatly missed by all.\u201d— Dr. Robert Jeffress (@Dr. Robert Jeffress) 1681838332
"Charles Stanley went to Heaven today. He made his mark on this world for the Gospel and his incredible teaching of God’s Word. I like so many others was blessed by hearing his messages on the radio and TV and he was a trusted voice we have all been encouraged by," wrote Harvest megachurch Pastor Greg Laurie.
"It was my privilege to meet Dr. Stanley in person in Charlotte, North Carolina at the funeral for Billy Graham. He was warm and gracious. No doubt, he has already heard Jesus say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.' Charles Stanley will be greatly missed."
\u201cCharles Stanley went to Heaven today. He made his mark on this world for the Gospel and his incredible teaching of God\u2019s Word. I like so many others was blessed by hearing his messages on the radio and TV and he was a trusted voice we have all been encouraged\u2026\u201d— Greg Laurie (@Greg Laurie) 1681835495
"My prayers are with the family of Dr. Charles Stanley as the Lord called this powerful communicator of truth to his eternal reward. It was an honor to have known him. His faithfulness to the Lord has touched the lives of countless people," wrote Family Research Council's president Tony Perkins.
\u201cMy prayers are with the family of Dr. Charles Stanley as the Lord called this powerful communicator of truth to his eternal reward. It was an honor to have known him. His faithfulness to the Lord has touched the lives of countless people.\u201d— Tony Perkins (@Tony Perkins) 1681841217
Dr. Stanley is survived by son Andy Stanley, senior pastor at North Point Ministries, daughter Becky Stanley Broderson, six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and a half-sister Susie Cox, according to an official obituary on his namesake website.
Dr. Stanley often used the phrase "now, listen," or some variation of it, when delivering a portion of a sermon he was determined to drive home. He also regularly used mnemonic devices to help churchgoers remember crucial points.
"Now listen ... ," Dr. Stanley might begin, if he were addressing people mourning his loss today. He might then follow that with a trio of biblically-backed points encouraging them to take heart, as he was now happily face-to-face with the Savior whose message of hope he shared every chance he got for 65 years.
Watch WXIA's coverage of Dr. Stanley's passing below.
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An Ohio county board of elections found that nearly 50,000 voters received incorrect absentee ballots this week, accounting for nearly 21% of the ballots mailed out.
"We can now confirm that 49,669 voters received an incorrect ballot," the Franklin County Board of Elections said Friday. According to a press release statement from the board, the incorrect ballots were mailed as part of 237,498 ballots mailed through the U.S. postal service.
The election board has begun printing and mailing replacement ballots to every voter who received an erroneous ballot. They expect the ballots to be sent to the postal service within 72 hours for delivery.
There is also a plan to mail informational postcards to all impacted voters alerting them of the problem and instructing them on how to submit a corrected ballot.
We can now confirm that 49,669 voters received an incorrect ballot.Those voters will be contacted directly by the… https://t.co/tRyhsslxud— Franklin Co. Boe (@Franklin Co. Boe)1602263067.0
"We want to make clear that every voter who received an inaccurate ballot will receive a corrected ballot," the board said. "Stringent tracking measures are in place to guarantee that a voter can only cast one vote.
Steps taken to ensure that each voter only votes once include "sorting systems" that will "drop out and not accept any replacement ballots that are submitted if a voter has already voted in person." Additionally, voters who have an active absentee ballot but show up to vote in person on Election Day "MUST vote provisionally." Provisional ballots are not counted until the eligibility of a voter to cast that ballot is verified.
On Tuesday, as early voting began in Ohio, several residents of Franklin County began reporting that their envelopes and ballots contained incorrect information, such as the wrong precinct or congressional race, WOSU reports.
Election officials say a malfunction with one of their high-speed scanners used to process ballots caused the error.
"On October 3 at 2:24 p.m., a function of one of those scanners was disabled," election board director Ed Leonard said Thursday. "This was determined to be the root cause of the system error that led to voters receiving an incorrect ballot."
The board now says the scanner is repaired and an investigation has been started into BlueCrest, the vendor of the scanners.
WOSU reports that Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has instructed the state elections board to hold onto incorrect ballots received until a correct replacement ballot is submitted. If a replacement ballot is never submitted, the original must be "processed, remade, and scanned on or after the 11th day after the election."
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