Written by Don Byrd
Robert Dilday of Baptist News Global reports on Saturday’s memorial service for James Dunn, the former Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee who passed away on July 4.
Here is an excerpt:
A packed sanctuary at Knollwood Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C. — the congregation Dunn attended along with his wife, Marilyn, who survives him — and others listening to a live stream on several web sites heard stories of what one speaker called a “Baptist folk hero.”
What emerged was a picture of a man passionate for religious liberty, separation of church and state and social justice who also invested his life in thousands of other people.
…
Brent Walker, who succeeded Dunn as executive director of the BJC, said his predecessor “loved people, thousands and tens of thousands of friends and fans, and hundreds of seminary students, who he called his ‘young-uns.’”
“I heard him say many times, ‘I’m Dunn — D-U-N-N — but I’m not yet finished.’ How true that has always been. But now he is done and finished. And his legacy will live on in the Baptist Joint Committee, at the Wake Divinity School, in Knollwood Baptist Church and in every one of us.”
The service was truly moving and inspiring, a deeply meaningful reflection on James’ legacy. It was also at times just plain fun. As Dilday writes, “[l]aughter, not tears, prevailed.” Most clear throughout was the earnest appreciation throughout the sanctuary for a beautiful life well-lived. A fitting tribute to a true Baptist hero.
