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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Dr. Perry Sanders
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Home Phone: -- Obituary: Reverend Perry Sanders – “He lived what he spoke” – 47 years serving First Baptist Church Reverend Perry Sanders LAFAYETTE – He was a devoted father and family man who spent the last 6 months of his life in Colorado Springs surrounded by his grandchildren, Perry Ray Sanders, III, John Michael Sanders, Noah Paul Sanders, and Sunny Lee Sanders, by his daughter-in-law, Lorn Lee Sanders and by his only child, Perry Ray Sanders, Jr. He is also survived by his brothers, Guy Sanders and Dr. Gerald Sanders and his wife Kae Sanders. He was preceded in death by Gloria McMorris Sanders, the grandmother of his grandchildren and mother of his son, his mother, Mary Sanders and father Guy Sanders, his sister, Marynell Sanders and his sister, Marion Sanders. Dr. Perry Sanders, longtime pastor of First Baptist Lafayette, passed away Monday, March 26, 2012, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at 2 a.m. local time. He was 84 years old. Sanders served First Baptist for 47 years before retiring in 2006. He previously served churches in other Louisiana cities including Baton Rouge and Jennings. Born in South Carolina, he came to Louisiana to attend New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to his service to local churches, he served two terms as president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, also terms as Pastoral Advisor to the Louisiana Baptist Student Union and Louisiana Baptist Music Conference, both the Foreign and Home Mission Boards of the Southern Baptist Convention, and chaired the Southern Baptist Convention Committee on Committees. A frequent speaker at Baptist Conventions and Evangelistic Conferences nationwide, he brought the closing message to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1981. Always supportive of civic activities, Sanders was a member of the Kiwanis Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a Division Chairman of the United Givers Fund, Board of Directors of Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, Founding Board of Directors of Acadiana Arts Council, Founding Trustee of Leadership Lafayette, and was inducted into Acadiana’s Living Legends. A fan of UL sports, he often brought the invocation at Ragin Cajun basketball games. He enjoyed golf, hunting and fishing. Under Sanders’ pastorate, First Baptist implemented an aggressive outreach program and grew from 1,209 members to almost 5,000. The church expanded property and buildings to portions of seven city blocks, including the purchase of the former Mt. Carmel School property. In 2004 First Baptist completed construction of a 2,000 seat sanctuary. Under his leadership the congregation began television broadcasts, innovative music programs, and started language ministries including Chinese, Spanish and Deaf. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at 12:00 pm at First Baptist Church of Lafayette. Visitation will be held at First Baptist Church from 8:00 am until the time of services. Pallbearers will be Perry R. Sanders, III, Noah Paul Sanders, John Michael Sanders, Jerry Sanders, Mike Placek, Oliver Carmichael, Lannie Richardson, Billy Tew and Dennis Smith. Personal condolences may be sent to the Sanders family at www.delhommefuneralhome.com. Delhomme Funeral Home, 1011 Bertrand Drive, Lafayette, LA, is in charge of funeral arrangements. Published in the The Advertiser on March 27, 2012 He lived what he spoke” by Claire Taylor, Daily Advertiser, March 27, 2012 Friends and churchgoers remembered Perry Sanders on Monday as a preacher who was unafraid of taking on social issues, who preached the gospel wherever he went and who loved life and Lafayette. The man who served as First Baptist Church for 47 years before retiring in 2006 died, at age 84, at 2 a.m. Monday in Colorado Springs, Colo. “That is uncommon, not only in the Baptist Church, but in every church,” current Born in South Carolina, Sanders began preaching at age 16. He attended the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and fell in love with Louisiana. Sanders served at five Louisiana churches before agreeing to pastor 1,209 members of First Baptist Church in 1959 in this largely Catholic community. Today, the church has 3,500 members. He loved the people of Lafayette, he loved the outdoors and he loved the university, Horn said. Sanders was innovative in his ministry, a man ahead of his time, Horn said. In 1963, he started regularly televising church services, his gospel message reaching into homes across Acadiana. He started a bus ministry in 1972 and a Chinese ministry in 1988 to minister to international UL students. Decades of expansion took place under Sanders’ leadership. Then, on a June evening in 1999, tragedy struck: Fire destroyed the old church sanctuary. But Sanders knew it wasn’t the end. “He kept saying as we stood there and watched it burn, ‘That’s just a building. The church is people and that’s all that really matters,'” said Music Minister Luther Burney, who worked with Sanders 38 years. Within a day or two after the devastating blaze, Sanders was talking to an architect and planning the sanctuary and complex that exists today at the corner of Lee Avenue and Barry Street. “Two things mark our church: the fire being one and Father Perry being the other,” Horn said, giving his predecessor praise for keeping the congregation together after the fire and through the rebuilding. Some remembered Sanders on Monday for his gospel preachings. Others, for more personal interactions. “I think his dedication and his drive were his greatest contributions” to First Baptist Church, church member Vernon Albert said. “He was very consistent. There was nothing two-faced about him. He lived what he spoke, and he spoke what came out of the Bible.” Church-goer and friend Ramona Carmichael said Sanders wasn’t afraid to take on community issues, speaking out against legalized gambling in Lafayette, for instance. Her husband, Oliver Carmichael, counted Sanders as much a friend as a preacher. The two often went hunting and fishing together, and Sanders talked to everybody, usually about the Lord, he said. One winter night, Sanders and Oliver Carmichael stopped for gas on the trip back from a service in North Louisiana. “I went inside the service station and this big old man was standing behind the counter. I saw an open flame gas heater and went behind him, warming myself at the heater,” he recalled. “Preacher,” as he called Sanders, “comes to the counter in front the man and he says to him, ‘Are you ready to die?’ I saw that big old guy freeze up. He figured we were cornering him to rob him.” It was just Sanders spreading the gospel, as usual. And, on Monday as community members grieved, those who knew Sanders agreed that a good man of God, who possessed a longtime devotion to serving the people of his adopted home of Lafayette, would be missed and not soon forgotten. “He’s with the Lord and his first wife, Gloria,” Oliver Carmichael said. “He’ll be all right.” * * * * * * * * * * Copy and paste the URL below http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=DG&Date=20120326&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=203260803&Ref=PH Athletic Network Footnote: Click here for the Nov.2-3, 2001 Shipley Reunion Video. Reverend Sanders is included in Chapter 4, flashing his wide smile and displaying his wonderful sense of humor.
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