Summer 2009 | Volume 67, No. 4

Ed Litton

by Benjamin Hawkins

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Many preachers have been inspired by Paul’s command in 2 Timothy 4 to “preach the Word.” According to Ed Litton, pastor of First Baptist Church of North Mobile in Saraland, Ala., many also forget that Paul’s command did not end here. In fact, Paul urges Timothy to “be ready in season and out of season,” to “be watchful in all things,” and to “endure afflictions” (NKJV). The passage testifies that a preacher’s call is not fulfilled in the pulpit alone.

This reality came home to Litton in August 2007, when he and his congregation grieved over the death of Tammy Litton, his wife of 25 years. Both seminary president Paige Patterson and Litton’s former pastor, Jimmy Draper, took note of Litton’s pastoral heart at his wife’s funeral. After the funeral, Litton entered a car to leave the cemetery but noticed many members from his congregation standing by the graveside. He got back out of the car, walked to this gathering, and comforted his flock.

It is no surprise, therefore, that Litton was chosen to serve as president for the 2009 Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference in Louisville, Ky. Last year, Draper told Baptist Press that Litton was suited for this position because “being a pastor is not something he does; it’s something he is.”

The theme for the 2009 pastor’s conference relates to another of Litton’s ministry passions: evangelism. Southern Baptists have recovered their status as “people of the Book,” he said. “Now we need to return to being obedient to that Book, because Jesus came to ‘seek and to save that which was lost.’ ”

At the First Baptist Church of North Mobile, Litton developed a unique tool for reaching out to unbelievers who have no interest in church but who love hunting. He created “One80 Outdoors,” a hunting television show that reaches nearly 25 million homes and that has resulted in 1,000 professions of faith.

“The genesis of (the show) goes back to my days at Southwestern,” Litton said. As a Master of Divinity student in the early 1980s, he read the book, What Has Gone Wrong with the Harvest?, which he described as “a great evaluation of American Christian television.”

Litton also learned much when he served under Jimmy Draper, who was pastor at the First Baptist Church of Euless, Texas, while he was in seminary. “We had some great exposure to some great preaching,” he said. “But I have always believed in the power of a pulpit to lead a church.”

“I don’t think you can overestimate the impact of preaching,” he added. “The thing I love about preaching is that the power is in the Word.” This truth has brought him greater confidence as a preacher.

“It is not confidence in my experience,” he said. “It is confidence in the Word of God.” And this confidence is not unfounded.

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