| Full name |
William E. Pannell |
| Birth |
June 24, 1929 in Sturgis, Michigan |
| Family |
|
Parents |
William and Olive Pannell. Stepfather was Joseph Perkins |
|
Siblings |
Beverly (full sister), Edna, Olive, David, Sarah, Richard, Mary Ann |
|
Marital Status |
Married to Hazel |
|
Children |
Philip, Peter |
| Conversion |
April 1946, an a revival meeting |
| Education |
|
1947?-1951 |
B.A., from Fort Wayne Bible College, Fort Wayne, Indiana |
|
1980 |
M.A. in Social Ethics from the University of Southern California |
| Career |
|
1951-1978 |
Itinerant evangelist (usually served as song leader at the very beginning
of his ministry) |
|
1955-1965 |
Assistant youth pastor in Detroit and area youth director for the
Brethren Assemblies in southern Michigan |
|
1964-1968 |
Assistant director of leadership training and staff evangelist with Youth
for Christ |
|
1968-1974 |
Vice president and associate evangelist with Tom Skinner Crusades
(later Tom Skinner Associates) |
|
1974- |
Faculty member of Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.
He began as assistant professor of evangelism and director of the Black
Pastors' program. In 1992 he became the Arthur DeKruyter/Christ
Church Oak Brook Professor of Preaching. Dean of Chapel from 1992-1998. |
| Other significant information |
| Attended the 1966 World Congress on Evangelism, the 1969 United States Congress on
Evangelism; authored books: My Friend, the Enemy (1968), Evangelism from the Bottom Up
(1992), The Coming Race Wars?: A Cry for Reconciliation (1993); received honorary
doctorates from Malone College and Geneva College; served as board member of Fuller
Theological Seminary (1971-1974), Taylor University, Sojourners/Call to Renewal |
Scope and Content
William Pannell was interviewed by Robert Shuster in 1995, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2007at the Billy Graham
Center in Wheaton, Illinois and at his office in Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California. The events described in the interview cover the time period 1929-2007
T1 ( 67 minutes). Birth in Michigan; early memories; migration pathways of Black men north to
Michigan; limited and awkward contacts with his father when he was growing up; later
appreciation of his father's struggle; characteristics of his mother (love of the piano, center of the
family), description of his stepfather; demasculinizing of Black men in society; more on his
mother as the center of the family; Aunt Edna; aspects of his mother's personality he inherited;
effect on the family of the death of his mother and his stepfather's remarriage; "all of the [Black]
men who worked in that town...pushed mops;" contrasting messages Black children were
receiving from the town's society because of underlying racism; more on the character of the
small town in which he grew up; his acceptance as a child and a teenager of society's social
conditioning; awareness of the elite culture in high school and at the country club and elsewhere
in town; memories of his grandfather and the impact of his death; mourning traditions in the
Black community; more information on his grandparents' biographies; importance of pleasing his
mother and of family, school and Sunday school; awareness of the difference caused by being
Black; place of sports in his life; his expectations for his life shaped by his Christian faith; early
Christian influences and thoughts about God and Jesus; importance of attending Brethren
Assemblies Sunday school; becoming involved in a Christian youth group as a teenager; his
conversion to Christ in April 1946 in a revival meeting, reaction of family and friends
T2 ( 67 minutes). Reason for going to Bible college after high school; first efforts at evangelism
in his home town; reason for going to Fort Wayne Bible Institute; the ethos for witnessing at the
local Missionary Church; support Pannell has received from women; the tradition of African
Americans serving as domestic servants; comments of the Black community in Sturgis; memories
of his grandfather; Mildred's efforts to raise the means for Pannell's education and her influence
on Pannell; going to Bible school; changes in him during his time in college; reflections on his
education at Fort Wayne; comparison of a Bible college with a seminary; the emphasis on
missions and ministry at Fort Wayne; his later relationship with the Bible college; teachers who
influenced him (Jarred Gerig, Safara Austin Witmer); the difference between a devotional and
scholarly approach to biblical studies; the experience of serving on the Institute's Gospel teams;
beginning of evangelistic ministry (first as a song leader) after graduation; reflections on his
experiences as an evangelist; African American pastors in the Christian and Missionary Alliance;
Thomas Florence and the Cedine Bible Mission; the effect of there being almost no other Black
students at Fort Wayne; reason for white preference for Jamaicans over African Americans;
reflections on the responsibility and joys of preaching; Richard Gerig; development of a radio
ministry; characteristics of radio evangelism; first contacts with B. M. Nottage
T3 ( 70 minutes). Relations between blacks and whites in the Brethren Assemblies in the
Detroit area; meeting Jim Wallis; Pannell's movement to a more radical Christianity; Vern Miller
and the Mennonite perspective; more on Wallis; disenchantment of Pannell with the white
Brethren Assemblies and the racial and generational split; the exodus of whites from Detroit after
the riots of the late 1960s; B. M. Nottage's attitude toward patronization by white churches;
changes in Pannell's preaching style (different audiences, the importance of the cultural reality of
the city and of politics); difference between evangelistic and prophetic preaching; differences in
the preaching invitations he received as his preaching changed; preaching as artistry in words;
criticism of his preaching as too political; contrasts between the views and realities of the white
and Black preaching in the United States; changes in preaching following changes in
consciousness; description of the life of an itinerant evangelist; taking his family on his trips;
criticisms of him because of his white friends
T4 ( 70 minutes). Early fascination with Youth for Christ (presentation, style, emphasis on
preaching, American quality); Paul Robbins; attempts of some YFC leaders to make the
organization meaningful for Black teenagers (Jay Kesler, Sam Wolgemuth); Pannell's
involvement with YFC; Ted Engstrom; Pannell's reasons for joining with Tom Skinner
Crusades; work of a YFC staff evangelist and description of a typical YFC Saturday night rally;
influence of Southern California and music on YFC; YFC efforts to take Black youth more
seriously; place of entrepreneurs in YFC; contrast of humble spirit of Kesler with other American
ministers; Kesler's help for the leaders of local chapters; Pannell's efforts to build support in the
Black community; limitations on YFC's outreach to th Black community (budget, lack of
contacts); YFC's following of white flight out of the cities; Pannell's advocacy of a division of
urban ministry; effect of the divide between urban and suburban on the American church; Young
Life's development of urban ministry; influence of former YFC staff on current (2000) urban
ministry; discontent of some YFC staff with Pannell's emphasis on social action and urban
ministry; the emergence of urban Christian leaders; final comments on YFC; Carl Henry;
memories of the 1966 World Congress on Evangelism; impressiveness of delegates; Paul S.
Rees; weaknesses of the Congress program; Frank Laubach; Michael Cassidy and the struggle
over his comments on nationalism in his speech; African Enterprise; Judy and Richard Peace;
memories of the city of Berlin and the Berlin Wall; Oral Roberts; David Hubbard; reflections on
the 1969 United States Congress on Evangelism
T5 ( 35 minutes). Inadequate emphasis at the 1969 United States Congress on Evangelism on
the urban environment; use of Pannell and Skinner as tokens or window dressing by some
Evangelical institutions; using speaking opportunities to bring about change; growing
unwelcomeness for Pannell and Skinner at many Evangelical institutions; paradox of the
"simple" gospel; Pannell's early experiences as a writer; writing My Friend the Enemy to
describe Black Evangelical experience; influence of the book on Black young people; reaction to
the book and Pannell at Fort Wayne Bible College; Clarence Jordan; Pannell's feeling of being
an orphan between Evangelical and liberal Protestants; John Yoder; encouragement and help
Pannell received from the Mennonite tradition and his involvement with Mennonite churches and
institutions; Pannell's current (2000) evaluation of My Friend the Enemy; writing of The Coming
Race Wars?
T6 (90 minutes). Summary of his involvement with
Youth for Christ (Paul Robbins, no place for Blacks in the movement and changes
desired by the "Young Turks," Jay Kesler); hearing about Tom Skinner; Skinner
speaking at a Winona Lake conference; Jack Daniel's efforts to have a more
effective program among Black young people in Chicago; movement of white
Evangelicals from the city and the effect on YFC; reasons for the lack of
effective outreach to African American urban youth; impact of the inner city
riots of 1965 and 1966; working with Ken Anderson and his influence on Pannell's
first book; plans for Tom Skinner to address a citywide meeting of the
Brethren Assemblies in Detroit; the Tom Skinner Crusade organization; Vivian
Skinner; reasons for Pannell joining TSC in 1968; model of the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association (urban nature of mass evangelistic work, assistance
from the BGEA staff and Walter Bennett, Bennett's comments on plans for a
meeting in Chicago); Jack Wyrtzen; impact of television on citywide meetings;
the meetings held in Newark in 1968 (responsibilities for organizing the
meetings, the invitation from white Evangelical association, influence of the
riots of 1967, importance of a Black Power conference convened by a Episcopal
priest, issues of identity, community and power and their influence on Pannell
and Skinner, importance of the riots in the life of the city, opposition or
indifference to many Black pastors and leaders to the Skinner meetings,
results of the meetings and lessons learned) the importance of reconciliation
in TSC's ministry as opposed to other Evangelical ministries; more on the
lessons of Newark; Stuart Barton Babbage; controversy over the move of Conwell
Seminary from Philadelphia to Massachusetts and the part of Harold John Ockenga
and J. Howard Pew; Skinner's ability to understand the politics of a meeting
or a group; more on Babbage; development of TSC after the Newark meetings;
contacts with other evangelistic organizations as a reflection of society's
realization that African Americans had to be taken more seriously; Eldridge
Cleaver, tensions over Skinner's accepting invitations to speak
indiscriminately; special emphases of the ministry (city crusades for
African Americans, campus ministry, management seminars) attempts to provide
management training for Black churches and organizations; Ted Engstrom and
Ed Dayton; Skinner's and Pannell's affinity with InterVarsity Christian
Fellowship; lack of affinity with Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for
Christ; tensions at a seminar at Arrowhead Springs; "Negro" vs. "Black,"
E.V. Hill; difference between IVCF and CCC; name change from "Tom Skinner
Crusades" to "Tom Skinner Associates"; Donald McGavran and Alan Tippett;
Pannell's position paper on African American culture for TSC; recruiting
people for TSC; Carl Ellis; growth of the staff and changes in the
organization; Richard Parker
T7 (30 minutes). Special emphases of TSA; efforts to
hold seminars for African American pastors; influence of TSC
on a new generation of young Blacks; the importance of Skinner's speech "The
Liberator Has Come" at the 1970 InterVarsity Urbana conference (background to
the invitation to speak, efforts to get African Americans to attend the
conference, theology from below; the search of the TSA staff for a new theology
that spoke to freedom and liberation; the importance of the emphasis on the
Kingdom of God motif; preaching about Christ the Liberator; reasons for
accepting the invitation to speak at the 1970 Urbana; the Black minister or
professor does not have the luxury of doing just one thing; reasons for the
influence of TSA and the 1970 Urbana meeting; Pannell's influence on Skinner)
T8 (140 minutes). Strategies to involve black students in InterVarsity’s Urbana conferences; Elward Ellis; informal sessions for black students during the 1970 conference; Skinner’s sermon on Christ the Liberator and the reaction of students and the InterVarsity leadership; David Howard; Kingdom of God as a response to liberationist impulse around the world; reaction of conservative Christians; the impact over time of the 1970 Urbana conference; Peter Hammond; Pannell speaking at a student conference in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; impact of urban riots in America around the world and white reaction in the United States; the development and problems of TSC in the early to mid-1970s; struggling to hold urban crusades centering on local black churches; Billy Graham’s leadership in the Evangelical movement in America; white and black attitudes toward the Skinner organization’s Newark, New Jersey meetings; organizing a citywide event in Newark right after the 1968 uprising; the work with black college students; “to be evangelistic and in solidarity with the needs of the black community;” Carl Ellis and L’Abri; Vivian Skinner; Richard Parker; Parker’s beginnings with TSC; evangelism vs. reconciliation; Skinner’s drift away from the organization and Pannell’s departure; the impact on Pannell of his work and friendship with Skinner; reasons for going to Fuller to teach; contacts with David Allan Hubbard; Glen Barker; Bob Munger; the move from Michigan to California as a great change in Pannell’s life; the reforming personality of Fuller Seminary; Hubbard as president of Fuller; Max De Pree and Fuller board of trustees; Fuller’s “mission beyond the mission” to the Evangelical community; Richard Mouw; Hubbard’s ability to interact with liberal theologians; his style and sophistication; Fuller’s fidelity to Scripture; concern at Fuller with justice and mercy; Pannell’s enthusiasm for Fuller; changes in Fuller’s faculty and students over the years; Donald McGavran, Alan Tippit; the School of World Mission at Fuller; C. Peter Wagner; Paul Heibert
Provenance
The materials in this collection were given to the Archives of the Billy Graham Center by
William E. Pannell, 1995-2007
Accession:95-93, 98-18, 00-12, 03-58
August 8, 2002
Robert Shuster
Accession: 03-58
September 7, 2004
Bob Shuster
Accession 07-19
May 12, 2011
Bob Shuster
*****
LOCATION RECORD
Accession: 95-93, 98-18, 00-12, 03-58, 07-19
Type of Material: Audio Tapes
The following items are located in the AUDIO TAPE file.