Anita Bryant

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Re: Anita Bryant: In the spring of 1968, less than one year into my father’s tenure as Minister of Music at First Baptist Church Jacksonville, FL, FBC called Homer Lindsay, Jr. to be his father’s “Co-Pastor” and heir to the “Family Business.” Lindsay, Jr. had been pastor of a church in Miami, which counted Anita Bryant as one of its members. Lindsay, Jr. frequently featured Bryant on his radio show. Lindsay, Sr. had always allowed his Ministers or Music to run the music program. Lindsay, Jr. did NOT. The clash was “cultural,” with my father favoring the classic repertoire, while Lindsay, Jr. preferred “Hop Along to Jesus” music. He moved to get rid of the 1956 Baptist Hymnal in preference to a “Southern Gospel” hymnal and got rid of our pipe organ, which was replaced by an “electronic” organ. I found out at my father’s funeral in May of this year that Lindsay, Jr. tried to cancel the 1969 youth choir tour, as he was afraid it would “embarrass the church.” The clash was one my father could not win. Not only was his ministry undermined, but the conflict undermined my parents’ marriage. Everything that happened in the next year, including our October 1969 move to Mississippi, my parent’s February 1970 separation and their November 1970 divorce, arose from that clash. Now, Anita Bryant certainly had nothing to do with the internal politics of a church 350 miles to her north, but her having a “Culture Warrior” pastor certainly presaged her inserting herself into the culture wars of the 1970s.

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United Methodist Clergy
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