Reuel Lemmons (1912–1989)

He graduated with honors from Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University) in 1935 and in 1969 was named outstanding alumnus of ACU, from which he received an honorary doctorate in 1974. He was a minister of the Church of Christ for fifty-three years. After preaching for his home church in Tipton, Oklahoma, from 1935 to 1943 and for the Central Church of Christ in Cleburne, Texas, from 1943 to 1955, he was editor of the Firm Foundation, a leading religious periodical published in Austin, from 1955 to 1983. He also edited Action, a periodical published in the interest of world-wide Bible study, and for five years he edited Image. Lemmons preached on every continent and in seventy-nine countries; he was broadcast weekly for eight years over a powerful African radio station that reached an estimated 1,800,000 listeners. One of his principal interests was the expansion of the Church of Christ in Nigeria, South Africa, and Latin America. He also lectured often at Christian colleges and served on the boards of trustees of Abilene Christian University and Pepperdine University. He helped establish Southwestern Christian College in Terrell in 1948. His missionary interest prompted him to establish in 1962 the Pan American Lectures, which he directed for twenty years to encourage missions in Latin America. In 1976 he started a similar lectureship in Europe. His weekly editorial in the Firm Foundation was probably the most widely read single column among members of the Church of Christ. His books of sermons include Abundant Living (1950) and The King and His Kingdom (1968). He also edited the New Smith's Bible Dictionary (1966) for Doubleday.