Evangelist Voddie Baucham Jr. dead at 56

Evangelist and theologian Voddie Baucham Jr. died Sept. 25 at the age of 56. His family reported that the cause was a medical emergency.

Baucham had previously faced serious health problems, including a diagnosis of heart failure in 2021 that required treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Florida.

The news was reported by the Founders Ministries page, the Southern Baptist Calvinist group with which he was associated. Baucham is survived by his wife of three decades, Bridget, their nine children and several grandchildren.

"We are saddened to inform our friends that our dear brother, Voddie Baucham, Jr. has left the land of the dying to enter the land of the living..."Founders Ministries release

Beloved by Southern Baptists and conservative Calvinists, Baucham was a controversial figure within theSouthern Baptist Convention (SBC). Three years ago, he was to be nominated president of the SBC, but was declared ineligible because he was not a member of an SBC church. Instead, Baucham was nominated president of the SBC Pastors' Conference, but lost the race in a runoff.

Itinerant evangelist

Voddie Baucham was born March 11, 1969, in Los Angeles and attended New Mexico State University and Rice University, where he excelled as a tight end on the football team. He later transferred to Houston Baptist University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

He then pursued a master's degree in theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a doctoral degree in ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He founded Voddie Baucham Ministries in 1993 and was an itinerant evangelist until being named pastor of Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas. In 2015, he moved to Zambia, where he was appointed dean of theology at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia.

He returned home in 2024 and in January of this year was named president of Founders Seminary in Florida, a new school associated with Founders Ministries.