Curtis Hutson
Encyclopedia
Independent Baptist
Independent Baptist churches are Christian churches generally holding to conservative Baptist beliefs. They are characterized by being independent from the authority of denominations or similar bodies. Members of such churches comprised three percent of the United States adult population according...
pastor and editor of The Sword of the Lord
The Sword of the Lord
The Sword of the Lord is a Christian fundamentalist publisher, based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, that publishes a newspaper of the same name as well as religious books, pamphlets, and tracts.-History:...
(1980-1995).
Curtis Hutson was born in Decatur, Georgia, of a barber and hair dresser, the second of five children. He attended Avondale High School where he met his future wife, Barbara (Gerri) Crawford. They began dating after graduation while Hutson was working at Scottdale Textile Mill. They married in 1952 and had three girls and a boy.
While working as a mail carrier, Hutson preached at church services and revivals in the Atlanta area. In 1956 he conducted a revival at the tiny Forrest Hills Baptist Church of Scottdale
Scottdale, Georgia
Scottdale is a census-designated place in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 10,631 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
. By the end of the week, Hutson had filled the fifty seats in the church, the pastor had resigned, and Hutson was called to replace him. Although he had no formal training, Hutson served as pastor while continuing to work for the post office.
In 1961, Hutson heard Jack Hyles
Jack Hyles
Jack Frasure Hyles was a leading figure in the Independent Baptist movement, having pastored the First Baptist Church of Hammond in Hammond, Indiana, from 1959 until his death. He was also well-known for being an innovator of the church bus ministry that brought thousands of people each week from...
preach at nearby Antioch Baptist Church, an evening meeting that changed his life. Hyles gave a two-hour soul-winning talk, and Hutson was convicted that he too should aggressively win the lost to Christ. The following Saturday he led three people to the Lord. "Every week thereafter for a number of years he led someone to Christ." He began to preach about soul winning, and his congregation began to follow his example. In 1967 Hutson quit the post office to become a full-time pastor--at first for a salary of $75 a month. Between 1969 and 1972, the church grew from 350 to 2,300 members. In 1976, when Hutson resigned after 20 years of pastoring, church membership was 7,900.
Entering full-time evangelism, Hutson held area-wide evangelistic meetings from 1977 to 1980. From 1974 to 1980, he also served as president of the now defunct Baptist University of America
Baptist University of America
Baptist University of America is a now defunct college that was located in Decatur, Georgia near Atlanta.It was made up of a merger of five separate seminaries.-History:...
near Atlanta.
In 1978, John R. Rice
John R. Rice
John Richard Rice was a Baptist evangelist and pastor and the founding editor of The Sword of the Lord, an influential fundamentalist newspaper.-Childhood and Education:...
invited Hutson to become the associate editor of the fundamentalist newspaper The Sword of the Lord
The Sword of the Lord
The Sword of the Lord is a Christian fundamentalist publisher, based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, that publishes a newspaper of the same name as well as religious books, pamphlets, and tracts.-History:...
based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Murfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in...
. Two years later, Rice died and Hutson became editor. He served in this position for the remainder of his life while continuing to preach in churches across America.
In 1992 Hutson was diagnosed with prostate cancer, of which he died in March 1995. Shelton Smith
Shelton Smith
Dr. Shelton Smith is the current editor of The Sword of the Lord, a Christian fundamentalist publisher, based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He is involved with the Independent Baptist movement.-History:...
became his successor at The Sword of the Lord. In April 1999, the Curtis Hutson Center for Church Ministries was dedicated at Crown College
Crown College (Tennessee)
The Crown College, also called Crown College of the Bible, is an Independent Baptist bible college, seminary, and music conservatory in Powell, Tennessee. The college offers the Bachelor of Biblical Studies degree, with concentrations in pastoral ministry, youth ministry, missions, music ministry...
, Powell, Tennessee
Powell, Tennessee
Powell is an unincorporated community in Knox County, Tennessee, United States. The United States Geographic Names System classifies Powell as a populated place. The area is located in the Emory Road corridor, just north of Knoxville, southeast of Clinton, and east of Oak Ridge...
.
His son Tony Hutson is now pastoring at Middle Tennessee Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, TN. He, like his father, also is an evangelist and travels the world preaching the gospel.
Works
- Bread for Believers (ISBN 0-87398-082-4)
- Building and Battling (ISBN 0-87398-068-9)
- Death So Soon, Heaven So Real (ISBN 0-87398-189-8)
- Ingredients of a Great Church (ISBN 0-87398-404-8)
- Punch Lines (ISBN 0-87398-665-2)
- Salvation Crystal Clear (ISBN 0-87398-795-0)
- Some Things I've Learned (ISBN 0-87398-765-9)
- Twelve Chosen Men Who Changed the World (ISBN 0-87398-027-1)
- Winning Souls and Getting Them Down the Aisle (ISBN 0-87398-928-7)
- Why I Disagree with All Five Points of Calvinism (ISBN 0-87398-931-7)
All of Hutson's books and pamphlets were published by Sword of the Lord Publishers.