Homer Edwin Young
Homer Edwin Young | |
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![]() Young in 2012 | |
Church | Second Baptist Church Houston |
Installed | 1968 |
Personal details | |
Born | Laurel, Mississippi, U.S. | August 11, 1936
Denomination | Southern Baptist |
Spouse | Jo Beth Landrum (m. 1959; died 2017)Lisa Milne (m. 2020) |
Children | 3, including Ed |
Occupation | Pastor |
Southern Baptists |
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Homer Edwin Young (born August 11, 1936), often called simply Ed Young, is the former senior pastor of the megachurch Second Baptist Church of Houston, Texas.[1] He is father to sons Ed Young, pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas;[2] Ben Young, at Second Baptist Houston;[3] and Cliff Young, director of Second Films and leader of the Christian folk/pop group Caedmon's Call.[4][5]
Early life and education
[edit]Young was born on August 11, 1936, in Laurel in southeastern Mississippi[6] to an impoverished family.[7][8]
He entered the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa as an engineering major. But halfway through his freshman year he answered the call of the ministry and enrolled at Mississippi College in Clinton. He went on to the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.[6]
Career
[edit]"Young was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention in June of 1992 and again in June, 1993."[6] He has a broadcast ministry called The Winning Walk that can be accessed internationally.[6] He is the author to dozens of books including Healing Broken America, Standing on the Promises, Total Heart Health for Men, Total Heart Health for Women, The 10 Commandments of Parenting, and The 10 Commandments of Marriage.[9]
As of April 23, 2010[update], Young had sold "nearly 12,000 CDs and DVDs."[7]
Ministership
[edit]Young started as a pastor in North Carolina, despite the wishes of his father.[7] Moving to South Carolina, he pastored Taylors First Baptist Church (1968–1971) and First Baptist Church Columbia (1972–1978) before moving to Second Baptist Church Houston.[6]
Under his leadership, Second Baptist grew from an average weekend attendance of 500 in 1978[10] to a membership of over 80,000 in 2019.[11] Young was a pioneer of the multisite church, and in 1999, Second Baptist became one church in two locations.[11] As of the spring of 2015 when the last campus was opened, Second Baptist Church occupies six campuses in the Houston metropolitan area[11] and, as of January 2017[update], has an online campus where each week's sermon is livestreamed daily.[citation needed]
Young assisted in the creation and organization of Houston's relief work following Tropical Storm Allison and Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike, and Harvey[citation needed] as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
Young along with Bishop James Dixon, Senior Pastor of Community of Faith Church, developed and launched Loving Kids, a joint venture ministry designed to make a difference in Houston's Acres Homes subdivision by collaboratively adopting three local Houston elementary schools "to help support children by way of mentors, tutors and teacher assistants."[13]
In 2024, he ended his term as leader of the church, and his son became the leader.[14]
Controversy
[edit]Young has garnered some controversy for sermons that call for progressive local politicians in Houston and Harris County to be voted out due to rising homicide rates.[15] Some have called for his church's tax exemption to be removed for the politically charged comments,[16] but a law professor at the University of Houston Law Center said the comments were unlikely to result in such a penalty.[17]
Young has faced criticism both for his leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention with regard to prevention of sexual abuse in the churches and for the Second Baptist's handling of two sexual abuse claims against a contract-employed coordinator of music pageants, John Forse, in 1994 and against a former youth pastor, Chad Foster, in 2010.[18] The Second Baptist church has settled two lawsuits filed by Foster's victims.[19][20]
Personal life
[edit]On September 7, 2017, Young's wife, Jo Beth Young, died at the age of 80. Married for 58 years, the couple had three children and 11 grandchildren.[21]
In 1988, Young had angioplasty to open a clogged heart artery.[22] In his 2005 book Total Heart Health for Men Workbook, he wrote about methods of reducing the risk of heart problems as he was familiar with.[citation needed] In May 2010, he underwent triple coronary bypass surgery.[22][23]
Works
[edit]- H. Edwin Young (1981). The Lord is--. Broadman Press. ISBN 0-8054-1526-2.
- H. Edwin Young (1982). A winning walk. Broadman Press. ISBN 0-8054-5191-9.
- H. Edwin Young (1984). David, after God's own heart. Broadman Press. ISBN 0-8054-1531-9.
- Edwin Young (1985). The purpose of suffering. Harvest House Publishers. ISBN 0-89081-496-1.
- H. Edwin Young (1992). Against all odds: family survival in a hostile world. T. Nelson Publishers. ISBN 0-8407-7664-0.
- H. Edwin Young (1993). Romancing the Home: How to Have a Marriage That Sizzles. Broadman & Holman Publishers. ISBN 0-8054-6086-1.
- H. Edwin Young (1995). Been There. Done That. Now What?: The Meaning of Life May Surprise You. Broadman & Holman Publishers. ISBN 0-8054-6158-2.
- Ed Young (2004). The Ten Commandments of Marriage. Moody Publishers. ISBN 0-8024-3145-3.
- Michael Duncan; Richard Leachman; Ed Young; Kristy Brown (2005). Total Heart Health for Men Workbook: Achieving a Total Heart Health Lifestyle in 90 Days. Thomas Nelson Inc. ISBN 1-4185-0126-3.
- H. Edwin Young (2005). The 10 Commandments of Parenting: The Do's and Don'ts for Raising Great Kids. Moody Publishers. ISBN 0-8024-3148-8.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Ed Young". GNL Goodnewsline.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2006. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ^ "Ed Young". Ed Young Television. Ed Young Ministries. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ^ "Ben Young Resources". BenYoung senior pastor of Second Baptist Church. Archived from the original on May 24, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ^ "About the Band". Caedmon's Call. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ^ Glenn, Mike (September 17, 2017). "Pastor's wife noted as the 'great woman' behind a great man". Houston Chronicle.
- ^ a b c d e "Dr. Young". the Winning Walk. Archived from the original on December 2, 2005. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ^ a b c Len Cannon (April 23, 2010). "Dr. Young speaks of rags-to-riches, healing a broken nation". KHOU-TV, Inc., a subsidiary of Belo Corp. Archived from the original on April 25, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ^ "MegaChurchStation - Second Baptist Church : Ed young - GoodNewsLine.com". December 5, 2006. Archived from the original on December 5, 2006. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
- ^ "Christianbook". Christianbook.com. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- ^ "Second Baptist Church". SiteCore. Archived from the original on February 28, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ^ a b c Zurawski, Karen (October 7, 2019). "Second Baptist Church-West Celebrates 20 Years". Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- ^ "COVID-19: Second Baptist Church is Seizing this Unique Opportunity to Truly be the Church". houstonresponds.org. April 6, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- ^ "Houston Area Pastors Launch "Loving Kids" Program". stylemagazine.com. May 30, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- ^ Killelea, Eric (May 26, 2024). "Houston Pastor Ed Young steps down from Second Baptist after 46 years". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- ^ "Houston's Second Baptist Church pastor facing criticism after comments made during sermon". khou.com. August 29, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
- ^ Bureau, Jasper Scherer, Austin (August 30, 2022). "Second Baptist pastor rips liberals for Houston homicide rate during sermon: 'Throw those bums out'". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
{{cite web}}
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Zuvanich, Adam (August 31, 2022). "Second Baptist Church receives blowback over politically charged sermon". Houston Public Media. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
- ^ Downen, Robert; Olsen, Lise; Tedesco, John (February 10, 2019). "Abuse of Faith 20 years, 700 victims: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms". Houston Chronicle. Hearst newspapers. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
- ^ "Churches sued following pastor's sex assault conviction". abc13 Eyewitness News. ABC, Inc., KTRK-TV Houston. October 3, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
- ^ Allen, Bob (October 3, 2014). "Parents sue Second Baptist, Houston, over daughter's abuse". Baptist News Global. Baptist News Global. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
- ^ "Jo Beth Young, wife of Dr. Ed Young at Second Baptist, dies at 80".
- ^ a b Todd Ackerman (May 27, 2010). "Pastor Ed Young undergoes triple bypass". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ^ "Pastor Ed Young out of ICU after triple heart bypass surgery". KHOU-TV, Inc., a subsidiary of Belo Corp. May 30, 2010. Archived from the original on June 3, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010.