W. A. Criswell

Wallie Amos Criswell Jr. (December 19, 1909 – January 10, 2002), was an American Baptist pastor, author, and a two-term elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1968 to 1970. As senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas for five decades, he became widely known for expository biblical preaching at a popular level.

At age ten, Criswell professed faith in Christ at a revival meeting led by the evangelist Reverend John Hicks, and two years later, Criswell publicly committed his life to the gospel ministry. In 1944 Criswell was called to replace George Washington Truett as the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas. He spent the remainder of his pastoral ministry at First Baptist, preaching more than four thousand sermons from its pulpit.

Criswell was a driving force behind the pioneering movement in the modern megachurch phenomenon. He was also a visionary, who introduced a number of innovations at First Baptist Dallas that became a model for growing churches all over the country.