Joe McKeever

Tuesday's Memorial Service for Dr. Landrum P. Leavell II

My heart was so full during the 90 minute service in the Leavell Chapel of our New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Tuesday morning, I couldn't decide whether I needed to get alone and have a good cry or move off by myself for a prayer time. I did neither, but followed the service by greeting members of the Leavell family and friends old and new who had come to honor this esteemed friend.

"Dr. Leavell was a hundred-percenter who gave all he had to the Lord and the people around him," said Dr. Chuck Kelley, successor to Landrum Leavell in the president's office at NOBTS.

The memorial service contained several surprises for me. I was thrilled to see Larry Black leading the hymns. This veteran minister of music--over 30 years at the FBC of Jackson, Mississippi, and a dear friend--is clearly the best we have at leading a congregation in worship and praise. Don't let the white hair fool you; he's younger now than at any time in his life and keeps getting younger. These days he serves as the interim minister of music at the FBC of Richland, MS. Over several decades, when Dr. Leavell preached revivals, Larry often led the worship music.

Clay Corvin, long-time vice-president for business affairs at NOBTS, did what Clay does best: read a poem of tribute which he had composed. The last part of "One Man" read....

"He was our preacher, teacher, leader and friend

Strong guts, no quit

He hated dirt, debt, and the devil

One man--Landrum Leavell II

We love him."

Roland Leavell II, the only one of the three Leavell sons not a preacher--he's a businessman in Jackson, MS, and has been chairman of deacons at FBC there--read the 100th Psalm. "That is the Leavell family's travel psalm," he said. "Every time we climbed into a car, bus, train or plane, we all recited it. The children learned the 100th Psalm before John 3:16."

Roland found a sticky note inside one of his dad's Bibles. "It contained these questions in Dad's handwriting. Do you take the Bible literally? Seriously? Is what you have learned head knowledge only or has it changed your life? Has it made you more like Jesus or an educated pagan or fool?"

After a video presentation on the life and ministry of Dr. Leavell, we were thrilled to see Squire Parsons step to the pulpit and sing "Beulah Land." I was surprised to learn that was the favorite song of Dr. Leavell, that they were close personal friends, and that Squire had arranged his schedule to fly in for this service. Dr. Jerry Garrard said later that Mrs. Leavell--JoAnn--had not been told Squire was coming and was as thrilled as the rest of us to have him present.

Dr. Nelson Price brought a eulogy and more. He preached a "young sermon" on Luke 2:52, where Jesus "grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man," applying the same four areas to Dr. Leavell. Nelson served on the search committee back in 1974 which brought Leavell from the FBC of Wichita Falls, TX, to the seminary. He gave us some insight dope on their selection process, "which I doubt has been told before this moment."

The committee had narrowed their search down to two very good men, and were divided. The deadlock seemed to be without a solution. Nelson suggested they go to the Lord and pray. Afterward, the vote was unanimous for Dr. Leavell. That, my friend, is what we call a "God thing."

Nelson is the long-time pastor of Roswell Street Baptist Church of Marietta, GA, and as eloquent as anyone we know. But when it came to describing Landrum's choice of a life-mate, he said, "The only word to describe JoAnn is ‘spunky.'" Normally, he pointed out, when you have an outgoing, outspoken spouse, the other is quiet and reserved. But in the Leavell household, you had two strong people with strong convictions on everything. But they made it work beautifully, and were a team in every sense of the word.

In his message, President Chuck Kelley told how his father, Mr. Charles Kelley, had heard Landrum speak back in '75. As a layman, he was most impressed. "What struck my dad was that Dr. Leavell said he was determined that the students at this seminary would learn three books:

1) The Bible, God's holy word.

2) The Grammar. He insisted preachers should learn proper English usage.

3) The checkbook. "Pay your bills and live within your income."

"That resonated with my father," Chuck said. "It hit home with a layman."

Anyone who has heard Dr. Kelley preach knows he loves to bring in objects to illustrate points in his message. He held up the book, "Don't Miss the Blessing," by JoAnn Leavell. "It's about family," he said, and emphasized how strongly Dr. Leavell was devoted to his family.

"He used to say, ‘Don't use work as an excuse to neglect your family, and don't use family as an excuse for laziness."

The other object on the platform with Dr. Kelley was an ice cream freezer. He laughed, "You don't know how hard we had to look to find this!" He explained, "So many of you in the seminary family will remember how the Leavells would turn a gallon-sized freezer of home-made ice cream--it was always butterfinger ice cream!--and invite everyone in."

"He was reminding us in all these ways that ministry is not about power or things or prestige or your career. Ministry is about people."

We usually think of a person's family as their greatest legacy. Any father would be proud to leave behind such sons and daughter as his finest contribution to this world. But Landrum Leavell's legacy was far more. So many of the buildings and educational ministries of this seminary were first conceived in his fertile mind. Most of all, however, the legacy Dr. Leavell has left behind has to be the thousands of men and women scattered across the globe who bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the millions for whom Christ died.

"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. And their works do follow them." (Revelation 14:13)

Ever wondered why we're not judged immediately after death? It's because our works are not all in yet. In the case of some special laborers in the Kingdom such as Landrum Leavell, the record will not be complete until the last child he touched and the last preacher he taught has finished the race.

I want to be near when the crowns are passed out. This one I've got to see!