Charles F. Stanley

Dr. Charles F. Stanley, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta and founder of In Touch Ministries, demonstrates a keen awareness of people's needs by providing practical biblical truths for everyday life. Modeling his ministry after the apostle Paul's message to the Ephesians, Dr. Stanley believes that: "Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus-the work of telling others the Good News about God's mighty kindness and love" (Acts 20:24, TLB).

In 1971, Dr. Stanley became Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia. In 1972, a half-hour program called "The Chapel Hour" was launched on an Atlanta-area television station. Looking for a practical Bible teaching program, the Christian Broadcasting Network contacted Dr. Stanley in 1978 to request the program's inclusion on its new venture, a satellite distribution network to cable systems. At no cost to First Baptist Church, the broadcast grew from 16,000 local, Atlanta viewers to a nationwide audience in one week. By 1982, In Touch Ministries was incorporated and began radio syndication. "In Touch" programs penetrated almost every major market in the United States during the 1980's, reaching more than one-million households with the message of Christ's sufficiency for life's demands.

Today, "In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley" can be heard around the world via radio and television broadcasts, the handheld In Touch Messenger and the ministries Web site, www.InTouch.org. "In Touch" programs are seen and heard domestically and internationally on nearly 1800 radio and television outlets in more than 50 languages. The ministry continues to produce CDs, DVDs, pamphlets, books and other Christian resource material, including its award-winning, monthly devotional magazine, In Touch.