BASCOM RAY LAKIN
1901 - 1984
Rev. B. R. Lakin was Pastor of
the Irene Cole Memorial Baptist Church, Fort
Gay, West Virginia,
he succeeded the Rev. C. H. Nicholls. B.R.
Lakin was born on a farm near Fort Gay, West
Virginia. He was converted to Christ at the
age of sixteen, during a revival meeting.
The preacher that baptized him was the nephew
of Devil Anse Hatfield of the Hatfield-McKoy
feud families. One week later he preached
his first sermon and soon after that time
became a circuit riding preacher. He rode
a mule to country churches near the forks
of the Big Sandy River.
Dr. Lakin attended Moody
Bible Institute and pastored several churches.
After doing so, he was called by E. Howard
Cadle at the Cadle Tabernacle in Indianapolis,
Indiana. After Mr. Cadle died, Dr. Lakin became
the pastor. During the next fourteen years
of ministry in that church, the ministry grew
until he was preaching to ten thousand people
each Sunday. The services were broadcast nationwide.
He was given an honorary doctorate by Bob
Jones University and Kletzing College.
In the early 1950's, Dr.
Lakin began a thirty year itinerant ministry
that included the largest churches in America.
He traveled fifty thousand miles each year
and preached to an average of four thousand
people per week. He witnessed more than one
hundred thousand conversions to Christ. His
sermons were a combination of sanctified wit,
good Bible teaching, and a strong appeal for
people to come to Christ.
After more than sixty-five
years of preaching, Dr. Lakin went home to
his heavenly mansion on March 15, 1984. His
funeral was conducted at the Thomas Road Baptist
Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Over five thousand
people attended the memorial service.
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