2021 Texas Baptists Legacy Awards to honor Richard A. Jackson and Roy T. Edgemon

On Sunday, June 6, Texas Baptists will present the 2021 Legacy Award to Richard A. Jackson, Texas Baptists leader and pastor emeritus of North Phoenix Baptist Church, and Roy T. Edgemon, former missionary, Lifeway director and pastor.

The Texas Baptist Legacy Award is presented annually at the Independence Baptist Church in Independence, Texas, in recognition of lifelong Christian service.

Richard A. Jackson

Jackson’s lifetime of ministry includes pastorates and interim pastorates of Texas Baptists churches around the state, service as a trustee for Howard Payne University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and presidency of the Jackson Center for Evangelism and Encouragement in Brownwood. He also served as pastor of North Phoenix Baptist Church, which grew from a church membership of less than 500 to 22,000 during his time, with more than 20,000 people, mostly adults, being baptized. He now serves as pastor emeritus there.

Jackson was ordained to the Gospel ministry at the age of nineteen. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts at Howard Payne University and completed his Master of Divinity degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also has had conferred upon him the Doctor of Divinity degree by both Grand Canyon University and his alma mater, Howard Payne University.

Following his 1994 retirement from full-time pastorship, Richard Jackson has been the interim pastor of sixteen Texas Baptists churches. He has also served as the president of the Jackson Center for Evangelism and Encouragement for 30 years. The center trains men and women for the Gospel ministry and has distributed more than 1.5 million copies of The Covenant of God’s Love, a New Testament which contains notes and outlines from Jackson.

Richard Jackson and his wife, Wanda, have been married for 64 years. They have three children and six adult grandchildren.

Roy T. Edgemon

Edgemon has served in all aspects of Baptist life, including as an overseas missionary with the International Mission Board, an evangelism planter with the North American Mission Board, director of Church Training and later director of Discipleship at Lifeway, and as a pastor of eight churches in Texas. In addition to full-time pastoring, Edgemon has also served as interim pastor of 41 churches, three of which he served at twice. He has written multiple books and training guides for churches and ministries.

Edgemon received his undergraduate degree from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls and his graduate degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

In 1986, Nashville Mayor Richard Fulton declared March 26 as Dr. Roy Edgemon Day for his ministry work in the city. He has also been given the key to the city in Decatur, Alabama, for serving as interim pastor at three churches there. He has also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Trustees of Baptist Sunday School Board in 1995, the Distinguished Leadership Award to 22 years of service from LifeWay Trustees in 2000 and the Distinguished Service Award in Christian Education by the Faculty of the School of Educational Ministries of the Southern Baptist Seminaries in 2007.

Edgemon married his wife, Anna, of Dallas in 1954. They have one daughter, two adult grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

The Texas Baptists Legacy Awards will be presented during the Sunday morning worship service at 10 a.m. at Independence Baptist Church, with lunch to follow. For reservations, contact Becky Brown at becky.brown[at]texasbaptists.org or call 214-828-5301.