Story and Photo
By Asia Nicole Alcorn
Dr. Tony Evans has been in ministry for over 50 years, and his impact has changed many lives and mindsets. On Wednesday, July 13, the Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Senior Pastor was awarded the E.K. Bailey Living Legend Award at the E.K. Bailey Preaching Conference.
The Living Legend Award is presented annually by Concord Church to a pastor committed to spreading God’s word. In presenting the award, Concord Senior Pastor Bryan Carter described Evans as a man who has gone above and beyond in honoring his commitment.
“He is a man of faith and a man of vision,” Carter said. “He is highly esteemed as one of the world’s most influential and effective preachers of the Gospel.” At the program, Evans’ daughter, Chrystal Evans Hurst, talked about her father’s influence.
“How do we, in our own right, do what God has called us to do and be a living legend where God has planted us,” she asked. “Well, we don’t have to look far. We just have to look at a man who was willing to do the small things, consistently well, overtime.”
According to Hurst, a mother and her 12-year-old son lived an hour from OCBF. However, they still make the drive each week and became members because her son said Dr. Evans is the only pastor he can understand.
Evans has been labeled as one of the “most respected, national evangelical leaders,” more than 1,200 pastors and leaders were on hand to pay tribute to a “living legend.”
Rev. James T. Meeks, former pastor of Salem Baptist Church of Chicago described Evans as having shown them “a more excellent way [than being in the streets].”
Along with receiving the Living Legend Award, Dr. Tony Evans’ picture will be placed in Concord Church’s Hall of Fame of Living Legend Preachers, along with previously awarded veteran pastors.
“I am humbled, and I am grateful,” said Dr. Tony Evans after receiving his award and seeing his Hall of Fame portrait.
The author of more than 100 books, he is the President of The Urban Alternative, a ministry dedicated to restoring hope in churches and society. Evans served as chaplain for the NFL’s Dallas and the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
Born in Baltimore, MD, Evans started Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in his Dallas home with wife Lois (now deceased) and 10 others. OCBF has grown to more than 10,000 members and includes more than 100 ministries. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.
He also launched the Tony Evans Training Center, an online learning platform providing seminary-style courses to equip Christian leaders who cannot attend a seminary.
A graduate of Carver Bible College and Dallas Theological Seminary with academic honors, he was the first African American graduate with a doctoral degree from Dallas Theological Seminary.
Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American.
A living legend indeed.
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