Adams Delivers Gaskin Baptist Heritage Lecture

February 29, 2016

Dr. Randy Adams, executive director-treasurer of the Northwest Baptist Convention in Vancouver, Washington, delivered Oklahoma Baptist University’s Gaskin Lecture Monday, Feb. 29. The title of the lecture was “The Growth and Contributions of the Ethnic Congregations in Oklahoma History.” Adams served on the leadership team for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and has pastored three churches, including First Baptist Church of McAlester, Oklahoma, from 1994-2004.

The Gaskin Lecture is named for Dr. J.M. Gaskin, who served as the BGCO’s first historical director. He led in forming the Oklahoma Baptist Historical Commission in 1952 and was elected as the organization's first historical secretary in 1953. He also served as the founding president of the Oklahoma Baptist Historical Society in 1956 and was the editor of the Oklahoma Baptist Chronicle, beginning with its launch in 1958 through spring 1998.

The objective of the lectureship is to provide and sustain a series of lectures which will preserve and promote the study of Oklahoma Baptist history and heritage. Gaskin has written 15 books about Oklahoma Baptists, and he provided the major impetus for Oklahoma Baptist research and publication over the last four decades.