Beloved Southern Baptist Evangelist Junior Hill Dies at 87
Driven by "seeing people come to know Christ"
Junior Hill, a well-loved and well-traveled Southern Baptist evangelist, died Wednesday (Jan. 3) at the age of 87 in Hartselle, Alabama. 
In his 2005 autobiography “They Call Him Junior,” Hill estimated that he preached at more than 1,800 Sunday-to-Sunday revivals during his five decades of ministry. He was invited to speak at pastor’s conferences, state conventions, churches, colleges and seminaries throughout that time.
In 1989, Hill was elected as the Southern Baptist Convention’s first vice president at the convention’s annual meeting in Las Vegas. His presence in major parts of the SBC stretched from preaching at the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference in 1981 to preaching at SBC megachurches like First Baptist Dallas and First Baptist Jacksonville in Florida.
He began his ministry as a full-time evangelist in 1967, after pastoring for 11 years at 4 different churches in the deep south. In his 68 years of ministry, Hill never kept a tally of how many professions of faith he saw. He said in his autobiography, “Only the dear Lord in heaven knows those facts and I am perfectly content to await His final report.”
Junior said he was driven by the life change he saw from the lost coming to know Christ. “[The] most delightful joy of life on the road is the overwhelming honor of seeing so many precious souls come to faith in Christ,” he said.
Sammy Gilbreath, retired director of the Office of Evangelism for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions once called Hill, “one of the greatest harvesters in the country today.”
“There are untold numbers in the Kingdom today due to his personal soul-winning, his encouraging message for others to be faithful sharing their faith and his harvest of souls due to his anointed preaching,” Gilbreath said.
“The name Junior Hill is synonymous with evangelism,” said Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. “He was an effective personal witness for Christ. His walk with the Lord was a testimony to the goodness and greatness of God.”
Hill is survived by his wife of 66 years, Carole, plus two children and five grandchildren.
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