Pioneer in religious broadcasting dies

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - Paul M. Stevens, who served as president of the Southern Baptist Radio & Television Commission for 27 years, died Wednesday after a lengthy illness. He was 86. <br> <br> ``He was a commanding personality, a visionary of the nth degree,&#39;&#39; said the Rev. Ed Malone, vice president of radio at the commission for many years. Malone said Stevens ``changed the face of religious broadcasting in the 1950s.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> ``He was a great man, a giant among religious broadcasters,&#39;&#39; David Clark, director of Southern Baptist Convention&#39;s television and radio operations based in Fort Worth, said in a story in Thursday&#39;s Fort Worth Star-Telegram. <br> <br> Stevens took over the Southern Baptist&#39;s radio commission in 1953. It was then based in Atlanta. In 1955, the commission now named the Radio & Television Commission was moved to Fort Worth. <br> <br> In 1952, the commission had one show, ``The Baptist Hour.&#39;&#39; When Stevens retired in 1979, the commission offered 39 programs to more than 3,000 radio and television stations each week. <br> <br> Jimmy Allen, who later served as president, said Stevens was ``the most effective communicator in religious broadcasting of his time. He had a dream to carry the Baptist witness to the world and made it a reality.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary established a Paul M. Stevens Chair of Christian Communications in 1998. <br> <br> Stevens served in the Air Force in World War II, where he was assistant director of chaplaincy operations. He flew on 29 combat missions in Europe and received the Purple Heart after being wounded on his last mission. <br> <br> Stevens was pastor at First Baptist churches in Denton and Greenville, Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., and First Baptist Church in Ada, Okla. <br> <br> He is survived by his wife, Betty; three sons, a daughter, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. <br> <br> Funeral services are scheduled at 10 a.m. Saturday at Broadway Baptist Church.

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