Baptist State secretary-treasurer to speak at Livingstone founder’s day

By Laurie D. Willis

Livingstone College News Service

The Rev. Dr. Haywood T. Gray, executive secretary-treasurer of the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Inc., will deliver Livingstone College’s annual Founder’s Day address on Thursday.

Founder’s Day celebrates the life and achievements of Livingstone College Founder Dr. Joseph Charles Price.

The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. in Varick Auditorium. The public is invited.

The initial Founder’s Day observance was held on Feb. 10, 1884, one year after Price died.

Price, who was also Livingstone College’s first president, was born on Feb. 10, 1854, in Elizabeth City. He graduated as valedictorian in the class of 1879 from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, completing a three-year theological course in two years.

Known as a brilliant scholar, great gospel preacher, world famous orator and advocate for the common man, Price served as Livingstone’s president for 10 years until his death in 1893. During his tenure he declined much more prestigious — and lucrative — positions to remain at Livingstone College.

His grandsons Charles P. Sherrill of Salisbury and Dr. Richard W. Sherrill of Virginia Beach, Va., survive.

Gray, Thursday’s keynote speaker, retired in 2004 after serving as a pastor for 24 years and estimates he has given more than 3,900 sermons. He stopped serving as a pastor to assume his current position with the Baptist State Convention.

As CEO of his denomination in North Carolina, Gray is responsible for the daily operations of the convention as well as the coordination of financial support for its mission’s objectives.

Gray has also dabbled in politics, serving two terms on the Caswell County Board of Education and one term on the North Carolina School Boards Association. As a denominational leader, he has served as fourth vice president of his state convention and as moderator of the Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Association.

He published his first work in 1992, which became the official manual for ushers in General Baptist Churches in North Carolina. He’s a member of the Shaw University board of trustees and the board of directors of Central Children’s Home in Oxford.

Shaw University awarded Gray an honorary doctor of divinity degree in 2006.

Thursday’s Founder’s Day ceremony will also feature the presentation of a historical quilt by Roy Mitchell.

Immediately following the program, a memorial ceremony will be held at the Price Mausoleum on campus. If the weather is inclement, the ceremony will be held in Varick Auditorium.