50 Years and 65,000 Lessons Later

by Ron Hunter Jr.

Vision gives direction, sets goals, stretches capabilities, and most of all creates trust in the heavenly Father who calls one to greater accomplishments. Biblically, we find the obvious need for vision as the Bible constantly challenges people to strive for excellence by pressing onward, reaching more, and doing more. Scripture never indicates that it is okay to be stagnant. The early pioneers of Randall House understood big ideas, dreams, and followed God’s direction, knowing He would honor faithfulness.

Randall House is celebrating 50 years of ministry after a shaky start in 1962. Why does a denomination need a publishing house? That was the question answered by the leaders and voting body of the National Association of Free Will Baptists when they met in Birmingham in 1957. The minutes reflect their desire to create a department to assist churches with conferences, training, lessons, and other resources. From that convention forward, the vision for Free Will Baptist teaching material and training conferences began to take shape. Using material from other publishers simply taught people to have other beliefs. Free Will Baptist material teaches people to be Free Will Baptist. These leaders knew “What you teach and what you preach determines your belief.”

Early attempts to start a publishing house failed as a result of poor business practices, but just when it appeared Free Will Baptists would have to seek teaching and Sunday School materials elsewhere, the state of Oklahoma stepped up and took on the task of producing and selling literature because they felt the denomination needed its own publisher. For four years (1959 to 1962), Oklahoma sustained and preserved the effort with great success. Then in 1962, at the appropriate time, the state unselfishly returned the publishing ministry to the national Sunday School Board.

Roger Reeds, who served as general director for 32 years, opened the first office at 3801 Richland Avenue in Nashville, Tennessee. This historic home also housed the other national agencies until relocating to Murfreesboro Road in 1965. Early leaders like Jim Lauthern and H. D. Harrison proved to be champions of growing the ministry of Sunday School through training teachers in churches and providing a strong business model for the new ministry. An interesting note: when Jim was hired in 1963, he worked 44 hours a week for $40. Roger Reeds hired Delbert “Woody” Woods away from the U. S. Treasury Department to create an efficient printing operation that became less and less reliant on outside printers for producing literature.

In 1972, the national convention expanded to become more of a family event. The Church Training Service (CTS) department of Randall House developed a Bible, music, and arts competition that eventually evolved into the National Youth Conference (NYC). The conference attracted over 4,000 young people and sponsors in 2011 and continues to help young people develop their God-given talents for use in their local churches.

In 1978, the Sunday School and Church Training Departments merged into one organization, and growth continued. In 1984, Randall House introduced the Truth & Peace Student Leadership program to teach high school students biblical leadership skills to be used for life. More than a thousand alumni of Truth & Peace serve well in churches, on the mission field, and in the various professions where God has placed them.

The national Youth Evangelistic Team (YET) launched in 1988. The team is selected from among the top-scoring high school students at NYC and travels to churches, camps, and other mission fields to share the message of the gospel through music, drama, outreach, and service.

Randall House encountered turbulent financial challenges in the early 1990s. Dr. Alton Loveless, a Scripture Press veteran and bookstore manager, was hired as the second general director of Randall House. His business acuity provided financial stability for a difficult time. Under his leadership, Randall House began to produce full color covers for all curriculum lines and began a transition into the new world of digital publishing. After nine years of laying a strong foundation, Dr. Loveless retired, and Ron Hunter became the new director in 2002.

Publishing in the new millennium has many new challenges and opportunities. The emergence of the Internet, digital books, and online shopping through outlets such as Amazon has changed the landscape of publishing. A number of denominational publishers have ceased to publish, and others have downsized. Through God’s grace, however, Randall House has safely navigated the changing expectations of churches.

Beginning in 2002, Deuteronomy 6—God’s idea for generational discipleship—became the driving principle for everything at Randall House. The launch of CLEAR Curriculum and later the D6 Curriculum incorporated devotional time and family integrated biblical themes with weekly lessons.

The digital age makes it possible to provide Bible studies instantly at AccessBibleStudies.com, a fully downloadable children’s church at ElementsKidsWorship.com, and a family-integrated worship experience centered around the major holidays of the year with the 607 Experience at D6Family.com/607. In the later part of the decade, Free Will Baptists took the lead within the body of Christ through church-plus-home family discipleship and the establishment of the D6 Conference, where thousands gather each year.

Since 1962, Randall House has produced over 65,000 lessons and continues to write, edit, design, and publish 390 lessons each quarter. Randall House receives over 300 manuscript submissions or book proposals each year and selects 14-16 to publish within the major genres of theology, family and parenting, and Bible studies. Through the last 50 years, well over five generations have used Free Will Baptist materials published by Randall House, and one day your great-great-great grandchild may be reading his or her Sunday School lesson published on a tablet (or whatever device is used in 2062).

Note: A special thanks to Jim Lauthern and H. D. Harrison for their help in gathering facts for this article. A Free Will Baptist Handbook by J. Matthew Pinson also proved to be a helpful resource for writing. Learn more about Randall House.