Church & Politics WILLIAM TOLBERT:


Two Baptists together while leading their countries: US President Jimmy Carter and President William Tolbert of Liberia wave from their motorcade during Carter’s visit to Monrovia, Liberia, in April 1978


(White House photo, Bill Fitz-Patrick)


O


f Baptists who have been politically engaged, most prominent within the Baptist World Alliance® was William Tolbert, president of the BWA from


1965-1970 and president of Liberia between 1971 and 1980. Tolbert was pastor of the Zion Praise Baptist Church in Bensonville, Liberia, and was elected president of the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention in 1958. He first served as the BWA vice president from 1960- 65. He then became the first African to be elected to the position of BWA president in 1965.


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He entered the government service of Liberia in 1936, working in the Treasury Department. He served eight years in the House of Representatives beginning in 1943 and was elected vice president of the West African country in 1952. Voted in as Liberian president in 1971, he was overthrown by a military coup and shot to death on April 12, 1980. While president of Liberia, Tolbert told the National


Press Club in the United States that the church has a role to play in making the world what it ought to be. “Nothing can any longer deter [persons from seeking] to secure their God-given dignity and inherent rights,” he said.


Te church has a role to play in making the world what it ought to be.


Left: Portrait of William Tolbert at the international offices of the BWA


In 1960 evangelist Billy Graham (on right) met then Vice President William Tolbert (left), and Liberian President and Mrs. W. U. S. Tubman (center), at the presidential residence in


Monrovia. (Photo courtesy of AP/Royle)

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