GASTONIA, N.C. (ABP) -- Ernest Mosley, a longtime denominational worker who served the Southern Baptist Convention during a tumultuous period when two factions vied for control of nation's second-largest faith group, died July 8 after a nearly year-long battle with cancer.

Ernest Mosley

Mosley, 81, was executive vice president of the SBC Executive Committee from 1987 until his retirement in 1998. Those were years when power shifted from older moderates in the denomination to a new generation supportive of the SBC "conservative resurgence" movement of the 1980s.

In his role at the Executive Committee he edited the Baptist Program, a magazine sent to pastors and other church leaders, that was eventually replaced by the newspaper SBC Life. In 1990 Mosley took over briefly as interim director of the denomination's news service, Baptist Press, after a conservative majority on the Executive Committee voted to fire the service's two top editors for unstated reasons. That action led to the formation of Associated Baptist Press.

His daughter, Jan Mosley Hill, said while her father's last employer was the Executive Committee, his heart was in "both camps," and he maintained friendships on both sides of the conflict.

Mosley, whose ministry spanned 65 years, was executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association from 1980 until 1987. Before that he worked 13 years as a consultant for the SBC's Sunday School Board, now known as LifeWay Christian Resources.

Friends, family and former colleagues gathered July 11 in Gastonia, N.C., to celebrate Mosley's life. Speakers included current Executive Committee President Morris Chapman, who described Mosley as "an outstanding servant of Christ and denominational statesman" and "a dear friend."

Mosley is survived by his wife of 57 years, Vivian; three daughters, 10 grandchildren and a brother. The family suggests memorial gifts be made to the Ernest and Vivian Mosley Youth Mission Fund, c/o Community Foundation of Gaston County, P.O. Box 123, Gastonia, NC 28053

-30-

---