Pastor Voddie Baucham Jr. dies at 56 after ’emergency medical incident

Voddie Baucham Jr., a Baptist pastor and author who promoted conservative teachings, has died after having an “emergency medical incident,” according to his ministry. He was 56.

“We are saddened to inform friends that our dear brother, Voddie Baucham, Jr., has left the land of the dying and entered the land of the living,” a statement posted on his social media pages said. “Earlier today, after suffering an emergency medical incident, he entered into his rest and the immediate presence of the Savior whom he loved, trusted, and served since he was converted as a college student.”

The Founders Seminary in Cape Coral, Florida, of which Baucham was the president, also shared the statement.

African Christian University, a school in Zambia where Baucham previously served as dean, mourned his death in a social media statement, writing in part, “He will be dearly missed.”

Baucham previously shared about his health issues. In 2021, he announced that he was diagnosed with heart failure and later underwent open heart surgery.

USA TODAY reached out to Baucham’s team for more information.

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At the time of his death, Baucham was the president and a member of the board of directors at the Founders Seminary, a division of Founders Ministries based in Cape Coral, Florida. He moved to Florida earlier this year to help establish the seminary, according to his Facebook page.

Before that, he lived in Zambia for nearly a decade, where he worked at African Christian University as a professor and former dean of its school of divinity, the college said in a statement.

Baucham was raised by a single parent and did not become religious until he went to college. He held bachelor’s degrees in Christianity and sociology from Houston Baptist University, a master’s degree in divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a doctorate degree in ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, according to his bio on Founders Seminary.

He and his wife, Bridget, had been married since 1989 and had nine children.

A Calvinist, Baucham wrote eight books and was a proponent of traditional conservative values including patriarchal gender roles and home schooling.