H. Dale Jackson
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Reverend Dr. H. Dale Jackson (7 December 1930 - 15 February 2003) was a Baptist minister, denominational leader and ethicist. He is most remembered for his efforts in promoting the ideals of separation of church and state and the historic distinctives of the Baptist faith; those being the authority of the Holy Scriptures, the autonomy of the local church, the priesthood of the individual, the ordinances of baptism by immersion and Holy Communion, and the separation of church and state. For twenty years, he served as Senior Pastor of the Overland Baptist Church in St. Louis, Missouri.
[edit] Early life and education
Herman Dale Jackson was the third son of Herman William and Annie Rachel Dunton Jackson, born December 7, 1930 near Chesapeake, Missouri. He attended Stotts City School and Mt. Vernon High School and married Frances Marie Reinsmith in Bentonville, Arkansas on September 30, 1949. They had four children.
Jackson was ordained to the ministry at the First Baptist Church of Joplin, Missouri in November, 1951. He received degrees from Southwest Baptist University and Ouachita Baptist University, and did graduate studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was a member of Alpha Kappa, an academic sociological fraternity. He received doctorates from Southwest Baptist University and Missouri Baptist University and was made a Walter Pope Binns fellow of William Jewell College.
[edit] Pastoral career and beyond
After his education, he served as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Des Arc, Arkansas, Eagle Heights Baptist Church in Harrison, Arkansas, and the Overland Baptist Church in St. Louis, Missouri. Health problems forced an early retirement in 1987.
In denominational work, he served as moderator of the Northwest Arkansas Baptist Pastor's Conference, on various committees of the Southern Baptist Convention, first vice-president and member of the Executive Board, Missouri Baptist Convention, president of the board of trustees of [Missouri Baptist University, co-founder of the Metro St. Louis Police Chaplain's Association, chaplain of the Overland, Missouri Police Department, Sheriff's Deputy and Chaplain, Boone County, Arkansas, co-founder, Operation Food Search and organizer of a group of St. Louis-area pastors that later became the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Missouri.
Due to Jackson's widespread ecumenical work, the interdenominational Ritenour Ministerial Alliance of the communities of northwest St. Louis County named him lifetime "Bishop of Overland" at his retirement. He received citations from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Legion, the Christian Life Commission of the Missouri Baptist Convention and other organizations for his statewide leadership in moral and ethical issues, Christian citizenship, and separation of church and state. His printed and taped sermons and Bible studies have been circulated worldwide.
In 1989, the Overland Baptist Church bestowed upon him the title, Pastor Emeritus. Additionally, a ministerial scholarship at William Jewell College is named in honor of Dr. and Mrs. Jackson.
Jackson died at his home in Sycamore Hills, Missouri on February 15, 2003.
