B. R. Lakin

Bascom Ray Lakin, Baptist Preacher
Born: January 5, 1901 near Fort Gay, West Virginia
Died: March 15, 1984 in Lynchburg, Virginia



Born to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lakin in a farmhouse on Big Hurricane Creek, B. R. Lakin had been asked for from the Lord by a praying mother, who asked God for a "preacher man". He attended a one-room schoolhouse only through fourth grade, but later in life attended Moody Bible Institute while pastoring several churches.

Lakin became a Christian by accepting Jesus Christ as his Saviour in 1919, at a revival that was being held by J.C. Simphins in a country Baptist church. Within a week he had preached his first sermon. During the 1920s he served as circuit-riding preacher, riding a mule to country churches near the forks of the Big Sandy River, through the mountains and foothills of rural West Virginia and Kentucky. His first pastorate was Evangel Baptist Church at Greenbriar Creek, where he was paid $7 a month. He eventually assisted for two years at the Cadle Tabernacle in Indianapolis, Indiana, and upon E. Howard Cadle's death, became the Senior Pastor for the nest twelve years, continuing the long running daily radio program, “Nation’s Family Prayer Period".

B.R. Lakin was married to the former Violet Crabtree on August 30, 1922. They only had one son, William. William passed away on March 27, 1955 as the result of a car accident. William Lakin was survived by his wife and son. B.R. Lakins grandson, Ronald, assisted him throughout the rest of his ministry.

In 1952, Dr. Lakin resigned as pastor of Cadle Tabernacle to go into full-time evangelism, which he continued in until just before his death in 1984. Although he referred to himself as "just a country preacher", he traveled fifty thousand miles each year and preached to an average of four thousand people per week. He was a staff evangelist for Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Lakin's sermons were a combination of wit, Bible teaching, and a strong Gospel appeal.

Sermons by B.R. Lakin can still be heard, on websites such as this.