Doyle Chauncey, the first full-time executive director-treasurer of the SBC of Virginia, died Tuesday (March 21). He was 81.
Chauncey was one of the founders of the state convention and served in a number of ministry roles across Virginia.
Brian Autry, current SBCV executive director, shared, “With the homegoing of our friend, Doyle Chauncey, we are grateful for and remember his incredible example and ministry. Doyle was a true statesman among the churches and across our state, and his legacy is evident in how we do ministry to this day.”
Originally from Tennessee, Chauncey graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a bachelor of science in accounting and business management in 1964. While working as an accountant, he accepted the call into full-time ministry. He graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. While there, he was ordained in 1974 by Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth.
Chauncey and his wife, Sharon, moved to Virginia when he was called to pastor Liberty Baptist Church in Appomattox. He would go on to serve as treasurer of the Baptist General Association of Virginia and later accepted a ministry position at First Baptist Church in Norfolk.
When the SBCV constituted in 1996, Chauncey was unanimously elected to be its first full-time executive. He led the convention of churches in this role until 2008. Chauncey then transitioned to focus on the development of the SBCV Foundation and served as treasurer until 2014.
“Doyle was known for his passion for evangelism, missions and particularly planting churches, which became one of SBCV’s core objectives,” the SBCV noted. “He often said that ‘the future of the SBCV was tied to church planting.'”
Chauncey was also on the planning team that pioneered and implemented the decentralization concept to place state convention field staff across the state to make them more accessible to churches and leaders.
“Doyle was an entrepreneur at heart and helped start Innovative Faith Resources, providing financial and media services to churches and organizations across the nation,” the SBCV said.
Sharon was a wife to Doyle for 60 years. They have two children and eight grandchildren.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by the SBC of Virginia.
