Lucien E. Coleman Jr., veteran religious educator and scholar, died June 11 in Weatherford, Texas. He was 91.
Coleman was born to in Lepanto, Arkansas on March 2, 1931. He lived in several Arkansas towns growing up before moving to Little Rock, where his father was a two-term state senator.
After graduating from high school in Springdale, Lucien enrolled at Ouachita College in Arkadelphia. While at Ouachita, he became engaged to Bobbie Holland from Lunsford, Ark. The couple marked their 69th wedding anniversary eight days prior to his death. Coleman earned undergraduate degrees in English and divinity; master of arts degrees in divinity, theology, religious education and journalism; and a doctorate in religious education.
A committed teacher of the word
He served as pastor of several churches before committing his life to full-time teaching.
He taught 17 years at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and 10 years at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. He taught in seminaries and conference centers on six continents and was a prolific author, writing dozens of articles and a number of books about religious education. He and his wife also personally produced Sunday school training materials for 38 years.
At its peak their teaching ministry served more than 800 churches. He was most recently working on a devotional series to publish for free on digital platforms.
He is survived by his wife, Bobbie; daughter Vivian Conrad and her husband John; daughter Lynette Johnson and her husband Garry; son Martin Coleman and his wife Shirley; 12 grandchildren; and 22 great-children.
Visitation with the Coleman Family was held June 18 at Laurel Land Funeral Home in Fort Worth.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was originally published by Baptist Standard.
