A Brief History of Royal Ambassadors

In October 1907, Woman's Missionary Union appointed a "Committee on Mission Work for Boys." Miss Fannie Heck, president of WMU, was chairman of the committee. Miss Heck and another committee member, Miss Elizabeth Briggs (later Mrs. T. C. Pittman), attended a young people's missionary conference in Asheville, N.C. There they heard a song, "The King's Business," that was about Christian "ambassadors." Miss Briggs suggested the name "Ambassadors" as a good name for a boys' mission organization. Miss Heck added the "Royal."

At the 20th annual meeting of Woman's Missionary Union in May 1908, WMU members voted to sponsor a missions organization for boys ages 9-17, and that the name be the "Order of Royal Ambassadors."

One messenger, Mrs. W. M. Petway, was so excited about the new organization she hurried home to form the first Royal Ambassador chapter in the Southern Baptist Convention-the Carey Newton Chapter of First Baptist Church, Goldsboro, N.C.

By 1909, there were 45 RA chapters, involving several hundred boys, in the Southern Baptist Convention. By 1915, there were 500 chapters with 4,500 members.

Program materials for the boys first appeared in Our Mission Field, a WMU publication for women which included materials for several youth organizations.

In 1924, a ranking system was introduced, feathering the ranks of Page, Squire, Knight, and Ambassador. Two higher ranks, Ambassador Extraordinary and Ambassador Plenipotentiary, were added in 1929 for boys 13 and older.

Camping became a very important part of RA work, causing enthusiasm among boys. The first RA camp was held at Virginia Beach in 1917. By 1925, RA camps were being held in Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky.

Royal Ambassadors celebrated their 25th anniversary in 1933. There were 4,369 chapters with 41,864 members. In recognition of the anniversary, M. E. Dodd, pastor of First Baptist Church of Shreveport, La., arranged for a 45-minute, coast-to-coast broadcast, one of the first major Southern Baptist broadcasts in the history of the convention.

By 1943, RA work had grown to the point that a full-time conventionwide Royal Ambassador secretary was needed. WMU employed J. Ivyloy Bishop to fill the position. Bishop had worked as RA secretary in Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina, making him the logical choice for the conventionwide job. He served until September 1, 1953.

Another major event in Royal Ambassador history was the birth of Ambassador Life, a magazine strictly for Royal Ambassador boys. The first issue appeared in June 1946 and by 1949, the circulation had risen to 35,897.

The Southern Baptist Convention adopted the proposal of the Woman's Missionary Union in 1954 to transfer sponsorship of the Royal Ambassador movement from WMU to the Brotherhood Commission. The transfer was completed over a three-year period. Enrollment of Royal Ambassadors was 114,974 in 1954.

Even though Royal Ambassador work had been sponsored and promoted by Woman's Missionary Union since its birth as an organization, men had served as counselors in many churches and had been involved in some of the planning and development of the program. As the years passed, some Baptist leaders began to feel the boy's organization should be promoted by the men's organization.

Copyright WMU, SBC. All rights reserved.
From http://www.wmu.com/resources/library/history_ras.asp

Where Are They Now?

Mike Day is director of missions for the Mid-South Baptist Association. Mike was the vice president of NAMB's strategic initiatives group when he retired in 2004. Prior to his service at the North American Mission Board, Mike served at the Brotherhood Commission from 1985 to 1997.

Mary Moore is living in Alpharetta, Georgia. She is currently doing freelance design, teaching an after school drawing class at three Alpharetta-area schools and is in the process of starting her own business—Ms. Lizzie Studios. Website coming soon. Mary worked as a graphic artist at the Brotherhood Commission from 1980 to 1997 and then at NAMB from 1997 to 2005.

Profile: Darrell C. Richardson

From Brotherhood archives...
If Dr. Darrell C. Richardson could be transformed into a talking doll, his first words would probably be, "Me Tarzan, you Jane."

The Memphian, acknowledged as the world's greatest authority on the writings of Edgar Rice Burroughs, made Tarzan his hero even before he picked Jesus as a permanent life-model. "That's the first declaration I made to the athletes at Furman College (in Greenville, S.C.) after my arrival there on scholarship. Fellows, I told them, I have tow heroes -- Tarzan and Jesus of Nazareth."

Dr. Richardson is so saturated with "Tarzanosophy," it is a simple matter to picture him as the real-life manifestation of Burroughs' famous jungle man. The retired Baptist minister, editor of publications for the Brotherhood Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, no longer has the litheness of youth. But he's still a big, strong man, impressive in the bush clothes he wears. Read the entire article

Editor's Note: If you have information about Darrell Richardson or his family, please share it.

Trustees Salute Brotherhood Achievements

From Baptist Press archives...
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP)--State convention Brotherhood leaders paid tribute to the prominent "markers" in almost 90 years of Brotherhood Commission history during the final Brotherhood Leadership Conference Jan. 30-Feb. 1 (1997) in Memphis, Tenn.

The leaders, meanwhile, discussed the future of their work in a Southern Baptist Convention that, by the end of June, no longer will have Brotherhood as a separate agency.

Brotherhood President James D. Williams told the state workers, "... it's time to complete the 'grief work' over the dissolution of the Brotherhood Commission," exhorting them to "let your allegiance to Christ, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, give you a spirit of adaptation and change to the new SBC organization." Read the entire article.

Fun at Famous Dave's!

Former Brotherhood staffers Carol (Spurlin) Pipes and Mary Moore, above, along with Kenny Rains, Douglas Beggs, Tim Yarbrough, Joe Conway and Andy Morris (with wife, Pam), met December 12, 2005 for a Christmas luncheon at Famous Dave's in Alpharetta, Ga.