Dwight McKissic


William Dwight McKissic, Sr. is a prominent African-American Southern Baptist minister from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He is the founder and current senior pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. McKissic is a controversial leader of the Bapticostal movement, marked by rejection of cessationism and support of the charismatic gifts. He has also made several controversial statements, specifically about homosexuality and divine wrath.

Biography

McKissic planted Cornerstone Baptist Church in 1983 in his garage. Today, Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas averages about 1,800 members each Sunday. McKissic's vision is to continue developing a multi-cultural ministry that will eventually house a K-12 school, retreat and communications center, and also ministries to reach and mentor fatherless children. In addition to mentoring church planters, he is the author of several books including "Beyond Roots: In Search of Blacks In The Bible", "Beyond Roots II: If Anybody Asks You Who I Am", and "Moving From Fear to Faith". No information is available on the church website or elsewhere in regard to McKissic's educational background. McKissic has served as a guest lecturer for schools such as Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he serves as a trustee, Criswell College, University of Minnesota, Emory University, Southern Illinois University, Wheaton College, and Harvard University.

Hurricane Katrina as the wrath of God

McKissic said "New Orleans flaunts sin in a way that no other places do. They call it the Big Easy. There are 10 abortion clinics in Louisiana; five of those are in New Orleans. They have a Southern Decadence parade every year and they call it gay pride. When you study Scripture, it's not out of the boundaries of God to punish a nation for sin and because of sin. When I look at our country, at what's happening, and what's happening in New Orleans in particular, it's not beyond the realm of possibility."

Position on speaking in tongues

Following the new qualification of missionary appointments, the Rev. Dwight McKissic gave a sermon during a chapel service to students attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and announced that he speaks in tongues and uses a private prayer language and emphasized not taking a cessationist view of the charismatic gifts. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary quickly distanced itself from McKissic's comments saying,
However, shortly after his election as president of the Convention, Rev. Frank Page expanded on his "big tent" view of Southern Baptists by saying,