Preacher and Bible educator Cecil May Jr. dies at 93
MONTGOMERY, ALA. — Cecil May Jr., dean emeritus of the Faulkner University Bible college, died June 22 — nine days after his 93rd birthday — his family announced.
The longtime evangelist, Bible professor and columnist for the Gospel Advocate and Magnolia Messenger had recently received an honorary doctorate in Christian education from Faulkner, located in Montgomery.
His first wife, Winnie, died on a Sunday nine years earlier, in 2016. They had four children together: Betty Lozada, Cecil May III, Roslyn Miller and Richard May. Cecil May Jr. married Janice a year after Winnie’s death.
May’s family remembers him for his love for them, God, the church and every person he met — and for his passion for preaching the Gospel and training Christians to carry out that mission.
He advocated strongly for Christian unity.
Cecil May Jr., bottom right, with his wife, Janice, and other family members at a luncheon honoring him at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala.
“I think lines of division, including even refusal of any association, have been drawn over too many differences,” May told The Christian Chronicle in 2018.
“Most of our problems would be solved if we listened to the ‘meekness and humility’ parts of the admonitions to correct one another,” he added.
A calculated commitment to preaching
Shortly after May’s June 13, 1932, birth in northwest Tennessee, his family moved to Memphis. There, they worshiped with the Union Avenue Church of Christ, and Cecil May Sr. worked as a barber.
May was heavily influenced by preacher and Lipscomb University teacher G.C. Brewer and Union Avenue minister E.W. McMillan, whose focus on preaching grace and forgiveness May appreciated.
May entered Harding University in Searcy, Ark. — Harding College at the time — in 1950 with a double major in math and Bible.
Math was his fallback — just in case preaching didn’t work out.
But May’s adviser, W.B. West, convinced him to trust in the Lord.
May never forgot West’s appeal: “If you will prepare yourself well, preach the truth and love the people you preach to, the Lord will take care of you — and he’ll use his people to do it.”
“If you will prepare yourself well, preach the truth and love the people you preach to, the Lord will take care of you — and he’ll use his people to do it.”
He dropped the math and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biblical languages in 1954. The same year, he married Winnie Agnes Williamson and planted a church in Potts Camp, Miss.
May preached at churches in north Mississippi until he graduated with a master’s degree in New Testament biblical studies in 1967, under the tutelage of Harding theology professor Jack Lewis.
After briefly moving to Portland, Ore., to preach and teach at Columbia Christian College, he went on to plant another church in Raymond, Miss., outside Jackson, and hosted the “Five Golden Minutes” radio program in nearby Vicksburg.
Cecil May Jr., front center, celebrates his 85th birthday with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren at a family member’s home in Edmond, Okla.
In 1977, May became Bible dean for Heritage Christian University — then known as International Bible College — in Florence, Ala.
Three years later, he left to become president of the now-defunct Magnolia Bible College in Kosciusko, Miss., a position he held for nearly two decades.
Newspapers at Cecil May Jr.’s memorial service chronicle moments in his life, including his time at Magnolia Bible College.
During that time, he led the school to begin training Black preachers, produce a number of successful preachers in Churches of Christ — including his son, Cecil May III — and achieve accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn., awarded May an honorary law degree for his accomplishments there.
May went on to lead Faulkner University’s V.P. Black College of Biblical Studies as its dean from 1998 to 2015.
After his retirement, he continued preaching, lecturing and writing the “Finally Brethren” column for the Gospel Advocate, the “Bible Questions Answered” column in the Magnolia Messenger and the “Preacher Talk” circular.
Atop every “Preacher Talk,” May shared a motto: “Biblical in doctrine, conservative in practice, liberal in love.”
Faulkner University awarded an honorary Doctor of Christian Education to Cecil May Jr. at his home in Montgomery recently.
Todd Brenneman, Faulkner’s current Bible dean, expressed his admiration for May.
“His graciousness and humility while holding fast to the truth are an example to all of us,” Brenneman said in a statement.
The dean recalled May’s humility and servant heart: “He was a servant to servants.”
A life full of love
In a celebration of May’s life at the University Church of Christ in Montgomery, where May had been a longtime elder, family and friends emphasized the persona he presented was not just a facade. He was the same man in public and private. May’s love, compassion, godliness — they were all genuine.
“He was indeed who you thought he was — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control,” May III told attendees, referencing the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5.
“He was so full of the love of Jesus, his cup overflowed into all of our lives,” added May’s other son, Richard, in a service that began with a congregational singing of “Jesus Loves Me.”
Photos and awards are displayed at a celebration of life for Cecil May Jr.
Fellow University church elder Sam Long noted the “countless souls” May inspired to come to God.
“Every now and then, God gives us men that affect the lives of everyone they encounter. That was Cecil May,” Long said. “The effect may be subtle, but the change is real. That’s Cecil May. You’re kinder, gentler, more understanding and more knowledgeable from his words. That’s Cecil May.”
May was buried alongside Winnie at the Pine Grove Church of Christ in Fulton, Miss.
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