MARBLE, N.C. — Fred Bruner Lunsford, an influential Baptist pastor, ministry leader, evangelist and World War II veteran from western North Carolina who served the Lord for more than 70 years, died peacefully at his home on Saturday, March 1, at age 99, six days before his 100th birthday.
Lunsford was born March 7, 1925, and grew up on a farm in the mountain community of Marble, N.C., in Cherokee County. Lunsford’s love and devotion for the Lord, combined with his folksy manner and homespun humor, made him a popular pastor, conference speaker and evangelist.
“Fred Lunsford was a humble man born in the remote mountains of western North Carolina, but God used him to have an impact far beyond the mountains he called home,” said Milton A. Hollifield Jr., former executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. “Fred loved God with his whole heart, mind and soul, and he desired to honor God in everything he did. In my lifetime, I have been blessed to know and work with some great servants of God, and I believe Fred Lunsford was one of the greatest Christian leaders I have known.”
Lunsford trusted Christ for salvation at age 12 and sensed a call to ministry after returning home from serving in World War II in the U.S. Army. Lunsford received numerous commendations for his service in World War II, which included the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of France.
“Many young men came back from the War wounded physically, mentally and emotionally to live out their lives in a state much less than the best,” Lunsford wrote in his 2010 book, “God’s Messengers From the Mountains,” one of 10 books he authored. “However, many came back with a very deep commitment to God, having made promises to God that if He would bring them home they would serve Him. This was my case. I promised Him during the Battle of the Bulge that if He brought me back to my blessed homeland, I would serve Him, stepping through whatever doors He opened for me.”
Following his military service, Lunsford was licensed to preach in 1949 and ordained in 1950. Lunsford pastored churches in western North Carolina and north Georgia, and he was the longtime director of missions for the Truett Baptist Association in western North Carolina, serving in the role for 26 years from 1964-1990. During his tenure, Lunsford helped establish a number of ministries and programs which included services for individuals with special needs, a campground ministry, local seminary classes for pastors and more.
He was also instrumental in helping establish Truett Camp and Conference Center, as well as both the Broyhill Home and Truett Home locations of the Baptist Children’s Homes (BCH) of North Carolina. BCH honored Lunsford with a distinguished service award in 2014.
A hallmark of Lunsford’s life and ministry was his devoted prayer life. In 1952, Lunsford was among a small group of pastors who gathered to pray for God to establish a camp on the boyhood homestead of prominent Southern Baptist pastor and former Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President George W. Truett in Hayesville, N.C. The group of local pastors would meet regularly around a black walnut tree where Truett’s mother was said to pray daily for her family. One year later in 1953, Truett Camp was established, which continues today as a ministry of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. In June 2023, Lunsford returned to the site for a special 70th anniversary celebration of Truett Camp.
In 1987, the SBC’s Home Mission Board (now the North American Mission Board) recognized Lunsford as Director of Missions of the Year for the eastern United States. That same year, he was recognized with a lifetime service award from the SBC’s Seminary Extension ministry.
After retiring from the Truett association in 1990, Lunsford remained active in ministry, serving as a Sunday school consultant with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, pastoring several churches on an interim or full-time basis, and mentoring younger pastors and ministry leaders.
At age 93, he was still teaching a Sunday night Bible study at Vengeance Creek Baptist Church, the same church he attended as a youth and later pastored.
“They won’t let me give it up,” Lunsford said at the time.
Lunsford also regularly mentored young pastors, often hosting them in his home, even into his 90s. One of those pastors was Noah Crowe, who currently serves as lead pastor of Peachtree Memorial Baptist Church in Murphy, N.C. Crowe remembered Lunsford as a friend, mentor and encourager.
“The relationship he developed with me led me to call him ‘Pastor Fred,’” Crowe said. “It is more than a term of respect, it is the mark of the connection he developed with me personally. What I saw in Pastor Fred was that he was a pastor to pastors and a shepherd of shepherds. His heart was for the local church and the shepherds that God had called to lead them. His ability to connect with church people and church leaders truly was an inspiration.”
In 2002, Lunsford established Christian Lighthouse Ministries, a ministry that emphasized evangelism, church growth and prayer. In his latter years, Lunsford focused on praying for revival and spiritual awakening in America and encouraging others to do the same.
“His greatest spiritual trait was his prayer life,” said Greg Mathis, former pastor of Mud Creek Baptist Church in Hendersonville, N.C. “He prayed daily. He often traveled three miles to sit in the prayer garden dedicated to the memory of his wife, Gladys, to have his quiet time in prayer with God. It was there that God gave him his last assignment to pray for spiritual awakening in America.”
That final assignment came in 2018 when Lunsford said he asked God to take him home to heaven during a time of prayer. Lunsford was 93 at the time and four years removed from his wife’s passing.
Lunsford said God told him, “Not yet,” but he didn’t know why.
“I kept going back every day for maybe three weeks or a month before one day He answered me.” Lunsford said in a documentary about his life and ministry. “And He said, ‘Not yet, because I’ve got some unfinished business that you need to take care of.’”
That unfinished business involved encouraging and calling people to pray for spiritual awakening, which would culminate with 200 pastors and ministry leaders joining Lunsford for a mountaintop prayer gathering near his home in western North Carolina on May 5, 2020, in an event called “Praying on the Mountain.” The event would also coincide with Lunsford’s 70th year of active ministry.
However, after the COVID-19 pandemic prompted many states, including North Carolina, to implement shutdowns and limit indoor and outdoor gatherings beginning in March 2020, “Praying on the Mountain” turned into a virtual event that called on as many people as possible to pray wherever they were while Lunsford and a few others prayed from the mountaintop. The event was streamed live.
The virtual prayer event garnered national attention and attracted more than 260,000 reported participants. Fox News and other Christian media outlets provided news coverage of the event.
“It’s amazing, and I really thank God from the depths of my heart,” Lunsford said at the time. “We know that we need spiritual awakening, we know we need the healing of our land. I am so in awe about it and at the same time, I’m thankful and grateful for all the people involved. It’s beyond my words to describe.”
Mathis was one of pastors and ministry leaders who joined Lunsford in praying, planning and promoting “Praying on the Mountain.” Another was David Horton, president of Fruitland Baptist Bible College in Hendersonville, N.C. Horton said he has been personally moved by Lunsford’s passion for prayer.
“Fred Lunsford has impacted my prayer life and my walk with the Lord in a very powerful and profound way,” Horton said. “When I heard him share a prayer testimony in the ‘Fanning the Flames Prayer Conference’ at Truett Camp and Conference Center on Sept. 7, 2019, I knew I was in the presence of a spiritual giant. God used brother Fred’s words to break my heart and lead me to a greater desire and commitment to pray. Here we are in 2025, almost six years later, and the fire is burning hotter than ever before.”
Following “Praying on the Mountain,” Lunsford continued sponsoring prayer gatherings and conferences to encourage prayer for spiritual awakening. He continued to participate in those events and also held regular prayer calls and meetings with pastors and ministry leaders in his home until about six months ago, prior to a decline in his health.
Lunsford was an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and was recognized as an elder of the tribe. He was also a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor in North Carolina.
A Facebook post from Christian Lighthouse Ministries shortly after Lunsford’s passing said the last prayer he uttered on his deathbed while still coherent was, “Lord, if there is anything else you want me to do, just tell me and I’ll do it.”
A memorial service for Lunsford will be held Friday, March 7, at 11 a.m., at Little Brasstown Baptist Church in Brasstown, N.C., which was one of the churches he pastored. Lunsford’s other pastorates included First Baptist Church of Robbinsville, N.C., Vengeance Creek Baptist Church in North Carolina and Friendship Baptist Church in Hiawassee, Georgia.
A graveside service with military honors will be held at 3:30 p.m., on Friday, March 7, at Vengeance Creek Memorial Gardens.
