Jimmy G. Tharpe

Jimmy Gid Tharpe, Sr. (May 12, 1930 – November 25, 2008) was an Independent Baptist clergyman in Shreveport, Louisiana, who founded the unaccredited theologically conservative Louisiana Baptist University and Theological Seminary, originally established in 1973 as Baptist Christian University. According to Tharpe's self-published book he established Baptist Christian College (1961–1996) and the secondary school, Baptist Christian Academy (1964–1988).

Career
Tharpe was born to Lester H. Tharpe (1905–1972), a fisherman, and the former Fern Crump (1910–1963) in Sibley, five miles (8 km) south of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana. Tharpe affiliated with Missionary Baptist and joined the Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Minden, under pastor L. L. Clover.

LMBIS is affiliated with the American Baptist Association, a Landmark Baptist entity based in Texarkana, Texas, the organization of Missionary Baptist churches distinct from Southern Baptists or Independent Baptists.

Tharpe also received honorary degrees, including a doctor of divinity from Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga and a doctor of humane letters from Midwestern Baptist College of Pontiac, Michigan.

He built the first Baptist chapel in Japan and had conducted evangelical crusades in Alaska, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and the West Coast.

Tharpe was also responsible for the establishment of some seventy-five churches in Louisiana and Texas, the last having been Sibley Baptist Tabernacle in Tharpe's hometown.

He started Baptist Christian College began as an institution for ministerial and other church-related vocations. The school was investigated by a grand jury about course work done by two corrections department employees and the son of a warden. The investigation stemmed from the three using degrees earned from the school for higher pay, but "Louisiana's civil service doesn't recognize the degrees from Baptist Christian College as fulfilling education requirements for state positions." Marilyn Otstott, the school's registrar and English teacher, was indicted by a grand jury on three counts of perjury. Otstott was found guilty of perjury when she told a grand jury that she graded course work for three people when she did not. As a result of her convictions, the judge gave her probation on the condition that she end her relationship with the school and pay court costs. After she was found guilty, university president Tharpe "denied the college abused Otstott" during the investigation.

Baptist Christian Academy began in 1964 with grades one through eight. High school was added thereafter for the promotion of Christian education.



Louisiana Baptist University was founded in 1973 as a graduate school distinct from the four-year Baptist Christian College. Rick Walston, who compiled Walston's Guide to Christian Distance Learning said that LBU has not sought accreditation from either a secular board or a Christian agency.

Death and legacy
Tharpe, a diabetic for the last two decades of his life, recovered from a stroke in the 1990s but died of congestive heart failure. Tharpe was survived by six children, all of Shreveport, Kathy T. Martin (born 1951) and husband, Charles Philip Martin (born 1949); Sharon Stevens (born 1953) and husband, Al D. Stevens; Jimmy G. Tharpe, Jr. (born 1954) and wife, Kimberly; Deborah T. "Debbye" Langley (born 1955) and husband, Gregory James Langley (born 1952); Roger David Tharpe (born 1957) and wife, the former Karen Ann Pharr, and Brenda Gayle Scott (born 1964) and husband, Paul Scott; twenty grandchildren; twenty-four great-grandchildren, and two brothers, George Norman Tharpe (born 1932) and wife, Darlene, and Jack Donald Tharpe (born 1935) and wife, Barbara, all of Sibley. Tharpe's only sister, Bonnie Lee, died at the age of eight.

Services were held on November 29 at Baptist Tabernacle. Interment followed at Forest Park West Cemetery in Shreveport.

On December 1, 1978, Tharpe was inducted into the Preacher's Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, an honor bestowed on living ministers. In the ceremony, it was noted that Tharpe "is in constant demand as a speaker all over America and in many foreign lands." Tharpe is also honored through the J.G. Tharpe Life Center at Baptist Tabernacle, 8501 East Kingston Road, Shreveport, LA 71118,

In 2003, Tharpe self-published his autobiography entitled Mr. Baptist.