Wiley Drake, politically outspoken former SBC vice president, dies at 82
Wiley Drake, a politically outspoken pastor and former vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention known for his advocacy for the poor, has died at the age of 82.
The Baptist Press, the official news outlet of the SBC, reported Tuesday that Drake had died on Jan. 27, being preceded in death by his wife. He is survived by four children, 12 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
Drake was known for being a “flamboyant” character in the SBC, a self-identified “champion of the little guy,” who addressed the SBC Annual Meeting floor over 70 times across three decades.
The Baptist Report noted that his “very name elicited cheers — or groans — from the floor” during annual meetings, as Drake often advocated “bold, controversial, or unexpected motions.”
Such proposals included boycotting Disney for its moral messaging and another in 2015 calling for then-SBC President Ronnie Floyd to run for president of the United States.
“Southern Baptists will miss Wiley Drake,” tweeted Floyd on Tuesday. “I loved Wiley and he was one of a kind in SBC life. Thank God for pastors like Wiley Drake.”
Dwight McKissic, a notable African American SBC pastor and senior pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, also took to X to give his condolences.
“One of the greatest compliments that I was ever paid, was a messenger to the annual meeting telling me in love that they feared me becoming like Wiley Drake,” he tweeted.
A native of Arkansas, Drake dropped out of school in the ninth grade to work at a rodeo before being sidelined by an injury. He later joined the U.S. Navy and served a tour of duty in Vietnam before becoming a Christian and opting to enter ministry.
Drake served as pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, California, for over 25 years, where he became known for his extensive ministry among the poor.
His efforts to use the church building as a homeless shelter wrought years of legal battles with local officials over alleged violations of property codes, according to BP.
Regarding SBC politics, Drake was elected vice president of the convention in 2006 to serve a one-year term, winning on a first ballot that included future SBC President J.D. Greear. Drake unsuccessfully ran for SBC president on two occasions, including one in which he took the rare move of nominating himself.
Drake also dabbled in secular politics, running for vice president of the United States with American Independent Party presidential candidate Alan Keyes in 2008, as well as running for president as an independent in 2012 and 2016.
“I decided to run for president of the United States, because we are in trouble in this country, politically speaking,” Drake stated in 2015. “It’s time for the Judeo-Christian voice to be heard by our policy makers.”
“They can try to kick the Word of God out of politics, but they will never stop the voice of God through ‘We the people of the United States.’ We are the People of His Presence.”
Drake’s activism was not without controversy. In 2007, he was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service when he used church letterhead for his announcement endorsing then-Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, a possible violation of the ban on tax-exempt organizational involvement in electoral politics. Drake was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing.
Drake garnered widespread criticism for his endorsement of the “birther” conspiracy theory, claiming that Barack Obama was not a U.S. citizen and that documents saying so were faked.
In 2009, Drake gained headlines when he prayed on national radio for Obama to die, with the pastor claiming that it was an example of “imprecatory prayer,” or praying that punishment falls on wicked people.
“That doesn’t mean I spend every waking hour praying for the death of the president,” said Drake in 2009, as quoted by The State Journal-Register. “Of our prayers, 98 percent should be good prayers, and 2 percent should be imprecatory.”
According to his obituary, a service for Drake will be held at Oasis Church in Levelland, Texas, on Sunday, with a memorial service scheduled for next month at The Church on Pearl in Santa Monica, California.
