The Rev. Bob Baxter, 77, stressed acceptance

In nearly 50 years as pastor of Mount Harmony Baptist Church, Bob Baxter preached the same sermon only once.

He thought repeating a sermon cheated the congregation, said Gloria Ann Baxter, his wife of 52 years.

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The Rev. Bob Baxter steered his congregation, Mount Harmony Baptist Church in Mableton, through the tumultuous 1960s.

“That’s just the way he was,” she said. “He didn’t like giving the congregation a warmed-over sermon.”

The Rev. Bob A. Baxter, 77, of Mableton died Sunday of cancer at Tranquility Hospice. The funeral is 2 p.m. Wednesday at Mount Harmony Baptist Church. Davis-Struempf Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Bob and Gloria Baxter met in 1951 at Mercer University. She was from Gainesville. He was from Bremen in Haralson County. He asked her out three times before she finally relented during their senior year. After graduation, he earned a master of divinity degree at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. She accepted a job at Mercer University. They married in 1956.

Three years later, the Rev. Baxter was called to pastor Mount Harmony Baptist Church in Mableton. He oversaw the congregation when integration was taking hold in the neighborhoods and schools of the Cobb County town.

“It was a difficult time,” Mrs. Baxter said. “There was a lot of ‘block-busting’ taking place. A Realtor would sell a home to a black family, then sell the homes of all the whites who wanted to move out.”

From the pulpit, the Rev. Baxter stressed love and acceptance of everyone, regardless of skin color. Under his leadership, Mount Harmony grew into a diverse congregation. He retired last August.

“Today the church has blacks and we even have some Jamaican members,” his wife said. “It’s a suburban congregation.”

Ronald Kirby, a son-in-law, said church members often talk about the Rev. Baxter’s leadership and message, especially during the tumultuous 1960s. The Rev. Baxter, he said, lived the life he preached and led others by example.

“He preached that the love of Jesus Christ would surpass any moral, cultural or social issue,” his son-in-law said. “With [the Rev. Baxter], what you saw was what you got.”

He had the gift of humor. He’d walk up to female church members, ask to see their hands, then pose a question: Have those hands been in any biscuit dough?

“He liked biscuits, though we didn’t eat them that often,” his wife said. “If we did, we’d be huge. Sometimes we would have a hot biscuit for dinner.” His last meal, in fact, consisted of a biscuit.

Additional survivors include a son, Dr. David Baxter of Savannah; a daughter, Carol Kirby of Mableton; and five grandchildren.