Voddie Baucham

Voddie Baucham

Birth Date	March 11, 1969
Birth Place	Los Angeles, California
Death Date	September 25, 2025
Death Place	Florida (unknown)
Residency	Cape Coral, Florida
Theology	Reformed Baptist
Occupation(s)	Pastor, author, theologian
Education	New Mexico State University
Affiliation(s)	Founders Seminary (president) African Christian University (formerly)
Spouse(s)	Bridget Linette Baucham (nee Wilson)
Children	9
Website	voddiebaucham.org

Voddie Tharon Baucham, Jr. (March 11, 1969 – September 25, 2025) was an American pastor, author, and educator. He served for 9 years as Dean of Theology at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia.

He was the Founding President of Founders Seminary in Cape Coral, Florida.

Education and career

Born in Los Angeles, Baucham studied at New Mexico State University and Rice University, playing football as a tight end. He then transferred to Houston Baptist University, where he graduated with a B.A. He went on to obtain an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a D.Min. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Baucham also did additional post-graduate study at the University of Oxford.

Baucham was involved in itinerant ministry for many years, primarily in Texas, but also preaching at some of the early Passion events in the late 90’s. Baucham served as pastor of Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, (a Reformed Baptist congregation within the Southern Baptist Convention) until he moved to Zambia in 2015. He was a board member of Founders Ministries.

In March 2022, Baucham confirmed that he had been asked to accept a nomination for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, but noted that as an overseas missionary, he was not sure if he was eligible. In 2024, Baucham moved back from Zambia to the United States. In January 2025, it was announced that Baucham would be one of the founding faculty of Founders Seminary in Florida.

Beliefs

Theology

Baucham was Reformed and Reformed Baptist in his theology, and subscribed to the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. He called himself a "fire-breathing, TULIP believing, five-point Calvinist." Baucham appeared in the 2019 Netflix documentary American Gospel: Christ Alone speaking in favor of penal substitutionary atonement. His statement "God killed Jesus" was criticized for "muddying the waters" on this doctrine.

Biblical patriarchy

Baucham was an adherent of biblical patriarchy. He outlined his views on the subject in his 2009 book What He Must Be: ...If He Wants to Marry My Daughter, though preferring the phrase "gospel patriarchy". Baucham criticized Sarah Palin's vice presidential candidacy in 2008, on the basis that women serve best at home.

Baucham was also a supporter of the Stay-at-home daughter movement. He appeared in Vision Forum's 2007 documentary Return of the Daughters, in which he said that America is suffering an "epidemic of unprotected women."

Family and church

Baucham and his wife homeschooled their children, and he spoke against Christians sending their children to public schools. In his 2007 book, Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God, Baucham argued that parents (especially fathers) can and should disciple their children through family worship and through attending family integrated churches.

Critical race theory

Baucham rejected critical race theory in favor of what he called "biblical justice", and saw it as a religious movement, with its own cosmology, saints, liturgy, and law. Baucham's 2021 book Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe outlined his criticisms of the movement. In Fault Lines he argued that Critical Theory and its subsets, Critical Race Theory-Intersectionality and Critical Social Justice are grounded in Western Marxism, the public social justice conversation is perpetuating misinformation, and is incompatible with Christianity as a competing worldview. In August 2021, Baucham was accused of plagiarizing parts of the book and falsifying a quote he attributed to Richard Delgado, an early researcher of critical race theory. The publisher, Salem Books, rejected the plagiarism claim, saying it was merely a matter of style, while Delgado denied making such a quotation.

Personal life

Baucham was African-American. He became a Christian in 1987. He and his wife Bridget had nine children. He was a practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

In February 2021, Baucham experienced heart failure and had to travel to the Mayo Clinic Florida for treatment. A GoFundMe campaign for his medical expenses raised more than a million dollars.

Baucham received the 2022 Boniface Award from the Association of Classical Christian Schools, given to recognize "a public figure who has stood faithfully for Christian truth, beauty, and goodness with grace."

Baucham died on September 25, 2025 after suffering an emergency medical incident.

Books

• ''The Ever-Loving Truth: Can Faith Thrive in a Post-Christian Culture?'' (Broadman & Holman, 2004)
• ''Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God'' (Crossway, 2007)
• ''What He Must Be: ...If He Wants to Marry My Daughter'' (Crossway, 2009)
• ''Family Shepherds: Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homes'' (Crossway, 2011)
• ''Joseph And the Gospel of Many Colors: Reading an Old Story in a New Way'' (Crossway, 2013)
• ''Expository Apologetics: Answering Objections with the Power of the Word'' (Crossway, 2015)
• ''Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe'' (Salem Books, 2021)
• ''It’s Not Like Being Black: How Sexual Activists Hijacked the Civil Rights Movement'' (Regnery Faith, 2024)

External links

• [https://voddiebaucham.org voddiebaucham.org}}