Reverend Robert Anderson "Bro. Bob"

Reverend Robert E. “Bro. Bob” Anderson, founder of one of Louisiana’s largest private schools, Parkview Baptist School in Baton Rouge, and longtime minister of Parkview Baptist Church, entered heaven Thursday, December 13, 2018.  He was 84.  Bro. Bob peacefully slipped the bonds of this life, surrounded by family and friends and an endless extended family.  From 1974 to 1996, he built Parkview Baptist from 1,000 to 5,000 members and in 1981 established an accredited Christian K-12 school.
Bro. Bob met everyone with a warm smile, a kind heart, and loving words to heal broken relationships.  He was present for the joys of marriage and the grief of death and divorce.  He sincerely listened and with great empathy.  Church work is among the most emotional and difficult but for 22 years he bridged troubled waters at Parkview to draw in hundreds of families seeking truth and acceptance.  “You’re either entering a storm, in a storm, or coming out of a storm” was a common theme of Bob Anderson.  “But there is no storm you can’t weather with the guidance of a loving Savior and his name is Jesus.”  Bob Anderson preached that religion was not a crutch but an opportunity to reach potential.  He simply wouldn’t be rattled by a troubled world or petty jealousy.  As a result, Parkview Baptist School has graduated thousands with an eternal foundation of faith, accomplishing academic and athletic titles almost every year for three decades.
Bob Anderson finished well but didn’t start well.  After he was born on April 29, 1934, in Shreveport, his mother Edith died of tuberculosis just eleven months later.  Bob and his brothers were taken in by his paternal, Godly and loving grandmother.  When he was 17 in 1951, Bob went with his Fair Park High football team to hear a young evangelist named Billy Graham.  “I went forward and gave my heart to Christ,” he said later.  “Jesus became very real to me.”  So real, in fact, he answered the call to become a minister.  His team won the state championship the next year.  This began a life of winning from winning the heart of his high school sweetheart, Rochelle Reeves, whom he married on April 10, 1955, to winning thousands of souls in numerous churches across Louisiana and Texas.  People were attracted to him for his humility and humor.  He and Rochelle began their family with Robert, Susan and Janet.
Dr. T. C. Pennell, his pastor at Ingleside Baptist Church in Shreveport, mentored him.  In 1957, Bob graduated East Texas Baptist University and received his Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas.  He would later take post-graduate studies in psychology at Louisiana State University.  In 1987, Florida’s International Bible Institute and Seminary honored Bob Anderson with a Doctor of Divinity degree.
In 1953, Lone Oak Baptist in Harleton, Texas, became his first pastorate.  He would go on to shepherd Parkhurst Baptist in Shreveport, next as an associate at his home church of Ingleside, Dixie Heights Baptist in Ft. Worth, and Ford Park Baptist in Shreveport through the turbulent 1960s.  From 1969 to 1973, the Louisiana Moral and Civic Foundation brought Bob, Rochelle, Robert, Susan and Janet to Baton Rouge where he served as Associate Executive Director in charge of youth evangelism.
As uncertainty gripped America with Vietnam, skyrocketing gas prices, and the first resignation of a United States president, on October 15, 1974, Rev. Bob Anderson gave his first sermon as Parkview Baptist Church’s eighth pastor.  For 30 years, Parkview had been a quiet church in south Baton Rouge but it would explode in growth over the next 22 years.  With a rapid influx of believers came a burgeoning Sunday School which created the need for building classrooms.  Bro. Bob thought it a waste to use classrooms one day a week and convinced a reluctant church governing board to establish a full-time school.  Parkview Baptist School today is one of only 300 fully accredited private schools in 11 states.
In 1996, God called Bob beyond the mega-church he built to an even tougher field.  The Southern Baptist Convention elected him First Vice President amid doctrinal turmoil and strife, and in 1997, Louisiana Baptists likewise elected him president.  By unanimous vote, “Bro. Bob” was elected as a “renowned reconciler.”  Jean Brown, president of Friends of Louisiana College, said, “Anderson’s election will represent a step forward in healing the hurt we have all experienced in recent years.”  Bob’s gift of listening healed an entire convention, reminding everyone that the church could only succeed by letting the love of Christ prevail.  Bob’s ministry never waivered from being about the message and not the man.  “Love the things Jesus loved,” he would say, that being “the Father, prayer, teaching, the church and the Lost.”  At Parkview, he implemented a monthly “Love Test” for himself and key staff members, honestly grading themselves on the sixteen character qualities identified by the Apostle Paul in First Corinthians 13.  Bob rose above the temptations of discouragement and self-promotion.  He believed that vision came from God but must be in His timing, not ours.  Christ drew Bob forward in the same way fire preceded Moses.  Bob Anderson started out with adversity so he wasn’t surprised by it.  He quickly found answers, not excuses.  He would serve on many boards, including that of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
In his last years, Bro. Bob founded “Antioch Affection Ministries” to help failed ministers get back on their feet and to embrace their disillusioned families.  Bob Anderson helped salvage many pastors and many congregations simply by practicing what Christ admonished in the first place: love one another.
Ruth Graham, daughter of Billy Graham, on behalf of BGEA wrote:
“My father Billy Graham proclaimed the gospel of Jesus to millions and it is always thrilling to hear those who take the time to tell me their 'Billy Graham Story’.  Bob Anderson of Louisiana had a 'Billy Graham Story'. As a young man he encountered the living Christ at one of my father's crusades and his life was forever changed. He began to live out his faith by reaching out to the hurting and preaching the Gospel to thousands who responded just as he had. He founded one of Louisiana’s largest Christian schools, and became a 'leader of leaders’ in the Southern Baptist Convention.  He was both a pioneer and leader as president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.  He was a channel of God's grace and healing to pastors and their families as well as many congregations.  What a legacy!  This illustrates what my Father always believed, the power of the Holy Spirit can change lives forever, no matter who and no matter where, and it all starts with one message: 'God loves you. He sent His son to die for you to save you from your sins.' Bob Anderson gave his life to the proclamation of the Gospel, just as my Father did. God doesn't count numbers but faithfulness. Bob Anderson was faithful to God.  Warmly, Ruth Graham.”

“He was one of the kindest people I ever knew,” said former Louisiana Governor Mike Foster.  “He was always ready, day or night, to discuss moral issues facing Louisiana.  I told him I wanted to be the best governor I could be and he always helped me.”
Though former Governor Edwin Edwards sometimes disagreed with Anderson’s Baptist doctrine, the two enjoyed each other’s company for years.   “Bro. Bob invited me to speak and cut the ribbon at Parkview’s huge sanctuary,” Edwards recalls, “and I think everyone was shocked that I didn’t get struck by lightning.  But Bob Anderson was never judgmental.  He loved with the unconditional love we hear so much about.  He was the real deal.  I’ll miss him.”
In essence, one sermon on one night by a dairy farm boy named Billy Graham changed the course of a high school football receiver in Shreveport who then changed the courses of thousands of lives and still does through Parkview Baptist School.  Bob did all this through sheer belief and love for others.  He wasted no time on material wealth.
He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Rochelle Reeves Anderson; one son, Robert Anderson, Jr., and two daughters, Susan Anderson McKey and Janet Anderson Blankenship and husband Rev. Dane Blankenship; a brother, Larry Anderson and wife Helen; and nine grandchildren, Julie, Matthew, and Melissa McKey; Bobby, Reeves, Sawyer, Carlee, Preslee, and Allie Blankenship.
Bro. Bob Anderson was preceded in death by his father and mother, Alvin and Edith Anderson; brothers Alvin Jr. and Billy Anderson; and mother- and father-in-law, Jewel and Russell Reeves of Shreveport.
Visitation will be Sunday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Parkview Baptist Church (11795 Jefferson Highway, BR 70816) followed by services at 2:30 p.m.  Honorary pallbearers are Dr. Michael Girouard, Dr. Bob Peden, and Mr. Jim Rawlins.  Officiating are Rep. Rick Edmonds and author Leo Honeycutt.  By way of video, Bro. Bob Anderson will preach his own service as a last sermon in his beloved church.  The sermon is aptly titled, “Finishing Well.”
Interment will follow at Resthaven Garden of Memory a few yards away.
The family requests that donations be made to the Bro. Bob Anderson Scholarship Fund at Parkview Baptist School, a scholarship that has paid tuitions for needy students for over 20 years.  Bob always hoped that young recipients would be inspired to someday pay it forward for others.  Donations can also be made to Antioch Affection Ministries as Rochelle Anderson continues their programs with pastors and their families.
Bob Anderson indeed left this world a better place.  It is ironic yet fitting that he and his mentor, Billy Graham, would leave this world in the same year.