TRANSITION & TRIUMPH: THE KIRBY STORY – FINAL EDITION

In the West Tennessee farm country, where for decades farmers have coaxed good things from the earth, it pleased God to plant something very special.  On August 1, 1953, in the little town of Atwood, Tennessee, there sprang a root out of dry ground.  Lawrence Lee Kirby was born to Alex and Ida (nee: Greer) Kirby, the sixth of seven children.  His was a good and decent family, but without anyone distinguished – no doctors, lawyers, school-teachers, or, even, preachers. Young Kirby grew up doing what young kids did in that time and place.  He played, did his chores, and, when he was old enough, went to school and helped his family pick cotton.  And he went to church!

In his childhood years, Kirby was shy, quiet, and even withdrawn, afraid to answer questions in school, even when he knew the answers.  But, did he ever shine in Sister Willie Mae Bledsoe's Sunday School class!  There he knew the answers and raised his hand often to show it!  His family helped instill strong and Godly character.  His mother, Ida Kirby, who loved and nurtured him, taught him by her saintly example what being a Christian really was.  His father, Alex Kirby, was a model of responsibility as family bread winner.  And though not a church-going man, his father taught young Kirby the importance of going to Sunday School and church by taking him every Sunday.  His grandmother, Eliza Greer – "Mama Liza" – introduced him to Bible reading.  She would sometimes read Scripture to young Kirby and his siblings, and sometimes she would have him read to her.  Church for the Kirbys was New Hope Baptist Church of Milan, just down the road.  It was New Hope pastor L.J. Anders, who would later baptize, license, and ordain Kirby.

Throughout most of his school years, Kirby was a C student.  But all that changed when he got to 8th grade.  He would soon be going to a newly integrated high school.  He knew the stereotypes that Whites attached to Black people.  Young Kirby was determined to defy them all!  He became an excellent student, graduating high school with a 96-point average on a 100-point scale.  And his senior class also elected him several superlatives, including Most Kind and Most Courteous .

Many people said that young Kirby would be a preacher.  But Kirby needed God to say that to him.  And, so, on May 30, 1970, God gave Kirby a vision that He was calling him to preach.  The 16-year-old Kirby immediately ran in the house and told his grandmother the news.  God had called him.  Kirby had said, "Yes!" There would be no turning back!

Kirby became the first preacher in his family.  He had no preacher to be his mentor.  He would even have to develop his own preaching style.  His boyhood pastor, the Reverend L. J. Anders, lectured from note cards like a school-teacher.  But his pastor did model for him the importance of preparation, a lesson that Kirby took to heart.  It would be the Reverend R.G. Page, President of the district association, who would persuade young Kirby to apply to American Baptist Theological Seminary, which would become American Baptist College.  Kirby was an eager and committed student.  He had on-campus and off-campus jobs.  He was on the fast track to finishing college early when he was called by a church to become its pastor.  He was only 20 when in 1973 the Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church of Aberdeen, Mississippi made him its pastor.  Every weekend Kirby commuted six hours one way, driving down from Nashville on Saturday, then back Sunday evening so that he would be ready bright and early each Monday morning to take the remaining classes at ABC that would lead to his degree.

After two years Kirby was called to his childhood church, New Hope, in Milan, Tennessee.  He had graduated from American Baptist College in three years and was looking at graduate school.  He chose to attend the Scarritt College for Christian Workers in Nashville, which made possible his service to New Hope.  (He would also go on to earn a master's degree from Memphis Theological Seminary and later complete  doctoral coursework at Trinity Evangelical Seminary in Deerfield, IL.)  Now he had a shorter commute – only 135 miles one way.  Kirby had learned that to be successful, he had to be disciplined, and disciplined he was!

But he would not stay so long at New Hope.  God had other plans.  Kirby had an aunt in Milwaukee who told her pastor, the Reverend Obie Sartin, "I have a nephew who preaches.  When he comes to visit, could you let him preach?"  The Reverend Sartin agreed and invited Kirby to preach at Zion Hill Baptist Church in October of 1977.  People were impressed.  Rev. Sartin's granddaughter was downstairs getting ready for a bake sale when she heard Kirby over the loudspeakers.  She thought, "They said he was a young preacher, but he preaches like an old war horse!"  She came upstairs to take a look – and then went back downstairs to continue preparing for the bake sale.  But there would soon be more sweets than just cakes and pies!  Pastor Sartin liked Kirby and liked his preaching.  He invited him back to Zion Hill to do the spring revival in April of 1978.  This time he and Sartin's granddaughter, Renée, actually met.  Kirby took her hand and would not let it go!  Ring in hand, Kirby proposed to her that November. They were soon united in marriage.

God was still moving.  Rev. Sartin had a friend in Racine, the Reverend J.B. Bailey, pastor of Saint Paul.  Bailey was soon to retire and Sartin got him to let Kirby preach.  Kirby's sermon, "How Well Do You See?" made a huge impression.  He was invited back again and, in April of 1981, was called to be St. Paul's next pastor.  Kirby brought his wife, Renée, with him.  They were a young couple trying to make ends meet on his meager pastor's salary.  Renée was a college student.

Soon they would welcome a son and daughter into the family.  Kirby's children were a blessing to him and his wife, Renée.  He knew early on that his son, Lawrence Kirby II, affectionately known to many as Jay, would preach, even though the young man resisted the call as long as he could. Kirby described his daughter, Charisse, as "very smart and bright. And, he added with a smile, "she worships her daddy."  He also described her as "a very serious Christian."

Through the years of their marriage, Renée was not only his faithful and supportive wife but was also Kirby's best friend and his biggest fan and supporter.  Like many pastor's wives, she was often the unseen presence behind her husband's public endeavors.  But in her own quiet and graceful way, she forged her own path and built her own career.  When they started out, Renée was a college student.  Now she has earned a PhD!  She is presently Director of Student Health, Counseling and Accessibility Services at University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

As St. Paul's newly called pastor, Kirby hit the ground running!  His fiery and forceful preaching soon filled the church – and then some!  Soon they had to put chairs in the aisles and anywhere else they could get them.  And still, it was not enough.  St. Paul needed a new, larger place to worship and St. Paul's new pastor led the charge!  With Elder Jettie Cornett of Greater Grace Temple Church of God in Christ doing the construction, Kirby became building supervisor, eliminating the need for hiring a general contractor.  Kirby even ordered building materials direct from the factory, saving the church over a quarter of a million dollars!  The congregation did its share, giving over $100,000 on one Sunday alone! Church families donated pews and paid for stained glass windows.  Soon the congregation had marched into its new worship center.  By 1993, they had paid off the mortgage!

Kirby was a man of great vision, who wanted a ministry that extended literally from cradle to grave.  From this vision sprang many ministries.  The St. Paul Child Development Center, St. Paul Transportation, The Mercy House, Good Samaritan Center, The Hope House; The Godfather's Mentoring Program, among many others.  In 1992, St. Paul Gardens opened, featuring housing for the elderly and disabled.  In 2001 St. Paul purchased the old Saint Rose's Catholic Church property, and it became the Miracle Center, a gathering place for banquets, dinners, luncheons, breakfasts, receptions, and other such events.  In 2005 the St. Rose School was acquired.  During Kirby's tenure, St. Paul spawned at least six community development corporations, which became umbrellas for various community ventures past, present, and future. The latest project on the drawing board is a $14 million, 63-unit apartment complex that will transform the neighborhood west of the church.  Kirby was a man of great vision.

But from the start it was the preaching – powerful, clear, persuasive, even compelling – that attracted St. Paul to Kirby and that has drawn so many each Sunday to church over the years, that physical attendance now augmented by audiences that connect virtually each week.  While Kirby did not keep an exact count in his 45 years at St. Paul, he has preached well over 4,000 sermons.  He comforted grieving families with over 800 eulogies and more than 500 baptisms during his pastorate.   In 2002, Pastor Lawrence L. Kirby was consecrated Bishop!  In the mold of Jesus Christ, Kirby consciously and intentionally made his influence felt beyond the walls of St. Paul.  Whether it was speaking to a stranger and striking up a conversation with them (and, in the process, letting them know that "I am blessed!") or offering a sympathetic ear or sage counsel to some unchurched person, in a real sense, Kirby considered Racine to be his congregation and tried to be the "salt" and "light" of which Jesus spoke!

And over time he projected his ministry far beyond St. Paul and Racine.  Kirby ran over 600 revivals and preached in over 30 states.  A highly respected and hugely consequential leader in the almost eight-million-member National Baptist Convention, United States of America, Incorporated, Kirby's sagacious counsel was sought by a succession of National Baptist presidents, including the recently elected current president, Dr. Boise Kimber.  Kirby sat on the convention's National Board of Directors and for over 36 years, Kirby was a lecturer for the convention's National Congress of Christian Education, the longest tenure of any lecturer.  Kirby also sat on the convention's Sunday School Publishing Board.  He proudly continued to honor and serve his Alma Mater, the American Baptist College, as a member of its Board of Trustees.  And since he came to St. Paul almost half a century ago, the annual "American Baptist College Days" that he spearheaded in Wisconsin consistently raised much needed money for the school.

Kirby's ministry was not confined to the United States.  Kirby preached to congregations on the continents of Africa, Europe, South America, and in the Caribbean.  He was Chair of the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention, United States of America, Incorporated, a position that called on his leadership and vision to help guide our convention's global missions and to help NBC, USA, Inc, effectively project itself as a force for doing good works and spreading the gospel beyond our shores.

Kirby, always remarkably unselfish, continued to bear fruit beyond his own preaching, pastoring, and projection of leadership. The preacher who had no mentor of his own claimed over 80 sons and daughters in ministry.  These are people now at various stages of their ministries who personally received his support, guidance, advice, inspiration, and encouragement as they have dealt with their own responses to God's call on their lives to "pick up the cross and follow Jesus Christ" in ministry.

Over the years the spry, slender, untiring Kirby aged, an inevitable outcome of living and the passage of time – and put on a few pounds, too.  Kirby aged gracefully, even though all was not perfect.   In spite of some health issues, he continued strong in his resolve and faithful to his calling.  Kirby remained cheerful in a way that belied whatever might have been wrong with his health at any given moment. Even as the Apostle Paul continued his ministry in spite of the "thorn in his flesh," Kirby persevered, remaining admirably strong, active, wise, visionary, and full of Godly zeal right to the end!

Through it all, Kirby was kept.  He bore constant witness that it was not Kirby keeping Kirby.  The Psalmist wrote: "The Lord is thy keeper.  The Lord is the shade on thy right hand."  It is the Lord God who kept Kirby through good times and through times of trial, tribulation, and test: 73 years of life; 56 years in ministry; 51 years of pastoral leadership, 45 of those years as our Shepherd here at St. Paul.  It pleased God that the "root out of dry ground" became a huge tree that bore much fruit and all to the glory of God!

Preceding him in death were his parents, Alex and Ida Kirby; his brother, Charles Kirby; his father-in-law, Obbie Sartin, Jr.; his brother-in-law, Anthony Sartin; and his nephew, Marcus Barksdale.

Mourning but celebrating his victory in Christ are: His devoted wife Renée Sartin Kirby and their children, Lawrence Lee Kirby II (Chandrika) and Charisse Marie Kirby; his grandchildren, Reggie (Kierra), Kennedy, and Marley; his great-grandchildren, Riley, Seven, and Phoenix; his siblings, Mattie Conley of Atwood, TN, Luther Kirby Sr. of Atwood, TN, Lula (Gary) Barnhill of Atwood, TN,  Maxine Kirby of Atwood, TN, and Kenneth Kirby of Milwaukee, WI; his mother-in-law, Ethelen Sartin of Milwaukee, WI; his sister-in-law, Marla Bronaugh; his uncles Billy Greer of Cedar Rapids, IA and Jerry Greer of Atwood, TN; his aunt, Barbara Greer of Milwaukee, WI; nieces and nephews, Yolanda Cox, Shun Conley, Rhonda Kirby-Bryant, Luther J. Kirby Jr., Stephanie Kirby, Courtney Bronaugh, Garrett Bronaugh, Mackenzie Eford, Antoinette Sartin, Monique Sartin and  goddaughter Mia McKinney. He is further survived by many dearly loved great-nieces, great-nephews, cousins, extended family members, godsons and daughters, friends, colleagues, congregation members, and all whose lives were enriched by knowing him.

We already miss Bishop Kirby and deeply mourn his passing, but his testimony, which he repeated consistently over the years, was that he did not fear death.  And even as he rejoiced over the many times that God healed him and extended his life in the face of numerous health challenges, Kirby was always aware that "this world was not his home."  He understood his life to be a pilgrimage through this earthly existence to something better !  As he eulogized members who had passed away, he often extolled the promise of "better."  His faith was secure in the knowledge that when he himself transitioned from this life, he would be going to something "better."  The thought of leaving the frail and faulty earthly dwelling that he inhabited to abide in a "building not made by hands, but eternal in the heavens" did not bother him in the least!  His faith was his reality .  And his reality was that which the Apostle Paul confidently proclaimed: "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord."  Our Bishop Lawrence Lee Kirby is now present with the Lord!

Written by Dr. James Benjamin Kinchen, Jr.

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." "Alas, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am too young. "But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am too young.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "I have put my words in your mouth."

Jeremiah 1: 4-9

(New International Version Bible)

Service Details

Bishop Kirby will Lie in State for 24 hours at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church (1120 Grand Ave in Racine) on Friday, August 28th from 7:00 am until Saturday, August 29th at 7:00 am.

The celebration of his life and Homegoing will take place at Grace Church (3626 Hwy 31 in Racine) on Saturday, August 29, 2026 at 11:00 am.

(The QR code) for the program https://qrco.de/bgz5pJ

There will also be a visitation at Grace Church on Saturday from 9:00 am until 10:30 am.

A private interment for family members will take place at Mound Cemetery.

Those wishing to view the funeral via livestream may click on this link at 11:00 am. https://bit.ly/4qBSNqO

Memorial Suggestions

In lieu of flowers, the Kirby family strongly encourages memorials be contributed to the American Baptist College Scholarship Fund and St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church.

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