Dr. John Claypool Opened Doors

By Malcolm Marler

When I was in seminary at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY for my Master’s degree (1977-1980), I heard about the unique “confessional style” preaching gift of a pastor named Dr. John Claypool, who had been at nearby Crescent Hill Baptist from 1960-1971.  

Even though Dr. Claypool had been away from Louisville for six years, professors and doctoral students regularly talked about the “legendary” preaching of John Claypool.  So, I began to listen to, or read his sermons, in the library of the seminary that were on file.  I quickly understood why he was being talked about so much.  His stand on Civil Rights with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. caught my attention as I was a Baptist preacher’s kid born in Selma, grew up in Montgomery, and went to high school in Birmingham.

I followed his career and learned more about him from my mentor and supervisor in pastoral care in Louisville at the time, Dr. Wayne Oates, who was friends with him.

Fast forward, I moved back to Alabama in 1994 to become the first full-time Chaplain in a HIV/AIDS Clinic at The University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center called The 1917 Clinic.  It was unusual at the time for a Baptist Minister to be in this new role because many Baptists (and others) had been judgmental of persons living with HIV.  

An article in the Birmingham news about my coming to UAB was soon printed and read by John Claypool.  He picked up the phone and called me soon afterwards.  “Malcolm, congratulations on your new ministry.  I’d like to take you to lunch and see how I can be of help to you.”

Before long, I had Episcopal priests calling me from across Alabama asking how their church could be involved in supporting persons with HIV/AIDS, and they invited me to speak in their churches.  

I will always be grateful for the open-door Dr. John Claypool provided for me in 1994 in Alabama.