Hollis Vaughn Bryant

Hollis Vaughn Bryant, born April 16, 1926, reborn in March of 1948, received the crown of life promised to him by his Heavenly Father on March 10, 2021.

He was known by various titles: Bro. Hollis, Vaughn, Dad, Papa Hollis, preacher, pastor, friend, missionary, among others.  His life began in the Old town Community of Calhoun County as the sixth of eight children born to James Fonzie and Evie Nabors Bryant. He met Eunice James in school and they married as young teens.  His call to salvation and ministry came following his service with the United States Army in World War II (1944-1946) when he served with the Fighting 9 ^th Infantry and 29 ^th Infantry in Germany.  Although he had grown up in a Christian home and had been baptized as a young teen, he returned to the farm from war duty with many habits that were not God-honoring.  In sharp contrast, his young teen wife had been teaching Sunday School, sharing her faith, tithing her meager earnings and even those she received from her soldier husband.  In March of 1948 there was a revival at the Oldtown Baptist Church.  Each night Eunice invited him, but he refused to go.  So she walked across the fields, carrying their infant daughter and went without him.  Finally, on Friday night Hollis unexpectedly came and that night his life was changed dramatically.

Eunice would later tell their grandson Matt that “Christ entered his heart. . .he spoke again and again of the wonderful and glorious experience that had taken place in his life that night in our country church.  He prayed many hours for lost friends.  He preached his first sermon in the home of a neighbor where several had gathered.  He left his team of mules and walked across the field to witness and pray with a neighbor.  Jesus had set him free and he wanted everyone in that rural community to know the same joy and freedom!”

Soon thereafter he knew God was calling him to sell the farm and equipment and to go to Clarke Memorial College in Newton, MS where he would begin preparing for the ministry.  He and Eunice spent a year getting high school credits since they had both dropped out of school in the 8 ^th grade.  He continued his studies at Mississippi College and served churches in Mississippi and Alabama (Cooper’s Chapel) during those years.

His first full-time ministry was at East Louisville Baptist Church.  In 1955 he resigned to serve as part-time associational missionary for Winston County while also serving as part-time pastor of the Union Ridge Baptist Church near Noxapater.  During his years of ministry there, his focus was on encouraging local churches, developing relationships with pastors and families and lay leaders, and serving churches in any way needed.  He started the first School of Missions in Winston County and supported music ministry with the initiation of an annual School of Music.  Those years were foundational in preparing Hollis and Eunice for the future ministry God had in store for them.

Bro. Bryant went on to serve the Scott Baptist Association,  Roundway Baptist Church in Sunflower Association (he served as pastor while commuting to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to complete his M.R.E. degree), Riverside Baptist Association (Coahoma County), and Jones County Association.  Then, in 1969, following a trip to Juneau, Alaska, he received a call to join the pioneer work in Alaska.  He served as pastor of the FBC, Juneau for four years before being commissioned in 1973 by the then Home Mission Board (NAMB) to serve as Director of Missions for the Chugach Baptist Association (Anchorage) and as Director of Church Extension for the Alaska Baptist Convention.  A unique opportunity came when, at the joint request of the HMB and Alaska Baptists, Bro. Bryant met with leaders of the Alyeska Pipeline, to request chaplains for the pipeline.  As a result, several denominations were able to provide chaplains to serve the Pipeline.

Later in the ‘70s the Bryants served their home association (Calhoun Baptist) before beginning work with the Mississippi Baptist Convention in 1977.  In 1988 Hollis and Eunice were honored for “their outstanding work in training Mississippi Baptists to share faith with people of other religious backgrounds” (Clinton News, March 31, 1988) and Hollis was recognized as state interfaith witness coordinator of the year at the national interfaith witness conference.

After retiring in 1991, Bro. Bryant returned to the farm he had left many years before and commuted twenty-eight miles from Pittsboro to Coffeeville for seven years, serving as part-time Director of Missions for the Yalobusha Baptist Association.  In 1996 he became pastor of the Concord Baptist Church near Bruce where he served until shortly after Eunice’s death in 2002.

We share all of this to honor his memory and his commitment to the Kingdom.  We, his family, are thankful for a dad and granddad who heard God’s call, left all to follow, served faithfully, and finished well.  We will remember how he loved to tell people about Jesus, how he loved growing vegetables and sharing them with friends at the Baptist Building, how he fed and loved feral cats, his fedora hats, his bolo ties, and his love and acceptance of all people—with no respect for race or economic status.  We learned so much from him.

Bro. Bryant is survived by his only child Charlotte and her husband (who was a true son to him) Ron Madison of Huntsville, AL; by grandchildren Shannon Deloney (Matthew), Chaplain Matthew Madison (Janet), and  Meghan Whitaker (Tim); by greatgrandchildren Luke and Lori Madison, Jack and Mary Hollis Deloney, Charlotte and Madison Whitaker; by three sisters—Corinne  Crocker and Garneita Murphree (Dewey) of Bruce and Marie Bloodworth of Rosebloom, and by many nieces and nephews.  He was preceded in death by Eunice, his wife of almost 60 years, by his brothers Selma, Arlis, Herman, and Victor and by his second wife Hortense Hood.

The family appreciates those at the Veteran’s Home in Oxford who lovingly cared for him in his final weeks on earth.

There will be a memorial service honoring Bro. Hollis Bryant, on June 29, 2021, beginning at 2:00 PM at Old Town Baptist Church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that gifts be made in his memory to Blue Mountain College (to be used to assist those studying for the ministry), P.O. Box 160, Blue Mountain, MS 38610 or online at bmc.edu/Giving1.