Andy Stanley Reflects Upon His Final Visit to His Father Before His Death

Pastor Andy Stanley takes the time to reflect upon his recently deceased father Dr. Charles Stanley. The older Stanley died on Tuesday morning, months shy of his 91st birthday. In Touch Ministries, which Charles Stanley founded, announced his passing.  

Andy recalls the final meeting he had with his father.  "These final few weeks with my dad have been precious beyond words. At the end of every visit, he asked me to pray for him. Which of course I did. On my knees beside the big leather chair he was confined to for the past several months.

"But as I was leaving his house this past Saturday night, he asked if he could pray for me. As if he knew. Then, as was his habit, he said, "I couldn't be prouder of you Andy." The source of a word determines its weight. Those were wonderfully weighty words. And his final words to me. I'll miss him every day until I see him again."

Andy and Charles Stanley had a rocky relationship as the latter began his ministry work, with the two having a yearslong falling out. Anna Stanley (Andy's mother) filed for divorce in 1993, and it was finalized in 2000.

The two would eventually reconcile, with CNN running a feature story in 2012 detailing the tenuous history between father and son and the steps they took to mend their fractured relationship. 

Charles Stanley is survived by two children, his daughter Becky and son Andy, who is the founder and senior pastor at Northpoint Ministries. Andy called his dad a role model for pastors. Chares Stanley was preceded in death by his former wife, the late Anna Stanley who passed away in 2014.

 

 

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