‘God does not require that we be successful. He only requires that we be faithful.’
The Rev. Dr. Donald Ellis Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association (AFA) and the American Family Radio network, died Dec. 28 in Tupelo, Mississippi, following a battle with Lewy Body Dementia. He was 85.
Wildmon, who was born in 1938 in Dumas, Mississippi, became an ordained United Methodist minister in 1964 after serving in the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1963. He received his Master of Divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in 1965.
He served various churches in Mississippi and Georgia until leaving the ministry in 1977 to found the National Federation for Decency, which later became the AFA, according to an obituary posted by the organization.
Wildmon founded the grassroots organization after growing alarmed at the increasingly questionable and unbiblical content on television. He drew national media attention for urging his congregation to turn it off for a week.
“The soft-spoken minister from a small-town church in Mississippi launched a far-reaching ministry that inspired millions to join their voices together on issues of ultimate consequence to our nation’s future — life, marriage and family, religious freedom, public policy, justice, and more,” his obituary reads.
Wildmon wielded his influence through his watchdog group to steer advertisers away from inappropriate TV programming and often appeared on prominent talk shows to promote Judeo-Christian values.
“Under his visionary leadership, AFA developed a broad range of resources, strategies, and media outlets aimed at promoting Christian values in all areas of public life,” AFA said.
In 1991, Wildmon founded the influential American Family Radio network, which rapidly expanded to almost 200 radio stations.
In 2002, he and Free Congress Foundation chairman Paul Weyrich founded the Arlington Group, a coalition of conservative Christian leaders that endeavored to establish its consensus goals regarding marriage, abortion, and judicial appointments within the Republican Party.
Wildmon received many awards throughout his life for his work on behalf of Christian values, including the 2017 National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame Award.
Wildmon wrote 22 books and traveled widely, guiding more than 30 tours of the Holy Land and Western Europe.
Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves praised Wildmon’s impact on X, writing, “His impressive legacy of Christian ministry will live on for many years to come.”
Wildmon emphasized the importance of faithfulness over worldly success. “God does not require that we be successful,” he wrote in 1995. “He only requires that we be faithful. Whether or not we are successful isn’t always within our determination. Being faithful is.”
Wildmon’s son, Tim Wildmon, who now serves as president of AFA after his father stepped down in 2010 after 33 years, said in a statement that his father “was a man with great conviction and vision.”
“He knew how important it was for Christians to remain firmly entrenched in their faith in the face of an openly immoral society, and he lived his life for the Gospel every single day,” Wildmon said. “His heart for Christ and his passion for the American family will be sorely missed, but we on Earth can take comfort in knowing that he is at peace with his Heavenly Father, hearing the words, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.'”
Wildmon is survived by Lynda, his wife of 62 years, as well as four children, six grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, one sister, one sister-in-law, and one brother-in-law.
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