Robert Sumner
Robert L. Sumner was an American Christian author, Baptist pastor, evangelist, and editor of the fundamentalist newspaper called The Biblical Evangelist.
Personal
Born to an educated family in Upstate New York he graduated from Norwich High School and Clarks Summit University. He also received honorary graduate degrees from Bob Jones University and Louisiana [Baptist Theological Seminary] in Sacred Theology. He was the brother-in-law of auto racing legend Hector Honore. Sumner died in December 2016 at the age of 94.Ministry
He was pastor of a number of Baptist churches in Illinois, California, Texas and Ohio. In 1959, he created the non-profit Sumner Evangelistic Foundation. In 1965, he was on the Council of 14 of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches, and he changed the name of his foundation to Regular Baptist Evangelism. In May, 1966, this group launched a newsletter called The Regular Baptist Evangelist, which 9 months later became just The Biblical Evangelist. He has also attended many Christian conferences and lectures. In November, 1980, The Biblical Evangelist stopped publication and Sumner became Managing Editor of a Christian newspaper of , The Sword of the Lord, which was published by John R. Rice.In 1982, Sumner left The Sword after a dispute with the editor that was mediated by Jack Hyles. After the ordeal, Sumner complained that he was left "without an editorial voice", so he restarted The Biblical Evangelist by sending letters to former subscribers asking them to resubscribe. Sumner continued as editor of the Biblical Evangelist until 2016, publishing the last edition only two months before he died.