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Note: Parents - Margaret Elizabeth Fuller & Napolean Bonaparte Langford. Pastor Langford dead at 68 by Susan LaGore He was a man of faith, known for his compassion, kindness, bulldog tenacity, and vision. Dr. N.B. Langford Jr., longtime pastor of the First Baptist Church in downtown Panama City, died Wednesday at Shands Hospital in Gainesville. He was 68. "His presence will be missed, his wisdom, his counsel. But he leaves a tremendous legacy," associate pastor Bruce Raley said. "He's physically gone from us, but what he's built through the years will remain and remain strong." Langford had been hospitalized for the past month following open-heart surgery that was complicated by kidney and liver problems. Funeral arrangements have not been announced. Langford served as pastor of First Baptist Church for almost 20 years - from Feb. 6, 1978, until his retirement on Feb. 2, 1997. Langford, however, remained active in the church. He preached regularly and developed a program on premarital counseling for pastors. "He was a teacher wherever he was and whatever he was doing," Raley said. "He was a very strong Bible preacher and a strong leader as well. The church grew tremendously." Under Langford's leadership, the church added 1,400 members - it now has 3,900 - and developed a Family Life Center, a Christian Counseling Center, and a day care center. First Baptist also founded two churches - First Baptist Church of Mexico Beach and Seagrove Baptist Mission Church. "He was an optimist to the hilt," church member Sarah Ann Gay said. "He could see what nobody else could see. He could always see the best in a situation and he could motivate others to catch that vision. He would stick to it when no one else could see a reason to do it." Langford envisioned spreading the word of God through mission work and a television ministry. Because of his efforts, First Baptist services are broadcast every Sunday at 11 a.m. on WMBB-TV 13. The church also donates $500,000 every year to mission programs, Raley said. "The work he's done here is literally touching people all over the world," minister of music Manny Garcia said. Langford also took an active role in the community. He served as a trustee for Florida Baptist Theological College for 18 years. In 1979, he was named convention president of the Florida Baptist State Convention. He also was a trustee of the Radio and Television Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention. He has been a member of the Lions Club, Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, Advisory Board for Bay Medical Center, and the Panama City-Bay County International Airport Authority. At the time of his death, Langford was a trustee on the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Langford was born and reared in Jackson, Miss. He was a graduate of Mississippi College, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Luther Rice Seminary. Before coming to Panama City, he was the pastor of North Central Baptist Church in Gainesville. Ted Haney, a deacon and church member for 48 years, served on the pulpit committee that brought Langford to Bay County. "Our church was not much larger than the one he was in," Haney said. "He felt that he was being called here, and we felt the same thing. ... It wasn't logical for him to come here, but it was the right thing." Haney visited and prayed with Langford while he was in the hospital, he said. "A lot of people were saved under his ministry," Haney said. "His legacy is the number of people in his churches that went into full-time ministry. That's a legacy that repeats itself." "There's a deep grief throughout the church right now," Raley said. "But there's also a tremendous amount of thanksgiving and gratitude for his ministry and his life." Langford is survived by his wife, Nancy; son, Nathan, of Atlanta; daughter, Nancy Baughman and her husband Jeff, of Las Vegas; two grandchildren, Jason and Jared Baughman; brother, Jerry Langford; and sister, Jean Travis.
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