NEW ORLEANS (Special) — Retired Mississippi Baptist pastor Joe McKeever has donated his extensive archive of cartoons, sermons, and other writings to the John T. Christian Library at New Orleans Seminary (NOBTS).
The two-time NOBTS graduate (Th.M. ’67, D.Min. ’73) is known across the Southern Baptist world for his original cartooning on religious subjects. His 59-year Gospel ministry has included stints as a staffer at First Church, Jackson; local church pastor including First Church, Columbus; five years as an associational missionary at New Orleans Baptist Association; and a “retirement” period loaded with preaching engagements and conferences.
His works have appeared in many state Baptist papers, a church clip art book that sold over 300,000 copies in the 1980s, and many other publications.
Baptist Press, Southern Baptists’ news service headquartered in Nashville, recently launched Your Daily Joe which distributes one of McKeever’s comics each weekday as a part of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Morning Briefing.
Drawing caricatures of people while they pose live is another aspect of his ongoing ministry. Whether serving at the SBC annual convention, state Baptist gatherings, or schools, McKeever sits for hours making free sketches of all who ask.
Whenever McKeever draws, he draws a crowd. As he works on the caricatures, he gets to know each person and looks for ways to provide encouragement and engage in a Gospel conversation.
McKeever began drawing at age five and took a mail-order drawing course as a teen. He has been drawing ever since.
His “big break” came in the 1970s when Alabama Baptist editor Hudson Baggett started running his cartoons. He earned $1.50 per cartoon. Other papers picked up his work and McKeever eventually published multiple volumes of his comics, which take a humorous look at church life.
His drawing ministry continues to innovate and grow. McKeever commonly posts a drawing on his Facebook page and asks followers to crowdsource the captions.
The John T. Christian Library will steward the archives and preserve McKeever’s work so future generations can enjoy and learn from his ministry.
