Gregory J. Dixon

(May 2, 1932-Oct. 20, 2019). Gregory J. Dixon, a theologically and politically conservative senior pastor of Indianapolis Baptist Temple for four decades, was adopted by the Dixon family of Wichita, Kansas, when he was orphaned as a child. Known for his temper growing up, an encounter with a neighbor boy led to an invitation to go to church rather than punishment. The experience changed Dixon, who attended Bible college and became a preacher.

On June 14, 1955, the fledgling Indianapolis Baptist Temple called Dixon as its pastor. Founded in 1950, the church had recently acquired three acres of property near Garfield Park at 2700 South East Street. Dixon’s preaching quickly increased the congregation’s membership. By May 1959, the congregation had constructed an auditorium to hold 1,100 congregants. It added an education wing in 1961 and a new sanctuary that held 2,500 in 1967.

By the early 1970s, television stations nationwide broadcast Dixon’s sermons, and weekly attendance at the church’s services reached over 3,000. The congregation also launched a Christian school, which at its zenith, had over 700 pupils. Under Dixon’s pastorate, Indianapolis Baptist Temple became one of the largest congregations in the city.

Dixon became a leader in the “free church” movement, believing that the federal government held no authority over religious organizations. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dixon became a local spokesman on behalf of the emerging Religious Right, including the Reverend Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority. Its conservative theology was often at odds with the pronouncements from mainline Protestant voices like the Church Federation of Indianapolis.

A man of strong principle, his beliefs also led to confrontations with authorities. In 1993, he spent six days in jail for contempt of court because he refused to honor a subpoena for financial documents issued by a Lake County court. He argued that the court did not have the authority to request that the church hand over documents in the case.

Dixon retired in 1996, turning the leadership of the Indianapolis Baptist Temple over to his son, the Reverend Gregory A. Dixon. In retirement, the elder Dixon and his wife Wanda moved to Florida, though they retained strong ties to their former church.

Over the next 20 years, Dixon wrote widely, spoke out against the growth of federal power, and served as the director of the Biblical Law Center, located in Amarillo, Texas, which advocates for the severance of all ties of religious organizations with government. During this period, the federal government investigated Indianapolis Baptist Temple over its failure to pay taxes on behalf of its staff. The church contended that staff members were expected to pay their own taxes. As the crisis grew, the elder Dixon returned to Indianapolis.

In 1999, U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker ruled the church owed $6 million in back social security and employment taxes to the federal government. After the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s decision, the Indianapolis Baptist Temple was ordered to hand over their church property to the government. Starting in November 2000, and for the next three months, members of the congregation sequestered themselves inside the building. Finally in February 2001, federal officials seized control of the property peacefully. The elder Dixon helped to defuse the situation, insisting its members and supporters remain nonviolent and agreeing to exit the church peacefully. Dixon and seven others were removed on stretchers. 

Dixon died in Indianapolis at the age of 87. His wife, son, two daughters, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren survived him. The congregation he helped to lead, although forced to leave its historic Garfield Park location, survives at its new location, just west of the Southport Road exit off I-65 South.

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