Kenneth Ridings, retired president of Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute (now College) in Hendersonville, N.C., died Thursday, March 5, following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Ridings, a South Carolina native, joined the faculty at Fruitland as professor of homiletics in 1968 and was named president of the school in 1997. He retired in 2008.
His hometown was Fingerville in Spartanburg County. He was a graduate of North Greenville College, Furman University and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He received doctor of divinity degrees from Fredericksburg Bible Institute and Covington Seminary. He was the recipient of several honorary doctorates, awards, and recognitions throughout his ministry. He served churches in both Carolinas as pastor over six decades of ministry.
He spoke in more than 1,200 churches, colleges, seminaries and conferences across the Southeast as a revivalist, evangelist and a popular Bible conference speaker.
Ridings was a former trustee for the Southern Baptist International Mission Board and served as second vice president of the North Carolina Baptist Convention.
He was a member of Mud Creek Baptist Church in Hendersonville. “Few could open up the Bible to excite, exhort and encourage his listeners quite like Dr. Ridings,” said his pastor, Greg Mathis. “He was an extraordinary expositor of Scriptures.”
Survivors include his wife, Ann, a daughter and a granddaughter.
Funeral services will be held Sunday, March 8, at 5 p.m. at Mud Creek Baptist Church, Hendersonville. The service can be viewed live at www.mudcreekchurch.org and will be archived for later viewing. Visitation with the family will precede the funeral from 3-5 p.m. Memorial gifts may be made toward the Fruitland Baptist Bible College Chapel Fund, which bears Ridings’ name, at 1455 Gilliam Road, Hendersonville, N.C., 28792.