Fulton W. Buntain passes away

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 - 6:18 PM CST

Fulton Buntain

Known as an innovator, a friend to everyone and the pastor of one of the first megachurches - Life Center (AG) of Tacoma, Washington - Fulton W. Buntain passed away Saturday evening after an extended illness. He was 86.

Buntain, who retired in 2006, was pastor emeritus at Life Center, having pastored the church for more than 40 years, which currently has a Sunday worship attendance of about 4,000.

Buntain also led the church in building a 750-student K-12 school and a senior housing complex. In addition to creating a weekly television program that ran for 35 years, Buntain was a co-founder of Calcutta Mercy Ministries and a prominent supporter of a holistic ministry in Calcutta, India — consisting of more than 100 schools, over 700 churches, a daily feeding program for 25,000 and a general hospital — founded by his brother and sister-in-law, AG missionaries Mark and Huldah Buntain.

A Canadian by birth, Buntain was ordained by the Assemblies of God on June 9, 1950, and ministered by the creed, "Find a need and meet it." In 2011, Buntain was honored as a "Pillar of Faith" by the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri.

Buntain is survived by his wife of 60 years, Lorraine Buntain; three children, Michelle (Tim) Cox of Tacoma, Kathi (Greg) Hardcastle of Miami, and Robyn (Rich) Wilkerson of Miami; 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. A son, Tim, preceded Buntain in death.

The memorial service and funeral for Buntain will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, June 22, 2012, at Life Center in Tacoma. The service will also be live-streamed from the church's website.