[5] As a preacher, Grey accented the basic Christian tenets: "God, man, sin, grace, eternity," in that order.
... as a man of mature logic, Grey has developed his sermons through the years from a soberly reasoned and carefully thought-out position.
[8] In 1951, Grey became the first pastor ever to lead a prayer at the Sugar Bowl pregame in New Orleans, which that year matched Bear Bryant's Kentucky Wildcats and Bud Wilkinson's Oklahoma Sooners.
Grey told Hobbs that the Lord should not be bothered with the outcome of the game since Kentucky "had Babe Parilli on its team".
[12] In 1957, Grey was asked to nominate for the Southern Baptist Convention presidency Brooks Hays, a liberal U.S. representative from Little Rock, Arkansas, who subsequently lost a Democratic gubernatorial primary election in 1966.
[13] At the time Hays was the chairman of the Christian Life Commission, a liberal group advocating peaceful relations with African Americans.
Grey declined to make the nomination on the grounds that he should not use his influence as a two-term past president of the convention to promote a particular candidate.
[14] Among the politicians who admired Grey was the colorful and controversial Governor Earl Kemp Long, who retorted, "Everybody's bragging about this Billy Graham.
At the time, Morrison, a Roman Catholic, faced a Democratic runoff election with John McKeithen, a Methodist from Columbia and a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
You gave your active support to every worthy move to improve the civic, business, social, cultural, and spiritual life of an entire community.
[16]Grey's biographers note that "on occasion, J. D. raked his friend [Morrison] over the coals in matter political and controversial.
By the same token, the mayor could respond to J. D. as a friend when he offered ... the keys to the city to a young Billy Graham in his first crusade ..." in New Orleans.
[3] In 1968 and 1969, Grey was the president and board member of the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission under Morrison's successor, Democratic Mayor Victor Schiro.
[3] In 1984, long after he had retired as a pastor, Grey was an advisor for the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition held at the site of the defunct Rivergate Convention Center.
[22] Grey and his wife, the former Lillian Tooke, whom he married in 1927, had twin daughters born in 1941, Martha Ann Cantrell and her husband, Richard C. Cantrell (born 1940) of Gretna in Jefferson Parish, and Mary Beth Burg and husband, Jules L. Burg Jr.
In 2011, the recipient of both designations was Dennis Phelps, the NOBTS professor of preaching and director of church relations and alumni.
"[28] Grey's papers are housed at the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives in Nashville, Tennessee.