bulletin of 

COLUMBIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 



DECATUR, GEORGIA 



Vol. XXXVI 



September, 1943 



No. 2 



RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED 
Entered as second-class matter, May 9, 1928, at the post office at Decatur, Ga under the Act of August 24, 1912. 
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY AT DECATUR, GEORGIA 



LETTERS FROM A NAZI PRISON CAMP 



THE ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN 



PAST PROGRESS CHALLENGES TO NEW ADVANCE 



LETTERS 

FROM A NAZI PRISON CAMP 

Galantry of Columbia Graduate Wins 

Praise of German Officer 

Columbia Seminary is proud of the fact that more than 
sixty of her alumni have been commissioned as chaplains 
in the armed forces of our country. These men are serving 
in all quarters of the globe today and the record of their 
experiences would make a most interesting vo ume. At 
some future date it is hoped that a bulletin can be devoted 
to news items concerning many of these men We believe 
that at this time our Church will be especially interested 
in news which has come from Chaplain Eugene L. Darnel, 
'36, who has been a prisoner of the Germans since last 

6 Af^ graduation from the seminary Mr. Daniel, who is 
a native of Atlanta, served successively as pastor of the 
Tackson and Fellowship group of churches in Atlanta 
Presbytery and of the Cairo Church in Southwest Georgia 
Presbytery. He enlisted in the chaplaincy during the early 
weeks of the war and was sent to Ireland with one of the 
first contingents of our troops to go overseas. He was a 
member of the expeditionary force which landed in North 
Africa last November, and was awarded the Silver Star for 
his gallantry under fire during the opening phases of the 
invasion. Late in February his mother, Mrs. E. L. Daniel, 
was notified of his capture by the Germans while minister- 
ing to the wounded, and later she was provided with the 
address of his prison camp in Germany. In recent weeks 
a number of very interesting letters have come to her from 
Germany and, in the belief that these will be a source of 
inspiration to many, we have secured her permission to 
print portions of them here. 

The letter which relates the circumstances attending 
his capture was not received first in order of ume tor 
reasons suggested in its opening sentences. It is repro- 
duced in full: May 25 1942 

"Dear Mother; 

"The local newspaper tells us the African campaign is over 
Therefore I suppose my story will pass both German and 
Imerican'c e n S ors P I came into German hands February 16 h. 
Our battalion was defending Les Sauda Mt. near Sidi Bou i Sid. 
We had been shelled for two days and were almost grounded 
We attempted to withdraw dunng the night of the 15th Meet 
ing oppTsition our withdrawal became disorganized, however, 

 wa's withl' detail carrying wounded German prisoners 
on liters. After several hours of most difficult carrying, on y 
a bief period of darkness remained in which to escape. There 
fore I ordered the men to escape while I remained in a deep 
dUcn wth the wounded. (Later I learned that most if not 
a my men did escape). Next morning I went out to the 
Germans Their doctors and I picked up the wounded^ The 
German Colonel wrote me a letter of appreciation and com- 

m 'wf went to Tunis by truck and train, to Naples by plane, 
to Germany by train. 

"I am expecting a letter any day now. 
"Love, Eugene. 



In writing to an aunt on the same date he stated that 
he was scheduled to preach on the next Sunday and to 
conduct a Communion Service a week later. As an officer, 
he had been placed in a camp with other officers under 
terms of the international agreement concerning prisoners 
of war, but wrote that several British chaplains were there 
and that he was requesting transfer to the camp of our 
enlisted men in order that he might be of service to them. 
That request has subsequently been granted. 

The following sentences are taken from other letters 
which he has written, the first quotation having been 
contained in the first letter received from him by his 
mother: "I am quite well and well cared for. Strangely 
enough we have had lots of fun joking about our plight. 
Many of my friends are here. I continue my ministry 
and think it is helping the men. The things of God are 
very clear to me these days. I have great peace." . . . 
"I am in good health and spirits. I'll be home by 1944." 
(One wonders how that prediction got by a German cen- 
sor) . "I am preaching and teaching the Bible. I am 
studying German." ..." 'Tis strange to think of all the 
experiences I have had in life. However, God supplies 
the needed strength and comfort for any condition. I 
pray that all of you may know the same peace of mind. 
Indeed I pray that all men the world over might be so 
blessed." 

A snapshot which Mr. Daniel was allowed to send his 
mother from prison camp shows him apparently in good 
health. His present address is Chaplain 1st Lieutenant 
Eugene L. Daniel, American P. O. W., Interned at Stalag 
7A, Germany, P. O. W. Number 1490, New York, N. Y., 
and letters addressed to him there will be delivered. Prayers 
are requested not only for him but for those to whom he 
ministers and for all our men who are prisoners of war. 

THE ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN 

On the first day of next month a generous and challeng- 
ing offer will terminate. Under terms set by its makers 
all gifts to the endowment of Columbia Seminary received 
by October 1, 1943, are to be matched dollar for dollar 
up to a total of $50,000. As of September the first only 
about $20,000 had been contributed, so that it will be 
necessary for many gifts, both large and small, to be se- 
cured this month if the seminary is to take full advantage 
of its opportunity. 

No organized campaign for funds has been undertaken 
in connection with this offer but an effort has been made 
to keep its challenge constantly in the minds of the semi- 
nary's friends. The response to our publicity has been 
highly encouraging in the interest which it has revealed, 
even though the size of most of the individual gifts has 
been small. A great many of these contributions have 
not been solicited. A record of just a few of them will 
show the diversity of sources from which they have come. 

The widow of a Presbyterian minister has contributed 
twenty dollars of tithe money left by her beloved hus- 
band, which she had held for many months as she looked 



for an opportunity to invest it to maximum advantage. 
A graduate of the seminary just leaving for Foreign Mis- 
sion service made one of his last acts in this country the 
purchase of a government bond for the seminary. From 
his post of service with our troups in North Africa a 
Chaplain has sent regular monthly contributions, asking 
that these go to establish a memorial fund bearing the 
name of his grandfather, a beloved Christian physician. 
A Home Missionary recently sent his check for ten dollars, 
and a devout Presbyterian lady is endowing a scholarship 
in honor of her parents and giving the amount of this in 
United States War Bonds. Real fellowship across denomi- 
national lines was shown by a Baptist lady who read of 
the offer to the seminary and sent a generous check to 
the institution. A Christian business man has sent two 
checks for a total of fifteen hundred dollars because God 
had prospered him beyond his expectations, and a number 
of churches have sent gifts from unallotted benevolent 
funds which they had on hand. So the total has grown  
and so we hope it will continue to grow. 

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Atlanta has voluntarily interested itself in this movement 
and has made an appeal for gifts in a letter addressed to 
several hundred potential givers. It is hoped that the 
response to their appeal and to this bulletin will be 
sufficiently large to assure the reaching of the $50,000 
goal and the addition of $100,000 to the seminary's en- 
dowment. Only generous giving will make that possible 
in the time which remains. We believe that there are 
many who intend to give but who have postponed doing 
so until now. Further delay will be fatal. Although 
the offer made the seminary was for the matching of 
funds actually collected within the allotted time, we have 
recently been assured that pledges made to the institution 
will be acceptable and will be matched as paid. This 
should enable many individuals and churches who could 
not give during this month to have a part in making our 
effort successful. We earnestly appeal to our friends to 
send their checks or their subscriptions at once. A dollar 
given to Columbia Seminary now means two dollars in- 
vested for the preaching of the Gospel. 





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PAST PROGRESS CHALLENGES TO NEW ADVANCE 

The record of recent years in the life of Columbia 
Seminary gives reason for real encouragement and tor a 
dZ sense of gratitude to God. His blessing .has made it 
Sib e for the institution steadily to lengthen its cords 
S to strengthen its stakes, until today there need be no 
uncertainty I to her future At the same tin* ; w< > have 
no reason to be complacent, for the material needs of the 
institution have been only partially supplied and many 
important improvements in its work must await an in- 
C X in the "resources made available. We , believe , that 
the figures given below show in a very striking way the 
progress which has been made during the past eleven years. 
Lest progress made seem too much reason for satisfaction 
howeverf the amount of endowment reported by several 
other Presbyterian seminaries in a recent year is also shown 
A comparison of these endowments with that of Co 
lumbia Seminary makes it perfectly obvious d* t Jhe 
progress of past years must be continued if the real needs 
of the institution are to be supplied adequately. 



Endowment Indebtedness AJIWcesJ^tf^ 



Income for 

Operations 

from .. _ r >. 
"-fiat 



1,33 $298,700 

1934 304,200 

1935 300,500 

1934 305,400 

1937 352,200 

1938 369 . 400 

1939 371,800 

1940 ... 378,400 

1941 429,800 

1942 584,700 

1943 402,900 



$105,900 


$24,200 


$15,398 


103,000 


30,300 


None 


101,400 


31,100 


None 


101,400 


35,700 


None 


None 


35,400 


None 


None 


35,300 


None 


None 


34,200 


None 


None 


34,700 


None 


None 


41,900 


None 


None 


45,500 


None 


None 


48,500 


None 


1944 


? 





COMPARATIVE ENDOWMENTS OF OTHER 
SEMINARIES 



(Approximate) 



, .  i/ ... $1,149,413 

Louisville Theological Semmary, Louisville Ky 1534,154 

Union Theological Seminary, Richmond a. ------  -^ 

The Presbyterian Theological Seminary Chicago III 

Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton. N. J 

Will you help in making it possible for Columbia Semi- 
nary to render a larger service to our Church?