-fll'i:i:|F: V^mnHMB Dr. Richards Named MAN OF THE SOUTH Dr. J. McDowell Richards has been named the Man of the South for 1967. The award is presented annually by Dixie Business Magazine. Dr. Richards is the 22nd man to be so honored. Others pre- viously honored include statesman Ber- nard M. Baruch, golfer Bobby Jones and Dr. R. M. Wilson who founded the Pres- byterian Leprosy Colony in Korea. February 15th had been proclaimed James McDowell Richards Day by Geor- gia's Governor Lester Maddox, Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen. Mayor Jack Hamil- ton of Decatur and Brince Manning, Commission Chairman for DeKalb County. Over 150 friends attended the award dinner at Decatur Presbyterian Church that evening. The "Man of the South" award was presented by Dixie Business editor Hubert F. Lee. Tributes were paid to Dr. Richards by Mr. Harvey Walters, a member of the Seminary Class of 1970; Mr. Jack Wil- liams, a Ruling Elder of the First Pres- byterian Church of Waycross, Georgia; Dr. P. D. Miller and Dr. Felix Gear of the Seminary Faculty and Dr. J. Davison Philips, Chariman of the Seminary's Board of Directors and pastor of the De- catur Presbyterian Church. "The award could have been given to politicians or business leaders," Dr. Philips said, "but rather Dr. Richards has been chosen. This is particularly ap- propriate because he presents the image of the South that we would like for all of the country to see." In presenting the award Mr. Hubert Lee, an Elder in the Glen Haven Presbyterian Church of De- catur, said that in receiving the honor for 1967 Dr. Richards "did honor to all those who had preceded him in receiving the award." In accepting the award. Dr. Richards paraphrased the Apostle Paul and claimed to be a Southerner of Southern- ers. He recalled his ties to the South and said that he longed "to see the South move out in moral leadership and solve the problems facing the world. Our area has been called the Bible Belt in derision but this is a term which we should honor and cherish as we try to put the message of the Bible into practice as strongly as we have accepted its message in theory." Students Completing Three Year Program Will Receive Master of Divinity Degree VACATIONS FOR STUDY Sixty five-day "Vacations for Study" will be available for ministers this sum- mer at Columbia. These short study pe- riods, designed to give the busy pastor an opportunity to plan for the year ahead or to catch up on reading, are a part of the seminary's Continuing Edu- cation Program. The five-day periods of study will be made available without cost to pastors in the five supporting synods through gifts from the Columbia Friendship Circle. Four five-day periods from July 22nd through August 17th have been desig- nated for the program. Fifteen men will be able to participate each week. Room and Board will be provided wtihout cost and study facilities will be available in the Library. Mr. Harold B. Prince, Director of Continuing Education and Librarian, will be working with the visiting pastors in- dividually and in groups. Applications for participation in the program and ad- ditional information can be obtained from Mr. Prince. Dr. Richards called the award a tribute to those with whom he had worked through the years and said that he felt it was a "testimony in our day of the im- portance of training men for the minis- try and to the importance of preaching the Word of God." The Master of Divinity will become the standard degree awarded to students completing the basic three year program of study at Columbia. The change from the B.D. to the M. Div. will take effect with the Class of 1969, the first class to complete their studies under the new curriculum. In announcing the action of the Board of Directors, President Richards said that "the action was taken in accord with new policies of the American Association of Theological Schools. In making their change in policy the AATS took into account the pattern of degrees in other disciplines and the changes being made in curriculum at seminaries throughout the country." Columbia's action enables it to work more closely with the Candler School of Theology and the Interdenominational Theological Center in planning advance degree programs. The other institutions are presently offering the M. Div. de- gree. Plans are currently being made by the three institutions to offer a co- operative program of graduate studies leading to the S.T.D. degree. "It is our intention," Dr. Richards said, "that the new doctoral program lead to a professional rather than a re- search degree, having as its goal the bet- ter preparation of men for the practical tasks of the pastorate rather than for teaching." An announcement concerning the S.T.D. degree will be made later this spring. L-R Dr. Philips. Dr. Richards, Mr. Lee, Dr. Gear, and Dr. Miller. Living Endowment Gifts Equal investments Of One-half Million The Seminary's first request for Living Endowment resulted in gifts totaling $24,913 from 219 friends of the Sem- inary. These gifts to help meet the an- nual expenses of operation for the Sem- inary are equal to the income from ad- ditional endowment of SVi million. The Living Endowment Program was authorized by the Seminary Board of Directors in November as a way of plac- ing the needs of the Seminary for in- creased annual operating revenue before the Seminary's friends and supporters. The response to the Living Endowment appeal was much greater than the re- sponse to end-of-the-year appeals con- ducted by the Seminary in former years. Wright Takes Pastorate Harold V. Wright, Columbia's Super- intendent of Buildings and Grounds, has resigned in order to accept a pastorate. In March he will become pastor of the Ellenboro and Duncans Creek Presby- terian Churches near Shelby, North Car- olina in Kings Mountain Presbytery. Mr. Wright came to his present post in 1960. A student at Columbia in 1957-58, Mr. Wright had then gone to work in Guerrant Presbytery for three years. He returned to the Seminary to continue his preparation for the pasorate, but was re- quested to join the Seminary staff. While on the staff he has regularly served churches in East Alabama Presbytery. With his pastoral leadership the New Harmony Church in that Presbytery, which had been scheduled to be dis- solved, has been reactivated. Introducing New Professor . . . Person Students Take Part in "Operation Understanding' Left to Right President Richards, Phil Gehinan, Lee Carroll, and Dr. Harry Fifield. President J. McDowell Richards and two members of the Seminary's senior class, Phil Gehman of Tyler, Texas and Lee Carroll of Laurel, Mississippi, joined with other Presbyterians from the Atlanta area and traveled to New York for the week-end of February 10th as guests of the Presbytery of Long Island (UPUSA) and the Reformed Churches in Nassau County. They were entertained in, and preached to, a variety of Island parishes and shared in a Service for Christian Unity. This was the first step in "Operation Understanding", dreamed up by the Rev- erend Edwin G. Townsend, a Long Is- land native who studied for the ministry at Columbia and returned home to be- come pastor of the Middle Island Pres- byterian Church, which he has served since his graduation in 1958. The coordinator in Atlanta for the program was Dr. Harry Fifield, pastor of Atlanta's First Presbyterian Church and a Director of the Seminary. Others participating in the program were At- lanta pastors. Dr. Arthur Van Gibson, Dr. Chilton Thorington (CTS '56), Dr. J. Davison Philips (CTS '43), Rev. Rob- ert McBath, and Rev. T. W. Tucker. Four laymen from Atlanta Churches, Mr. and Mrs. F. Burt Vardeman (North Decatur Church), Raymond Turpin (First Church, Atlanta), and Ralph Bird- song (Decatur Church) were also mem- bers of the group. On Sunday evening following a Pres- byterian-Reformed Service of Unity, where Dr. Fifield led the worship, Presi- dent Richards joined President James I. McCord of Princeton Seminary and the Rev. Howard Hageman of North Re- formed Church, Newark, N. J., in a panel discussion on Church union. On Monday there was an opportunity for laymen to join the clergy in a break- fast discussion on contrasting approaches to current issues. To Teach Church History The Reverend Ralph E. Person has been named Associate Professor of Church History by the Board of Di- rectors. Mr. Person is completing his Doctoral studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and will begin his teaching responsibilties during the 1968-69 academic year. A native of Texas, he is a graduate of the University of Texas and Austin Seminary. He re- ceived a Rotary Foundation Fellowship which enabled him to take his middle year of seminary training at the Univer- sity of Aberdeen in Scotland. While a student at the University of Texas, Mr. Person served as President of the Student Body and participated in activities of the Presbyterian Campus Ministry. He was on athletic scholarship and was the National AAU Champion in the Low Hurdles. In 1952 he was the representative of the Presbyterian Church, U.S. to the World Student Christian Federation Conference in Austria. Mr. Person has veen involved in the work of the church in many parts of the world. As a seminary student he spent the summer of 1954 as director of a work camp in the slums of Rio de Ja- neiro, Brazil. After completing his sem- inary studies he went to Jaffna, Ceylon where he worked for one year with Dr. D. T. Niles. Seven months of work with the Student Christian Movement of India followed. During this period he traveled some 40,000 miles across India with SCM groups, preaching, leading Bible studies and directing work camps. In 1958 he began a five year period of service as the Presbyterian Campus Minister at the University of Texas. Since 1963 Mr. Person has been involved in studies in the areas of Church History and the History of Christian Thought at the University of Basel. His dissertation topic is "Scripture and Tradition at the Early Ecumenical Councils of the Church." He has been elected a Kent Fellow by the Danforth Foundation and is a member of the Society for Religion and Higher Education. Mrs. Person is also a graduate of the University of Texas where she studied education and sociology and has a grad- uate degree in education. The Persons have three children, Karen, 8; Amy, 5; and Kathleen, 7 months. Seminarian in Africa "The last trip I took was a three day road trip south which took us right into the center of the old cannibal country," writes Columbia intern student Richard Caldwell. Richard, who completed his second year at Columbia last year, is serving an intern year with the Board of World Missions in the Congo. "The team," he continued, "consisted of a missionary, a Congalese pastor, a Congalese evangelist and myself. We stopped at villages where drums or run- ners told the people to come to worship. We would have an outdoor service right there. I might add, we were in the coun- try where topless (and almost bottom- less) styles started and are still in vogue." Each year the Board of World Mis- sions sends one student from each of our denomination's seminaries to the mission field for a year's internship. Richard's year with the Board of World Mission began last summer in the mis- sionary training school at Montreat. In the Congo he has worked with various missionaries in itineration and is now working with some of the Congalese Christians. Writing to fellow Columbia students in answer to their questions about his work, Richard said, "The basic aim of the mission is, of course, to proclaim Jesus Christ. They are especially trying to train the Congalese people to carry on the work themselves. It is not at all improbable," he wrote, "that some day (maybe in the not-too-distant future) the missionaries will have to leave. So it is a matter of prime importance to train native leaders." Richard will return to this country this summer and resume his studies at Co- lumbia in the fall. Theological intern- ships of nine to fifteen months are avail- able for Columbia students between their second and third years of study. These periods of off-campus study and practical experience give students a fur- ther opportunity to relate their theologi- cal studies to the life and work of the church. Faculty Profile . . . Ludtvig R. Detvitz According to the anti-Jewish publica- tion, "Sturmer," five buckets of bap- tismal water could never make a Jew into a Christian. In the Berlin, Germany of 1933, this was of no great personal concern to young Ludwig Dewitz. He was already a Christian bent upon becoming a min- ister in the Reformed tradition. He also was not Jewish, or so he thought, until the day his mother was forced to give written proof of this. It was the first time Ludwig learned he was the adopted Jewish son of non- Jewish German parents. "That I was not overcome by this, with all that it meant in Nazi Germany, was due only to my faith in Christ," the Columbia professor said. A short time before at a Christian retreat in the Black Forest, Dewitz heard a sermon based on John 8:36: "If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." It was that kind of freedom Dewitz had asked God to pro- vide. In 1936 he was offered a job with the Mildmay Mission to the Jews in London, and to this day he does not know how the mission came to know of him. His acceptance of the job spared him from almost certain imprisonment and death. Within two years he was witnessing and working with thousands of Jewish refugees pouring into English detention camps. As a German national Dewitz was himself technically under detention, but as a Christian he found the fields white unto harvest. He continues to hear from some who were converted during that period. Toward the end of the war he was transferred to work in Sheffield, Eng- land near Prisoner of War camps for German soldiers. There, working among those who had persecuted the Jews so terribly, he came to be known as Joseph, the rejected brother who continued to love and help them. In 1948, under the auspices of the Jewish Missionary Society, he began a work in Milan, Italy, the springboard for Jews getting out of Europe enroute to Israel. Italy became one of his favor- ite parts of the world. Although he received his B.D. degree from the University of London, he came to America in 1950 to work and study at the Presbyterian Center for Jewish Evangelists, Baltimore. At Johns Hop- kins University he received his Ph.D. degree. He began teaching at Columbia in 1959, taking his Sabbatical last year to study in Europe and the Near East. Dewitz is active in many church and community affairs. At Columbia he is professor of Old Testament language, literature and exegesis. Students From S.E. Attend College Conference Seventy-one students from 31 col- leges and universities in the Southeast attended Columbia's annual college con- ference in January. This is the largest group of students who have ever attend- ed a college conference here. The theme of the confernce was "1988 A Look 20 Years Into The Future." In the opening address Charles L. Weltner, Atlanta attorney and former congressman spoke of the future of poli- tics. Mr. Weltner told the students that twenty years of politics could bring "a return to Eden or a return to the cave. Politics will be what the people demand." Abundant productivity and the grow- ing managerial skill of business leaders offer "an opportunity to humanize the world," Mr. Jerry Achenbach told the students on Saturday morning. Mr. Ach- enbach, president of Piggly-Wiggly Southern, spoke of the future of business. The role of the Church in 1988 was considered in an address by Professor Milton Riviere on theological education and in an afternoon long presentation by the staff of the Board of National Min- istries which made use of numerous audio-visual media. On Saturday evening the students con- sidered the future of the city. The pro- gram included a presentation by Merle C. Patterson of the Model Cities Staff of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and visits in the city to see what the church and gov- ernment agencies are doing today. The problems and possibilities of the urban power structures were considered in an interview with Atlanta Alderman Rodney Cook. The conference concluded with a community worship service on Sunday morning. Team Takes to Road Alumni officers hold spring planning meeting. L to R Steve Bacon, Trent Howell, John Law, and Donald Bailey. Spring Speakers Announced A college president, a seminary presi- dent, a pastor and a missionary will be speaking on the Columbia campus this spring. Dr. Harry V. Richardson, Presi- dent of the Interdenominational Theolog- ical Center, will be the speaker at the Honors Day program April 2nd. Dr. Edwin D. Harrison, President of Geor- gia Tech, Dr. Arnold Poole, pastor of the Pine Shores Church of Sarasota, Florida, and the Reverend J. Richard Bass, missionary to Mexico will be the featured speakers on Commencement week-end, June 1-3. Hughes Speaks to Catholics A Columbia Seminary professor has presented his views on the Second Vati- can Council to faculty and students of one of the nation's best-known Roman Catholic seminaries. In December Dr. Philip E. Hughes, Guest Professor of New Testament, ac- cepted an invitation to speak at the Uni- versity of San Diego Seminary in Cali- fornia. Dr. Hughes' dinner address was followed by an open, free discussion. He also spoke in Los Angeles where his host was the Cathedral Church of St. Paul. DO WE HAVE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS CORRECT? If not, please make corrections opposite your name and address below, and moil to us in a separate envelope. PLEASE CHECK CHANGES DESIRED: 1. Change name or address as shown below 2. Please remove name below from mailing list D 3. Receiving another copy (please return both address copies, indicating one to be removed) D // you have a friend who would like to receive the Columbia Seminary Bulletin, please send name and address. Columbia Seminary's basketball team has taken to the road this year. Last year the team won local and district cham- pionships in adult recreation leagues. Strengthened by members of the entering class the team has revived a tradition of former years and traveled to several colleges for games with varsity teams. This fall the team lost close contests at King, Belhaven and Southwestern. The spring schedule includes games at St. Andrews and Presbyterian College in South Carolina. In addition to their en- deavors on the hardwood court the sem- inarians have had the opportunity of participating in chapel worship services and meeting with college students in small groups. Back home, seminary students have formed two teams in separate local leagues and in each case are leading the league. COLUMBIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BULLETIN P.O. Box 520 Decatur, Ga. 30031 Return Requested Second Class POSTAGE Paid at Decatur, Georgia Vol. 61, No. 1 / January, 1968 Published five times a year Prof. C. Benton Kline Agnes Scott College Decatur, Ga. 3OO3O