^Bulletin of

COLUMBIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

DECATUR, GEORGIA

Vol. XXXII

November, 1939

No. 3

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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

WIDENING HORIZONS

at

COLUMBIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

WIDENING HORIZONS

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF COLUMBIA THEOLOGICAL
SEMINARY TO THE CONTROLLING SYNODS

I. NEW SCHOOL YEAR

Columbia Theological Seminary opened for its new school
year on Thursday, September 14, at 1 1 :00 A. M. Eighteen new
students were enrolled in the Junior Class which began its work
in the Seminary at that time, and there were three new students
enrolled for graduate study. The faculty reports that it is well
pleased with the promise of the new men and that the outlook
for the year's work is encouraging. It now appears that the total
enrollment of students for the year will be above sixty, which
will mark an increase above the attendance at any time within
recent years.

The opening address of the Seminary year was delivered by
President James McDowell Richards. Dr. W. Murdoch Mac-
Leod, pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Nash-
ville, Tenn., was the speaker at the annual fall devotional serv-
ices which were held during the second week of school, and
brought a series of highly practical and helpful messages to the
students. This period of special services was closed by the cele-
bration of the Lord's Supper at a service held in the Seminary
Chapel on Saturday, September 23.

II. FACULTY

Dr. Manford George Gutzke, who was elected to the Chair of
English Bible and Religious Education in the Seminary at the
last meeting of the Board of Directors, has arrived in Decatur
with his family and assumed his new duties at the opening of
the term. Dr. Gutzke has already won many friends for himself
in this section of the Church by his appearance on the program
of the Montreat conferences this summer, and has begun his work
at the Seminary under auspicious circumstances. It is confidently
anticipated that he will render outstanding service to the institu-
tion in the vitally important department to which he has been
called. All other members of the Faculty are in good health and,
after filling many conference and speaking engagements through-
out the summer, they have now returned to enter upon their
regular duties at the Seminary. Although it is too soon for any
definite report to be made upon the work being done in the
classroom, it is felt that the attitude manifested by the students
is encouraging and that the work of the year in this respect will
be satisfactory.

III. THE PAST YEAR

The school year which closed with commencement exercises
held at the Seminary last May was, in most respects, successful.
The total enrollment of students for the year was fifty-seven,
and the distribution of these men by groups was as follows:

Graduate Students 5

Seniors *3

Clinical Students 2

Middlers 1 6

Juniors 20

Specials '

The thirteen Seniors who graduated had all been called to
churches before the close of the school year, and all of these men
have now been in active service for several months. It was also
possible for all students in the lower classes to secure employ-
ment during the summer, and these men renderd valuable service
to the Synods as supply pastors, assistant pastors, and religious
education workers at the same time that they were gaining much
needed experience for themselves.

The Seminary's experiment in providing a limited number of
theological internships for students has proceeded in a satisfac-
tory way. The two undergraduates who were appointed to these
internships for the past year and the ministers under whom they
served report that the results of the year's work were gratifying
and would indicate that such training holds many values for
theological students. These two men have returned to the
Seminary this fall to complete their academic training, and three
other undergraduates have been appointed to internships for the
coming year. The results of this experiment are being watched
with interest by all of our seminaries, and it is probable that
they may eventuate in important developments in theological
education.

IV. EVANGELISM

Columbia Seminary has always sought to stress the importance
of Evangelism as the primary task of the Church. This has been
done in recent years both by the regular professors of the institu-
tion in their classroom work and by inviting specially qualified
ministers to address the student body on this subject. It will be
the purpose of the faculty to cooperate with the Assembly's
Committee on Evangelism in every way in furthering the great
movement which is now being made throughout our Church,
and the year's work is being planned with this in view. The
student body of the Seminary is already characterized by a
warmly evangelistic spirit as is indicated by the mission work
in which they are engaged in a needy area of Atlanta, and also
by the reports received concerning the summer work of our
undergraduate students. Although it has not been possible to
make a complete check of the work of these men, reports received
up to the present indicate that during the three months of the
summer there were not less than two hundred and fifty confes-
sions of faith which, under God, were attributable directly to the
work of the thirty-eight men who were in the field. We do not
suggest that this number is as great as it should have been, but
it would certainly indicate that these men have been and are
active in their efforts to win individuals to their Saviour.

V. THE LIBRARY

More than six hundred new books were added to the Seminary
Library during the past year, bringing the total number of its
volumes to approximately 33,000. A carefully selected list of
current religious and secular periodicals is subscribed to, and the
faculty is encouraging an increasing use by the students of the
splendid library facilities available. Mrs. Julia D. Anderson is
rendering efficient service as libraran.

VI. GREATER UNIVERSITY CENTER

During the past year definite steps have been taken looking to
the development of a Greater University Center in Atlanta. If
these endeavors meet with success, it is anticipated that there will
be a close cooperation between the educational institutions of
Atlanta along the lines which have proven so highly successful in
the University of Toronto. In that Canadian city approximately
thirty institutions have worked out a system of cooperation by
which each of them makes its resources available to the others and
contributes to the life of a great University Center, and yet each
institution retains its complete independence. The fact that at
least one of the institutions participating in that enterprise belongs
to the Roman Catholic Church is itself a sufficient evidence that
it is possible for an institution to maintain its distinctive outlook
and teachings while yet joining in the movement.

In Atlanta an effort is at present being made to work out such
a cooperative undertaking in which the participating institutions
would be Agnes Scott College, Emory University, Georgia
Institute of Technology, University System of Georgia, The High
Museum of Art, and Columbia Theological Seminary. The Board
of Directors of Columbia Seminary at its meeting last May re-
ceived reports concerning this effort, and adopted the following
recommendation concerning it:

"That the Board of Directors express its interest in
the steps which are being taken toward the develop-
ment of a Greater University Center in Atlanta and
authorize the faculty to cooperate in this movement
in so far as it does not take from the Seminary any
measure of independence or make any demands upon it
which are not consistent with its witness to the Truth,
for the furtherance of which it was established."

This recommendation was framed with a view to preserving
the complete independence of the Seminary and assuring its wit-
ness to the Truth and at the same time to making it possible for
the institution to benefit through a movement which has been
pronounced by outstanding educational leaders to be one of
unusual promise.

Among the immediate benefits which should accrue to the
Seminary through the University Center movement will be the
complete cataloguing of its library through an appropriation
from the General Education Board. If this appropriation is
made, the libraries in the other institutions participating will
also be catalogued and a union catalogue will be established so
that a student in any of the institutions will be able to locate
and to have access to any book possessed by the others. Since it
would probably be many years before the Seminary itself could
afford the heavy expense involved in having its library com-
pletely catalogued by a modern system, it is evident that this in
itself would be an important advantage to the institution.

Ultimately it is believed that the development of the Uni-
versity System will be of great importance to the Seminary and
to our Church through the provision of unusual opportunities
for graduate students of this institution. At the same time it is
also true that the Seminary will have an increased opportunity
to make a spiritual contribution to the educational life of At-
lanta and of adjacent areas.

VII. THE PASTORS' INSTITUTE

The annual Institute for Town and Country Ministers was
held at Columbia Seminary from January 2 3 -February 3 in-
clusive, and was attended by sixty ministers representing nine
Synods. The faculty of the Seminary believes that this Institute
is rendering an increasing service to ministers in this area, and
calls attention to the fact that the dates set for it to be held
during the coming year are January 22-February 2. Special
courses will be offered by members of the faculty of the Semi-
nary, by Dr. Henry W. McLaughlin of Richmond, Virginia,
and by the Directors of Religious Education in the Synods
affiliated with the Seminary. During the second week of the
Institute, Dr. George Lang, Professor of Philosophy in the Uni-
versity of Alabama, will deliver the Smyth Lectures.

VIII. FINANCES

Columbia Seminary closed its fiscal year ending March 31,
1939, without a deficit and hence remains entirely free of debt.
The assets of the institution, according to its auditors' report,
now amount to $499,801.41 in physical equipment, and $369,-
575.04 in invested funds.

IX. A GENEROUS LEGACY

On August 9th last, Mrs. Fannie Jordan Bryan of Columbia,
South Carolina, for many years a faithful friend of Columbia
Seminary, passed to her eternal reward. In addition to a gen-
erous gift which Mrs. Bryan had made to the Seminary some
years ago on an annuity basis, she had included this institution
in her will as one of four residuary legatees the others being
Presbyterian College, the Executive Committee of Foreign Mis-
sions, and the Executive Committee of Home Missions. While it
is impossible to be sure what the amount of this legacy will be
at the present time, it is estimated that the Seminary's share will
amount to approximately $25,000.00, which should be payable
to the institution in September, 1940. According to the terms
of Mrs. Bryan's will this legacy will be used by the Board of
Directors to establish Fellowships at Columbia Seminary, and it
will doubtless provide opportunity for graduate study by out-
standing students of the institution.

In making grateful recognition of Mrs. Bryan's provision for
the Seminary, the Directors of the institution would also express
the hope that this may be a reminder to others of the opportunity
to invest their assets in eternal values through the institution and
an inspiration for them to do so. If a sufficient number of Pres-
byterians would place the Seminary in their wills even for small
amounts, the needs of its work would be met. We would
strongly emphasize the importance of this method of giving.

X. A GENEROUS GIFT PROVIDES A
GREAT OPPORTUNITY

At the spring meeting of the Board of Directors, the President
of the Seminary reported that a faithful friend of the institution,
who prefers that his gift be made anonymously, has offered to
contribute $100,000 to the endowment of the Seminary upon
the double condition that other friends of the institution shall
subscribe a like amount, and that evidence shall be given of an

increased interest in the support of the Seminary on the part of
Presbyterians in the constituent Synods. According to the letter
in which the terms of the offer are stated, such evidence may be
given either by subscriptions toward the securing of the amount
sought for endowment, or by increased contributions to the sup-
port of the Seminary through the benevolent budgets of the
churches, or by both.

This generous offer provides a challenging and timely oppor-
tunity for the supporting Synods to provide for the more ade-
quate support of their theological institution. Although the
budget of the Seminary has been kept in balance for the past six
years it has been possible for this to be done in the recent past
only because one friend had agreed to contribute $5,000 annually
to current expenses for a period of five years. This gift will be
available for the last time in the spring of 1941, and it will then
be necessary for that amount to be supplied through some
other source. In addition to that fact it should also be remem-
bered that the balancing of the Seminary budget has been made
possible only through the sacrificial service of its faculty mem-
bers and administrative staff, and that these faithful workers are
still being paid an amount which is very materially less than
that which is provided in other seminaries of equal standing and
which it is appropriate that they should receive. If the $100,000
needed to secure the gift offer can be secured, the $200,000 total
which will thus be realized for endowment will be sufficient to
take care of this need and will place the institution upon a
reasonably stable financial footing.

In the light of the facts mentioned above we would earnestly
request of the supporting Synods and Presbyteries that they
1 Allot as adequate a percentage of the benevolent budget as
possible for the support of the Seminary, and urge upon
all the churches the importance of giving the percentage
recommended.
2. Approve the Seminary's effort to meet the conditional
offer of $100,000 for its endowment by securing a like
amount from others, and commend this cause to the pray-
ers and to the gifts of their people.

(*J

This report has already been presented to the chu < c *?" c ' s ' n of
cerned and has received a highly encouraging response. The effort of
the Seminary ro secure an increased endowment has been "PP^ d ^
the supporting synods and arrangements are being made to P^cute
this effort as Ln as the possibility of any conflict f**?#
of the Ministers Annuity Fund has been removed. A large '*
of the presbyteries have also taken action to reiterate and emphasize
The approval given to this undertaking in the synods to which they
belong In a few presbyteries it has been possible for the benevolent
perTentage granted the Seminary to be increased, and ,t ,s hoped that
this can be done in others at a later date.