Columbia Theological Seminary Bulletin, 40, number 2, August 1947

COLUMBIA

Bulletin of

THEOLOGICAL

DECATUR, GEORGIA

SEMINARY

Vol. XL

AUGUST, 1947

No. 2

RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED

Entered as second-class matter at the post office at Decarur, Ga., under Act of August 24, 1912

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY AT DECATUR, GEORGIA

IN MEMORIAM

REV. JOSEPH H. DIXON, 1882-1947

MISSION HAVEN

THE NEW SESSION

IN MEMORIAM
REV. JOSEPH H. DIXON, 1882-1947

On Friday, June 20, 1947, Rev. Joseph H. Dixon, a
Negro minister who was for almost 27 years a faithful
employee of Columbia Seminary, passed to his eternal
reward after a brief illness. He had been engaged in the
performance of his regular duties until only a few days
before his death, and ended his career as he had hoped
would be the case, without retirement from active serv-
ice. His familiar figure, his cheerful smile, and his un-
failing courtesy and kindliness will be sorely missed on
the campus, and his passing will bring a sense of per-
sonal loss to a host of the alumni of the seminary.

Joe was born about twelve miles from Columbia, S. C,
on December 1, 1882. He joined the old Free Hope
A.M.E. Church on probation when he was 13 years of
age, but said that he was not a Christian at that time.
He went to school until he was fourteen years of age and
had the equivalent of only a seventh grade education.
He was a man of real native intelligence, however, and
made good use of the schooling which he received. Joe
obtained employment with the Seaboard Air Line Rail-
way when he was still a boy, working first as a member
of an extra force on maintaining the railroad and then
as a brakeman. He lost his arm when serving as a
brakeman on that railway in an accident near Henderson,
N. C, on July 4, 1903. For some time after that he
worked on a farm and his conversion occurred in July,
1905. His life prior to this time had not been what it
should, according to his own statement that he was a
rather "rough" individual. When plowing one day, how-
ever, he began to think about his state and to ask him-
self the questions: "What am I? What am I doing?
What are my hopes beyond the grave?" As he faced
these questions, he started praying and his conversion
resulted directly from that experience. He immediately
began to take an active part in the Free Hope A.M.E.
Church, becoming first assistant superintendent and then
superintendent of the Sunday School. He was licensed as
a local preacher in his church in 1921, and in 1933 he
was ordained as a local deacon, which means that he
had the privilege of marrying, burying, and baptizing.
During recent years he preached on the average of about
once a month, often supplying the pulpit of the Antioch
A.M.E. Church in Decatur, Ga., to which he belonged.
Joe was married to Estelle Thompson on December 28,
1905, and twelve children were born to that union, eight
of these being alive at the present time. His wife died
during the summer of 1944.

Joe's employment at Columbia Seminary began on
August 2, 1920, and he served through twenty-seven
school terms. He was employed by Dr. H. R. Murchison,
who was at that time connected with the faculty of this
institution, and he considers the circumstances which led
to his connection with the seminary as providential.
Prior to that time he had farmed, sold Bibles for a
period, and served as a janitor and night watchman at
the University of South Carolina. He was a faithful ser-
vant of Columbia Seminary under the administrations
of Doctors Whaling, Wells, Gillespie, and Richards. Dr.
Gillespie thought so highly of him that he arranged for
Joe and his family to move from Columbia to Decatur
at the time this institution was relocated in the summer
of 1927. During most of this time Joe had done as much
work with his one arm as most men would be able to
do with two.

During more recent years he performed his duties with
real difficulty because of increasing physical infirmities,
but declined all offers of retirement and continued to
give his best to the institution which he loved. His
faithfulness and dependability were an inspiration to all
who knew him, and the late Dr. W. M. McPheeters used
often to say that Joe's life was a sermon on using the
gifts which one possesses to the fullest measure of his
ability.

Joe was a true Christian and was a credit to his race.
He was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word.
His humor and his kindly, common sense philosophy
were much appreciated by students of the seminary. On
various occasions he was invited to preach to students
and faculty members at the regular chapel service of the
institution. In 1945 the alumni of the seminary presented
him with a handsome watch and chain in recognition of
the fact that he had then served the school for a quarter
of a century, and the administration of the seminary
awarded him an appropriately engraved gold medal.

The following paragraphs, written by Rev. Alton H.
Glasure and published in the bulletin of the First Pres-
byterian Church of Marietta, Ga., on June 24, 1945, have
now had their fulfillment, and express in a most appro-
priate manner the sentiment of many a son of Columbia
Seminary :

"During many years this faithful colored brother has
served our church well. Joe knows all the ministers who
have gone out from the seminary for a quarter of a
century, and he never forgets a name or face. Joe has
only one arm, but he has done more honest service than
any other person in a like position I have ever known
with two arms. I believe Joe will have a place in heaven
along side that of the ministers and faculty members
associated with this school of the apostles for two and
a half decades.

"I have often seen Joe pushing a heavy wheelbarrow
across the campus. A cord reached from one handle
around his shoulders to the other handle and he bal-
anced his load with the one good hand, which he could
use with great skill. Joe fired the furnace, mopped the
floors, swept the halls, and arranged the furnishings for
the administration building.

"The quiet and faithful Christian life of Joe has long
set a high example for the young men who daily observe
his diligence in little things. I have never heard him
murmur or complain. He has never used his handicap as
an excuse for not doing his duty or performing his
daily chores. I have never heard that the wheelbarrow
cord around his shoulders was ever uncomfortable or
unjust. I am sure that some day in the providence of
God Joe will be transferred to that higher campus of
theological preparation, and that there he will find his
aged and stooped shoulders will be strong and erect;
that the arm so long missing will be restored with skill
and grace, and that his countenance will shine with a
resplendent glory among the saints of the church and in
company with the angels and the Lamb of God."

PLANS FOR MISSION HAVEN

For years it has been the hope of the Directors and
the Faculty of Columbia Seminary that a number of
apartments for missionaries on furlough might be erected
on the campus of the institution. Plans for the con-
struction of such apartments were included in the ex-
pansion program of the school when it was first brought

to Decatur, and a number of small contributions were
received for that purpose. These gifts, which total several
thousand dollars, have been held on deposit through the
years. Up to the present time, however, the urgent need
for securing an adequate endowment of the institution
has prevented any aggressive campaign to raise the addi-
tional funds which are necessary for the provision of
suitable apartment buildings.

During the past year the Women's Auxiliary in the
five synods connected with Columbia Seminary have in-
terested themselves in this undertaking and efforts are
being made to secure as many gifts as possible for it.
It has been decided that the apartments when erected
will bear the name, "Mission Haven." Already a wide-
spread interest in the idea has been manifested and gen-
erous contributions have been made. It is confidently ex-
pected that the ladies will complete the program which
they have launched, and tlyt under their leadership this
dream will at last become a reality.

The seminary would express its deep appreciation of
what these friends have already accomplished and would
commend their program to the generous support of all
who are interested in missions. The need for "Mission
Haven" is great. Not a year passes but that the institu-
tion has requests to provide apartments for missionaries
which it cannot meet. Many missionaries would like to
live in Decatur while their daughters attend Agnes Scott.
Others wish to be near relatives and friends in this sec-
tion of the church while taking refresher courses at
Columbia Seminary. Their presence here would be a
means of inspiration and blessing in the life of the stu-
dent body and would deepen the missionary zeal both of
that group and of the supporting synods. The mission-
aries themselves would be refreshed and strengthened by
the opportunity to live and study in these surroundings.
It is earnestly hoped that a sufficient amount will be on
hand for work on the apartments to begin as soon as
the present period of excessively high building costs is
ended.

ANNOUNCEMENTS CONCERNING
THE NEW SESSION

Exercises which are scheduled for Tuesday, September
9, at 8:00 p. m. will mark the opening of the 1947-48
session at Columbia Theological Seminary. Dr. John M.
Alexander, Director of Radio for the Presbyterian
Church, U.S., will deliver the principal address of the
evening as the seminary welcomes one of the largest en-
tering classes which the institution has ever enrolled.
The inaugural addresses of Professor Felix B. Gear and
Professor Cecil Thompson, which had originally been
scheduled in connection with the opening of the fall
quarter, have been postponed and will be delivered at
some appropriate period during the year.

Students will be expected to register for their respec-
tive courses at some time during the day of September 9.
Classes will meet according to schedule on the morning
of Wednesday, September 10.

There will be no changes in the faculty of the semi-
nary except for the addition to the teaching force of
Rev. Hubert Vance Taylor, Assistant Pastor of the Cen-
tral Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, as Instructor in
Public Speech. Mr. Taylor holds degrees from Lafayette
College and from Columbia Seminary, and is also a
graduate of the Westminster Choir College. He is well
qualified both by training and by natural gifts for the
work to which he has been called.