Celebrating the life and work of Buddy Shurden.
Gourley, Bruce T.
This special edition of the Journal honors the scholarly work of
Dr. Walter B. Shurden, Sr., a man who has impacted the lives of hundreds
of students over his five decades-long career. Had we issued a general
call for stories about Dr. Shurden, I have no doubt we would have a
lengthy book on our hands.
Many of our readers could testify to how sitting in a classroom
under Dr. Shurden transformed their understanding of Baptist history and
identity, while his mentorship played a significant role in the shaping
of their professional careers. You will find a few brief testimonies
from former students in Doug Weaver's editorial tribute.
Dr. Shurden's four-decade career of teaching encompassed
McMaster Divinity College, Carson-Newman College, the Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary, and Mercer University. He remains among the most
popular professors in the respective histories of at least three of the
four institutions (having taught at McMaster for only one year).
Traverse the Baptist landscape in the United States, south and north,
and in many congregations you would hear, should you inquire, a story or
two from a minister or a congregant who was a student of Dr.
Shurden's. Even more numerous would be words of gratitude for the
insights learned from reading one or more of his numerous books.
Yet "Buddy," as friends and family call him, also
impacted lives apart from the classroom and his many written works.
During his career Buddy served as pastor of churches in Louisiana,
Arkansas, and Mississippi, in addition to preaching from numerous
pulpits throughout America. Hearing Buddy Shurden preach is as memorable
a learning experience as listening to him in the classroom or reading
from his written wisdom.
As with many others, my first encounter with Dr. Shurden was as a
student. While far from being the smartest or most vocal undergrad
student in his Baptist history class that semester at Mercer University,
he opened up a whole new world to me, as he did for others in the class.
An inspiring and personable professor, Dr. Shurden in the years
following took an interest in my journey in Baptist life. With his
unfailing encouragement and timely guidance I continued my studies at
Southern Seminary, became involved in Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
life from its inception, taught church history in a small Baptist
college in Montana, further honed my writing skills, and eventually
pursued and earned a Ph.D. at Auburn University.
And most remarkable of all, I returned to Mercer and for three
years worked alongside of the man whom I finally learned to call
"Buddy."
Mercer University's Center for Baptist Studies was a fitting
capstone for Buddy Shurden's career. It was this chapter of
Buddy's life that I shared with him, a time during which I drank
deepest from the well of Buddy's knowledge and wisdom. During those
years I also came to greatly appreciate Dr. Kay Wilson Shurden, (now
retired) professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in Mercer
University's School of Medicine. Every bit the scholar, Christian
leader, and encourager as is Buddy, Kay's wisdom and kindness have
impacted hundreds of persons. The friendship of Buddy and Kay Shurden is
priceless.
Buddy and Kay, now well into retirement and nearing sixty years of
a wonderful marriage, remain an integral part of the First Baptist
Church of Christ in Macon, Georgia, scholars who are model church
members and exemplary church leaders. Their commitment to local church
life is unsurpassed, their convictions as followers of Christ undimmed,
their contributions as scholars secure.
The editors of this journal hope that this little volume
celebrating the work of Dr. Walter B. Shurden, Sr.-and by extension Dr.
Kay Wilson Shurden-will do justice to the life and impact of one of
America's most influential and beloved Baptist scholars and
historians. We also hope that many who read the articles herein will
find themselves journeying down memory's lane, recalling, whether
as student or colleague, their own transformative experiences with Buddy
Shurden.
This year's annual conference of the Baptist History and
Heritage Society, meeting April 20-22 at American Baptist College in
Nashville, Tennessee, will honor Buddy's contributions to Baptist
scholarship with a special presentation of this journal edition. 1 hope
you will join us in Nashville as we celebrate the life and work of Dr.
Walter B. Shurden, Sr.
Bruce T. Gourley
Executive Director
