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Dunn Played Well

January 26, 2010College-related Publications, Wheaton College Archivesadmin

Canadian Bruce Wallace Dunn, responding to a question on his Wheaton College application regarding his choice for location after graduation, wrote, “California – otherwise no preference.” As it happened, Dunn’s career did not move him westward but straight south to Peoria, Illinois. As road-weary vaudevillians used to say, “If it’ll play in Peoria, it’ll play anywhere.” There Dunn’s fruitful ministry “played” for decades not because of chance, but as the result of, as he observed, “…many prayers, much planning, and sacrificial giving by hundreds of people.” Born to a godly family of Scottish heritage in Toronto, Ontario, Dunn was the first boy in Dr. Oswald Smith’s Sunday School class at the famous People’s Church. Regularly attending for years but still unsure of his beliefs, Dunn finally walked the aisle in 1936, publicly declaring his faith in Christ after hearing former hoodlum Anthony Zeoli testify to God’s grace.

Offering his life to God, Dunn enrolled at Wheaton College where he robustly participated in campus life, involved with cheerleading, tennis, ping pong and the Aristonian Literary Society. In addition to sports, he reported for the Record, traveled with the Ambassadors (Wheaton’s musical evangelists) and served on the Men’s Interhouse Council. Earning his B.A. (’40) and M.A. (’46), he transferred to McCormick Seminary in Chicago and then Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he acquired his Th.D. After serving briefly in Iowa, Wisconsin and Chicago, Dunn in 1951 accepted a call to pastor at Grace Presbyterian in Peoria. A few months later he inaugurated a radio broadcast, later moving his congregation to a larger building and a successful television ministry called Grace Worship Hour. He enjoyed a national reputation as a powerful speaker, preaching for conferences like Moody Founder’s Week, Moody Keswick, Winona Lake, West Coast Prophetic Congress and many others. Specializing in prophetic interpretation, he stressed the need for continual evangelization.

Occasionally his sermons were published as pamphlets, such as The Ecumenical Dream…One Big Church!, reflecting his alarm over ill-considered ecclesiastical mergers and unions. In 1960 Wheaton College awarded him its Centennial Award for his uncompromising testimony; and in 1968 he delivered the Baccalaurate address for Taylor University. Dunn’s wife, Eileen, graduating summa cum laude from Wheaton College in 1947, was employed as a librarian at Bradley University for 25 years. She died in 1989, her graveside service occurring on the 48th anniversary of their wedding. Dr. Bruce Dunn retired from Grace Presbyterian in 1991, continuing with writing and periodic speaking engagements until his death in 1993. His funeral address was delivered at Grace Presbyterian Church by Dr. Joseph Stowell, president of Moody Bible Institute.

Pigskin Pursuits – Sesquicentennial Snapshot

January 22, 2010College-related Publications, Wheaton College Archivesadmin

In the first installment of a three volume anthology of the history of athletics at Wheaton College, Through Clouds and Sunshine: A Story of Wheaton College Athletics from the Beginning (1892-1940), Edward Coray recounts the early endeavors of securing football at the school. Insights are also found another book by Coach Coray, The Wheaton I Remember.

Wheaton College Football, 1919 (Ed Coray, back row 4th from right)

President Charles Blanchard for a long time put football in the same category as gambling and hard liquor. To understand this, one needs to know something of Dr. Blanchard’s personality and character. A gentle man who loved the young people of Wheaton, he hated to think of any of these fine young men being involved in a sport where people might be maimed for life or even killed [note: a real possibility in the early days of football]. In addition the majority denounced the sport as brutal. So the administration and faculty members at Wheaton did not stand alone in being skeptical of the sport.

In 1906 radical rule changes made football a more open game and less susceptible to injuries. President Blanchard, a reasonable man, listened to the arguments of the boys who wanted to play football…Some of the boys, who he thought were nice boys, convinced him that it was a wholesome game and the purpose was really not to maim or kill your opponents. All you wanted to do was knock them down and run over them…Finally he became convinced that with the rules changed…the sport could be an asset rather than a liability in preparing young men for a lifetime of fruitful service….

He consented to having it on the program, though he never came to understand the fine points of the game. Once our opponents were running through our line as if it were made of paper. The backfield men were making such tackles as were made. I was in a good position to know how weak our line was because I was in it. Fans along the sidelines began moaning. “We need a line. If only we had a line.” Finally Dr. Blanchard said, “The college budget is quite low but if we need a line perhaps we should buy one. How much do they cost?”

Wheaton’s Charisma

January 19, 2010Alumni, Books, Collection-related Publications, Special Collectionsadmin

The modern Pentecostal movement emerged in 1906 during a revival conducted at 312 Asuza Street in Los Angeles. As the meeting progressed, worshipers received an entirely unexpected “baptism in the Holy Ghost,” wherein nearly all present spoke with other tongues, proclaiming heartfelt praises in “heavenly” prayer languages, presumably understood by God alone. Miraculous healings and prophetic utterances accompanied the event. Following the Asuza Street revival, Pentecostalism remained for years on the fringe of evangelicalism, confined largely to its own local assemblies and schools.

But in 1959 the movement shed its relative obscurity when Reverend Dennis Bennett of Van Nuys, California, rector of the “old-line stuffy” 2600-member St. Mark Church, heard about a mysterious “baptism in the Holy Spirit” experienced by a young couple in a neighboring parish. Bennett’s congregation was not troubled with heresy or divisions, but he fully realized that they – and he – needed a boost of additional energy, a blast of holy power to ignite dormant potential. So, curious but cautious, he visited the couple at their home, noting their extraordinary peace and evident stability. Praying with them at their behest, Bennett suddenly received his Baptism. There in the living room, utterly shocked amid an overwhelming flood of joy, he did indeed speak in tongues, issuing a torrent of unknown words, the supposed heavenly language. Later as he witnessed of this event, several members of St. Mark’s also spoke in these strange tongues, praising God with renewed vigor. As news of Bennett’s experience traveled – covered by both Newsweek and Time – other mainstream denominations investigated his claims. Consequently, pastors and lay people across the nation received a similar Baptism; and soon the Pentecostal blessing invaded the pews of not only most Protestant denominations, but spread throughout the halls of Catholicism as well. The widespread dissemination of Pentecostalism (now known as the “Charismatic Movement” because of its openness to the charisms, or gifts of the Holy Spirit) across denominational lines is usually documented as beginning with Bennett’s ministry.

However, Leanne Payne, founder of Pastor Care Ministries, explains in her autobiography, Heaven’s Calling (2008), that charismatic renewal within Episcopalianism had ignited as early as 1956 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wheaton, Illinois, under the rectorship of Fr. Richard Winkler. She writes:

People, including well-known leaders (clergy, physicians, nurses, theologians, professors and teachers, authors, and lay leaders), traveled to Trinity Episcopal Church from the ends of the earth to visit, learn, and receive prayer for restoration and freedom from whatever chains bound them. Indeed, Fr. Winkler laid hands on, anointed, and prayed for countless numbers of priests to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and they in turn ministered to others. One of them was the Reverend Dennis Bennett who took the ministry forward in wonderful ways but especially through his book Nine O’Clock in the Morning and his ministry to orthodox priests.

Christian leaders who visited Trinity Episcopal to consult with Winkler include Agnes Sanford, founder of the School of Pastoral Care, author Catharine Marshall and missionary R.A.Torrey III, grandson of Reuben Archer Torrey, third president of Moody Bible Institute.

Leanne Payne’s papers (SC-125) are maintained in Special Collections at Wheaton College.

The Moving of the Holy Spirit – Hudson T. Armerding

January 15, 2010Alumni, Books, College-related Publications, Wheaton College Archivesadmin

In his memoir “The Hand of God: a testimony of the Lord’s provision and protection” (Wheaton College, 2004), Hudson Armerding recounts a spiritual awakening on campus during the early years of his presidency. 2010 is the fortieth anniversary of that event.

One of the most significant indications of the hand of God on campus was the gracious moving of the Holy Spirit during our special meetings in [February] 1970 with Dr. Ray Ortlund of California. On the Thursday evening of that week, Dr. Ortlund announced that several students requested a few minutes for personal testimonies. Assuming this might take about 10 minutes, he invited any who desired to do so to come forward. But more students kept coming, and the minutes soon became hours. Students listening to the broadcast from the chapel came over and made their way to the platform to share their testimonies. About once an hour we sang a hymn, and then returned to the time of witness and confession. Everything proceeded decently and in order until the service ended at 7:30 the next morning. That evening the service continued until midnight and the faculty-staff chapel the following Monday showed further evidence of the moving of the Holy Spirit. Our professor of military science, a colonel with Ranger and Airborne qualifications, came to me and with deep emotion declared that he “needed God.” Despite some criticism, the impact of this remarkable time had a very positive impact on campus. I believe what happened was the Lord’s response to the prayer burden of one of our transfer students, John Armstrong. He organized times of prayer and sought to claim the campus for Christ. I remain convinced that God’s hand was manifest as He responded to the fervent petitions of His servants.

Further recollections were recorded of Dr. Armerding in 1995 by the Billy Graham Center Archives, Ray & Anne Orltund in 2005 and recently in a memorial tribute by John Armstrong.

Wheaton and the Hour of Power

January 12, 2010Books, College-related Publications, Wheaton College Archivesadmin

When Rev. Robert H. Schuller moved in 1954 with his wife, Arvella, and two children from a small Dutch Reformed Church in Dolton, Illinois, to Orange County, California, he little dreamed that he would establish one of the most influential – and controversial – pulpits in the United States. He did, however, approach his assignment with soaring hopes, energized by an appreciative reading of Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking and Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. Weary of calcified congregations and ponderous sermons, Schuller decided to “preach positive,” telling creative, uplifting stories, emphasizing the words of Jesus rather than those of Paul. Implementing his revolutionized methodology, Schuller in 1955 rented a drive-in theater, a suitably unorthodox venue for preaching fresh messages to the secularized “unchurched.” Four miles away he built an additional stained-glass chapel and an adjoining “Tower of Hope.” Happily for Schuller, this campus soon outgrew its confines. Not only were structural additions needed, but his outreach expanded to television in 1970, embracing a nationwide audience. The televised services needed a name, so his friend, Dr. Billy Graham, suggested “Hour of Power.” Seven years later Schuller commissioned architect Philip Johnson to design the 17-million dollar “Crystal Cathedral,” which currently functions as the primary campus for Garden Grove Community Church.

Schuller, producing innumerable books and recordings espousing “possibility thinking,” also hosts the annual Institute for Successful Church Leadership conference, where years ago he suggested to a young minister named Bill Hybels that he purchase undeveloped land northwest of Chicago. Hybels wisely did so, acquiring acreage for the ever-growing Willow Creek Community Church, now one of the largest churches in the world. Schuller’s interaction with evangelical Christianity, already significant, intensified in 1977 during a visit to Wheaton College where his daughter, Jeanne Anne, was enrolled:

But Wheaton College in Illinois had been pressing me to speak there, and Wheaton, of course, was Jeanne Anne’s college. She wanted me to come; it would mean a lot to her, she said…She’d had to return to her classes immediately after her summer Holy Land semester. I agreed to fly out and speak at a morning chapel service. I’d get to town the night before, to have some private time with Jeannie. I’d speak the next morning and come straight back home to Carol and Arvella. I wondered if this audience would understand all that I’d been doing, and my desire to see the cathedral built. After all, I was continuing to hear criticism from conservative evangelical Christians. They were, more often than not, very blunt about their opinions – sometimes even brutal. There had recently been a vicious attack against me and the Crystal Cathedral in The Wittenberg Door, a fundamentalist magazine. One page of this particular issue – a page topped by a heading something like “What to do with fifteen million dollars” – had a line down the center. On one side was a long list of philanthropic endeavors. The article had hit the campus just days before I arrived. Jeanne had always been proud of her dad; she loved me and believed in my work. The Garden Grove Community Church was her home. She was excited that I was coming to her school to share with her classmates my enthusiastic faith. The morning I was to address the chapel, posters appeared in the college library protesting my appearance – signs that read “Schuller doesn’t preach the gospel”; “Schuller is building a monument to himself”; “Give the fifteen million dollars to the poor!” We saw the signs on our way to the service. I glanced at Jeanne. Her large brown eyes were as big as saucers. Tears welled up and began to spill over her lower lids, trickling down her cheeks and smearing her mascara. She looked confused. How could they? her eyes seemed to say. There was nothing I could do but make my way into the chapel, give my message, and get out of there as soon as I could. Maybe with me gone, the students would calm down. The next morning I was back in my office, hard at work. The phone rang, and it was Jeanne. Her classmates had been relentless in making cruel remarks to her about her father. She wanted to come home, she said. I tried to talk her out of it and eventually succeeded in convincing her to stay long enough to finish out the quarter. Then she could come home for Christmas; and if she still felt the same then, she could stay home. This solution seemed to pacify her, at least temporarily. So Jeanne came home for Christmas, but she didn’t go back for winter quarter. She needed time to be with us, time away from confrontations with her classmates. She did go back in the spring, however, and she did go on to graduate, making us proud.

In 2001 Dr. Schuller, signing at a Chicago-area bookstore, inscribed a copy of his autobiography, My Journey, for a college staff person: To Wheaton College, the power place for Jesus Christ! Thank you! Phil 1:6, Robert Schuller.

“Usefulness of Woman” – Sesquicentennial Snapshot

January 4, 2010Books, College-related Publications, Researcher Publications, Wheaton College Archivesadmin

The following comments from David Maas’ Wheaton College Awakenings, 1853-1873 illustrate the image of the ideal woman from “The Beltonian Review” 1857.

Few there are that realize the influences that Woman exerts over man, society, and the world….In her hands may it be truly said are the destinies of men and nations, for in every civilized nation in Christendom, she guards the path of the man from the cradle to the grave and yet the education and elevation of her who is to man the daystar of hope, are viewed by many as visionary, chimerical, unnecessary; and only to be sought so far as fancy may dictate for purposes of fashion and folly….Who but she lays the foundation of character for man and the nation? There is none to whom the child looks with such confidence as the mother….Then if woman is called to fill this high and important station that of molding and framing the character of immortal beings then how vastly important is it that she be educated and elevated according to her sphere….There is another class and I am sorry to say, largely represented by females who seem to think that woman was made for a mere toy to be kept in the parlor, not for any special use or benefit, but as the toy man wears within in his showcase to attract the eye….when her sons have grown to belong to manhood….they come within the empire of young ladies whose power and influence over young men are without a parallel. It is the province of young ladies alone of every community to raise the moral standard the province of young men to reach it. Finally,…comes the and love more mature influence of the wife….Hers alone then is the holy calling to apply the balm, to pour the oils of love, through all life’s journey into the heart of man, when lacerated by the constantly accumulating cares and burdens of life. Mothers, sisters, wives, let each of us be up and ready to act well our parts that our influence for good, though the proper education has been denied us for these offices as falling is best we can that the rising race may see and learn and appreciate the usefulness of woman.

Dr. Hudson Taylor Armerding (1918-2009) — Tender Warrior

December 2, 2009Alumni, Books, College-related Publicationsadmin

Dr. Hudson Taylor Armerding, performing with characteristic distinction his duties as WWII Navy soldier, husband, father, preacher, professor, writer and academic administrator, provided for succeeding generations a stellar template of Christian manhood. Stu Weber, former Green Beret, pastor and author of the bestselling Tender Warrior (1993), defining the core principles of the Promise Keepers movement, relates an impactful encounter with Dr. Armerding during the late 1960s:

I was a freshman in college. It was winter on the Chicagoland campus of Wheaton College. Late winter. Cold, wind-blown, drifting snow, dead winter. A lot like my soul right then – lifeless. A combination of things had thrown me into a tailspin. It was my first time away from home for an extended season. Away from the girlfriend who would someday become my wife. I’d been disappointed by the winter sports season. I was fighting the fierce deadlines of academia. But worst of all – and for the first time in my rather sheltered life – I found myself reeling from the intellectual loss of my faith.

Never in my life had I felt so disoriented. So alone. I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t study. Couldn’t speak with anyone. I could only walk, kick rocks, and commiserate with the silent, frozen landscape. That’s what I was doing about midnight. I stumbled aimlessly across the deserted center of campus, lost in myself – a terrible place to be. Then, out of nowhere, I was touched by a Tender Warrior. Literally. Without any inkling whatsoever that there was anyone else alive out there, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

A voice fought its way through the wind. “Could I be helpful to you?”

I looked up into the face of Dr. Hudson Armerding, the great-hearted president of Wheaton College.

Apparently he had stayed late in the office that night. I still don’t know how he found me. Had he seen me wandering in the darkness? Had he felt my pain and desolation from a second-floor window? I don’t know how he got there, but there he was – at my side – a four-sided tower of strength. The king in him bore the weight of the college on his shoulders. The warrior in him fought powerfully through the blood-draining battles facing any college president in the sixties. The mentor in him taught us history in class, the Scriptures in chapel, and life in general. And the friend in him reached out and drew in a hapless freshman wandering in a deep, months-long sleep. He invited me into his home. We walked the distance together. There in the warmth of his living room, with everyone else in the house long asleep, he fixed two cups of tea. We talked. And talked. He became my friend. He still is. One of the half dozen men who have marked my life, Hudson Armerding will always be the consummate King-Warrior-Mentor-Friend to me.

The four pillars of masculinity were balanced in Dr. Armerding. Like four strands of steel, they were woven together to form a cable that is the spine of masculinity. A “good man” is the balance of the four. A good warrior is also the sensitive lover. A Tender Warrior. A good friend is always a helpful mentor. The four are inseperable in a good man. In balance, there are every man’s purpose, every woman’s dream, and every child’s hope.

Blanchard Hall’s “Dugout” – Sesquicentennial Snapshot

November 30, 2009Alumni, Books, Wheaton College Archivesadmin

In his memoirs The Wheaton I Remember, Edward “Coach” Coray (Professor Emeritus and former Executive Director of the Alumni Association) recalls his days as an undergraduate student at Wheaton in 1920s. Using a sports metaphor to recall a space full of active young men, Coray recalled a “dugout” from his past.

Blanchard 4th-floor residents, 1939-1940

“While I never roomed on the fourth floor of Blanchard Hall I have heard many stories of experiences of people associated with this historic area. I never really determined if the fourth floor attracted the kind of fellows it did or if there was something about the atmosphere of the place that made them that way. In any case fourth floor monitors, or whatever they were called, came and went quite rapidly. I think I should slip in here that some of our finest graduates are alumni of the fourth floor. Getting back to monitors, one bachelor professor got out of the job when he got married. It cannot be definitely proved that he got married in order to get out of the job. A young, scholarly graduate assistant got an unexpected shower bath, fully clothed. Even Del Nelson, a rugged athlete who served as “housemother” while coaching athletics, had some problems. Del is now Dr. Delburt Nelson, M.D., and a college trustee. I presume much of his success in life is due to his experiences handling inhabitants of the fourth floor. One night he was chasing a fellow who had shot off a big cannon fire cracker. The fellow tried to escape through an attic with an unfinished floor over the library on the floor below. Del was in hot pursuit. The boy’s foot slipped onto bare plaster and his whole leg came down through the library ceiling, scattering pieces of plaster over one of the tables. With the increase of dormitory facilities and the need for more office and classroom space, the fourth floor was closed as a resident hall. Alumni returning to campus still wander around the “Floor” pointing out where they and their friends roomed and swallowing lumps which come in their throats.”

Thiessen and Determinism’s cold and chilling effects

November 23, 2009Collection-related Publications, College-related Publications, Special Collections, Wheaton College Archivesadmin

It is said that an institution is the lengthened shadow of a man. In a very real sense Dr. Thiessen, the first dean of our graduate school, left an indelible impression upon it…Though dead he yet speaketh. His influence continues through his writings and through the lives which he trained for God’s glad service.

So stated Dr. Enock Dyrness, Wheaton College registrar, eulogizing Dr. Henry Clarence Thiessen.

Born in 1883 in rural Nebraska, Thiessen accepted Christ at 17 and grew steadily in the scriptures as he also proclaimed the gospel to his friends. Thirsting for deeper scriptural knowledge, he entered the Bible Training School in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. After graduating he pastored for seven years in Ohio before accepting a call to teach full-time at the Bible Training School, where he also functioned as principal. Seeking further education, he entered Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, teaching part-time to pay expenses. From there he enrolled at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, then moved to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for graduate studies, majoring in New Testament Greek. From there he served as Dean of the College of Theology at Evangel College in New Jersey. In 1931 Thiessen was hired by Dallas Theological Seminary, instructing New Testament Literature and Exegesis. He taught with distinction until 1935, when invited by Dr. J. Oliver Buswell to join the Wheaton College faculty. Responding with a letter to Buswell, Thiessen recounts his own impressive academic qualifications and that “…there may be a way of realizing my ideal at Wheaton College.” Specifically, this meant an ambition to establish “…a first class theological school of the fundamentalist and premillennial type in the North…” Once hired he started as Professor of Bible and Philosophy; a year later Buswell appointed him Chairman of the Bible and Theology Department. At this time, John Dickey, friend of the college, died, leaving an inheritance to be used expressly for instituting an advanced theological program within six months of his demise. As a result of this gift, Wheaton offered in 1937 its first graduate courses, headed by Thiessen. As the curriculum solidified and expanded, he chose Dr. Merrill Tenney as his associate.

Thiessen was a popular but demanding instructor, firmly committed to dispensationalism. Sadly, this brought him into conflict with Dr. Gordon H. Clark, professor of philosophy and equally committed to Covenant theology. Wary of Clark’s “determinism,” Thiessen warned Buswell that his influence “…will do great, perhaps permanent, harm to many of the youngsters, because few of them are able to reply to his reasoning…” When V. Raymond Edman replaced Buswell as president in 1940, he followed Thiessen’s lead and took steps to dismiss Clark, first eliminating the philosophy major, then prohibiting Clark from teaching Reformed doctrine. Though Clark was tempted to leave, Buswell privately advised him to stay put. Edman then met with faculty and trustees to discuss Clark’s Calvinism and its “…chilling and harmful effect upon many students.”

Clark was a supremely capable teacher of unquestioned piety, much-respected by his students, including young Ruth Bell (Graham) who, awash with the over-gushy pietism prevalent during those years, sought his refreshing “logic” and “…his unemotional brilliance…” Faced with intensifying hostility from the administration, Clark finally negotiated a technical resignation in 1942, moving on to a successful career at Butler University. After his firing, Edman reinstated the philosophy major but hired no trained philosophers to teach it, instead opting for theology professors to lead the course until Dr. Arthur Holmes revived the program in 1957.

Though the dispensationalists prevailed, they did not necessarily represent the position of all students or faculty. “Thiessenism,” wrote one, “is the only creed of Wheaton’s Bible Department…but a bitterly dogmatic and autocratic one…It’s agree with and memorize what Thiessen and his satellites say – or flunk…Of course, Dr. Clark isn’t the epitome of broad-mindedness – but he is [the epitome] of gentlemanly consideration…I’ve never found him forcing his views on anyone.” Premillennial dispensationalism remained Wheaton’s unofficial eschatological statement for the remainder of Edman’s tenure.

Thiessen continued teaching at Wheaton College until debilitated by asthma, which allowed him only an hour or two of sleep each night. Advised by doctors to seek a warmer climate, he accepted in 1946 an invitation to serve as president and dean of Los Angeles Baptist Seminary, placing Wheaton’s Bible Department in Merrill Tenney’s capable hands. Thiessen preached his farewell sermon, titled “Facing the Future with Christ,” at Wheaton Bible Church. After moving to California his condition worsened as he endured numerous nasal operations, and on July 25, 1947, he died. His widow, Anna, requested that Thiessen’s brother complete and publish his classroom syllabus. Lectures in Systematic Theology, in print since 1949, steadfastly advances Dr. H.C. Thiessen’s hope that it might “…set forth the truth more clearly and logically, and that the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit will be glorified through its perusal.”

(Information regarding the Thiessen/Clark controversy is obtained from The Fundmentalist Harvard: Wheaton College and the Enduring Vitality of American Evangelicalism, 1919-1965 by Michael S. Hamilton and Clark: Personal Recollections by John W. Robbins.)

ReCollections

Re-telling stories from Buswell Library Special Collections

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Blanchard Hall’s “Dugout” – Sesquicentennial Snapshot