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BTS mourns passing of
oldest graduate
Rev. Dr. Harry Butman '28
passed away on Friday,
July 29, 2005.
We have only recently
learned of the death in July of the Rev. Dr. Harry Butman.
At the time of his
death Harry Butman was the oldest living alumnus of Bangor Theological
Seminary.
He had a distinguished
career as a parish pastor, and, along with his mentor and friend, Bangor
Seminary Professor Marion Bradshaw, was a leading voice on behalf of
independent Congregationalism.
He was instrumental in
the formation of the National Association of Congregational Christian
Churches and played a significant role
as the first chairman of the International Fellowship of Congregational
Churches.
We honor his long and
faithful service in the cause of Christ and join with his family, friends,
and numerous parishioners in rejoicing that he has taken the next step,
which he was ready and curious to do, as his faith was strong in the promise
of the resurrection.
A
memorial service will be held on Sunday, September 11 at the Congregational
Church of the Messiah in Los Angeles.
Being
unable to attend due to a preaching commitment, Bangor Seminary President
William Imes has asked
the Rev. Dr. Robert
Haldane '51 to attend the memorial service on behalf of the Seminary.
The following obituary appeared in the
August 15, 2005 issue of the LA Times.
By Mary Rourke
Times Staff Writer
The Rev. Harry R. Butman, a Congregational church minister for 72 years
and a prolific writer about theology and the spiritual life, has died. He
was 101.
Butman died July 29 at his home in Acton of complications from a fall,
said Mitchell Abbott, a friend, who called him "the dean of American
Congregationalism."
Butman was pastor of the Congregational Church of the Messiah in
Westchester for 25 years until he retired in 1978. He continued on as
pastor emeritus. He also worked as a consulting minister to the First
Congregational Church of Los Angeles.
In 1955, Butman helped found the National Assn. of Congregational
Christian Churches, which includes about 440 churches and 100,000 members.
He also held several offices over the years.
The Congregational Church is a protestant denomination that traces its
roots in America to the 17th century. Some of its earliest members were
passengers on the Mayflower. Some Congregational churches in 1957 joined
in a merger that formed the new United Church of Christ.
Butman once defined the basic principle of the individual church
congregations as "the autonomy and independence of the gathered local
church which is in fellowship with sister churches."
Butman was the editor of the Congregationalist magazine in the late 1960s.
He also wrote more than a dozen books, including "Serve With Gladness"
(1971), about his life as a minister.
"I never wanted to be anything but a good Congregational minister," Butman
told the Congregationalist magazine in a 2003 interview.
Butman was born in Beverly, Mass., and graduated from the Bangor
Theological Seminary in Maine in 1928. He received an honorary doctorate
of divinity from Piedmont College in Demorest, Ga., in 1958.
After serving as pastor of several churches, he moved to California, where
he was named senior minister of the Church of the Messiah in Westchester
in 1953.
At 100, Butman attributed his health to "good genes, good habits and good
luck."
When asked his views about death, he said: "I believe in heaven. I'm
absolutely sure that there is life beyond death. I'd kind of like to see
what it is."
Butman is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren and five
great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. at the Congregational
Church of the Messiah, 7300 W. Manchester Ave. in Westchester.
Contributions in his name may be made to the Harry R. Butman Chair of
Religious Studies, Department of Religion and Philosophy, Piedmont
College, P.O. Box 10, Demorest, GA 30535.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-butman15aug15,1,2722823.story?coll=la-news-obituaries
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