J. Vernon McGee

J. Vernon McGee
Born John Vernon McGee
June 17, 1904
Hillsboro, Texas
Died December 1, 1988 (aged 84)
Templeton, California
Cause of death Heart failure
Resting place Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum Altadena, California
Education

B.Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary;

Th.M. and Th.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary
Occupation

Minister; Bible Teacher

Founder and teacher of the "Thru the Bible" radio program.
Known for Worldwide evangelistic radio
Spouse(s) Ruth
Children One daughter, Lynda; first child stillborn
Website Thru the Bible

John Vernon McGee, Th.D., LL.D, (June 17, 1904 – December 1, 1988) was an American ordained Presbyterian minister (PCUS), the pastor of a non-denominational church, a Bible teacher, a theologian, and a radio minister. [1]

Biography

Early Years and Education

McGee was born in Hillsboro, Texas,[2] the son of Mrs. Carrie Lingner McGee.[3] His father was an engineer at a cotton mill.[2] Before entering the ministry, Vernon was an official at a bank.[4]

After attending Southwest University,[2] he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary[5] and Master of Theology and Doctor of Theology degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary.[2] His ordination into the ministry occurred on June 18, 1933, at the Second Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee.[3]

McGee's first church was located on a red clay hill in Midway, Georgia. He served Presbyterian churches in Decatur, Georgia; Nashville, Tennessee; and Cleburne, Texas, before he moved with his wife to Pasadena, California, where he accepted the pastorate at the Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian Church.

In 1949, McGee became the pastor of the Church of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles, where he continued as pastor until 1970. After retiring from the pastorate in 1970, he devoted his remaining years to the Thru the Bible Radio Network. McGee also served as chairman of the Bible department at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles[6] and as a visiting lecturer at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Thru the Bible

In 1967, he began broadcasting the Thru the Bible Radio Network program. In a systematic study of each book of the Bible, McGee took his listeners from Genesis to Revelation in a two-and-a-half-year "Bible bus trip," as he called it. He had earlier preached a "Through the Bible in a Year" series of sermons, each devoted to one chapter of the Bible, at the Church of the Open Door.[7] After retiring from the pastorate in January, 1970, and realizing that two and a half years was not enough time to teach the whole Bible, McGee completed another study of the entire Bible in a five-year period. Thru the Bible has been translated into over 100 languages and is broadcast on Trans World Radio throughout the world every weekday.

McGee advocated creationism in his Thru the Bible broadcasts.[8]

Writing

McGee wrote more than 100 books about Bible topics.[2]

Death

McGee continued many speaking engagements after he retired, including throughout a bout of cancer from which he fully recovered. However, a heart problem surgically corrected in 1965 resurfaced, and he died in his chair in 1988.[9] Since his death, the five-year program of Thru the Bible has continued to air on over 800 radio stations in North America, is heard in more than 100 languages, and is broadcast worldwide via radio, shortwave, and the Internet.

An obituary distributed by the Associated Press reported that McGee died of heart failure at a nursing home in Templeton, California, at age 84.[10]

Recognition

McGee was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1989.[11]

Education and areas of service

Table 1: Education
DegreeYearInstitution
Bachelor of Arts (A.B.)1930Southwestern (Memphis, TN)
Bachelor of Divinity (B.Div.)1933Columbia Theological Seminary
Master of Theology (Th.M.)1937Dallas Theological Seminary
Doctor of Theology (Th.D.)1940Dallas Theological Seminary
Table 2: Pastorates
YearsCongregationLocationDenomination
19??-19????Cleveland, TexasPresbyterian
1932-1933Midway Presbyterian ChurchDecatur, GeorgiaPresbyterian[12][13]
1930-1933Westminster Presbyterian ChurchDecatur, GeorgiaPresbyterian
1933-1936Second Presbyterian ChurchNashville, TennesseePresbyterian
May 3, 1936-October 3, 1940First Presbyterian ChurchCleburne, TexasPresbyterian
1940-1948Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian ChurchPasadena, CaliforniaPresbyterian
1949-1970Church of the Open DoorLos Angeles, Californianon-denominational
Table 3: Radio Ministries
YearsProgramLocation
1941-19??The Open Bible HourPasadena, California
19??-1967High Noon Bible ClassPasadena, California
1967–PresentThru the BiblePasadena, California

Additional areas of service:

  • Head of the English Bible Department at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (a.k.a. Biola University)
  • Visiting lecturer at Dallas Theological Seminary
  • In 1962 he co-founded and taught at the Los Angeles Bible Training School (a.k.a. LABTS)[14]

References

Notes
  1. ↑ "Job 26:7—28:28 - Thru the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Rev. J. Vernon McGee, 84; Pioneer Radio Evangelist". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. December 4, 1988. p. 43. Retrieved June 23, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 "Ordination Services". The Tennessean. Tennessee, Nashville. June 18, 1933. p. 8. Retrieved June 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "McGee Will Speak at Brotherhood". The Daily News-Journal. Tennessee, Murfreesboro. March 31, 1936. p. 4. Retrieved June 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "J. Sprole Lyons Heads Decatur School Body". The Atlanta Constitution. Georgia, Atlanta. May 11, 1933. p. 15. Retrieved June 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Family Night to Be Rally Feature". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. September 4, 1948. p. 11. Retrieved June 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Bible Series Services to Run for Year". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. September 16, 1950. p. 15. Retrieved June 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ McIver, Thomas Allen. (1989). Creationism: Intellectual Origins, Cultural Context, and Theoretical Diversity. University of California, Los Angeles.
  9. ↑ "Dr. J. Vernon McGee". Thru the Bible.
  10. ↑ "California evangelist J. Vernon McGee dies". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Hawaii, Honolulu. Associated Press. December 5, 1988. p. 26. Retrieved June 23, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "NRB Hall of Fame". NRB. National Religious Broadcasters. Archived from the original on 6 November 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "Midway Presbyterian". The Atlanta Constitution. Georgia, Atlanta. March 5, 1932. p. 20. Retrieved June 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "News of the Churches". The Atlanta Constitution. Georgia, Atlanta. May 6, 1933. p. 11. Retrieved June 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Los Angeles Bible Training School about page".
Bibliography

Delgado, Berta (2004). "A voice from the heavens". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2008-08-07.

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