08059
January 25, 2008
Jack L. Stotts is dead at 75
Theological giant’s career spanned pastorate, classroom and seminary president’s offices
The Rev. Jack L. Stotts LOUISVILLE — The Rev. Jack L. Stotts, whose ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) took him from the pastorate to the classroom to the president’s office of two seminaries and into some of the most crucial theological deliberations of his generation, died Jan. 24 at Christopher House, a hospice care center in Austin, TX.
Born in Dallas in 1932, Stotts graduated from Trinity University, a PC(USA)-related school in San Antonio, TX, and McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. His intellectual and academic prowess garnered him fellowships to continue his studies at Oxford University and Yale University, where he received his Master of Arts and Ph.D. degrees.
He pastored churches in Wallingford, CT, and San Angelo, TX, before embarking on a distinguished academic career. He served as pastor, chaplain and later as a professor at the University of Tulsa; was visiting professor of religion at Florida Presbyterian College (now Eckerd College; and visiting professor of Protestant ethics at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, IL
In 1963, Stotts joined the faculty at McCormick Theological Seminary, where he taught for 10 years before being named Dean of the seminary in 1974 and then president in 1975.
In 1985, Stotts returned to his beloved Texas to serve as president of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary until his retirement in 1996. He continued to live in Austin until his death.
A tireless advocate of Presbyterian reunion — which occurred in 1983 — Stotts became instrumental in defining the new Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) when inaugural PC(USA) General Assembly Moderator J. Randolph Taylor named him moderator of the Special Committee to Prepare a Brief Statement of the Reformed Faith for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
The committee’s work to create “a new confession for the new church” bore fruit when “A Brief Statement of Faith” — 80 lyrical lines — was adopted nearly unanimously by the 1991 General Assembly.
Jack L. Stotts is survived by his wife, Virginia, three children, numerous other family members, and a grateful PC(USA). Memorial service arrangements are pending. |
