Paul Hardin, Jr. (1903-1996[1]) was a Bishop in The Methodist Church in the U.S., elected in 1960.
He was Bishop of the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in 1963 when he joined seven other white clergymen to write the letter A Call For Unity, making a thinly veiled reference to Martin Luther King, Jr. King replied to this letter with his Letter from Birmingham Jail.
Paul was the son of Paul and Harriet (Wannamaker) Hardin. He attended Wofford College in 1920 where he studied law and then to Candler School of Theology, Emory University in 1924 where he received his divinity degree in 1927. Hardin was ordained Deacon in 1929 and Elder in 1931. He was assigned to pastorates in South Carolina and in 1949 he was appointed to Birmingham, Alabama First Methodist Church. Hardin was elected bishop on July 15, 1960 at the Southeastern Jurisdictional conference. For many years he was the resident bishop of the Columbia (South Carolina) area. From 1961 to 1964 he also had charge of the Alabama-West Florida following the death of Bishop Bachman Gladstone Hodge.
Bishop Hardin was a member of the General Board of Education; of the General Board of Christian Social Concerns; and president of the Council on World Service and Finance.He was a delegate to the General Conference and Jurisdictional conference of 1960. He has been a member of the Lake Junaluska Assembly, and a trustee of Emory University. Bishop Hardin was installed as president of the United Methodist Church's Council of Bishops on April 15, 1971 in San Antonio, Texas. Bishop Hardin died in 1996.
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Paul Hardin Jr was born November 7, 1903 in Chester, South Carolina. Born from the original Paul Hardin himself. He married Dorthy (Dot) Elizabeth Reel, who died at the age of 65 in 1992. She was later buried at the Garrett-Hillcrest Cemetery/Memorial Gardens. Between the two of them they had three children. A daughter named Betsey Hardin, and two sons, Edward and Paul the III. His son Paul grew up to be a very successful man and became more recognizable than his father.
Paul Hardin Jr died Saturday June 22, 1996 at the age of 92. His service was held for him on June 25, 1996 at the First Methodist Church in Waynesville. He was then buried in Garrett-Hillcrest Memorial Gardens next to his wife Dorthy.
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