Douglas Oldenburg

Douglas W. Oldenburg is a pastor, a President Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, and the former moderator of the 210th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Education

Douglas Oldenburg was born in Muskegon, Michigan and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended college at Davidson College, where he earned a B.S. in 1956. In 1960, he continued to Union Theological Seminary in Virginia where he received a B.D. in 1960. After this he studied at Yale Divinity School where he earned his S.T.M in 1961. He has also gone on to be awarded four honorary Doctorate of Divinity degrees and two honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Career

Following his graduation from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia he proceeded to serve as pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. After seven years he left and began serving as a pastor at Davis Memorial Church in Elkins, West Virginia. His last pastor position was in the city he grew up in, Charlotte, North Carolina. He worked for twenty-six years as a pastor and then decided he was called to a new role. In 1987, he became the seventh president of Columbia Theological Seminary, which he held until 2000.^[1]

He was a very important figure not only to the churches and institutions he served, but also the Presbyterian Church (USA) as a whole and the various communities he lived in. He has served on a variety of committees for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and became the moderator of the 210th General Assembly.^[2] He was elected to serve this position because he placed a large emphasis on theological education and social justice. He called not only for support of the ordination of educators, but also for unity among the nation's church related colleges and universities. As Moderator he also sought to support and pursue the study of the Bible. He called for every congregation and presbytery to engage in a program of study about what Presbyterians believe about the Bible and how they read the Bible because he believed "how we read and interpret the Bible is a crucial issue for the church".^[3]

In the various communities he lived in he served on a number of committees to help the surrounding area grow. In Lynchburg, VA he helped to organize a downtown ministry for disadvantaged children. In Elkins, WV he led a successful vote on a bond levy to raise teacher salaries. In Charlotte, North Carolina he was on the Board of United Community Services and was the co-founder and served on the board of Crisis Assistance Ministry. He received the Martin Luther King, Jr. award and The Order of the Hornet of Mecklenburg County. In Atlanta, Georgia as well he served on the board of Global Health Action and the University Center of Georgia. His outreach in the communities he lived in was felt by all, even those not related to the field of church work.^[1]

Publications

He has contributed several articles to different publications. These include:

• The Anguish of the Earth, Journal for Preachers, 1991.
• Reflections of a Pastor/President, Theological Education Leadership, Volume XXXII, Supplement III, 1996.
• The Growing Economic Disparities in the United States, Journal for Preachers, 1997.

References