Paul Hardin Jr. (November 7, 1903 – June 22, 1996) was a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in The Methodist Church in the

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, elected in 1960. He was Bishop of the Alabama-West Florida

Annual Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

of the Methodist Church in 1963 when he joined seven other white clergymen to write the letter ''

A Call For Unity "A Call for Unity" was an open letter published in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 12, 1963, by eight local white clergymen in response to civil rights demonstrations taking place in the area at the time. In the letter, they took issue with events ...

'', making a thinly veiled reference to

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

; King replied to this letter with his ''

Letter from Birmingham Jail The "Letter from Birmingham Jail", also known as the "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" and "The Negro Is Your Brother", is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King Jr. It says that people have a moral responsibility to b ...

''. Paul was the son of Paul and Harriet (Wannamaker) Hardin. He attended

Wofford College Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was founded in 1854. The campus is a national arboretum and one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the America ...

in 1920, where he studied law and then to

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also one ...

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

in 1924, where he received his divinity degree in 1927. Hardin was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in 1929 and Elder in 1931. He was assigned to pastorates in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and in 1949 he was appointed to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

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 Conference 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 was 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.

Birth and family

Paul Hardin Jr. was born November 7, 1903, in Chester, South Carolina. He was the son of Paul and Harriet Wannamaker Hardin. He married Dorothy (Dot) Elizabeth Reel, who died in 1992. She was later buried at the Garrett-Hillcrest Cemetery/Memorial Gardens. They had three children, a daughter named Betsy Reel Hardin, and two sons, Paul III and Edward.

Death

Paul Hardin Jr. died Saturday June 22, 1996, at the age of 92. His service was held on June 25, 1996, at the First Methodist Church in Waynesville, North Carolina. He was buried in Garrett-Hillcrest Memorial Gardens next to his wife Dorothy.

Honorary titles

*Member of the Western North Carolina Conference for 20 years. *1949–1960—minister of the First Church in Birmingham, Alabama. *Resident bishop of South Carolina (Columbia) in the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference for 12 years. During that time, he also served as relief bishop to the Alabama-West Florida Conference and was President of the Council of Bishops, 1971–1972. *Member of the Rotary Club of Emory University for life. *Former Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Emory University.

Accomplishments

*Member of the General Board of Education *Member of the General Board of Christian Social Concerns *President of the Council on World Service and Finance *Delegate to the General Conference and Jurisdictional Conference of 1960 *Member of the Lake Junaluska Assembly *Trustee of Emory University *One of the signers of the letter to Martin Luther King Jr. when King was in the Birmingham Jail

Notes

External links

Oral History Interview with Paul Hardin Jr.
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Oral Histories of the American South
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardin, Paul Jr. Hardin, Paul Jr. Hardin, Paul Jr.

Hunt Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, et ...