The Reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

Richard Christian Halverson, D.D., (6 February 1916 – 28 November 1995) was an American Presbyterian minister and author who served as the chaplain of the United States Senate.

Biography

He was born in Pingree, North Dakota. He attended Valley City State Teacher College in

Valley City, North Dakota Valley City is a city in Barnes County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Barnes County. The population was 6,575 during the 2020 census, making it the 12th largest city in North Dakota. Valley City was founded in 1874. Val ...

, before earning a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree from Wheaton College in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

, in 1939, participating in the Wheaton College Men's Glee Club. He then earned a

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

degree from

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

. Christian educator

Henrietta Mears Henrietta Cornelia Mears (October 23, 1890 – March 19, 1963) was a Christian educator, evangelist, and author who had a significant impact on evangelical Christianity in the 20th century and one of the founders of the National Sunday School Ass ...

(1890–1963) of the

First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood The First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood has had a significant impact on both the Presbyterian Church and evangelical Christianity around the world. The church was founded in 1903. A large brick gothic sanctuary was built in 1923, and seats 1,8 ...

had a significant influence on his life. He became the Assistant Pastor at First Presbyterian of Hollywood and was part of the Burning Hearts Fellowship along with Louis Evans, Jr.,

Bill Bright William R. Bright (October 19, 1921 – July 19, 2003) was an American evangelist. In 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles he founded Campus Crusade for Christ as a ministry for university students. In 1952 he wrote The Four Spir ...

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

and others. Halverson was a minister of the former

United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA) was the largest branch of Presbyterianism in the United States from May 28, 1958, to 1983. It was formed by the union of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of Ameri ...

and served from 1958 until 1981 as the Senior

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

. He served as the 60th

Chaplain of the United States Senate The chaplain of the United States Senate opens each session of the United States Senate with a prayer, and provides and coordinates religious programs and pastoral care support for senators, their staffs, and their families. The chaplain is appoi ...

from 2 February 1981 until 11 March 1995. He was an associate of the

National Prayer Breakfast The National Prayer Breakfast is a yearly event held in Washington, D.C., usually on the first Thursday in February. The founder of this event was Abraham Vereide. The event—which is actually a series of meetings, luncheons, and dinners—has t ...

movement (sponsored by the Fellowship Foundation) starting in 1956 along with

and Douglas Coe. Halverson became executive director of the Fellowship Foundation in 1969 (upon the death of its prior leader

Abraham Vereide Abraham Vereide (October 7, 1886 – May 16, 1969) was a Norwegian-born American Methodist minister and founder of International Christian Leadership (ICL) group. Early life Abraham was born in the Vereide home in Gloppen in the Nordfjord dist ...

). Halverson also was a member of the Board of

World Vision In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, from 1956 to 1983, serving as chairman from 1966 to 1983. He was the president of Concern Ministries, a charitable foundation in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Halverson was married on 2 February 1942 to Doris Grace Seaton (1915–2009) and they had three children. Halverson died (from congestive heart failure) on 28 November 1995 at Arlington Hospital in Arlington Virginia at the age of 79.

Awards

Halverson received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Valley City State University on 20 May 1977, and an honorary

Doctorate of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...

degree from Wheaton College. He received the

Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award The Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award is an award presented by the governor of the state of North Dakota. It is bestowed upon prominent North Dakotans. Recipients ''Note: date in parentheses indicates date of award'' *Lawrence Welk, entertaine ...

from the state of North Dakota on 26 March 1994.

Books

Halverson authored several books in the 1950s–1990s, including: * Christian Maturity, with foreword by D r. Louis H. Evans, Zondervan/Cowman, 1956. Eight subsequent printings. *The quiet men: the secret to personal success and effectiveness by men who practice it, 1963 *Relevance: The Role of Christianity in the Twentieth Century, 1968 *A Day at a Time, 1974 *Somehow inside of Eternity, January 1981 *Timelessness of Jesus Christ, January 1982 *Word of a Gentleman: Meditations for Modern Man, December 1983 *Man to Man, January 1984 *Living Fellowship, January 1986 *No Greater Power: Perspective for Days of Pressure, August 1986 *We the People, July 1987 *Wisdom on Faith, April 1995 *Wisdom on the Church, April 1995 *Wisdom on America, December 1995 *Wisdom on Life, December 1995 Additionally, he wrote the introduction for the following: *

My Utmost for His Highest ''My Utmost for His Highest'' is a daily Christian devotional by Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) that compiles his preaching to students and soldiers. Chambers' widow self-published the book with Alden in Oxford circa 1924 (Lukabyo, "From a Ministr ...

, by

Oswald Chambers Oswald Chambers (24 July 187415 November 1917) was an early-twentieth-century Scottish Baptist evangelist and teacher who was aligned with the Holiness Movement. He is best known for the daily devotional ''My Utmost for His Highest''. Youth an ...

*Our Presbyterian Heritage, by Paul R. Carlson

Notes

References

External links

Tribute to the Reverend Dr. Richard C. Halverson by Senator Chris Dodd

"Halverson, Richard C."
nbsp;– publications listed at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...