Dr. Roger Green: A Blessed and Adventurous 46 Years

Roger J. Green, professor of biblical and theological studies and Terrelle B. Crum Chair of Humanities, retired in May after 46 years of teaching—at Barrington College, Asbury College, and, since 1985, at Gordon. This May and June, along with his wife, Karen (pictured with him), he will lead the Holy Land Pilgrimage for alumni and friends of the College for the last time as a full-time member of the Gordon College faculty.

“I could not be more delighted with the vocation that the Lord has given me these many years,” he says.

A longtime member and a scholar of The Salvation Army, Dr. Green wove a new strand of theological understanding into Gordon’s curriculum through his knowledge of Wesleyan history and theology. His grounding in The Salvation Army’s commitment both to preaching and to social ministries—and its welcoming of women in ministry—has dovetailed well with Gordon’s institutional identity.

He is the recipient of The Salvation Army’s rarely-bestowed Order of the Founder, and of an honorary degree from William and Catherine Booth College. In addition to his work published in journals, and his contributions to several editions of the Bible, he is the author of a bookshelf’s worth of volumes about The Salvation Army, including War on Two Fronts: The Redemptive Theology of WIlliam Booth and Catherine Booth: A Biography of the Co-Founder of The Salvation Army.

High points of his career, he says, include being hired by Dr. Marvin Wilson in 1970 to teach at Barrington—and being invited to teach at the United College of Gordon and Barrington when the colleges merged in 1985. Meeting his wife, Karen, who worked at Gordon College as a nurse while he was still teaching at Barrington, is another highlight, as are semester-long sabbaticals to places like London and Nigeria.

What will he miss most? “The dynamics of the classroom,” he responds. “You never know what the day will bring.”  

To contribute to the Roger J. Green/Salvation Army Scholarship Fund, go to giving.gordon.edu/RogerGreen  

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