Donald Bradford Harbuck Papers AR
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DONALD BRADFORD HARBUCK PAPERS AR 633 Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives Prepared by Howard Gallimore B.S., M.A. October, 2001 Updated March, 2012 1 Donald Bradford Harbuck Papers AR 633 Summary Main Entry: Donald Bradford Harbuck Papers Date Span: 1961 – 1983 Abstract: Donald Harbuck was a pastor of churches in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee. He served the First Baptist Church of El Dorado, Arkansas for 21 years. His papers include correspondence, study notes, addresses, speeches, sermons, and personal papers from his pastorates and seminary teaching. The bulk of the collection consists of sermons delivered at the First Baptist Church of El Dorado. Size: 29 linear ft. Collection #: AR 633 Biographical Sketch Donald B. Harbuck was a brilliant, competent teacher, preacher, and pastor. He was especially sensitive to the needs of individuals and acutely aware of the times in which he lived, both denominationally and politically. He was active in the local United Nations chapter and spoke to chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution about topics favored by the Confederate cause in the American Civil War. Yet he often spoke by invitation to large gatherings of black Christians and espoused the cause of civil rights. During his pastorate at the First Baptist Church of El Dorado, Arkansas, Harbuck was active in Southern Baptist denominational life. He labored tirelessly for the rights of minorities and led his traditional, Southern, and conservative congregation to forge an exemplary leadership role in a new era of religious responsibility. Harbuck was considered a liberal by many of his religious contemporaries, but he championed the cause of what he believed to be the will of traditional Southern Baptists. His forthright speaking and writing aligned him with the moderate movement in the convention. While serving as Alumni President of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he reluctantly, but successfully, challenged the strongly conservative theological position of the seminary administration. “Don B. Harbuck was born September, 1930, in Shreveport, Louisiana, the son of Charles Adams and Elsie Owens Harbuck. He had one brother, Edwin Charles Harbuck, three sons, Brad, Jr., twins Craig and George, and one daughter, Cheryl. His wife, Elizabeth Lasiter Harbuck, died January, 1983. 2 He spent two years at Baylor University, and then transferred to Centenary College graduated with honors in 1951. in 1954, he entered the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree and the Doctor of Theology degree, majoring in theology and the philosophy of religion. Dr. Harbuck spent his childhood and early teen years in the Broadmoor Baptist Church, Shreveport. There he was converted and baptized in 1939, licensed to preach in 1945, and ordained in 1949. Dr. Harbuck was pastor of the First Baptist Church of El Dorado, Arkansas, for twenty-one years. Prior to this ministry, he was pastor of Dixie Gardens Baptist Chapel, Shreveport (1945 – 1946); Trinity Heights Baptist Church, Shreveport (1949 – 1953); Vancleave Baptist Church, Vancleave, Mississippi (1954 – 1958) and First Baptist Church, Arcadia, Louisiana (1958 – 1962). Dr. Harbuck was widely involved in civic affairs and denominational activities. He was on the Board of Directors of the Southern Baptist Convention Home Mission Board and Sunday School Board, President of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Alumni, a Director of the Arkansas Baptist Medical Center, a member of the Board of Development, Ouachita Baptist University, the Arkansas Baptist Student Union Advisory Committee, the Southern Baptist Convention Credentials Committee, Committee on Committees, and Committee on Boards. He received the distinguished alumni award from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1980 and the 1965 George Washington honor Medal Award from the Freedoms Foundation for one of his sermons. Dr. Harbuck wrote extensively for the denomination, preparing curriculum materials and other articles. He is the author of three books: The El Dorado Program: a Unique Approach to Christian Education65, The Dynamics of Belief69, and The Symbolism of a Sanctuary: Essays on the Motifs in a Baptist House of Worship. 1970.” Dr. Harbuck served the Chattanooga church as pastor until January, 1986, when he was forced to resign due to ill health. He died in June, 1986. Scope and Content Notes The Harbuck Papers contain correspondence, study notes, addresses, speeches, and other personal papers from his pastorates, writing, and seminary teaching. The bulk of the collection consists of sermons delivered primarily at the First Baptist Church, El Dorado, Arkansas – some reprinted in manuscript format and many recorded on audiocassette tape – from 1961 to 1983. While the collected sermons are not unusual for a typically successfully Southern Baptist pastor, that they are collected, indexed, and preserved is special. He maintained an index of more than four notebooks, elaborately cataloging the more than three thousand funerals that he conducted. in addition, six notebooks indexed the almost two thousand sermons he preached and collected at pastorates from his early ministry in Louisiana to his final pastorate in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The separate address file, general file, funeral file, revival sermon file, sermon file, and speech file have been slightly reorganized and appear in the 3 processed collection in one alphabet as a General File with sub files for addresses, funerals, revivals, sermons, and speeches. Materials about contemporary issues include: Communism, the Elliott controversy, the inerrancy movement in the Southern Baptist Convention, the United Nations and the Vietnam War. Institutions prominently mentioned are: Baptist Sunday School Board, Furman University, Glorieta Baptist Conference Center, Home Mission Board, Mid-Western Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Ouachita Baptist University, Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the United Nations. Prominent Baptist personalities included in the collection through correspondence or articles are: Jimmy Allen, Ralph Atkinson, Wayne Barton, Carl E. Bates, Millard Berquest, Claude Broach, John R. Claypool, Grady Cothen, Hugo H. Culpepper and Wayne Dehoney. Others mentioned are: David George, Brooks Hayes, E. Glenn Hinson, William E. Hull, Fisher Humphreys, Leon McBeth, Abner McCall, Duke K. McCall, Larry McSwain, Russell Dilday, Gaines Stanley Dobbins, M. E. Dodd, Huber L. Drumright, Findley Edge, William R. Estep, J. Bruce Evans, Buckner Fanning, Milton Ferguson, W. C. Fields, Daniel R. Grant, J. D. Gray, William Grindstaff, Herschel H. Hobbs, Roy L. Honeycutt, R. Lofton Hudson, Page H. Kelley, J. Hardee Kennedy, John David Laida, G. Avery Lee, R. G. Lee, and Roy O. McLain. Additionally the following are included: Robert J. McCracken, J. W. MacGorman, Myron C. Maddon, T. B. Maston, Dale Moody, William H. Morton, John P. Newport, Frank Norfleet, Grady Nutt, Wayne Edward Oates, John J. Owens, H. Franklin Paschall, Nelson L. Price, Lewis E. Rhodes, Penrose C. St. Amant, James Sanders, Cecil E. Sherman, Walter B. Shurden, Frank Stagg, John Sullivan, Monroe Swilly, Scott l. Tatum, Luther Joe Thompson, Charles A. Trentham, Foy Valentine, W. O Vaught, and G. Hugh Wamble. The collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title and contains 29 cubic feet. The final two boxes, numbers 22 and 23, contain unclassified audiocassette tapes of sermons delivered live by Dr. Harbuck. Additions to the collection are not anticipated. The entire collection spans the years 1955 to 1986. References Harbuck, Donald B. The Dynamics of Belief. Nashville: Broadman Press. Harbuck, Donald B. The El Dorado Program: a Comprehensive Description of the School of Christian Education of the First Baptist Church of El Dorado, Arkansas. El Dorado, AK: First Baptist Church65. Arrangement Arranged in alphabetical order by folder title 4 Provenance Donated to the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives by Dr. Harbuck Preferred Citation Donald Bradford Harbuck Papers, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee Access Restrictions None Subject Terms Sherman, Cecil E. Southern Baptist Convention – History – 20th century Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Kansas City, MO) Southern Baptist Theological Seminary New Orleans Baptist theological Seminary (New Orleans, LA) First Baptist Church (El Dorado, AR) Baptist – Sermons Funeral sermons Evangelistic sermons Church controversies – Baptist – 20th century Vietnamese conflict – Religious aspects Related Materials Dehoney, Wayne, Papers. AR880. Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. Fields, Wilmer Clemont, Papers. AR627-5. Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. Container List Box 1 1.1 Abstract of Faith 1.2 Adams, Theodore Floyd 1.3 Address – Accession List 1.4 Address – After Fifty Years 1.5 Address - Alaska 1.6 Address – All in Favor Say “Aye” (Conservation Speech) 1.7 Address – BSU Spring Leadership and Vocational Guidance Conference 1.8 Address – “The Battle of Pea Ridge” 1.9 Address – Character Training in the Home 1.10 Address – The Church’s Contribution to the Character of The City (East Main’s Dedication) 1.11 Address – Conservation Message 1.12 Address – The Criteria Of Success/What Makes a Good Athlete 1.13 Address – Dealing With Death,