Muriel Spurgeon Carder (November 1, 1922 – June 14, 2023) was a Canadian Baptist who was the first woman ordained as a Baptist minister in Ontario and Quebec;

William H. Brackney William Henry Brackney (1948–2022) was the Millard R. Cherry Distinguished Professor of Christian Thought and Ethics Emeritus at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and an ordained Baptist minister, accredited by the Convention of Atlan ...

, ''Baptists in North America: An Historical Perspective'', Blackwell Publishing, 2006, p. 152. she was also a missionary in India.

Life

Childhood and studies

Muriel Spurgeon was born in

Woodford Green Woodford Green is an area of Woodford in north-east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Buckhurst Hill to the north, Woodford Bridge to the east, South Woodford to the south, and Chingford to the west. Epping ...

, England to Elizabeth Frances (Keeley) and Carey Bradford Spurgeon (December 13, 1892 – March 2, 1968). Carder is related to

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He ...

, a

Reformed Baptist Reformed Baptists (sometimes known as Particular Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists) are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation). The first Calvinist Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith ...

minister, and had a brother named David. Her mother, Elizabeth Frances (Keeley), died in 1953.Transactions of Society of Actuaries, Volume 20, Point 1, Number 56 AB, 1968. p. 160
/ref> Her father was born in India to the

Reverend The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

Robert Spurgeon. He was a fellow of the

Institute of Actuaries The Institute of Actuaries was one of the two professional bodies which represented actuaries in the United Kingdom. The institute was based in England, while the other body, the Faculty of Actuaries, was based in Scotland. While the Institute a ...

and an associate of the

Society of Actuaries The Society of Actuaries (SOA) is a global professional organization for actuaries. It was founded in 1949 as the merger of two major actuarial organizations in the United States: the Actuarial Society of America and the American Institute of A ...

; he was also on a tour of duty in the

Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

. Carder enrolled at the

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

, where she received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in 1944 and a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theol ...

(

B. D. In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theolog ...

) degree in 1947. The

Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ) is the oldest union of Baptist churches in central Canada. The organization's headquarters is based in Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. CBOQ is a partner of Canadian Baptist Ministries. History I ...

ordained her the same year.Susan Hill Lindley, Eleanor J. Stebner (Eds.), ''The Westminster Handbook To Women In American Religious History'', Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, pp. 33-34
/ref> The ceremony took place on September 16 at the King Street Baptist Church in Cambridge, Ontario. Carder was the first woman to receive a

degree from

, and the first woman to be ordained as Baptist minister in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

Missionary work and teaching in India

Carder took up evangelism, and was sent to

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

as a representative of the

Canadian Baptist Mission The Canadian Baptist Mission (CBM) is an international Baptist Christian missionary society. It is a constituent board affiliated with the Canadian Baptist Ministries. History It was established in 1850 by the Canadian Baptist Ministries. The CBM ...

serving in schools and hospitals.McMaster University Alumni Association
Accessed 15 January 2009. She was also associated with the leprosy mission in India. Carder's work in the country mirrored the efforts of her paternal grandfather who also did missionary work in India. She returned to Canada and taught for a year at McMaster Divinity College from 1956 to 1957. From 1957 to 1958 she pursued postgraduate studies at

Union Theological Seminary (New York) Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (UTS) is a private ecumenical Christian liberal seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with neighboring Columbia University. Since 1928, the seminary has served as Columbia's co ...

, obtaining a

Master of Sacred Theology The Master of Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Magister; abbreviated STM) is a graduate-level, North American, academic degree in theology equivalent to ThM. The Roman Catholic equivalent is the Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL). An h ...

(S.T.M.) degree. During the academic year 1965–1966, she again taught New Testament and Greek at McMaster Divinity College. Carder began teaching the New Testament and Theology and Ethics from 1967 to 1969 in

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry, officially known as Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and District headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the sixth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the District of Raj ...

, where the B.D. section of the Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary is today located on the campus of

Andhra Christian Theological College Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) is a seminary in Telangana which was founded in 1964. It is affiliated with India's first university, the Senate of Serampore College (University) (a university under section 2(f) of the Universi ...

. Soon after the merger of the Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary with Andhra Christian Theological College in 1969, the campus moved to

Secunderabad Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South Central Railway ...

; Carder followed, and continued teaching there until 1976. At that time Carder enrolled as a doctoral candidate at the

Toronto School of Theology The Toronto School of Theology (TST) is an ecumenical consortium of seven theological colleges and is affiliated with the University of Toronto. TST is the largest ecumenical consortium for theological education in Canada. Its seven member schools ...

and was awarded a

Th.D. Doctor of Theology ( la, Doctor Theologiae, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equiva ...

in 1969, based on her thesis entitled ''An Inquiry into the Textual Transmission of the Catholic Epistles''.

Retirement and chaplaincy

Soon after Carder retired in 1976, she returned to Canada and began serving as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

. She first served as an intern at the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital and

Toronto General Hospital The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue's Hospit ...

before becoming chaplain at the D'Arcy Place Developmental Centre in

Cobourg Cobourg ( ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto and east of Oshawa. It is the largest town in and seat of Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is ...

and, later, at Oxford Regional Centre of Woodstock General Hospital. In 1984, Carder was certified as a clinical pastoral education supervisor.

Death

Carder died in

Woodstock, Ontario Woodstock is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The city has a population of 40,902 according to the 2016 Canadian census. Woodstock is the seat of Oxford County, at the head of the non-navigable Thames River, approximately 128 km from ...

on June 14, 2023, at the age of 100.

Publications

;Articles *''A Caesarean Text in the Catholic Epistles?'' ''

New Testament Studies ''New Testament Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press under the auspices of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas. The scope of the journal are short studies and articles on issues pertaining to th ...

'', 1970. *''The Biblical Concept of Sin in Translation''. ''Indian Journal of Theology'', 1971. *''Spiritual and Religious Needs of Mentally Retarded Persons''. ''Journal of Pastoral Care'', Volume 38, Number 2, June, 1984. *''Journey into understanding mentally retarded people's experiences around death''. ''Journal of Pastoral Care'', Volume 41, Number 1, 1987, pp. 18–31.Muriel Spurgeon Carder, ''Journey into understanding mentally retarded people's experiences around death''. Reprinted in the ''Journal of Pastoral Care'', Volume 41, Number 1, 1987, pp. 18-31.
Cited by Kathryn Pekala Service, Diane Lavoie (Eds.), ''Coping with losses, death and grieving''. In Matthew P. Janicki, Arthur J. Dalton (Ed.), ''Dementia, Aging and Intellectual Disabilities'', Psychology Press, Philadelphia, 1999. ;Translations When the Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary of the

Bible Society of India The Bible Society of India is a Christian body that is authorized to translate, produce, distribute and market the Bible and is a member of the United Bible Societies. The motto of the Society is to translate the word of God into languages, which ...

began a Telugu New Testament translation, Carder served as a panel member on the Translations Committee with P. Dass Babu,

A. B. Masilamani Acharya A. B. Masilamani or Abel Boanerges MasilamaniK. Ranjit Kumar, ''Bhakti as one of the leading factor for transformation in the lyrics of Acharya A. B. Masilamani in the Telugu Christian Hymnal'', Master's College Theological Journal, Volu ...

, K. David and

Victor Premasagar Victor Premasagar (1927–2005) was the fourth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop in Medak. He was an Indian churchman and Old Testament scholar who made major contributions to research on the Old Testament and to the field of theology. Prem ...

. She has translated a Greek grammar text and the

Didache The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν), is a brief anonymous early Christian tr ...

into Telugu.

Awards and affiliations

In 2007, Carder received the Katharine Hockin Award for Global Mission and Ministry from the Canadian Churches' Forum for Global Ministries,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, in recognition of her missionary service in

.Milestones

Victoria University in the University of Toronto Victoria University is a federated university forming part of the wider University of Toronto, and was founded in 1836. The undergraduate section of the university is Victoria College, informally ''Vic'', after the original name of the universi ...

The citation also noted that her ordained status was a contributing factor to the later ordination of women in the

Church of South India The Church of South India (CSI) is a united and uniting churches, united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of Christian denomination, mainline Protestant denominations in South India after independence. The Chur ...

. Carder was a member of the Society for Biblical Studies in India and the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas membership list (updated up to 2006)
.Accessed 15 January 2009.

Student's reminiscence

Talathoti Punnaiah who studied a three-year theology course leading to

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. ...

at the

, both at

and at

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

from 1970 to 1973 recalls his association with Muriel Carder,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carder, Muriel Spurgeon 1922 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Canadian Baptist ministers Translators of the Bible into Telugu Baptist writers Editors of Christian publications Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni University of Toronto alumni McMaster University alumni People from the London Borough of Redbridge People from Woodford, London Christian clergy from Andhra Pradesh Indian Christian theologians Academic staff of the Senate of Serampore College (University) Canadian expatriates in India Canadian Baptist Ministries missionaries in India Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars Canadian Baptist Ministries British emigrants to Canada