Nolan Bailey Harmon (July 14, 1892 – June 8, 1993) was a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of The Methodist Church and the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

, elected in 1956.

Birth and death

Nolan Bailey Harmon was born July 14, 1892, in

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, ...

, and died on June 8, 1993, one month before his 101st birthday. His funeral was held four days later at Druid Hills United Methodist Church. He was buried in the Evergreen Burial Park in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

. He was the son, grandson and great-grandson of

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Preachers A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a m ...

. He was elected a bishop of The Methodist Church and United Methodist Church in 1956. Harmon's wife, Rebecca (Lamar) Harmon, died at age 84 in 1980. His children were Nolan B. Harmon III and G. Lamar Harmon.

Education

Nolan graduated from

Millsaps College Millsaps College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi. It was founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. History The college was founded ...

in Mississippi. He was a member of the first class of the

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in Atlanta metropolitan area, metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates Minister (Christi ...

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

in 1914. He also earned a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1920. He received honorary degrees from Millsaps,

Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...

Western Maryland College McDaniel College is a private college in Westminster, Maryland, United States. Established in 1867, it was known as Western Maryland College until 2002 when it was renamed McDaniel College in honor of an alumnus who gave a lifetime of service to ...

Mount Union College The University of Mount Union is a private liberal arts university in Alliance, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until 2019. It had an enrollment of 2,100 students as of 2023. Histo ...

and

Wofford College Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1854, it is one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the American Civil War that still ope ...

. In 1958, he received an honorary

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (i.e., Christian theology and ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the English-speaking world than elsewhere. In the United Kin ...

degree from Emory.

Career

In 1940, Harmon was elected book editor of the newly reunited Methodist Church. He

edited Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, and ...

publications of

Abingdon Press Abingdon Press is the book publishing arm of the United Methodist Publishing House which publishes sheet music, ministerial resources, Bible-study aids, and other items, often with a focus on Methodism and Methodists. History Abingdon Press ...

and the

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

''Religion in Life.'' He also was general

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

of the twelve volume ''Interpreters Bible.'' Between 1960 and 1964, Bishop Harmon was a member of The

Hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). They are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Christia ...

Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

of his denomination, serving as chairman of the Subcommittee on Texts. He was elected by the Southeastern Jurisdiction Conference of The Methodist Church. As a bishop, he presided over the work of various Annual Conferences in the Southeastern United States. He retired from the active episcopacy in 1964. In retirement he edited the ''Encyclopedia of World Methodism.'' Also in retirement, Bishop Harmon served on the faculty of Emory University as a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

, continuing there into his 96th year. Further into his retirement, Nolan taught classes on government and history of Methodists.

Civil rights involvement

In April 1963, Harmon made

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

history when he, along with seven other white

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

men (including fellow-Methodist Bishop Paul Hardin Jr.), released a statement calling on

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

s to stop taking part in demonstrations initiated by the Rev. Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

The statement, titled " A Call for Unity", called the demonstrations "unwise and untimely", and argued that change should be pursued through negotiation and judicial action. This statement motivated Dr. King to write his famous "

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 ...

". In his 1983 autobiography, Bishop Harmon referred to the letter as a "propaganda move", but also wrote that he "certainly gave

ing Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 199 ...

his due as a brave man fighting off ages of evil". In June 1963, Bishop Harmon spoke out after segregationist Governor

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

attempted to block the enrollment of black students at the University of Alabama, also known as the "

Stand in the Schoolhouse Door The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963. In a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of " segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" and stop the ...

". Bishop Harmon read a public protest of Wallace's actions during an Annual Conference, calling them a "moral mistake" and adding that "the sovereignty of the United States ..has been exerted to see that fundamental human rights are maintained in our state universities and state schools". However, Harmon also criticised "the type of lawless agitation carried on in Birmingham recently by certain Negro leaders". His words were published in local newspapers.

Autobiography

*Harmon, Nolan Bailey, ''Ninety Years and Counting''. Upper Room: Nashville, TN (1983); .

Selected writings

*''Ministerial Ethics and Etiquette'' *''The Famous Case of Myra Clark Gaines'' *General Editor, ''Encyclopedia of World Methodism'', Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House, 1974. *General Editor, ''Interpreters Bible'' *''Understanding the Methodist Church'' *''Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Church'', 1948 *''The Pastors Ideal Funeral Manual'' *''The Encyclopedia of World Methodism'', volume 1 *''The Encyclopedia of World Methodism'', volume 2 *''The Organization of the Methodist Church: Historic Development and Present Working Structure''

Sources

*The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Churc

*InfoServ, the official information service of The United Methodist Church

References

External links

Nolan B. Harmon papers, 1933–1993
at Pitts Theology Library,

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmon, Nolan Bailey 1892 births 1993 deaths Methodists from Mississippi Bishops of The Methodist Church (USA) United Methodist bishops of the Southeastern Jurisdiction American Methodist bishops American men centenarians 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American educators American encyclopedists 20th-century American memoirists American religion academics Emory University alumni Princeton University alumni Editors of Christian publications American historians of religion History of Christianity in the United States Candler School of Theology alumni 20th-century American male writers