Vernon Grounds
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Vernon Carl Grounds (July 19, 1914 – September 12, 2010) was an American theologian, Christian educator, Chancellor of
Denver Seminary Denver Seminary is a private, evangelical Christian seminary with its main campus in Littleton, Colorado. It includes a campus in Colorado, an extension campus in Washington, DC, and an online campus. It offers Masters programmes in Arts, D ...
, and one of the leaders in the development of American
evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
.


Early life and education

Grounds was born July 19, 1914, in
Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous
, the youngest of three children born to John and Bertha Grounds. He studied at
Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
and graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in 1937, then studied theology at Faith Theological Seminary in
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...
and obtained a
Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...
. He was part of a group that included notable evangelical leaders such as Arthur Glasser,
Kenneth Kantzer Kenneth S. Kantzer (March 29, 1917 – June 20, 2002) was an American theologian and educator in the evangelical Christian tradition. Life and career He was born Detroit, Michigan, United States. Kantzer, having studied at Faith Theological ...
, Joseph Bayly, and
Francis Schaeffer Francis August Schaeffer (January 30, 1912 – May 15, 1984) was an American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He co-founded the L'Abri community in Switzerland with his wife Edith Schaeffer, , a prolific auth ...
. On June 17, 1939, Grounds married Ann Barton, with whom he has one child, a daughter, as well as three grandchildren. He also studied at
Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey, United States. It has a wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three schools. While affiliated with the Methodism, Me ...
and received a
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
in 1960.


Academic career

While pursuing his degrees, Grounds served as pastor at the Gospel Tabernacle in
Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Wayne, New Jersey Wayne is a Township (New Jersey), township in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Home to William Paterson University and located less than from Midtown Manhattan, the township is a bedroom suburb of New ...
, the Hawthorne Evening Bible School, and King's College (then in
Belmar, New Jersey Belmar is a Borough (New Jersey), borough located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 5,907, an increase of 113 ...
). His full-time teaching career began in 1945, when he became dean and professor of theology and apologetics at Baptist Bible College & Seminary in
Johnson City, New York Johnson City is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 15,343 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village of Johnson City is in the town of Union and is a part ...
. He served there until 1951, when he moved to Denver to become academic dean at the Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary. He later served as president from 1956 until retiring in 1979. Grounds continued in a teaching and counseling role as president emeritus, and was named chancellor in 1993, where he actively served until his death.


Legacy and death

In 1963, Grounds served a term as president of the
Evangelical Theological Society The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is a professional society of Biblical scholars, educators, pastors, and students "devoted to the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ" and "dedicated to the oral ex ...
. A
festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
honoring Grounds, titled ''Christian Freedom'', edited by
Stanley Grenz Stanley James Grenz (1950–2005) was an American Protestant Christian theologian and ethicist in the Baptist tradition. Early years Grenz was born on 7 January 1950 in Alpena, Michigan. He studied at the University of Colorado and obtained a B ...
and Kenneth Wozniak, was published in 1986. His biography, titled ''Transformed by Love: The Vernon Grounds Story'', written by Bruce L. Shelley was published in 2003. Grounds was also awarded honorary degrees from Wheaton College and Gordon College. He died September 12, 2010, at a nursing facility in
Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...
. Upon his death,
George W. Truett Theological Seminary George W. Truett Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological seminary in Waco, Texas. The seminary, named after Southern Baptist preacher George Washington Truett, was founded in 1993 as part of Baylor University and is affiliated with the Ba ...
professor and
Patheos Patheos is a non-denominational, non-partisan online media company providing information and commentary from various, mostly religious, perspectives. Upon its launch in May 2009, the website was primarily geared toward learning about religions ...
blogger
Roger E. Olson Roger Eugene Olson (born 1952) is an American theologian and Professor of Christian Theology of Ethics at Baylor University. Biography Personal life Olson was born on February 2, 1952, in Des Moines, Iowa. He is married and he and his wife ha ...
memorialized Grounds as "a model post-fundamentalist, centrist evangelical".


Publications

Grounds was the author of five books, including: *''The Reason for Our Hope'' (1945) *''Evangelicalism and Social Responsibility'' (1969) *''Revolution and the Christian Faith: An Evangelical Perspective'' (1971) *''Emotional Problems and the Gospel'' (1976) *''Radical commitment: getting serious about Christian growth'' (1984) ; later republished as ''YBH - Yes, but how?'' (1998) Grounds was also a contributing editor for ''
Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...
'' and wrote more than 500 articles for '' Our Daily Bread'' from 1993 until 2009.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grounds, Vernon 1914 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American theologians 20th-century evangelicals 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American theologians 21st-century evangelicals American Evangelical writers American male non-fiction writers American religious writers Arminian theologians Arminian writers Drew University alumni Evangelical theologians Faith Theological Seminary alumni The King's College (New York City) faculty People from Jersey City, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni Seminary presidents Presidents of the Evangelical Theological Society