We’ve Got Mail
Letters From Our Readers
“When I read CET, familiar emotions rise up in me reminding me that I am not alone on the journey that seems to be inexorably on a darker and drearier path. My denomination has left me, my country has left me, and at times I feel like God has left us all. Then I get a copy of your magazine that speaks such assurance and comfort to my heart. . . . I feel there is a larger flock out there that we are still a part of it; thank you.
Ragan Courtney, the Sanctuary, Austin, TX.
“What a great ache is left in my heart at Foy’s departure. He was our steadfast flame for half a century.”
Bill Moyers, New York City, NY.
“I was one of those ‘little’ Baptists that was privileged to claim Foy as a friend. . . . Foy and Mary Louise shared meals with us at our Glorieta home and we often visited them at Red River in that famous Jeep! It was a blow to lose him.”
Virginia Harris Hendricks, Blacksburg, VA.
“Foy was more than a leading ethicist to me and my family-he was a family friend. Our friendship goes back to the 1940s when [my brother] Dwight and Foy were in seminary together. Foy and two other students would come to our house for dinner on Fridays and then sing until late at night-as a 12-year old, I went to bed hearing I’ll Fly Away in four-part harmony. My Dad (who was the first superintendent of city missions in Ft. Worth) often reminisced about those wonderful times and vacationing together at Red River.”
Truett Baker, Branson, MO.
“Your article on T. B. Maston [Summer, 2006] brought back memories. I was at Southwestern from 1970-1973. I worked upstairs near Dr. Maston’s office. . . he and I talked a lot. I cherish those conversations. Thanks for a wonderful article and an exciting journal.”
Jim Kerr, Wakefield, VA.
“Most of us at SWBTS in 1963 knew black students could attend classes, but few of us knew they could not reside in the men’s dorm, except in special rooms in the basement. After an emotional discussion in class about this policy, one student asked, ‘What would it take to get this changed?’ In his calm easy-going way, Maston replied: ‘A few timely deaths.’ Amazingly, the main person behind this policy (a generous benefactor) died the very next week. . . We also got to hear [fellow student] Bill Moyers explain his decision to leave doctoral studies at SWBTS to go to Washington.”
Charles Lott, Hendersonville, TN.
“Besides the laudable content [Dr. Wade McCoy’s Today I Saw A Man], it struck me as so poetic I wanted to contact the author. . . . we shared our life walks and the human fertility of the sterile western Oklahoma soil [and discovered common friends] my pastor David Flick and Doug Manning. You do attract a mighty band of merry men (and women).”
Dr. Richard Kahoe, Woodward, OK.
“Not only am I in enthusiastic agreement with all I read in CET, but I discover I am among old friends. Our friendship with Martin Marty goes back half a century and the brother of John Richard Neuhaus was a member of St. Paul [Lutheran] while a student here [UNT, Denton].”
Roberta Donsback, Denton, TX.
“Just wanted to let you know how receptive our S. S. class has been to [the study of] Putting Women In Their Place. Thanks to all of you who have dug beneath the surface to give us valuable information.”
Sheila Rose, Midwest City, OK.
“I have loved reading CET issues at my mother’s home [Katherine Gorham, a good friend of Foy Valentine] . . . Although I often seem to be in a minority, I very firmly hold to the principals of separation of church and state, priesthood of the believer, and autonomy of the local church.”
Dan Gorham, San Antonio, TX.
“Foyisms” Recalled by Ross Coggins, Annapolis, MD:
To secretary Joyce Tory when she announced there was no travel money left, “Well, aren’t you a little ray of sunstoke!” She loved it and wore the title joyously.
To Bill Dyal and Ross Coggins who were trying to fix a mess-up: “Just remember, when you cage an eagle, you have to put down a lot of paper!”
On his clever use of words, after a convention speech: “I rose to new platitudes.” After listening to a convention official: “The truth is beginning to submerge.” About the official’s speech: “Even the grave yawns for him.” When the SBC refused to take a stand against segregation: “We compromised 100%”,,,”2010-12-27 10:00:00
