Gerald Harry Anderson (1955, GRS 1960)
By Jannette E. Newliall ‘24, ‘26, ‘31, Librarian and Professor of Research Methods, Emerita
There are increasing breaks in the stereotype of the “missionary” and Gerald (Jerry) Anderson has helped to make several of them. Like many another young person, he changed from his early vocational ambitions. He had intended to go into business and pursued this course at Grove City College (B.S. in Commerce, 1952), near his home in New Castle, Pennsylvania. As a side-line he developed and managed his own dance band which was popular among the colleges of the region.
Other forces were at work, however. He had been active in his local church and in Youth Fellowship institutes, and his pastor and institute leaders early recognized in him qualities that eventually led, doubtless with some promptings from them, to his turn to the ministry. Even in college his interests led him to elective courses in church history and other religion subjects.
In the fall of 1952 Jerry entered Boston University School of Theology. He took the regular course but with a strong historical and ecumenical slant which was to stand him in good stead in his later work. Following graduation in 1955 he went to Marburg, Germany, as a Fulbright Scholar, working with Professor Ernst Benz in his Oekumenisches Seminar and taking other courses in the University. He moved on to the Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies at Bossey in the fall of 1956, and the next spring to New College, Edinburgh, for courses under Torrence, Stewart, and McIntyre in theology and Bible. Between terms he traveled widely in Europe and the Middle East.
Returning to Boston, Jerry began formal study for the doctorate in the Graduate School under the direction of Dr. DeWolf in theology, warmly aided by Dr. Ehrenstrom in ecumenics. The summer of 1958 saw him back in England for the Methodist Theological Institute at Lincoln College, Oxford.
Already a member of the Erie Conference and an ordained Elder (1955), Anderson became the Associate Minister of the Trinity Union Methodist Church in Providence in July 1957, and continued in this post until the completion of his graduate work. This was a fortunate appointment for Jerry, since it led to his marriage to the senior pastor’s daughter, the brilliant and charming Joanne Pemberton, in the summer of 1960.
Under appointment of the Methodist Board of Missions, the Andersons arrived in Manila in October 1960 and set up housekeeping in a crowded area near the Cartemar public market, where they had a first-hand experience of the life of the city. They immediately began language study (Tagálog) with a tutor and continued till spring.
Their mission assignment was to Union Theological Seminary where Jerry began as Professor of Church History and Ecumenics in June 1961. This was an exciting year for the Seminary since it was the final year at the old campus on Taft Avenue in noisy downtown Manila. The Seminary had purchased a large tract of undeveloped land in Dasmariñas, Cavite, some 35 kilometers south of Manila. Roads, first academic buildings, and faculty houses were being constructed, including the Andersons’ first home of their own. Many trips and much hard work, both physical and mental, were involved in developing the new campus, but the Seminary was able to begin classes at the new site in June 1962. The building program had only begun, and the faculty were to continue keen interest in planning each new building, a process in which Jerry carried his full share. He was especially concerned in the careful planning of the new library-office building which was dedicated in March 1966.
Anderson, the teacher, brought sound scholarship and wide perspective to his classes. An indication of the impact of his teaching was the spontaneous writing and coaching of a drama on the Council of Nicea by a student, performed by the class of the fall of 1964. Anderson is especially thorough and generous in giving his time to the direction of Senior theses.
In March 1963, he was appointed Academic Dean. His broad academic background was evident as he led the faculty in the revision of the curriculum and the filling of new faculty positions. Standards were also raised as the faculty worked with the accrediting committee of the South East Asia Association of Theological Schools. He continued in the deanship until March 1966 when the Trustees appointed Dr. Jacob Quiambao (‘59) to succeed him, in harmony with the faculty principle of bringing Filipinos into administrative positions as rapidly as possible.
As a churchman, Anderson has preached widely. Each Methodist missionary is assigned to an annual conference in his area and Anderson’s is the Middle Philippines Annual Conference, where he has taken an active part in committee work and in floor debate. His integrity and ability have won the respect of his Filipino colleagues, and he was one of the delegates elected from that Conference to the Central Conference held in Manila in the fall of 1964. That Conference failed to elect a bishop, and Anderson has been reappointed a delegate to the special Conference to be held in February 1967 for this purpose. This Conference will also discuss problems related to the EUB-Methodist merger which raises special difficulties in the Philippines, since the EUB is already joined with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, while The Methodist Church is not.
Anderson’s scholarly interests led him early to schools and libraries all over Manila, and he was soon acquainted with scholars in the various centers, both seminary and university. In particular he found kindred spirits in Professors Hibbs and Foster at St. Andrew’s Theological Seminary, the latter a church historian and both responsive ecumenists. Out of these contacts grew the semi-annual colloquia in which the faculties of St. Andrew’s and Union met for stimulating discussions and warm fellowship. The ecumenical idea was later extended to a colloquium with the faculty of Philippine Union College (Adventist). Rewarding contacts were also initiated with the Divine Word Seminary (SVD) at Tagaytay in which he and Richard Deats (‘64) took active part. Exchange lectures, concerts, and other activities gave students and faculty of these neighboring seminaries an unusual opportunity to understand each other’s traditions. A few years ago he was instrumental in the founding of the Philippine Theological Society and was its first secretary-treasurer.
It is perhaps in the literary field that Jerry Anderson is the most unusual missionary. While still working on his doctorate, he compiled a Bibliography of the Theology of Missions in the Twentieth Century (Missionary Research Library, 1958) which has since appeared in revised form. His dissertation on “The Theology of Missions, 1928-1958” was to bear continuous fruit for it already represented a vital concern for the foundations of the mission to which he and his young wife were committing their lives. In the late 50’s he was corresponding with a score of theologians and mission leaders on the co-operative volume of essays on The Theology of Missions (McGraw-Hill, 1961) which he edited. His introductory essay revealed both his solid historical grounding and its fusion with his ecumenical vision. A second volume carries on his mission concern—Sermons to Men of Other Faiths (Abingdon, 1966). Here Christian leaders from various countries and cultures present the case for Christianity to Christian and non-Christian contemporaries. Sermons to Hindus, Buddhists, Shintoists, and Muslims are supplemented by those to Secularists, Black Muslims and others; and other sermons continue the dialogue between Roman Catholic and Protestant, Ecumenist and Conservative Evangelical, and Eastern Orthodox and Protestant.
The creative ecumenical imagination which has led to these symposia will also be illustrated in the Studies in Philippine Church History (Cornell, 1967), which will bring together thoughtful churchmen from Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant traditions under his skilled editorship. In January 1967, Abingdon Press will publish a paperback on Christian Mission in Theological Perspective: An Inquiry by Methodists, in which he has assembled papers from a dozen leading Methodist theologians, six of them from Boston. His Christianity in Southeast Asia: A Bibliographical Guide will soon be published jointly by the Missionary Research Library and Yale’s South East Asia Studies. He is currently collaborating with Bishop Stephen Neill on a Concise Dictionary of Christian Missions. Though especially skilled as an editor, Jerry writes frequent articles and reviews for the journals. How does a busy professor accomplish so much? The secret is in the stern disciplining of time, but the colleague does not feel the pressure when he drops in for a conference.
After a brief visit to parishes in Alaska where Jerry had been “relief pastor” in 1955, the Andersons spent their recent furlough at Union Seminary, New York—he as Visiting Scholar and Joanne in achieving a Columbia M.A. Jerry was a visiting professor at Garrett last summer. They are now back on the job at Union Seminary, Philippines, and the story will continue unabated of world-wide correspondence with Christian leaders and loyal daily intercourse with students and faculty. He certainly merits his inclusion in the forthcoming Who’s Who in The Methodist Church.