CCCB Awards Honorary Doctorates to Pelfrey, Reese

Lloyd Pelfrey and Gareth Reese, both of whom have taught more than 60 years at Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Mo., were honored with honorary doctorate degrees on Friday evening.

The presentation to Emeritus Professors Pelfrey and Reese came at the conclusion of CCCB’s 64th Commencement Service. Both men are planning to teach one more year, their 65^th, starting this fall, according to CCCB president Dr. David Fincher.

“By the time their service is complete next May, they will have taught 130 combined years, almost 250 total semesters, and almost 1,000 courses, all at Central Christian College of the Bible,” Fincher said during the ceremony. “Through the years, students have called them ‘Doctor Pelfrey’ or ‘Doctor Reese’ many times. Now, we can make it official.”

Pelfrey and Reese were original faculty members when CCCB opened in the fall of 1957.

Over the summer leading up to CCCB’s opening, Fincher wrote in 2019, “faculty members moved to Missouri with their families, one at a time, not knowing where they would live until after they arrived. They left ministries, homes, and familiar surroundings and traveled hundreds of miles to a place they had never even visited. Frank Watson, Lloyd Pelfrey, and Gareth Reese all came to Moberly to teach at Central and never left.” (Watson died in 2018.)

Pelfrey—who also served as president of CCCB from 1972 to 1998—was presented with a Doctor of Divinity (D.D. honoris causa) based on his years of teaching, administration, and preaching.

Reese, New Testament professor and former librarian, was honored with a Doctor of Letters (D.Litt. honoris causa) for his decades of preaching, teaching, and writing.

“Through their writings, teaching, preaching, and conference messages, these men have trained and mentored multiple generations of ministers and missionaries of the Stone-Campbell Movement,” said Dr. Billy Strother, dean of graduate studies. “Their faithfulness and scholarship have produced ongoing and incalculable kingdom fruit. They have sacrificed themselves for decades to serve students here and others, like myself, who did not have the honor to sit in their classrooms, through their extraordinary written and oral scholarship.”

“Their influence on generations of Christian leaders and impact on the church has been widespread, even global,” added Dr. Jim Estep, vice president of academics. “It is a privilege to have served with them in their final years of teaching at CCCB.”

Dr. Reese and Dr. Pelfrey will be formally honored at the college’s annual Heritage Day event, slated for Sept. 3 at the Moberly campus. Reservations for a free luncheon can be made at www.cccb.edu/events.

A video of the presentation of the honorary doctorates can be viewed at CCCB’s website.

Author: Christian Standard

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