by Mark Powell
Dr. C. Anne Davis, RIP
I suppose one of the
ugliest of human traits is ingratitude, for ingratitude
displays not only a lack of manners and civility, more
importantly it betrays a deep-seated pride that is rarely
if ever overcome without some great tragedy in life.
Still, one does not need to be an ingrate to be thoughtless
at times, forgetting that who we are and how far we’ve come
would not have been possible without the help of others.
Well, one of those others
to whom I am
grateful died this week. Her name was Anne Davis, and she
was an important mentor in my life and ministry.
For many years Dr. Davis directed the Baptist Community
Center in Lexington, Kentucky, and later taught social work
at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.
In fact, she led the Seminary to develop a master’s degree
in social work, and was instrumental in creating, and was
the first Dean of, the Carver School of
Social Work, which was the first
non-university to be accredited for the master of social
work degree.
This was quite a coup
for the
Seminary, but it was short-lived. When the fundamentalists
took over they were eventually able to do away with Carver,
firing the then dean, Dr. Diana Garland, but Dr. Davis was
long gone into retirement by then. And some retirement it
was, for even near the end of her life she was still at
work, becoming the director of operations at the Advocacy
Center for Crime Victims and Children in Waco, Texas. This
was a life given for others, in the name of Christ.
I met Dr. Davis when I became the Director of the
Metropolitan Baptist Center in Indianapolis. As a home
missionary with the Southern Baptist Convention, I was
eligible for extensive training and was scholarshipped to
take classes at Southern with Dr. Davis. As a pastor used
to church work, the inner-city ministry of the Baptist
Center was as strange to me as if I had become a foreign
missionary. It was Dr. Davis and her colleagues that gave
me ministry handles and the theological foundation to work
with people who were not like me.
Dr. Davis taught me that social ministry and the gospel
were part and parcel of one another, and to offer salvation
for the soul while neglecting the human need was not only
ineffective, it was anti-Jesus. She taught me that, while
we minister out of the gifts we have been given, there is
nothing wrong with honing additional skills gained from
education and from others in order to make those gifts as
sharp and as effective as possible. And she taught me that
women could be so used of the LORD to have been given a
calling, which was important for me to learn before my own
daughter surrendered her life to the LORD’S work.
As a way to for me to remember and to be thankful for this
gifted mentor, I pulled some notes from a few of my classes
with her and reread them today. I found the read deeply
moving. So, as a way to say thanks to her I thought I would
share a few of her words:
“All ministry occurs
within the context of relationship. I helped more people in
my kitchen popping green beans and talking about life than
I ever did in an office.”
“The church is a
interrelated community in relationship with God through
Christ and with each other through the Holy
Spirit.” (I use this definition of
the church all the time, but I had forgotten that it was
Dr. Davis who taught it to me.)
“The church is a
community, dependant, with the same sense of oughtness.”
“We do missions because of what God has done for us. It is
out of love and gratitude.”
“Redemption happens in relationships built upon covenants.”
Thanks, Dr. Davis, your
life touched me, and enriched me and my ministry efforts…