1958 - 1960 From: A History of First Baptist Chmrch _North Wilkesboro, NC , 1992 .

,

THE PEACOCK YEARS

In 1958, after an interim period, Dr. Heber F.Peacock succeededDr. Wagoner. Dr. Peacock, his wife Edith, sons David, Bill, andJim, and daughter Elizabeth, came to First Baptist from Louis-ville, Kentucky, where he had been Professor of New Testamentat Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. At about the sametime he received our call, he got an offer to teach at SouthernMethodist University. It was our good fortune that he chose us,although his tenure was the briefest of the last 50 years.

Dr. Peacock came to our church with impressive credentials. Hehad taken his B.A. in history and Greek from Hardin-SimmonsUniversity, bad studied engineering at the University ofCalifornia, had earned both the Th.M. and the Th.D. fromSouthern Baptist Theological Seminary, and had been awardedthe D. Phil. by the University of Zurich, in Switzerland. Somepresent-day church members remember Dr. Peacock's readingscripture from a~reek Bible during worship service. Supportinghis interest in linguistics and his skill in translation, Dr. Peacockhad a reading knowledge of eight languages, four ancient and fourmodern.

The most traveled of First Baptist's ministers, Dr. Peacock hadspent considerable time abroad before coming to NorthWilkesboro. Ordained in 1941, he began his career by ~astoringseveral Baptist churches in Kentucky. From 1945 to 1947, beserved as an Army chaplain in the U.S. Army inJapan and in thePhilippines. Returning to America, he began a three-year ap-pointment as an Assistant Professor of New Testament at theSouthern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. From 1950to 1955, he was Professor of New Testament at the BaptistTheological Seminary in Ruschlikon, Switzerland. He returnedto Louisville as a full professor for three years before he came toNorth Wilkesboro.

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Dr. Peacock recollects our call to the pastorate as fortuitous, forhe, with many other professors at Southern Seminary, had beenforced out by fundamentalists. He recalls that it was a time ofconservative dominance at the school, a time when staff memberswho were conscientiously unable to embrace narrow, anti-intel-lectual principles either resigned or were dismissed. Dr. Peacockremembers that half the faculty left Southern at the same time hedid.

When asked about his regrets, Dr. Peacock ref1ects on hisdecision to accept a position at Baylor University. "Once thedecision was made," he wrote, "I struggled with the fear that itmight be a mistake and even more severely with the sense ofhaving failed the people at the church by leaving so soon." Buthe could not suppress, he said, the call to teach. On a return visitto First Baptist Church, Dr. Peacock told us his main regret abouthis pastorate was that he did not give greater emphasis to thesocial issues which would mark the decade of the '60's.

When asked for memories about his stay at First Baptist, he isquick to praise the welcome he and his family received and thecontinuing generosity of many church members. He also speaksfondly of conducting worship services in the old sanctuary and of"the privilege of preaching to attentive listeners." He tells us hecherished his pastoral visitation as especially meaningful, and hecites particular examples as when, though suffering intensely, apatient was talm and uncomplaining. "I was ministered to morethan I ministered," he says in retrospect. He mentions alsomemorable and rewarding work at Northside, where he con-ducted Sunday worship at 9:30 a.m. and prayer service onThursday evenings.

In 1960, Dr. Peacock resigned to become Chairman of theDepartment of Religion at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.Thereafter, he taught at Midwestern Baptist Theological Semi-nary in Kansas City, and, for a dozen years, worked with transla-tions for West Africa. Between 1976 and 1988, he served asWorld Translations Coordinator for the United Bible Societies,based in New York City. During this same period, he was one ofsix Old Testament translators of the Good News Bible (1976),and one of four translators of the Deuterocanonicalsl Apocryphasection in the 1979 edition. He has numerous articles and severalother books to his credit.

-Some unusual happenings stick in his memory. For example, onseveral occasions, assorted members of the public strolledunannounced into the parsonage, having mistaken it for thefuneral home in the block below. Once, on a Saturday when theentire family was at home, a young man and woman arrived andasked to be married on the spot. This event required considerablescrambling but was accomplished successfully and in good order.

In June of 1976, Dr. Peacock became an Episcopal Deacon, andin December of that year, was ordained an Episcopal Priest. Heserved as Associate Rector of Grace Episcopal Church inAsheville, North Carolina, for eleven years, until 1989, when hebecame Interim Rector at St. David's in Cullowee. Dr. Peacockmakes his home in Asheville.

Dr. Peacock remembers only one unpleasant incident. He recallsthat during a sermor: he made,. by way of illustration, a passipgreference to the election campaign of john F. Kennedy. Thoughthe remark was innocent, some members chose to interpret it asa political endorsement. Dr. Peacock was surprised and shockedby telephone calls and letters taking him to task for" endorsing"a Catholic. He tells us he was disappointed at this evidence ofreligious intolerance.

[There was no weekly chuch newsletter during Dr. Peacock'stenure as pastor.]

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:- ..

KINCHELOE

WAGONER

LAYMON

..

BROlVNING

PEACOCK

ROGERS

WAYLAND

SMITH

SEAL

MinisterTakes PostIn Will{esNORTH WILKESBORO -

Heber F. Peacock, whocalled recently as pastor ofFirst Baptjst CJ:wr.ch inWilkeSboro, will begin his pastor-al duties next Sunday.He will succeed Dr. W. R.

Wagoner, who resigned to be-come head of Baptist Children'sHomes in North Carolina.Dr. Peacock was born Feb.

1918, in Tucson, Arizona. Hetended public schools inville, Calif., Mars Hill College inNorth Carolina, University oflCalifornia at Berkeley, Calif., andreceived his B. A. degree fromHardin-Simmons University,lene, Tex., in 1938.In 1944 Dr. Peacock received

his Th. M. degree at the South-ern Baptist Seminary, Louisville,Ky., and his Th. D. degree therein 1949. From 1951'until 1954 Dr.Peacock studied at the University'of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.Dr. Peacock served as pastor

of churches in Kentucky from1941 until 1945, when he begantwo years service as an Armychaplain. From 1947 until 1950 hewas on the faculty of SouthernBaptist Seminary at Louisvilleand from 1950 until 1955 he wasprofessor of New Testament atthe Baptist Theological Seminaryat Zurich, Switzerland. He con-tinued his work at Louisville withthe seminary as associate

of New Testament.