Abstract
The news that we have received this week seems to be bad. Our friend has been snatched from us. He, who was so vigorous and energetic, has vanished from our midst. Taken in isolation, the death of Tom Smith is an unhappy event. But taken in the context of his whole life, it provides us with occasion for thanksgiving. The news that we share with each other today is good news. It is the news of a man who has finished the race and obtained the prize. Warren Thomas Smith was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1923. His boyhood and youth were spent in Maryville, Tennessee. He was educated at Maryville College, Ohio Wesleyan University (B.A., 1945), the Candler School of Theology (B.D., 1948), and Boston University (Ph.D., 1953). In 1958 he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Lincoln Memorial University. In 1947 he became a deacon, and in 1949 an elder of the Methodist Church. He served as associate minister at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. He was pastor of Sharp Memorial United Methodist Church, Young Harris, Georgia, and of Trinity United Methodist Church, Atlanta. In 1960 he moved to Nashville where he served for four years as Director of Ministerial Recruitment for the General Board of Education. On his return to Georgia he was pastor of Young Harris Memorial United Methodist Church, Athens, of North Decatur United Methodist Church, and then from 1968 until 1974 of this First United Methodist Church, College Park. From 1974 he served at the Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, where he was Professor of Church History. He was a devoted son of the United Methodist Church, and the North Georgia Conference made good use of his expertise in history.