LIBRARY DEDICATION John M. Buchanan
J. Harry Cotton Library Broad Street Presbyterian Church
June 1, 1975 Columbus, GChio

The facility that has been constructed over the past several months,
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and which we dedicate this morning will become an important part of the

witness ami mission of Broad Street Presbyterian churen | On behalf of the

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congregation, and on behalf of members of the congregation in the years
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ahead, I wish to express profound gratitude to those whose vision and
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generosity have made possible this new resource.
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Among many other images of the Church, one which strikes me as essential

is that of a theological seminary, a center of intellectual stimulation, a

place where ideas are alive and* where the idea_of God is placed in regular

dialogue with other iseas.| I am partial to the image of the church as the

place where people are equipped to be Christians in the world: \ and L£ that

image has merit, it is only insofar as the Church provides the stimulation
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and the resources to help people think theologically about their lives, their
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relationships, their reles in the world, and the entire gweep of- history.
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Elton Trueblood has this to say about the subject: { "In the effort to
previde members of the Church with assistance in the fiefce struggle in
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which they are necessarily involved as Christians, (books) are of inestimable
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vase.| Good as the spoken word may be, the printed word is better."
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That is why the dedication of a new Library is an event of major
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significance in the life of iis church. | The library is the place where

you may go for information: | for inspiration: {for stimulation:[it is also -
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happily - a place where you may sit quietly and do the important work of
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relaxing and thinking and reflecting,
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The other reason this evept is so significant is that it has given

us the opportunity of honoring a man whose life has meant a great deal to
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is congre ation, to e United Presbyterian Churc , an o e entire

universal» Church of Jesus carist | When plans for the library were in

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process the Session of this Church adopted a resolution naming the new
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facility the J. Harry Cotton Library - with Dr. Cotton's consene{ "in
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gratitude fer Dr. Cotton's long and successful ministry at Broad Street

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Presbyterian Church and his life of scholarly contribution to the United

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Presbyterian Church and its educational institutions." |

it is a particular joy to welcome Dr, and Mrs, Cotton this morning,
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For me it is a very special privilege that I have coveted and am enjoying
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thoroughly | tox one thing, Dr. Cotton was younger that I am when he became

Senior Minister of this Church.) On occasion, when I have visited in this
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parish, some persons - not unkindly - have remarked on my relative youth.
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Ordinarily that comment leaves me without much to say in response:| the

alternatives are few indeed .\ Until, that is, fF dascovered that I am fully

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seven years older than Dr. Cotton was when he assumed the Broad Street Pulpit.
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The matter is ordinarily ended when I reveal that information. \ although
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— confess that I should not argue were someone to take up the gaunttet

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and retort: \"Well, they certainly don't make them the way they used to."

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In one of our many correspondences prior to this day he remarked
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that we shouldn't%make too much of this affair." fYou have read about his life
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in the Broadstreeter.\ He came to this Church as pastgr in 1928 from the College
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of Wooster, where he was teaching phitosophy.| A graduate of Wooster and
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Princeton Theological Seminary, he was awarded the Ph. D. degree in philosophy

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from Princeton University,| While at Broad Street he serwed the larger eburch

in 9 way, that would be repeated throughout his professional life | He left

as & lecluser Gd sea ver AL qrean| a eeu ad

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Broad Street to become President of McCormick Theological Seminary, in

1940. \in the years which followed he taught at several cotleges and

universities, among them Harvard Divinity School,
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The importance of his life is that he exhibited that rare capacity

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to bea "a man for all seasons," [s scholar with intellectual precision:

but a pastor with warmth of near [a man at home in the world of baoks
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and theses and academic Prsor We was algo more thai at home baptizing

an infant, or praying for the sick or counseling with the distraught:

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a teacher in the era When Karl Barth and Paul Bidbiek forever altered
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the theological landscape, Harry Cotton could moderate a Session meeting,
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and guide a Stewardship Committee,

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Our paths crossed briefly, but I
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quick y_ perceive something very special and va uable in this vene e

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Professor of Philisophy at Wabash College, whe seemed to enjoy frtehy £11 \

the pulpit in small, rural Indiana churches.

More needs to be said than time allows this norning. \ Harry Cotton
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expressed the rare combination of scholar and humble Christian in a

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sermon which he preached in this Church several years az0,("... in this

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world our faith can live and breathe.) There is more in this Christian
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Faith - oh, much, much more than anything you or [ have yet discovered
or imagined." |

What we do this morning recognize$ our dependence today on history ™
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and those who have walked before us. |x honors one person whose con-
tribution to what this Church is and has been and will be, was_inmense.

But in the highest sense - it honors the Lord he served and continues to serve.
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Will you join me now in prayer as we dedicate the J. Harry Cotton Library
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to the Glory of God -

Let us pray -

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