The Rev. Richard Smith Announces Retirement.

My absolute FAVORITE seminary professor. A godly man and an excellent teacher.

Here is the email I received from the U of the South. I had no idea his first name is Albert.

The Rev. Albert Richard Smith Announces Retirement from The School of Theology

Sewanee, Tenn.—The Rev. Albert Richard Smith, lecturer in Greek and pastoral theology, announced his plans to retire at the end of this academic year. Smith received his M.A. and advanced graduate education at Vanderbilt University, building on an earlier B.A. earned there, and his M.Div. from Wittenberg University. Both prepared him well for the pastorate and the academy. Smith began his ministry at the School of Theology in 1986 as lecturer in Greek, while he remained pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Tullahoma. He retired from Trinity in 1993, where he had served for 40 years. That opened the way to even fuller involvement at the School, where besides teaching Greek with his unparalleled combination of linguistic clarity and loving care of students, he taught courses in pastoral theology, including service as interim professor of pastoral theology. For years he served in essence as a full-time faculty member, contributing to students’ and the faculty’s common work and life in countless ways. Smith's formation as a Lutheran pastor enriched the ecumenical character of the School without diluting its Anglican identity.

The Very Rev. William S. Stafford, Dean of the School of Theology, sums it up, "I thank God for the gift of Richard Smith to the world, the church, and the countless graduates of this School who are better priests, lay leaders, and Christians because of him."

Sewanee: The University of the South, comprises a nationally recognized College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a distinguished School of Theology serving the Episcopal Church. Located on 13,000 acres atop Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau, Sewanee enrolls 1,500 undergraduates and approximately 100 seminarians in master’s and doctoral programs annually. Sewanee is owned by 28 Episcopal dioceses, the only university so directly related to the Episcopal Church. For more information visit www.theology.sewanee.edu.