Olin T. Binkley Collection of F. Calvin Parker Materials
F. Calvin Parker and his wife Harriet Hale Parker served as missionaries in Japan 1951-1989 under the auspices of the Southern Baptist Convention Foreign Mission Board. This collection includes materials from F. Calvin Parker's life, predominantly from his time as a Baptist missionary in Japan. Materials include notes, writings, manuscripts, awards, speeches, book reviews, and other items.
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Summary Information
- Repository
- Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives
- Title
- Olin T. Binkley Collection of F. Calvin Parker Materials
- Date
- 1902-2000, undated (inclusive)
- Extent
- 1.26 linear feet / 2 document boxes, 1 artifact box
- ID
- MS868
Biographical and Historical Note
F. Calvin Parker was born in 1926 in Florida. By age thirteen Rev. Parker, had decided upon Christian ministry as a profession. His studies at Carson-Newman College were interrupted in 1945, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Yale University for a Specialized Training Program in Japanese.
In 1947 he was ordained as a Southern Baptist minister and continued his education, earning a B.A. from Carson-Newman College (1948), a B. D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (1951), and a Th. M. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (1957), with additional studies at Harvard, Vanderbilt Divinity School and University of Tennessee.
From 1951 until 1989 he and his wife Harriet Hale Parker served as missionaries in Japan under the auspices of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. His assignments there included service as Field Evangelist, pastor of Shibuya Baptist church in Tokyo, editor of the JAPAN CHRISTIAN QUARTERLY, President of the Fellowship of Christian Missionaries to Japan and he served as a professor the Department of Theology at Seinan Gakuin University from 1980-1988.
Parker also wrote several books, including Jonathan Goble of Japan: Marine, Missionary, Maverick (1990), Icon and Outcast: The Life of Jonathan Goble (2007), Christ in a Kimono (2003), and The Good Book Is Better Than It Used to Be: Eighty Years with the Bible (2009). Upon his retirement to Mars Hill (NC), he and his wife became active members of Mars Hill Baptist Church where Parker continued his scholarly pursuits as teacher of Bible-study classes and writing eleven other books.
Sources:
- "Rev. Franklin Parker," Asheville Citizen-Times, 2010 December 24, http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/citizen-times/obituary.aspx?n=franklin-parker&pid=147367292
- Seat, Leroy, "A Tribute to F. Calvin Parker," The View from This Seat, 2010 December 30, https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2010/12/tribute-to-f-calvin-parker.html
Collection Overview
This collection documents the life and work of F. Calvin Parker, particularly his book writings and work as a missionary. The collection includes various writings, manuscripts, clippings, notes, book reviews, and personal awards and items.
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Finding aid prepared by Processed by John Hagerty with assistance from Stephanie Bennett, 2017 April
- Access Restrictions
- Collection is open for researchers.
- Copyright Notice
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
- Preferred Citation
- Olin T. Binkley Collection of F. Calvin Parker Materials (MS868), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.