Rev. Dr. J. Phillips Noble
Help us celebrate Rev. Dr. J. Phillips! Please share your stories and photos, and invite others who remember Rev. Dr. J. Phillips.
Dr. J. Phillips Noble
The Rev. Dr. James Phillips Noble, 100, died Saturday, March 12, 2022 at home in Decatur, Georgia. He was born on August 18, 1921, at Learned, Mississippi, the son of William Alexander Noble and Ida Pecquet Phillips Noble.
During his long and distinguished career in the Presbyterian (U.S.A.), Dr. Noble served the McDonough and Timberridge Presbyterian Churches in Georgia (1945-1947), the Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC (1947-1956), the First Presbyterian Church in Anniston, Alabama (1956-1971), and First (Scots) Presbyterian Church in Charleston, SC (1972-1982), where he was also made Pastor Emeritus.
He completed his career as Executive Secretary of the Board of Annuities and Relief of the Presbyterian Church, U.S., and as Co-President of the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. (1982-1989).
He offered key leadership on many committees and commissions at the Presbytery and Synod level. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Columbia Theological Seminary for 26 years and was the board's chair for five years. After retirement in 1989, he served as Pastor to Pastors in the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta (1992-1996).
He attended public schools in Learned, Mississippi, graduated cum laude with a B.A. degree from King College in Bristol, Tennessee, in 1943, and completed a Master of Divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, in 1945.
During his seminary years he met Betty Pope Scott Noble (Popesy), the great-great-granddaughter of Agnes Irvine Scott for whom Agnes Scott College is named. They were married September 4, 1945 and began their life of shared ministry.
While in Anniston, a beautiful new church building was erected. During these years Dr. Noble was very involved in the Civil Rights Movement, and chaired a city-appointed Biracial Human Relations Council that successfully led the integration movement in the city. President John F. Kennedy lauded the council and its work as a "model" for other Southern cities. These years were very turbulent in the South and Dr. Noble and his wife bravely took on the role, in spite of the ever-present risks and dangers, because they felt it was "the right" thing to do. Only years later did he find out about the Ku Klux Klan plans to kill him and bomb his church. He had the dubious honor of being number one on the hit list for the Ku Klux Klan in northern Alabama. He checked his car every morning for a bomb. In 1961, Anniston was the site of the burning of the Freedom Riders' Bus, a major incident in the Civil Rights Movement. His first book, Beyond the Burning Bus: The Civil Rights Revolution in a Southern Town, 2003, NewSouth Books, tells the story of his involvement in Anniston.
In 1971, when Dr. Noble left Anniston, the City Council passed a special resolution written by Dr. Gordon A. Rodgers, a dentist who was the first African-American on the city's governing board. The resolution read: "All too seldom there comes to a community a man who in truth is a 'man for all seasons.' A man who serves the community in troubled times and in times secure. A man who was so often the bridge over troubled waters. A man who had the great faculty for bringing out the best in all of us. A man whose dedication to God and his fellow man knew no limits-even when faced with great personal tragedy. Such a man is the Reverend J. Phillips Noble. On behalf of a grateful city, we, the Anniston City Council, extend to him our sincerest thanks-and we wish him Godspeed in all his future endeavors." Passed and Adopted this 20th day of July, 1971.
Some years later, on November 22, 2013, an article in the Anniston Star referred to Dr. Noble's role in the Civil Rights Movement in these words, "...To many in Anniston and Calhoun County, his name is synonymous with courage and hope, change and the power of the human spirit to stand for what's right." Because of his role in the Civil Rights Movement, his outstanding work in his local congregation and also in the Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly, in 1971 he was awarded an honorary degree, Doctorate of Divinity, from Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College.
During the years in Anniston the Nobles experienced the loss of their youngest son, Milton Scott Noble ("Scott"), at age 13 to leukemia. This very painful experience resulted in Dr. Noble's book, Getting Beyond Tragedy: A Minister's Search for Answers to the 'Why, God?' Question Which Torments Grieving Families, 2005, New South Books.
From 1972-1982, Dr. Noble served as minister at historic First (Scots) Presbyterian Church, in Charleston, S.C. The church was founded in 1731, the year before George Washington was born. Being in Charleston and at First (Scots) gave him a deepened sense of history. While he was there, the church celebrated its 250th anniversary. He was later honored by being named Pastor Emeritus of First (Scots) Presbyterian Church.
Looking back over his life at age 92, he wrote and published the book, Words and Images that Seep into the Soul, 2013, Wipf and Stock Publishers, a collection of Noble's poems and favorite quotations from others. At age 97, his most recent book, Words That Stretch the Mind and Lift the Spirt, 2018, New South Books, was published. He leaves several unpublished books, Twenty Poems for Those Attaining Three Score and Ten Years by an Octogenarian (2005), with the most significant being his memoir, Led by a Gentle Providence: A Memoir (2004).
At the time of his 100th birthday, New South Books published a pamphlet entitled, "Reflections on My Journey: Turning 100," to honor him and his life dedicated to human kindness, compassion and social justice. The reflection was written in response to the question of how he ended up on the right side of history, growing up on a sharecropper farm in Mississippi. He writes that even at a very young age he had a sense something was wrong with a system that did not provide education and other opportunities for the children of sharecroppers he grew up playing with on the farm.
He is survived by a daughter, Dr. Betty Scott Noble of Decatur, Georgia, and a son, J. Phillips Noble Jr. (Nancy Madden), two grandchildren, James Phillips Noble, III, and Lizzie Madden Noble, all of Charleston, SC, and an informally adopted daughter, Jean Cleveland of Greenville, SC. He is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews and extended family.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Decatur Presbyterian Church, 205 Sycamore St., Decatur, GA, on Monday, April 11 at 3:00pm, followed by a reception. A private graveside service for family and close friends will be held at 2:00pm in Decatur Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Dr. James Phillips Noble Scholarship Fund at Columbia Theological Seminary, the Milton Scott Noble Scholarship Fund at Columbia Theological Seminary, the Youth and/or Mission Program at Decatur Presbyterian Church or the Betty Pope Scott Noble College Heritage Center at Agnes Scott College.
A full biographical obituary of Dr. Noble can be found on the website of the Decatur Presbyterian Church, http://www.dpchurch.org/remembering-dr-james-phillips-noble/, the website of A. S. Turner and Sons www.asturner.com, as well as the website for the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) https://www.pensions.org/.