Albert Cook Outler

Albert Cook Outler (1908-1989) A Centenary Exhibit at Bridwell Library
	From his birth in 1908 until his death in 1989, Albert Outler lived within the boundaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, The Methodist Church, and the United Methodist Church. He pastored churches and taught at Duke and Yale before becoming professor of theology at Perkins School of Theology in 1951. Outler served as a spokesperson not only for the church but also to the church as a “free and loyal Methodist,” just as his preacher father had done, “free in a tight, connectional system, loyal to the system, and yet independent of its power to repress.” He saw his father as a true and “genuine reformer,” both in the church and in the communities he served, and he came to appreciate this interesting mixture of theological conservatism and social vision and activism. Outler saw his ministry as an attempt, not only to improve and reform the church he loved, but to educate and reform those who served the church as pastor, preacher, liturgist, counselor, and leader. In Outler’s ministry to the church, the academy, the scholarly, religious, and secular communities, he wore many hats, usually several at the same time. He attempted to reform the church and enlighten its pastors and, if needed, called both to task with suggestions for improvement in the Wesleyan Spirit.Albert Cook Outler lived on the cutting edge. He was an innovator, rebel, dreamer and reformer, with visions for the future. By looking at the failures of the past and present, he could offer advice toward the fulfillment of his dreams. He said about his coming to Perkins in 1951 that “Merrimon [Cuninggim] came from the west coast and I from New Haven, and we met here at Perkins in 1951 to start what was to become the ‘new Perkins.’” Illustration by Bruce Sayre
Audio clips:
Excerpts from “Oral Memoirs of Albert Cook Outler,” Program for Oral History, Baylor University, interview by H. Wayne Pipkin, June 13, 1974. Childhood and Early Education Education at Yale Life at Duke To Yale to Teach 1945 To SMU and Perkins 1951	Excerpts from “Visions and Dreams: A Sermon for the Uniting Conference of the United Methodist Church,” Dallas, TX, 1968. The topic is what “The church for tomorrow must be.” Outler is dictating his sermon to be transcribed for delivery. Excerpts from his lecture on the “Methodist Reformation,” Gray lectures, no. 1, Duke Divinity School, November 7, 1983.
Many of Albert Outler's papers and publications are housed in Bridwell Library "Albert Cook Outler: Methodist Reformer in the Wesleyan Spirit. A Centenary Exhibit" may be viewed in the entry hall of Bridwell Library November 2007-May 2008. Curated by the Rev. Page Thomas