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Mims Receives Distinguished Alumni Award
May 19, 2010
The Alumni Association of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary awarded the John Benjamin Bedenbaugh Award for Distinguished Pastoral Leadership to the Rev. Dr. Bill Mims on May 13, 2010 at its annual Alumni Day Luncheon.
Mims is currently the Book of Faith Advocate for the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and an adjunct professor at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina. He has served as pastor to five Lutheran congregations in the Carolinas, conference dean in both the North Carolina and South Carolina synods, and has served on the board, including as President of the Board, of Lutheridge-Lutherock Ministries in Arden, North Carolina.
Mims received his Master of Divinity degree from the seminary in 1972. He also holds an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Doctorate in Ministry from Union Theological Seminary, New York, New York.
The Bedenbaugh Award is given annually to a distinguished graduate of the seminary who has encouraged bold congregational witness and has offered exemplary service to the church at large. The award bears the name of the late Rev. Dr. John Benjamin Bedenbaugh, who was a professor and alumnus of the seminary.
In recognition of this award, Mims was presented with the Bedenbaugh honorary stole, given each year to the award's recipient, and a certificate commemorating the award. In attendance were Bedenbaugh's family, Mims' family, as well as nearly two hundred seminary alumni spanning over 60 years of service as public ministers.
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, located in Columbia, South Carolina, is one of eight seminaries of the ELCA. Founded in 1830, the seminary seeks to teach, form, and nurture women and men for public ministry and Christian leadership.
