Gaius Glenn Atkins

Gaius Glenn Atkins (October 4, 1868 – April 5, 1956) was a Congregational minister, author, and a professor of homiletics at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City.

Early life and education He was born in Mount Carmel, Indiana to Thomas Benjamin Atkins and Caroline Morris. His father was a rural minister, and his first name was taken from the New Testament. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1888, and was a member of Beta Theta Pi and Phi Beta Kappa. He earned a bachelor of law degree from Cincinnati Law School in 1891, and graduated from Yale Divinity School in 1892. He received a D.D. degree from Dartmouth and an L.H.D. in 1923 from the University of Vermont. In 1933, he obtained his Litt.D. from Ohio State University.

Career Before entering the ministry, he was head of the history department at Mount Hermon School from 1892 to 1895. During this time, he was heavily influenced by the school's founder, Dwight L. Moody.

He was ordained as a Congregational minister in 1895. He served the following churches: Second Congregational Church, Greenfield, Massachusetts (1895–1900) First Congregational Church, Burlington, Vermont (1900–1906) First Congregational Church, Detroit, Michigan (1906–1910) Central Congregational Church, Providence, Rhode Island (1910 to 1917) First Congregational Church, Detroit, Michigan (1917–1927)

He was a professor of homiletics at Auburn Seminary from 1927 to his retirement in 1939. He also lectured at Union Theological Seminary.

During the First World War, he worked as a YMCA worker with soldiers in France and served as the American director of the Foyer du Soldat with the French Army. One sermon preached at Central Church in 1914 was entitled The Right and Wrong of Feminism. In 1942, he published History of American Congregationalism with Frederick W. Fagley.

In 1914, he was the winner of the Carnegie Church Peace Union prize for the best essay on international peace.

After retiring from teaching, Atkins lived with his wife in Marshfield, Massachusetts. the As of 1953, he was residing in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

He is buried with his wife in the Bellbrook Cemetery.

Publications

Pilgrims of the Lonely Road (1913) The Maze of the Nations and the Way Out (1915) The Godward Side of Life (1917) Jerusalem Past and Present: The City of Undying Memories (1918) Modern Religious Cults and Movements (1923) Religion In Our Times (1932) Master Sermons Of The Nineteenth Century (1940) History of American Congregationalism (1942)