Gordon Payzant Barss

Gordon Payzant Barss (1885–1969) was a Canadian Baptist missionary who served in India from 1910 to 1945 through the Canadian Baptist Ministries.[5]

The Reverend Gordon Payzant Barss CBM
Born	Gordon Payzant Barss February 10, 1885[1] Dartmouth, Nova Scotia [1]
Died	1969 [2] Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Citizenship	Canadian
Education	B.A.[3] (1906),[4] B.D.[1] (1910)[1]
Alma mater	Acadia University, Wolfville (Canada), Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester (United States of America)[1]
Occupation	Ecclesiastical Administrator and Pastor
Years active	1910[5]-1945 in India
Religion	Christianity
Church	Canadian Baptist Ministries
Writings	1910, The teacher come from God. The teachings of Jesus according to the Gospels[6] 1946, African Churches in Nova Scotia,[7]
Offices held	Principal, Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada (India), (1939-1945)[8]
Title	The Reverend

Early life and studies

Payzant Barss was born in Dartmouth (Canada) and pursued a postgraduate course at the Acadia University during 1903-1904. Barss later pursued theological studies leading to Bachelor of Divinity at the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester (United States of America) in 1910, the same year he married Lena Helene Feistel (1883–1973).[2]

Ecclesiastical career

Barss came to India in 1910 as a missionary of the Canadian Baptist Ministries and served in Tekkali[9] and other northern coastal regions along the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh till 1945. Barss became Principal of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada in 1939 taking over from J. B. McLaurin[10] and led the Seminary for six consecutive academic years until 1945 following which the Seminary Council of the Baptist Theological Seminary appointed Archibald Gordon to succeed him. Barss died in 1969 and is interred in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.[2]

Honours

In 1935, the Acadia University, conferred a Doctor of Divinity by Honoris Causa upon Gordon P. Barss.[11]

References

1. Rochester Theological Seminary general catalogue 1850 to 1910, p.213
2. Gordon Payzant Barss at Find a Grave
3. Calendar of the Acadia University 1903-1904, McAlpine Publishing Company, Halifax, 1903, p.66.
4. Calendar of the Acadia University 1906-1907, News Publishing Company, Truro, 1906.
5. W. G. Carder, Hand to the Indian Plow: Volume One, Carder, Hyderabad, 1976, Appendix II, p.5.
6. Gordon P. Barss, The teacher come from God. The teachings of Jesus according to the Gospels, Rochester Theological Seminary, Rochester, 1910.
7. Gordon P. Barss, African Churches in Nova Scotia in The Maritime Baptist, January 16, 1946, p.3. Cited in Robin W. Winks, The Blacks in Canada: A History, McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997, Montreal, p.350.
8. C. L. Johnson (Edited), Canadian Baptist Mission 125 year's Jubilee Celebrations of Baptist Churches in Northern Circars, Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada, 1999, p.217-219.
9. Colgate-Rochester Divinity School Bulletin, Volumes 6-7, Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, 1933, p.335.
10. Indian Church History Review, Volume 13, Church History Association of India, 1979, p.76.
11. John Castell Hopkins, The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, Annual Review Publishing Company, 1939, p.430.