Rev. Dr. Gordon Thompson
Thompson, who was known for his faithful service as a Methodist minister, professor of theology, and an author and pastoral counselor, died on Aug. 21 at age 91.
A memorial service will be 2 p.m. Sunday at Marietta First United Methodist Church, with the Revs. Dr. Sam Matthews, Sam Storey Sr., Bishop Bevel Jones and former Georgia Supreme Court Justice Conely Ingram officiating.
Thompson led Marietta First United as pastor from 1957 to 1963. It was under his leadership that the church decided to move from Atlanta Street - where it had been located since 1899, where the Barnes law office parking lot now stands - to Whitlock Avenue. It purchased the land for the building in 1958. Coincidently, the land was once where the church's original Husk Street log church was located.
However, not everyone at the historic church wanted to move. Longtime members recalled the heart-wrenching issue being a delicate one for Thompson to navigate through as church leader.
Ingram was chairman of the church board at the time. Marietta First Methodist had about 1,800 members then and was growing considerably, he said.
"(Thompson) said, 'Let's think, pray and meet about it,'" Ingram recalled. "Finally, he said, 'Let's move to Whitlock.'"
Guy Northcutt Jr.'s family has attended Marietta First United since it was founded in 1833, a year before the town of Marietta was chartered. He remembered Thompson as a steady leader.
"He was a very low-key type of person," Northcutt said. "He was quiet, very polished and very highly regarded as an individual."
Former state Rep. Steve Tumlin, of Marietta, said his late father, Steve Tumlin Sr., was chairman of the church's board of stewards when Thompson arrived at Marietta First Methodist.
"He had a real passion for life," Tumlin said of Thompson. "He was a good pulpit preacher, very gentle with people and very much loved."
Ingram said he didn't know of any Marietta First United pastor who exceeded Thompson's influence. He said Thompson preached about the love of God and didn't focus as much in his preaching on sinning.
Thompson was born on May 29, 1918, in Athens to Mamie Venable and General Gordon Thompson Sr. He graduated from the University of Georgia and received a master's degree from Emory's Theological Seminary. In 1964, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from LaGrange College.
Thompson began preaching in 1942 as a pastor of the Walton Circuit of the North Georgia Methodist Conference. He served churches in Oxford, Dallas and East Atlanta.
While pastor at Marietta First United, Thompson was asked to join the faculty of Emory's Candler School of Theology to teach homiletics, the art of preaching. But it was a position Thompson was reluctant to accept because it meant leaving the pulpit.
Ingram recalled a moment when Thompson came to him and asked for his advice.
"He said, 'Conley, I've been offered an opportunity to join the faculty of Emory's School of Theology and don't know what to do.' I said, 'You must accept it because it's quite an honor to join the faculty of the theology school.'"
In 1963, Thompson was appointed the district superintendent of the Atlanta Emory District. Following his retirement from teaching for 22 years, he became pastor of Elizabeth Methodist Church in Marietta from 1989 to 1992. He later returned to Marietta First United as a pastoral counselor.
"It was such a privilege to know Dr. Thompson," Lillian Budd Darden said. "He was a brilliant man. He was focused on helping other people and was very modest."
Lillian and her husband, former Congressman Buddy Darden, have been members of Marietta First Methodist for 42 years. Her father, Dr. Warren Candler Budd, a longtime Methodist bishop, and Thompson were devoted friends and colleagues in the Methodist ministry. They were also two of the founders of the Wesley Woods Center in Atlanta, a specialty geriatric care component of Emory Healthcare, established in 1954.
Thompson authored three books in his lifetime, including "Living the Easter Faith, The Power of the Resurrection in the Modern World," which was published in 2004. He served on the board of trustees at Young Harris College and Wesleyan College in Macon, and sat on the Protestant Radio and Television Center board.
Thompson had an "ability to always see good in the people he met," said his oldest daughter, Dr. Martha Wagner, of Marietta.
Thompson is survived by two other daughters, Marie Keen, of St. Augustine, Fla., and Mary Coole, of Lilburn; eight grandchildren; four great-grandchildren and several nephews and nieces. His wife, Alice Marie Richardson Thompson, preceded him in death.
The family requests that donations be made in Thompson's name to one of the following: Wesley Woods Foundation for Budd Terrace, 1817 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30329; Young Harris College, P.O. Box 275, Young Harris, GA 30582; or to M.U.S.T. Ministries, P.O. Box 1717, Marietta, GA 30061. Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
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