1993 T. B. Maston Christian Ethics Award to A. Jase Jones

The Trustees of the T. B. Maston Scholarship Foundation Present the T. B. Maston Christian Ethics Award to Dr. A. Jase Jones

True believer in Dr. T. B. Maston's lifelong conviction that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20);

Loyal supporter of the cause of Christian ethics for which Dr. Maston gave his life;

Faithful steward of Dr. Maston's teachings, both by precept and example;

Patient workman in the cause of applied Christianity on which Dr. Maston's lifelong energies were focused; and

Consistent practitioner of Dr. Maston's special biblical watchword, "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." (1 John 2:6)

Dallas, Texas
November 4, 1993

Response by A. Jase Jones

I begin this evening by expressing appreciation to many people who have made and are making the T. B. Maston Scholarship Foundation a living reality. This has been a cooperative endeavor form the first, with a great number having participated.

First, there is Vivian, who has been my companion for fifty-five years and who, besides having made her own distinctive contribution to the betterment of this world, has been totally supportive of the Maston Foundation, both morally and financially, and of my efforts on its behalf.

Then, there is Weston Ware, who heeded God's call to assume the chairmanship of trustees of the Maston Foundation, and is providing strong and creative leadership in this position. He has done a remarkable job in making this evening such a beautiful occasion.

The Maston Foundation has been blessed by having trustees of high character and extraordinary ability. To all of them I express my deep appreciation. Their names are on the Foundation's new brochure, except for two of the original trustees no longer serving, Charlotte Ware and Carolyn Strickland. The Foundation is deeply indebted to these two for their unfailing presence at board meetings and their active and knowledgeable participation in all deliberations and decisions.

I thank the Trustees for naming me as a recipient of the Maston Christian Ethics Award, which they did, by the way, at a meeting I was unable to attend.

Two who served with me as co-chairmen of the original Development Committee are, first, Bob Adams, until he returned to the mission field, and Keith Wills, who succeeded him. These two spent a great deal of time and effective effort on behalf of the Foundation.

There is a special feeling of gratitude toward three trustees who served with me on the Executive Committee for a number of years, Browning Ware, Hal Haralson, and Marvin Griffin. They always responded positively to any announced committee meetings and spent countless hours in doing the work of the Maston Foundation.

I read my remarks tonight for the simple reason that for me, as for many preachers, the scent of a rabbit is almost irresistible, and a written text helps to keep me on the main trail. That statement opens the door for me to tell of an incident that occurred in the summer session at Southwestern Seminary in 1946. I was in Dr. Walter T. Conner's class in Johannine Theology, which met in a classroom on the ground floor in the northwest corner of Cowden Hall. Dr. W. W. Barnes was teaching a church history class across the hall. Many of you will remember that he had a reputation, deserved or not, for chasing rabbits in his lectures.

These classes met at 7:00 A.M., which was an unearthly hour for some people, I suppose. For me, however, who had recently returned from World War II, and with memories still fresh in my mind of dodging enemy fire during the Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg, nothing in civilian life could be anything other than heavenly.

In this class, early one morning, we heard the sound of dogs barking in the distance. Soon we saw one dog being chased by several dogs, all barking loudly and frantically. As they got close to Cowden Hall, the "chasee" saw an open door and bolted down the steps and into the hallway between the two classrooms. The other dogs followed him down the hall, yelping ferociously. Finally, when the noise had died away, Dr. Conner said, in his usual solemn and deliberate manner, "Must have been chasing one of Dr. Barnes' rabbits."

I want to give here an account of some of the important events in the life of the Maston Foundation. The Foundation's beginning can be traced to a night just before Christmas of 1975, when Vivian and I stopped for a short visit with Dr. and Mrs. Maston and Tom Mc. On that occasion, I asked Dr. Maston if anyone was writing the story of his life and work, and he replied that he had given permission to Bill

Pinson to do that. He went on to say that a major difficulty in getting such books published was that they were not commercially profitable and must be subsidized. I told him that I felt sure that I could obtain the money and asked if he would mind my discussing the book with Dr. Pinson. With his permission, I was soon in contact with Bill, and it was agreed that he would begin working on the book and arranging with Broadman Press for its publication, and that I would proceed to arrange for the money.

We are indebted solely to Dr. Pinson for drawing up the structure of the book (to be entitled An Approach to Christian Ethics: The Lilfe, Contribution and Thought of T. B. Maston), enlisting the services of 23 people to write its chapters, and working out the publication arrangements with Broadman Press. The book was completed in 1978 and the manuscript placed in Broadman's hands. We (Pinson and I) committed ourselves to being responsible to provide Broadman Press with the sum of $7,000.00 to help defray the costs of the book, and Broadman, in turn, agreed to give us 4,000 copies of the book.

Mr. Frank Head, a Houston businessman and my brother-in-law, loaned us $7,500.00 ($500 went to Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary to pay for secretarial services needed in connection with the book's production) through one fo his banks, Nixon State Bank of Nixon, Texas. Only because the law required it, he suggested that five people sign the note. The signatories were Browning Ware, Jimmy Allen, Raymond Hankamer, Jase Jones, Bill Pinson, and Orba Lee Malone. Far more than enough money to pay off the loan soon came in to enable us to pay off the note before its due date, and, as well, to pay off a sizeable amount of miscellaneous "start-up" costs. We have gone on from there to build up an investment corpus of approximately $200,000.00, and to pay out many thousands of dollars in student scholarships and in sabbatical supplements to professors of Christian Ethics at Southwestern and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminaries.

In February, 1979, four people - Bill Pinson, Jimmy Allen, James Dunn, and Jase Jones - met for breakfast in the home of President and Mrs. Pinson of Golden Gate Baptist Seminary to make plans for the future of the Maston Fund. Two decisions came out of this meeting. One was to have a luncheon honoring Dr. and Mrs. Maston in Houston's Shamrock Hotel in conjunction with the 1979 meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. The second decision was to launch an effort to obtain contributions to the T. B. Maston Scholarship Fund (later to be called T. B. Maston Scholarship Foundation) from Southwestern Seminary alumni, the earnings from which would be used to provide scholarships for students majoring in Christian ethics. The first public announcement of this effort was made at the Shamrock luncheon.

(Continued)