A memorial service is planned for tomorrow (June 25) at 2:00 p.m. in Shelton Chapel on the Austin Seminary campus. The Reverend Dr. John Alsup, D Thomason Professor of New Testament Studies, The Reverend Dr. Ellis Nelson, research professor, Academic Dean Michael Jinkins, The Reverend Dr. Dick Junkin, and The Reverend Bill Clark, pastor of Westminster Church, Austin, will participate in the service. A reception for family and friends will immediately follow the service in the Vickery Atrium at the McCord Community Center.
Williams was one of the longest-serving members of the Austin Seminary faculty. He arrived in 1959 and served in every capacity: as professor, dean (1966-1976), acting president (1971-1972), and president and dean (1972-1976). Following his tenure as president he continued his work in the classroom for many years. Williams was also a frequent guest lecturer and visiting professor at The University of Texas at Austin, teaching in the areas of art, archeology, biblical studies, and the classics. Following his retirement from the Seminary in 1991, Williams continued to teach and advise at the Seminary as well as through programs in local congregations, Mo-Ranch, and The University of Texas’ lifelong learning program, LAMP.
A native of Detroit, Prescott Williams was baptized by Reinhold Niebuhr and brought up in the Scovel Church. He graduated with honors from Wheaton College then went on to earn an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and the Ph.D. in ancient Near Eastern languages, history, and archeology from Johns Hopkins University. Williams was ordained by the Presbytery of Detroit in 1950 and served as assistant pastor of Second Church of Baltimore, Md,, and pastor of Churchville Church and the Makemie Memorial Presbyterian Church in Maryland — the oldest Presbyterian congregation in the United States. He was a member of Palo Duro Presbytery.
Williams served as an exegetical consultant for Eugene Peterson’s plain English translation of the Bible, The Message.
An authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls, he penned numerous lectures and articles on what he considered the “unequalled importance of the Qumran literature.” During his career he was actively involved in biblical research and archaeology, serving as acting annual professor at the American School of Oriental Research in Jordan in 1964-65; advising the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and training Jordanian archaeologists in their work in Amman, Qumran, and Sabastiyah (biblical Samaria); and staffing archaeological expeditions to Schechem in Jordan in 1962, 1964, and 1966, which was believed to be the site of Abram’s first stop in Canaan and, at the time, the largest American archaeological expedition since World War II. In 1983-84 he spent a sabbatical year researching and teaching at the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan, on whose board he also served as a trustee and officer.
Under his leadership Austin Seminary began its Doctor of Ministry program, strengthened its cooperative relationship with the nearby Episcopal seminary, and received its first academic accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
But Williams may best be remembered for leading the Seminary through a comprehensive curriculum review in 1974. The story goes that after much deliberation among the faculty working on the project (55 meetings, by Prescott’s count), he locked them up in a Hill Country motel room vowing they wouldn’t come out until their work was complete. A bit extreme, perhaps, but the core of the resulting curriculum remained in place for more than thirty years.
Williams was known for his collegiality among the faculty and concern for his students. Andy Dearman, who taught Old Testament alongside Williams for many years, said, “Of all the teaching colleagues I have known at Austin Seminary, Prescott was the absolute best at assessing a student’s style of learning. … I have often thought that perhaps the reason is that Prescott was himself such a wonderful, eccentric individualist, that he could see the idiosyncrasies and patterns of association in others more clearly than the rest of us. When it came time to speak with a student struggling with Hebrew or showing signs of trouble in the exegetical task, I learned early on to follow one of two options: either I consulted Prescott for his advice, or better, I sent the student directly to Prescott for consultation.”
Williams is survived by his wife, Jane; their children, Scott, Andy, and Peggie, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorial contributions be sent to Austin Seminary.
