Born: Kansas City, Missouri, October 2, 1869.
Died: El Centro, California, March 13, 1945.

Burris A. Jenkins was born in Kansas City, Missouri, October 2, 1869. Was educated in the public schools of Kansas City, and graduated from Bethany College, West Virginia, with a degree of A.B, 1891; spent two years in Yale Seminary, and two in the Harvard Divinity School, taking from the latter the degrees of B.D. 1895 and A.M. 1896. He was pastor of the Third Christian church, Indianapolis, Indiana, from ‘96 to ‘98; president of the University of Indianapolis 1898 to 1900. He was pastor of the Richmond Avenue Christian church of Buffalo, New York, 1900 to 1901; president of the Kentucky University 1901 to 1906; and pastor of the Linwood Boulevard Christian church, Kansas City, from 1907 to the present time.

In all these positions Dr. Jenkins has shown marked ability; but his greatest success has been at the church he now serves. The completion of the splendid edifice where the church meets was itself a great achievement, but a far greater work is going on all the time under the leadership of Dr. Jenkins, viz., the filling of this house with worshipers and children studying the Scriptures in the great Bible school. The church membership has now reached about 1,500, while the Bible school numbers have reached nearly 1,000.

Dr. Jenkins' health has recently been somewhat precarious, but he seems to be growing stronger. He is a hard student, and his sermons are generally fresh and able. If we judge the ministry of Dr. Jenkins by its fruit, his great church on Linwood Ave. makes favorable answer. Can a man be a fine preacher and at the same time not be much of a theologian? It is highly probable that the most successful and popular preachers among the Disciples are not theologians at all. Dr. Jenkins would probably be classed with the preachers who gave little attention to a cut and dried theology. He does his own thinking regardless of what others may think about him. But the measure of his power is his success in the ministry.

Dr. Jenkins' martial spirit impels him to leave his great church for a time and seek service beyond the seas. He went to Europe last year, under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A., for work among the soldiers, returning in time to attend the General Convention at Kansas City in October. Outside of the convention program he delivered a series of remarkable lectures on his experiences in Y. M. C. A. work among the soldiers in France. He has now resumed his work at his church in Kansas City.