>Photo: Francis M. DuBose

One of my seminary professors, Dr. Francis M. DuBose, a pioneer in Urban Missions, died recently. Below is DuBose’s death notice published in the Fall issue of Gateway, the magazine for alumni and friends of Golden Date Seminary:

Francis M. DuBose, retired professor of missions and former director of urban church studies at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, died at his home in San Francisco of age-related natural causes, on Saturday, June 20, 2009.

“Dr. DuBose changed the way Golden Gate viewed its mission as an urban seminary and was
a pioneer in leading Southern Baptists to embrace ministry in the city,” said Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary President Jeff Iorg. “We thank God for his legacy.”

“Francis DuBose put Golden Gate Seminary on the map as far as global and urban missions were concerned,” said Dr. Rick Durst, Director of Golden Gate Seminary’s eCampus and Professor of Historical Theology. “Dr. DuBose has left us a legacy in his published works, How Churches Grow in an Urban World, The God Who Sends, and Classics of Christian Mission.”

Durst described how in 1974 DuBose initiated an annual Urban Training Event, which was held annually for over 25 years. “For four days, pastors, directors of missions, and students assembled under his mentorship to use San Francisco and Oakland as a living lab for learning how to reach cities for the gospel in the midst of their complexities of ethnic diversity, economic crises, and moral challenges.”

“Dr. DuBose lived a genuine passion for the city, especially the city of San Francisco,” said William O. Crews, President Emeritus of Golden Gate Seminary. “I will always remember being moved deeply when he would quote poetry he had written about the city. From a personal standpoint, Francis was an encourager to me in my role as President. I will always be grateful for his contribution to the Seminary and to my own life.”

“Golden Gate Seminary has been known as a distinctively ‘missions’ seminary,” said Dwight Honeycutt, retired William A. Carleton Professor of Church History at Golden Gate Seminary. “That is a large part of Francis DuBose’s legacy. Within the collegiality of faculty circles, Francis kept the missionary vision before us. Not one to simply theorize about missions, his whole life was engaged with people who needed the kind of witness that Francis was always ready to provide. His was an amazingly wonderful, inspiring and productive life.”

DuBose, known as “The Shepherd of the City,” joined the faculty of Golden Gate Seminary in 1966. In 1971, he became professor of missions and director of urban church studies. In 1979, he was appointed director of the World Mission Center (now The David and Faith Kim School of Global Missions). He was elected senior professor of missions in 1992 in honor of his official retirement, and continued to teach in the early 1990s.

Dr. Linda Bergquist, church planting missionary with the California Southern Baptist Convention and North American Mission Board, as well as an adjunct professor at Golden Gate Seminary, recalled that Dr. and Mrs. DuBose volunteered for almost 40 years at the Page Street Baptist Center in San Francisco. “Everything they did, they did together,” she noted. “They are both our heroes!

“Francis and Dorothy DuBose chose the city. They made it their home, and they gave it their lives,” Bergquist explained. “They were fully engaged, activistic San Franciscans who, even in retirement, chose to live near the ministry center they loved and ministered with for 40 years.”

Dr. DuBose was a great professor and a great visionary. I attended his classes in urban missions and learned much from him about ministering in the city. Dr. DuBose was a great encourager and he provided me with the inspiration I needed to continue my ministry in San Francisco.

At the time I was in seminary, I began a ministry among the Brazilians and Portuguese in the Bay Area. My ministry was focused on the Portuguese speaking community that lived in Oakland and San Francisco, the two cities which became Dubose’s living lab.

When I arrived in San Francisco, there was no organized Baptist work among the Brazilians and Portuguese. I remember talking with Dr. DuBose on how to go about beginning a brand-new work in the city and he graciously gave me many ideas that served as the foundation for my work. When I left California, there was an organized Brazilian Baptist church in San Francisco where many Brazilians came to study the Bible and worship the Lord.

Many years ago, another seminary professor, in a different context, asked his class: “Can the city be saved?” Dr. DuBose would have no problem in answering that question in the affirmative.

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. They will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them” (Revelation 14:13).

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

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