Dr. Wayne Conrad Tyner

Dr. Wayne C. Tyner was born and grew to young adulthood in the Oak Grove Community of Robeson County. At the age of 10, he made a profession of faith in Christ and was baptized into the membership of the Oak Grove Baptist Church. Here, at the age of 20, he was licensed to preach. The Raft Swamp Baptist Church ordained him to the ministry on December 14, 1952.
The youngest of eight sons born to Sandy Tyner and Lora Prevatte Tyner, he married Elizabeth Odom on Nov. 22, 1950. Two children were born to this union: Lois Tyner Proctor and Phillip. There are also two grandsons, Jonathan and Matthew Proctor, and four great-grandchildren: Neveah and Connor Proctor and Ayden and Silas Proctor.
Committed to education both for himself and others, Dr. Tyner received his elementary and high school training at Philadelphus School near Red Springs where he completed the high school course of study in three years. He received the Associate of Arts Degree from Campbell (College) University in 1948 and the Bachelor of Arts Degree magna cum laude from Carson-Newman (College) University in 1950. He also held the Master of Divinity Degree (1955) and the Master of Theology Degree (1957) from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. At age 37 he entered graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned the Master of Arts Degree (1968) and the Doctor of Philosophy Degree (1971) in history and religion.
Devoted to the small rural church, during his seminary years, he served the Saddle Tree Baptist Church (1953-1955) and at the same time, began his pastorate at the Proctorville Baptist Church (1953-1960). From 1960 through 1963, he was pastor of the Judson Baptist Church, Fayetteville, and from there went to become pastor of the Fair Bluff Baptist Church (1963-1967). In 1967, he and his family moved to Wake County where in subsequent years, he served as interim pastor of several churches in the Raleigh area as well as in Watauga County where he and Elizabeth spent most of their summers.
Dr. Tyner's interest in education expressed itself through what he believed to be a ministry through teaching. He was a teacher and principal in Bladen County, was a teaching fellow at Southeastern Seminary, and taught in and was director of seminary extension centers in Lumberton and Fayetteville. While serving in his Fayetteville pastorate, for a year, he also drove back and forth to Buies Creek six days a week and taught in the Religion Department at Campbell (College) University. Soon after this, he began his graduate work at UNC Chapel Hill to better prepare for the teaching ministry.
His publications included "Are Churches Meeting Their Responsibility to Teach?" (an article received favorably throughout the South with comments from as far away as Baylor University), The Theology of Timothy Dwight in Historical Perspective (his doctoral dissertation a part of which was published by the Connecticut Historical Society), "Charles Colcock Jones' Mission to Slaves" (an examination of Presbyterian work among slaves in the Ante-Bellum South published by The Journal of Presbyterian History), "Why the Liberal Arts?" (coauthored for the Peace College Bulletin), Robesonian Extraordinaire (an autobiography and collection of his sermons, 2004), The Renewal of the Mind (published by Trafford Publishing, British Columbia, 2006). His "Methodist Plantation Missions and Religious Literature for Slaves" is held in the Archives of the United Methodist Church to be available to scholars doing research in this field. One of his earliest works originally written and presented in a class at Southeastern Baptist Seminary in 1956, Dr. I. P. Hedgpeth: Dean of Robeson County Ministers, was published in part without his permission. His latest bound volumes include Biographical Sketches (2007). (This includes biographies of his parents, his wife Elizabeth's parents, his own autobiography, and his wife Elizabeth's biography.), Sermons, and Miscellaneous Essays.
Although by most people in Robeson County, he is remembered as a minister, Dr.Tyner was a professional historian/political scientist. At Peace College (William Peace University) he served for years as Chairman of the Division of History, Religion, and Social Sciences. During his twenty-five-year tenure at Peace, he taught American History, Western Civilization, American Government, Public Policy Analysis, and Introduction to Public Administration. The political science courses were taught in alternate semesters. As plans were being made for the 1989-1990 academic year, there was a need for someone to teach one section of a religion course. So in an Academic Affairs Committee meeting a fellow division chairman said, "Let's let Wayne do it; we know him." The Dean, who knew of Wayne's plans to retire, responded; "Let's not kill him the last year he is here!"
As a professional historian, during his teaching career, Dr. Tyner was an active member of the American Historical Association, the Southern Historical Association, and the Society of Early American Historians. His participation in these organizations took him repeatedly to Washington, D.C., Williamsburg, Memphis, and Appalachian State University at Boone.
During his career, Dr. Tyner was honored in various ways. Upon graduation from high school, he received the Outstanding Citizenship Award. As a freshman at Campbell College (University), he won the Religion Award for Achieving the highest average in the Religion Department and the same year was admitted to life membership in the Epsilon Pi Eta Honor Society. His bachelor's degree from Carson-Newman (College) University was awarded magna cum laude. First listed in Outstanding Educators of America in 1971, he was also the first person to hold the endowed position of "Alumnae Professor" at Peace College (William Peace University) a position he held until his retirement. At graduation exercises in 1990, he received the McCormick Distinguished Teaching Award.
Dr. Tyner and his wife Elizabeth returned to Lumberton in 1998 where for twelve years he taught the Men and Women's Bible Class at the First Baptist Church. Shortly before he retired from this position, the class hung a portrait of him in the classroom. His teaching was so arranged that he could teach the class and drive to churches to preach at eleven o'clock. Thus after returning to Robeson, he served as supply/interim pastor of more than twenty-five including Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches.
The family will hold a service for Dr. Tyner at 2:00 pm, on Sunday, July 14, 2024 at First Baptist Church in Lumberton, followed by a private burial on Monday.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Peace University Tyner Scholarship Fund, in Raleigh, NC.
Services entrusted to Boles-Biggs Funeral Home in Lumberton.