Dr. Barclay M. Newman Jr.

1931 - 2020

Dr. Barclay M. Newman, Jr.

Springfield, MO - Dr. Barclay Moon Newman, Jr., 89, of Springfield, Missouri passed away on December 7, 2020. Barclay was born to Lillie Mae Whitman Newman and Barclay M. Newman, Sr. in Princeton, West Virginia on February 22, 1931.

After spending his very early years in New York, his mother moved to Greenwood, Mississippi where Barclay attended grade schools. He attended high school in Memphis, TN. Barclay felt a call to Christian service, he enrolled at Union University where he completed four years.

Barclay was married to Jean Butler. The late summer of 1953 took them to Southern Baptist Seminary. He pastored churches in Tennessee. He earned his BD and PhD degrees from Southern Baptist Seminary.

Barclay's first academic employment was his appointment as professor of N.T. and Greek at William Jewell College. While teaching at Jewell, he was commissioned to write a Greek/English Dictionary by the American Bible Society. After six years at William Jewell, Barclay resigned from there to accept a full time position with ABS. The family moved overseas and lived in the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and West Malaysia. Barclay's responsibilities as a United Bible Society Translation Consultant took him to Asian countries where he was in charge of Bible translation projects. He traveled extensively in Asia, Europe, Africa and S. America.

Returning to the States in 1977, he completed his assignment as one of the translators of the Good News Bible.

He authored articles pertaining to Bible translation and was credited with writing a number of Handbooks to be used by translators and ministers.

His greatest achievement, and the one that brought him so much joy was the translation of the Contemporary English Version of the Bible, which was published in 1995 by ABS.

In 1992, Barclay received the Outstanding Achievement Award from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee and in 1996 he received that same award from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

After Barclay retired from the American Bible Society/United Bible Societies in July 2005, the German Bible Society commissioned him to compile an "On-Page" Greek Dictionary. He began this project in late 2006 and completed it in 2010. The GBS then asked him to revise the Concise English-Greek Dictionary he had prepared in 1966.

Barclay was preceded in death by his father, Barclay and his mother, Lillie Mae Whitman. He is survived by his wife Jean, daughters Tina, Dana and Husband Bob Baldwin, granddaughters Christie/Chris, Malea, Andrea and 6 great grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held at University Heights Baptist Church at a later date.

The family requests that donations be directed to ABS and/or University Heights Baptist Church.