Howard G. Hendricks

Early Life, Education and Family

“"For the next hour…” announces the smiling, take-charge professor, “I want twenty-five observations from Acts 1:8.” Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) alumni and students remember fondly that request from “Prof,” as they affectionately call the 5’7”, balding teacher of Bible Study Methods. A network stretching around the globe testifies to life-changing results from their time in the classroom of their beloved mentor.

Before his birth on April 5, 1924, his parents separated, so once he arrived, Howard G. Hendricks was placed in the Philadelphia home of his grandparents, Jake and Cora Hendricks. Their loss of a son years earlier had pressured his grandfather into an alcohol problem, but Cora’s strong reliance on God supplied much-needed love and acceptance for young Hendricks. Validating her nurture was a man from a small church nearby, named Walt, who wanted desperately to reach young boys for Christ.

“He (Walt) came down my street one day,” said Hendricks, “looking for boys for his Sunday school class. Well, anything that had ‘school’ in it was a bad-news item to me. Then he said, ‘Well, howd’ya like to play marbles?’ That was different. This tall drink o’water stooped down and whipped me in every game. I lost my marbles early in life,” he chuckles. But no matter where Walt was going, Howard Hendricks wanted to go. This man with barely a sixth-grade education loved boys in a way that drew them irresistibly to Jesus Christ. From that class of thirteen boys twelve eventually entered Christian ministry.

Later, a devout scoutmaster and his vigilant pastor urged the adolescent Hendricks to consider vocational Christian ministry. Believing that God had placed a call on his life, he turned down a full scholarship at Northwestern to pursue a medical career to attend Wheaton College. At Wheaton, his classmates Lois and Mary LeBar helped him solidify his decision to explore the field of Christian education. Then department chair, Dr. Rebecca Price, marked him as a future leader in her chosen field. During his college years he also laid the foundation for his own inductive study methods of the Scripture.

Shortly before leaving for Wheaton in 1942, Howie, as he was known, spied a young lady on the platform in a skit at a youth banquet. He found out who she was and the weekend before he was to leave for Wheaton he had himself invited as guest song leader at her local Labor Day retreat. At the campsite only the dining hall had electric lighting, so he planned a “moonlight sing” at the lake and gently approached her to ask if he might “share” her flashlight, since he had “forgotten” his own. He adds, “She’s been the light of my life ever since!” On their first date she watched him board a train for Wheaton. Immediately, he penned her a six-page letter to fan the flame of their long distance courtship. Five years and the beginning of another degree later Jeanne Wolfe became his wife.

God graced the young Hendricks family with two sons, two daughters, and now, six granddaughters. In 1999 Barb, the oldest, suffered a brain aneurysm and passed away. Bob, Bev and Bill continue to live in the Dallas area. All of them are, or have been, associated with “The Hendricks Group,” a ministry/business in the field of personal assessment.

As he tells it, “Being relatively naive, I enrolled at Dallas Theological Seminary thinking it was Wheaton’s grad school. In those days it was common for students headed into ministry to graduate from Wheaton and immediately enroll at Dallas.” He also remembered that as a boy, the best speakers at his church all came from Dallas. Hendricks completed his Master’s Degree in Theology in 1950. After graduation, “Howie” entered the pastorate at McKinney Memorial Church, a newly formed church in Fort Worth, Texas. During that time Dallas Seminary invited him to teach twice weekly; this experience and the affirmation from his students convinced him that his lifetime calling was in the classroom. In 1951 the homiletics department became the platform on which Hendricks began the now legendary Bible Study Methods course. Over time, the inductive approach not only came to characterize the Bible Exposition department, but also impacted the language departments, as they embraced the method along with the energetic teacher.

He decided to enroll in a Ph.D. program under Paul Veith at Yale, beginning with summer graduate studies at Wheaton. With great reluctance, he resigned from his church and moved his family to the East Coast. Only months later, an urgent call from President John Walvoord informed him of the death of Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer, founder and president of the seminary, and the illness of another key professor. The question was posed, “could he possibly defer his studies and come back to teach theology and homiletics?”

In the providence of God, Hendricks never went to Yale. Instead, the Hendricks family packed up and returned to Dallas, with one proviso—he asked to teach at least one course in Christian education. The fall of 1952 marked his first Christian Education course, Christian Education of Youth, with courses following in Christian education of children and the home, elective courses that were quickly filled with students. His first course required a double section, and he saw immediately the need for specialists in the field to enhance the studies. Guest lecturers were brought in, and teaching fellows, such as Roy Zuck and Ed Hayes came aboard. In 1958 the Department of Christian Education began, the first major addition to the seminary curriculum.

The Christian Education department’s acceptance rested heavily on the character of Howard Hendricks, gifted and used of God to alter people’s perceptions of the field. As the department grew, Hendricks introduced Dr. Gene Getz and Dr. Kenneth Gangel. Gangel became the chairman and also introduced the Master of Arts in Christian Education degree. Dr. Walvoord championed the development of the Christian Education department and encouraged Hendricks’ passion to meet the desperate educational needs of local churches.

“If I didn’t get something, it was because I didn’t ask for it,” confessed Hendricks, as he expressed his long-standing gratitude to his mentor, Dr. John Walvoord. Other leaders also recognized his unique gifts and sought his skills. Dr. Rebecca Price, (formerly at Wheaton) made a deathbed wish that Hendricks would replace her as senior professor of Christian education at Fuller Seminary. She urged them to pursue him with a “full-court press.” But to no avail. At a time when DTS had little material incentives to offer its faculty, even the generous offer from Fuller did not dislodge him. His firm conviction that methodology builds on its Biblical and theological framework kept him from accepting the grand offer. His loyalty to DTS and its dispensational foundations anchored his convictions.

Howard Hendricks was the first professor to be granted a sabbatical at the seminary. He spent this time abroad developing his ideas for the department. He was also the first professor to be designated with the title of “Distinguished Professor.” What human influences boosted him to this level of excellence? He names Dr. Lauren King, English professor at Wheaton, a man eagerly sought by Ivy League schools, who saw his ministry teaching basic English to Wheaton College students. King introduced Hendricks to Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book, thus greatly enhancing Hendricks’ reading comprehension, and later his son’s; a boy who stumbled because of a teacher’s lack of teaching know-how. Also, Dr. Merrill Tenney, New Testament scholar, helped shape Hendricks’ philosophy of teaching and marked his intense discipline in biblical studies.

As semesters unfolded, the Christian Home became Hendricks’ favorite course. Howard and Jeanne Hendricks would often team-teach. Undoubtedly motivated by the broken home of his own childhood, he realized in the 1960’s that few voices in theological education spoke to the family. The course became a classic and many that enrolled would now testify that it not only saved their marriage but also altered the course of their ministry.

An almost prophetic ability to see needs and devise a plan of action characterizes the life and ministry of Howard Hendricks. Envisioning the church’s need for education that is truly Christian, for preacher’s Bible study that is truly inductive, and for the critical lack of pastoral training in the Christian home has kept him on the cutting edge of theological education as he moved from one decade to the next.

In the late 1980’s Dallas Seminary added the Center for Christian Leadership with Howard Hendricks as Chairman, addressing the urgent need for superior torchbearers in Christian organizations. His latest contribution to Christian education came through the Griffith Thomas lectures in the spring of 1999. Through a series of chapel presentations he challenged future leaders to recognize the ingenuity and capabilities of seniors in their congregations as the American population ages.

The influence of “Prof” continues to make a worldwide impact through former students such as Chuck Swindoll, Joseph Stowell, David Jeremiah, Bruce Wilkinson, and a host of others heading up schools, churches, and para-church ministries on every continent. He is mentor and friend, not only to thousands of alumni, but also to students who find ways to “major in Hendricks” while they are on campus. He and Jeanne exude a hunger for learning, and together they have pursued courses of study in numerous places. Between them dozens of books and articles have been printed and they both maintain a busy speaking schedules on and off campus.

Outside of the classroom Howard Hendricks is known as a former pastor, Christian Education director, Youth Director, as well as for his eight-year stint as Bible teacher and chaplain of the Dallas Cowboys football team. Numerous major boards of directors, formerly or presently, list his name: Leadership Dynamics, The Navigators, Promise Keepers, Ronald Blue and Company, Multnomah Bible College, and Seminary, SEARCH Ministries, and Walk Thru the Bible Ministries. Some of his many advisory boards include: Family Life Ministries, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, American Tract Society, Sonscape Ministries, Write-Way Ministries (Australia), Art of Family Living, Face the Challenge, Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Living Word Bible Museum, and a host of others. He has received many honors, including an honorary doctorate and Outstanding Alumni of the Year from Wheaton College.

As a consultant and conference speaker he is widely sought after, but Howard Hendricks shuns the pedestal, consistently going back to his Ephesians four philosophy: “God gives gifts to men [and women] so that they may use their giftedness to equip the saints for ministry.” The adage about teaching a man to fish comes to mind as Hendricks speaks of the importance of everyone being trained and involved in ministry. If people are trained to do the ministry then they will minister for a lifetime. How can the pastor expect people to volunteer to teach Sunday school if he has not equipped them for the task?

“Prof” willingly shared some of his wisdom for the next generation of Christian educators: stay on course with sound biblical and theological convictions, and then commit to the ministry of multiplication. Finally, educators must be visionaries: “it is not too difficult to be relevant if you don’t care about being biblical but to be biblical AND relevant—that’s the goal!” God enabled Howard Hendricks to consistently see the needs of the church and provide motivational teaching. Seeking that “one thing he must do” he has stayed in his role as a professor at one school for fifty-three years (at the time of this article). His foundation on the Word of God and his ever-deepening relationship with Christ steers his ship as he often finds himself steering upstream. “In the end,” he says, “I am not in business to impress people.” His delight comes in serving the Savior.

All information was obtained in a series of interviews with Howard Hendricks.

Addendum: Howard G. Hendricks passed away peacefully at his home, on February 20, 2013, at the age of 88.

How do you measure the impact of a person on a movement? God entrusts each believer with unique amounts of health, giftedness, experience, and opportunity. Howard G. Hendricks seems to have maximized everything God gave him to shape the field of Christian education. “People such as…Howard G. Hendricks…have had distinguished careers in the field of education but have not written on the philosophy of education. Nevertheless, the influence of these teachers and the hundreds of their graduates in Christian education ministries attests to their superb contribution (Benson, 1984, pp 58).”

For example, Howard Hendricks has trained Christian education leaders for many other schools. The following list demonstrates the wide range of schools that have utilized students trained by Hendricks:

• Warren Benson at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (now deceased)
• Ron Chadwick at Grand Rapids School of Theology (now retired)
• Ed Hayes at Denver Theological Seminary (now retired)
• Grant Howard at Multnomah School of the Bible (now retired)
• Klaus Issler at Talbot Theological Seminary
• Michael Lawson at Dallas Theological Seminary
• Charles Sell at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Hendricks’ influence ranges well beyond the immediate profession of Christian education. “No other educator, they say, has affected the evangelical world like the man whom they reverently call ‘Prof’. Take note of some of the protégés, and it is easy to see that they could be right.

There’s the Rev. Tony Evans, one of the most prominent black preachers in America; there’s Bruce Wilkinson, author of the publishing phenomenon ‘The Prayer of Jabez’; there’s the Rev. Charles R. Swindoll, one of the most popular evangelical preachers in the world; and the list goes on.

‘Impact is only as good as it plays out in future generations,’ says the Rev. David Jeremiah, another protégé and another of the evangelical world’s most trusted voices. ‘Prof is like a pebble thrown in a lake – the ripples just keep going outward.’

Consider that the combined ministries of just eight former students of Hendricks reach close to 30,000 people in the pews every week, their radio programs air in most countries on thousands of radio stations, and their books have reached millions of readers (Debaldo, 2003).”

In the classroom, Hendricks stands alone. He is the only professor of Christian education to teach in the field and at the same school for over fifty years. During that time, over seven thousand students went through Dallas Theological Seminary and almost all of them had Dr. Hendricks for at least one course.

Unlike many professors, he not only developed a department in his chosen field of study, he also trained students in a wide range of academic disciplines. At various times over five decades, he has taught theology, pastoral ministry, Bible exposition, and leadership along with Christian education. Very few, if any, have navigated competently through such a wide range of disciplines.

The courses he taught in various departments include:

• Practical Work 1,2,3,4 (overseeing student involvement in church ministry)
• Teaching Process (formerly Pedagogy)
• The Educational Program of the Church
• The Christian Education of Youth
• Preliminary Homiletics (became known as Bible Study Methods)
• Basic Homiletics
• Third Year Sermon
• Expository Preaching
• The Christian Education of Children
• The Christian Education of Adults
• History and Philosophy of CE
• Organization & Administration
• Counseling
• The Christian Home
• Camping (later changed to Christian Camping)
• Methods of Bible Analysis (later called The Analytic Method of Bible Study)
• Christian Education Seminar
• Advanced Bible Study Methods
• Teaching & Preaching the Bible
• Ecclesiology & the Educational Program of the Church
• Principles of Discipleship
• Christian Education Journalism
• Creativity in Ministry
• Creativity
• Seminar on Youth Problems
• Family Enrichment
• Communicating in Contemporary Culture
• Dynamics of Leadership

Hendricks’ versatile skills in public communication enabled him to range beyond the classroom into the pulpit and onto the platform. From the 1960’s through the 1970’s, he spoke at major Christian education and Sunday school conventions. His addresses motivated thousands of church workers, Sunday school teachers, pastors, and church leaders. They heard the Word of the Lord explained and animated in an unforgettable way. “His teaching is always fresh, on target, and motivational (Johnson, 1998, pp 60).” In the 1980’s and 1990’s his teaching and writing on the Christian home made him an ideal spokesman for the men’s movement known as Promise Keepers.

Early in his teaching career, when many approached the Scriptures from a purely topical perspective, he made inductive Bible study a household word at Dallas Seminary. When many felt theological education belonged exclusively to professors or preaching pastors, he championed Christian education as a discipline worthy of comprehensive study and life long vocation. He developed courses on the Christian home and Christian counseling while others scoffed at their place in theological education. Recently, he has been emphasizing leadership skills as an orientation for pastors, while continuing to serve as a distinguished professor at DTS.

Dr. Hendricks has found his way into every major communication medium. In addition to the previously mentioned teaching and preaching, he has numerous books and articles as well as audio and videotapes. From 1980 to 1983, his radio ministry, “The Art of Family Living” aired on a number of Christian radio stations. He continues to minister extensively in other countries.

Anyone who gets very close to Dr. Hendricks senses his deep and abiding commitment to the Savior. When he speaks of our Lord, it sounds as though he has spoken to Him recently and more importantly, listened to Him with an eagerness to obey today.

The evidence of his devotion marks his marriage as he nurtures and cherishes his relationship with Jeanne. She bears all the marks of a ‘woman well loved’. His children follow the Lord in their lives. The marriage team of Howard and Jeanne developed a rich spiritual environment for their family.

His love for God has a contagious twist in it. He ‘caught the real disease’ to use his own words. He makes people thirsty for more insight into the Scriptures and intimacy with God. You sense he has acquired both through disciplined but ordinary procedures that any disciple of Jesus might use.

Howard G. Hendricks is not the only mountain peak in the “Rockies” of Christian education. But everyone would agree that he stands among the few and highest peaks in that range. All who stand in the shadow of that range express deep gratitude for their lasting contribution to the landscape. They call the church to bring everyone to consistently higher ground through a solid biblical church focused theological education.

Future generations of DTS students will not remember Dr. Hendricks as their teacher and mentor. But, the Hendricks Building on the campus of DTS will alert them that someone really important served the seminary. At the time of this writing, the only buildings with a faculty name on them are former presidents of the school (Chafer Chapel, Walvoord Student Center, Campbell Academic Center). In addition, his name will come before them every time the Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership sponsors an event on campus. His ongoing contribution to Christian leadership will continue through his son Bill, who now directs the mission of the Hendricks center.

Within the providence of God, the two departments within DTS founded by Dr. Hendricks (Christian Education Department and Leadership Department) have now been combined into the Educational Ministries and Leadership Department. Several masters degrees and a doctoral degree are now associated with that department. Everyone associated with the Educational Ministries and Leadership Department along with the Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership acknowledges Dr. Hendricks profound contribution.

Works Cited

• Benson, W. (1984). Evangelical philosophies of religious education. In M. Taylor (Ed.), Changing patterns of religious education. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
• Johnson, M. (1999). Color outside the lines: A revolutionary approach to creative leadership [Review of the book Color outside the lines: A revolutionary approach to creative leadership]. Preaching, 14 (6), 60.
• Delbado, B. (2003, January 25). Seminary professor’s words shaping major evangelists. The Dallas Morning News.