Kern, Paul Bentley

Paul Bentley Kern (1882-1953), American bishop, was born on June 16, 1882 in Alexandria, Virginia. He began his college career at Randolph-Macon College, where his father, John A. Kern, was a professor. After one year of study, Kern transferred to Vanderbilt University and received two degrees: B.A. in 1902 and B.D. in 1905. He was then admitted into the Tennessee Annual Conference in 1905 and served two years as an instructor for the Correspondence School for Ministers while teaching at Vanderbilt and simultaneously serving various local churches. He married Lucy Gorhall Campbell of Nashville, Tennessee, on June 11, 1907. They had three children.

When Southern Methodist University was established in 1915, he became the professor of English as well as Bible and homiletics. By 1920, he was dean of the theological department. In 1926, he went back into the pastoral ministry, and was appointed to the Travis Park Church in San Antonio, Texas. Kern was elected to the episcopacy for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in 1930. Bishop Kern served in the China from 1930 to 1934.

From 1934 to 1938 he was bishop for both the North and South Carolina areas. In 1938, he was appointed to the Nashville Area with Tennessee, Holston, Florida, and Cuban conferences under his supervision. He was active in the unification of the three Methodist bodies which came together in 1939. Kean also helped in the consolidation of the Epworth League and Sunday School Boards into the Board of Education. Other areas of influence include the Youth Caravan Movement, the Crusade for Christ, and higher education in Methodism. He was chairperson of the board of trustees of Scarritt College. He wrote the Episcopal Address for the General Conference of 1952 which was held in San Francisco. Besides being an author and guest lecturer, he was also a member of many boards and agencies of the Methodist Church and a delegate to the World Council of Churches in 1948. He died on December 16, 1953, at Vanderbilt Hospital, and is buried in Mount Olive Cemetery in Nashville.