Jack Cottrell passed away Friday evening September 16, 2022.
Rejoice with us that he is cancer free and enjoying precious heavenly fellowship.
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18
A Kentuckian by birth and in spirit [go Big Blue!], Dr. Jack Cottrell comes from the Minorsville Christian Church, near Stamping Ground, Kentucky. In his early years, his church life — including exposure to two-week revival meetings and Christian camp — brought him into contact with such stalwarts of the faith as R. J. Kidwell, Ivan Odor, Wayne Smith, Bob Shannon, and E. Ray (Cotton) Jones. After committing to vocational Christian service, in 1955 he enrolled in the original Cincinnati Bible Seminary, from which he received two degrees (A.B., Th.B.).
After graduating from CBS Jack received an A.B. in philosophy from the University of Cincinnati in 1962. Upon being recruited for the position of professor of theology in the fledgling CBS graduate school, he attended Westminster Theological Seminary for an M.Div. degree in 1965. This gave him important first-hand contact with strict Calvinist theology. He completed his formal education with a Ph.D. degree in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1971.
Jack has been involved with several missions in various ways. For 25 years he served as a board member and treasurer for Christian Arabic Services, which supports Safaa Fahmi in Egypt. He currently serves as a board member for the Upstate New York Mission, which supports Ray Schuh. He has traveled to speak and teach in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, Venezuela, and The Philippines.
Brother Cottrell has retired this year after teaching for 49 years at Cincinnati Christian University (beginning in 1967), building the theology program from scratch. In these decades of teaching he has prepared and taught more than forty different courses. He has also carried on an extensive writing ministry, authoring twenty-one books thus far. His books include Baptism: A Biblical Study; a systematic theology, The Faith Once for All; a commentary on Romans; and a three-volume set on the doctrine of God as Creator, Ruler, and Redeemer. His most recently published books are Power from on High: What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit (500 pages, hardback); Set Free! What the Bible Says About Grace (400 pages, hardback); and a condensed, updated edition of the three volumes on God, entitled God Most High: What the Bible Says About God (460 pages, hardback, with a CD of the three original volumes). Twelve of these volumes have been translated into (eleven) other languages, such as Russian, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Polish, Rawang, Tamil, and Spanish.
Brother Jack has always been involved in Kingdom work on the local church level. While doing college work in the Cincinnati area he was the weekend minister for churches in Florence, Indiana; Albany, Kentucky; and Modest, Ohio. While doing his graduate work in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Jack worked with the Go Ye Chapel mission, sharing preaching duties with its founder, Elmer Kile. He helped to start four new congregations in the Philadelphia suburbs. During his decades of teaching at CBS he has taught classes and served as an elder for a number of local congregations. Currently he is the teaching minister for the First Church of Christ in Greendale, Indiana.
While at CBS (in 1958) he married his beautiful wife, Barbara Gordin. Barbara was born in Jamestown, Ohio, and grew up as a farm girl in that general area of Ohio, except for a brief time spent in northeastern Indiana. In 1956, when Barbara enrolled in the Cincinnati Bible Seminary, she and her family were working their large family farm near Jamestown and were faithful members of the Grape Grove Church of Christ. After meeting and marrying Jack while they were students at CBS, Barbara received her bachelor’s degree in 1960.
After their children were born and had entered school, Barbara worked as a substitute teacher in the public school system for a number of years. She later began working as a curriculum editor for Standard Publishing, a job that lasted for 22 years. At her retirement she was senior editor of the Sunday School curriculum for early childhood through elementary ages.
For several years Barbara volunteered at CCU one day a week as a receptionist in the Ministries Building. She is currently a member of the Mount Healthy Christian Village Auxiliary, and helps serve meals there once a month. As a member of First Church of Christ in Greendale, Indiana, she works in the nursery, teaches VBS, and helps with the youth program as needed.
Jack and Barbara are the proud parents of three children. The oldest is Dr. Russell Cottrell, who is the Clinic Manager and Psychiatrist at the Chico, California, Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic. The middle child is Cathy Cottrell. She is the Assistant Director of Program Administration at Johnson University Florida in Kissimmee, Florida. The youngest is Susan Meyer, who is a dedicated hospice nurse and is involved in the women’s ministry at the Bright (Indiana) Christian Church.
Jack and Barbara also have four delightful grandchildren: Gabe Cottrell, who has a job in the science field in San Diego, CA; Zeke Cottrell, who is pursuing a degree in music composition at the University of California (Santa Cruz); Nick Meyer, who has a degree in philosophy from Northern Kentucky University and is presently completing his training to become a mortician at the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science; and Brooke Meyer, who is completing her training to become a cosmetologist at the Paul Mitchell School in the Cincinnati area.
Jack and Barbara enjoy traveling and visiting churches in various parts of the country. Besides serving the foreign mission churches in the countries named above, they have enjoyed cruises in the areas of Alaska and the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and have traveled to many national parks. Jack says that the most beautiful sight he has ever seen (besides Barbara) is Crater Lake in Oregon.
They are looking forward to continuing serving the Lord in whatever ministry He presents to them.
JACK WARREN COTTRELL
BIOGRAPHICAL AND PROFESSIONAL DATA
POSITIONS OF SERVICE
- First Church of Christ, Greendale, IN. Member, teaching minister (2011ff.).
- Upstate New York Mission. Service: member of board of directors.
- Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Service: member of the Council.
- Christian Restoration Association. Service: member of the board of trustees.
- Cincinnati Christian University. Service: Professor of Theology (1967 – 2015)
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY
- High School: Stamping Ground (KY) High School, 1955; valedictorian
- College: A.B., Cincinnati Bible College, 1959; valedictorian
- Th.B., Cincinnati Bible College, 1960
- A.B. in Philosophy, University of Cincinnati, 1962; Phi Beta Kappa
- Seminary: M.Div., Westminster Theological Seminary, 1965; Westminster Graduate Fellow
- Ph.D, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1971; dissertation, “Baptism and Covenant in the Theology of Huldreich Zwingli”
VOCATIONAL HISTORY
Part-time preaching Florence (IN) Christian Church
MINISTRIES:
Albany (KY) Christian Church
Modest (OH) Church of Christ
Levittown (PA) Church of Christ
Delaware Valley (PA) Christian Church; co-founder
South River (NJ) Church of Christ; co-founder
Bux-mont Christian Church; co-founder
Central (NJ) Christian Church; co-founder
Fairview (KY) Christian Church
Teaching positions:
Cincinnati Bible College, student instructor in English, 1959-62
Cincinnati Christian University, Professor of Theology, 1967-2015
See a listing of Jack’s published works.
See Jack Cottrell’s website at jackcottrell.com . Here one will find almost 300 brief essays on numerous theological and biblical issues, many of which have also been published in The Restoration Herald.
Find articles by Dr. Cottrell in the “Restoration Herald” magazine
Jack’s wife, Barbara, is the catalyst to all our class outings, and delights the class regularly with her wonderful breakfast items. (The class takes turns preparing breakfast). Barbara graces the halls of the church with her impeccable taste and elegance, and is a light for all of us to follow.
Greendale First Church of Christ 