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Libby, Raymond Henry (1901–1976)

By Milton Hook

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Milton Hook, Ed.D. (Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, the United States). Hook retired in 1997 as a minister in the Greater Sydney Conference, Australia. An Australian by birth Hook has served the Church as a teacher at the elementary, academy and college levels, a missionary in Papua New Guinea, and as a local church pastor. In retirement he is a conjoint senior lecturer at Avondale College of Higher Education. He has authored Flames Over Battle Creek, Avondale: Experiment on the Dora, Desmond Ford: Reformist Theologian, Gospel Revivalist, the Seventh-day Adventist Heritage Series, and many magazine articles. He is married to Noeleen and has two sons and three grandchildren.

First Published: October 6, 2022

Raymond H. Libby was an educator, conference youth director, and church pastor who contributed to the early development of Adventist mass media evangelistic ministries.

Early Years

Raymond Libby was born in South Stukely, Quebec, Canada, on May 23, 1901,1 to W. Henry and Alma Lillian Davis Libby. His father briefly served as secretary-treasurer of the Quebec Conference2 and then returned to his craft as a millwright in addition to farming during Raymond’s boyhood and youth. Raymond’s siblings were: Mary Lura (b. 1889), William Edward (b. 1893), Nettie Armina (b. 1894) and Violet Ethel (b. 1902).3

At the age of 14 Raymond was baptized. In 1916 he began studies at the Eastern Canadian Missionary Seminary in Oshawa, Ontario, renamed Oshawa Missionary College in 1920, the year in which Raymond graduated at the secondary (academy) level. He stayed on at the school to complete the junior college teaching training program in 1922. He paid his fees by canvassing books and working in the college bindery and heating plant.4

During his studies he met fellow student Mae Russell of Scottish descent. They were married on December 22, 1924, in Binghamton, New York. It was a civil ceremony performed by the city magistrate.5 Six months later, on June 10, 1925, an Advent Christian minister, Vernon Obec, conducted a church wedding for them at Burlington, Vermont.6 The Libbys would have four children: Eleanor (b. 1928), Ralph (b. 1930), Dorothy (b. 1932), and Virginia (b. 1934).7

Schoolteacher and College Professor

Libby began denominational service in June 1924 as an elementary school teacher in the Southern New England Conference.8 He transferred to the New York Conference in 1925 where he and Mae taught at the Buffalo church school until mid-1928.9

In order to complete a bachelor’s degree in education, Libby attended Atlantic Union College (AUC) in South Lancaster, Massachusetts, for a year plus summer sessions (1928-1929). The college then asked him to join the faculty of its teacher training program. He taught at AUC for four years but in 1933, due to financial hardships of the Great Depression, the college did not renew his position. Libby found work in the public school system until mid-1937 when he returned to church employment as the Bible teacher at Union Springs Academy in New York state.10

Education and Youth Departmental Leadership

In June 1938 Libby took up a new assignment as secretary of the Education and Young People’s departments in the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference.11 The network of schools in his territory required staffing, supervision and inspection on a regular basis including a medical examination of the children by a qualified physician.12 He was also responsible for seeing that teachers obtained certification and he provided ongoing training by holding periodic teacher’s institutes.13

In leading the Young People’s department, Libby worked enthusiastically to promote strong youth societies in the local churches. He utilized his teaching experience to train Master Comrades (later called Master Guides) who would, in turn, nurture the youth through graded steps of activities such as nature study, camping and Bible reading. He set an example first by qualifying as a Master Comrade himself.14 Libby organized annual summer camps for junior youth (ages 10-15), promoting attendance by encouraging youngsters to send five cents to his office in order to receive a money box that he called “a bank” in which they could save their nickels and dimes for their entrance fee.15 He also ran an essay competition, the winner receiving free entry to the camp.16 His first camp was held at the Chickasaw Government Park at Lake LaJoie between Bolivar and Henderson, Tennessee, attended by 36 boys and 34 girls for ten days in June 1939.17

Libby made history when he organized the first junior camp for Black Adventist youth in August 1940. A total of 29 youngsters from churches in Louisville, Nashville, Paducah and Memphis, gathered for the week-long (August 1-7) event held at the Y.W.C.A. Wenonah campsite southwest of Nashville. Anna Knight, who was in charge of the Education, Home Missionary, and Young People’s departments in what was then known as the Colored Department of the Southern Union Conference, declared, “Hats off to Kentucky-Tennessee” for the initiative. She also urged the other conferences in the union to do likewise.18

Organizing numerous youth rallies was another prominent feature of Libby’s work. These involved the gathering of youth from several churches in a region for a full Sabbath program of worship, Bible study, an afternoon meeting and an evening of films or games. It was an opportunity for the youth to make friends beyond their local circle.19

Libby was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1941. During the academic year of 1942-1943 he earned a Master of Arts degree from George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville which later became part of Vanderbilt University.20

In March 1943 Libby transferred to the Florida Conference to serve in the same capacities as he had in Kentucky-Tennessee. Again here, a “Colored Youth Rally” that drew more than 100 Black young people from churches in southern Florida on March 18, 1944, suggests a desire on Libby’s part to see that conference programs conducted along separate racial lines served both races as effectively as possible.21

Ministry and Mass Media Evangelism

After two and a half years in Florida, Libby accepted a call to pastoral ministry at the Urbandale church, northwest of Battle Creek, Michigan, beginning in December 1945.22 He was there only six months, though, before taking an opportunity to return to the classroom at Southwestern Junior College, Keene, Texas, where he taught religion for two years (1946-1948).23

Libby returned to church ministry in 1948, appointed by the Chesapeake Conference to the Baltimore First Church in Maryland.24 Seeking to reach as many people as possible in the heavily populated area, he initiated a Sunday evening television series in March 1950 titled “A Faith to Live By.” He and a colleague, William H. Barringham, conducted the program for nine months, until the end of 1950, sponsored by the Chesapeake Conference.25 Three thousand viewers registered as ones interested in their messages and many enrolled in the free Bible course on offer.26 A Faith to Live By was the first Adventist television program broadcast on the East coast, beginning two months before the longer-lasting Faith for Today telecast from New York City and a few months after the Quiet Hour initiated television broadcasts in San Francisco in 1949.27

Though he did not continue in the role of speaker after 1950, Libby authored Bible courses for use in conjunction with Adventism’s leading broadcast ministries in the 1950s and 1960s. For the Voice of Prophecy radio broadcast, Libby wrote the “Faith” course, as well as a Daniel and Revelation course, and he wrote the Bible study for adults used by the Faith For Today telecast. He also authored other Bible study resources such as the “My Bible Says” course and the feature “Alone With Your Bible” published monthly in Signs of the Times magazine for 12 consecutive years (1957-1968).28

In February 1952 Libby transferred to the Northern California Conference to nurture the large congregation at Sacramento Central Church.29 He remained until the summer of 1955 when he was assigned the Modesto church in the Central California Conference30 and later the Fresno Central Church.

Final Years

Libby retired from full-time ministry in 1969 but accepted an invitation from the Pacific Union Conference Sabbath School Department to write a new teacher-training manual.31 He also offered to do volunteer work in the mission field and was surprised that an invitation was made within a few months to teach Bible classes at Philippine Union College. He taught for a year there and enjoyed the experience, his only service overseas.32

Raymond and Mae returned to the homeland in November 1970 and settled into their new home at Paradise in the mountains of northern California. It was there that he passed away on March 8, 1976, at the age of 75. He rests in the local Paradise Cemetery.33 Mae passed away at Modesto, California, on November 20, 1999, at age 96. She was laid to rest with Raymond at Paradise.34

Sources

Anderson, Clarence V. “Changes in Personnel.” Columbia Union Visitor, September 9, 1948.

Anderson, Clarence V. “News From Junior Camp.” Southern Tidings, July 5, 1939.

Anderson, Clarence V. “New Workers.” Southern Tidings, June 1, 1938.

Anderson, Clarence V. “Welcome to New Leaders.” Southern Tidings, January 6, 1943.

Barthuli, Carol. “Elder R.H. Libby Accepts New Duty; Given Farewell.” Pacific Union Recorder, February 20, 1969.

Bunch, Taylor G. “Changes in Ministerial Staff.” Lake Union Herald, December 19, 1944.

Howard, W.C. “Change of Laborers.” Atlantic Union Gleaner, June 30, 1937.

“Juniors! Get This!” Southern Tidings, April 12, 1939.

Knight, Anna. “Making History.” Southern Tidings, September 4, 1940.

Libby, Raymond H. Secretariat Appointee File, RG 21, Box WH 3037, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Archives, Silver Spring, MD (GCA).

Libby, Raymond H. “Colored Youth Rally.” Southern Tidings, April 5, 1944.

Libby, Raymond H. “Interest in Baltimore Television Program Increases.” Columbia Union Visitor, March 30, 1950.

Libby, Raymond H. “Junior Camp.” Southern Tidings, February 22, 1939.

Libby, Raymond H. “Master Comrade Investiture.” Southern Tidings, June 14, 1939.

Libby, Raymond H. “Teacher’s Institute.” Southern Tidings, September 30, 1942.

Libby, Raymond H. “Television in Chesapeake Conference.” Columbia Union Visitor, July 6, 1950.

Libby, Raymond H. “Urbandale.” Lake Union Herald, January 8, 1946.

“Mae R. Russell Libby.” Find A Grave. Memorial ID 141738885, January 24, 2015. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141738885/mae-r-libby.

Markam, Blanche. “Our Church Schools.” Atlantic Union Gleaner, October 19, 1927.

“News Notes.” Pacific Union Recorder, March 3, 1952.

“News Notes.” Southern Tidings, October 11, 1939, January 31, March 20, April 17 and August 21, 1940.

“Raymond Henry Libby obituary.” ARH, April 29, 1976.

“Raymond Henry Libby.” FamilySearch. Accessed May 20, 2022, https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LZ5C-NDS.

“Raymond Henry Libby.” Find A Grave. Memorial ID 141738295, January 24, 2015. Accessed May 20, 2022. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141738295/raymond-henry-libby.

“Remember Sabbath October 30.” Atlantic Union Gleaner, October 20, 1926.

Venden, Daniel E. “Welcome to Central.” Pacific Union Recorder, October 3, 1955.

Walsh, Mary. “Baltimore Telecast.” Columbia Union Visitor, December 7, 1950.

“Youth’s Rally.” Southern Tidings, January 31, 1940.

Notes

  1. “Raymond Henry Libby obituary,” ARH, April 29, 1976, 31.↩

  2. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook for 1906, 25, and 1907, 27.↩

  3. “Raymond Henry Libby,” FamilySearch, accessed May 20, 2022, https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LZ5C-NDS.↩

  4. Raymond H. Libby Appointee File, Secretariat Missionary Files, RG 21, Box WH 3037, GCA.↩

  5. “New York, County Marriages, 1847-1848; 1908-1936,” FamilySearch, accessed October 4, 2022, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZ99-C5R.↩

  6. “Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954,” FamilySearch, accessed October 4, 2022, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2VQS-NXZ.↩

  7. Libby Appointee File, RG 21, Box WH 3037, GCA.↩

  8. Ibid.↩

  9. “Remember Sabbath October 30,” Atlantic Union Gleaner, October 20, 1926, 4; Blanche Markam, “Our Church Schools,” Atlantic Union Gleaner, October 19, 1927, 1-2.↩

  10. Libby Appointee File, RG 21, Box WH 3037, GCA; W.C. Howard, “Change of Laborers,” Atlantic Union Gleaner, June 30, 1937, 4.↩

  11. Clarence V. Anderson, “New Workers,” Southern Tidings, June 1, 1938, 6.↩

  12. “News Notes,” Southern Tidings, October 11, 1939, 5-6.↩

  13. “News Notes,” Southern Tidings, April 17, 1940, 6-7; Raymond H. Libby, “Teacher’s Institute,” Southern Tidings, September 30, 1942, 11.↩

  14. Raymond H. Libby, “Master Comrade Investiture,” Southern Tidings, June 14, 1939, 7.↩

  15. Raymond H. Libby, “Junior Camp,” Southern Tidings, February 22, 1939, 6.↩

  16. “Juniors! Get This!” Southern Tidings, April 12, 1939, 7.↩

  17. Clarence V. Anderson, “News From Junior Camp,” Southern Tidings, July 5, 1939, 5.↩

  18. Anna Knight, “Making History,” Southern Tidings, September 4, 1940, 6; “News Notes,” Southern Tidings, August 21, 1940, 5.↩

  19. See, for example, “Youth’s Rally,” Southern Tidings, January 31, 1940, 4.↩

  20. Libby Personal Information Blank, September 29, 1969, GCA.↩

  21. Raymond H. Libby, “Colored Youth Rally,” Southern Tidings, April 5, 1944, 5.↩

  22. Taylor G. Bunch, “Changes in Ministerial Staff,” Lake Union Herald, December 19, 1944, 6, 8; Raymond H. Libby, “Urbandale,” Lake Union Herald, January 8, 1946, 4.↩

  23. Libby Appointee File, RG 21, Box WH 3037, GCA.↩

  24. Clarence V. Anderson, “Changes in Personnel,” Columbia Union Visitor, September 9, 1948, 4.↩

  25. Raymond H. Libby, “Interest in Baltimore Television Program Increases,” Columbia Union Visitor, March 30, 1950, 2-3, and “Television in Chesapeake Conference,” Columbia Union Visitor, July 6, 1950, 3.↩

  26. Mary Walsh, “Baltimore Telecast,” Columbia Union Visitor, December 7, 1950, 3.↩

  27. “Raymond Henry Libby obituary”; Dan M. Catangay, “Tucker, Julius Lafayette (1895–1989),” Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists, October 14, 2020, accessed October 5, 2022, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=8AB4; Dan Shultz, “Faith for Today,” Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists, November 28, 2021, accessed October 5, 2022, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=8JHM.↩

  28. Libby Appointee File, RG 21, Box WH 3037, GCA.↩

  29. “News Notes,” Pacific Union Recorder, March 3, 1952, 3-4.↩

  30. Daniel E. Venden, “Welcome to Central,” Pacific Union Recorder, October 3, 1955, 2.↩

  31. Carol Barthuli, “Elder R.H. Libby Accepts New Duty; Given Farewell,” Pacific Union Recorder, February 20, 1969, 5.↩

  32. Libby Appointee File, RG 21, Box WH 3037, GCA.↩

  33. “Rev Raymond Henry Libby,” Find A Grave, Memorial ID 141738295, January 24, 2015, accessed May 20, 2022, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141738295/raymond-henry-libby.↩

  34. “Mae R. Russell Libby,” Find A Grave, Memorial ID 141738885, January 24, 2015, accessed September 19, 2022, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141738885/mae-r-libby.↩

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Hook, Milton. "Libby, Raymond Henry (1901–1976)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. October 06, 2022. Accessed March 25, 2023. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=BIP4.

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Hook, Milton. "Libby, Raymond Henry (1901–1976)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. October 06, 2022. Date of access March 25, 2023, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=BIP4.

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Hook, Milton (2022, October 06). Libby, Raymond Henry (1901–1976). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved March 25, 2023, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=BIP4.

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