James Douglas Phelps, Jr.

James Douglas Phelps, Jr., of Kingston Springs, Tennessee, an elder at Brenthaven Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Nashville Presbytery) died August 22, 2022. He served the Cumberland Presbyterian Denomination in various was as both an ordained minister and later as an elder. He served as a trustee of the Historical Foundation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America which he represented on the editorial committee of American Presbyterians: Journal of Cumberland Presbyterian History.

Doug was born to the Reverend James Douglas Phelps, Sr., and Anne Bettis Phelps in McKenzie, Tennessee, July 29, 1942. He became a Christian and joined First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Detroit, Michigan, in 1951. Doug attended public schools in Michigan and Alabama including Gadsden High School in Gadsden, Alabama, and Shades Valley High School in Birmingham, Alabama, from which he graduated in 1960.

Doug enrolled in Bethel College (Now Bethel University) in McKenzie, Tennessee, and graduated in 1964. He came under the care of Gadsden Presbytery in 1957. In 1961, Doug served as Moderator of the National Assembly of Cumberland Presbyterian Youth Fellowship. While at Bethel, he served Charlotte Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, Tennessee. For three years, Doug served as chaplain at the Cumberland Presbyterian Birthplace Shrine near Dickson, Tennessee. Birmingham Presbytery ordained Doug in 1964. His father, the Reverend J.D. Phelps preached Doug’s ordination sermon and the Reverend Herbert Carlock delivered the charge.

Doug earned three graduate degrees from Vanderbilt University in Nashville. From 1969 to 1994, Doug held various library positions with Vanderbilt before becoming Director of Libraries for Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tennessee. On September 28, 1976, Nashville Presbytery dropped Doug from the role of ordained ministers by his request. He then demitted his ordination, joined Brookhaven Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and, in 1980, was ordained an elder.