Chambers, Nora I.
Nora Ida Legg Chambers (1873-1953) was the first teacher for the Bible Training School, now Lee University.
Originally from Illinois, Nora Chambers was a 34-year-old, experienced leader in the Church of God, having been licensed as an evangelist in 1910 at Tusquittee, North Carolina. She was an early student at the Bible and missionary institute started by N. J. and Lucy Holmes (now Holmes Bible College) in South Carolina, and she served as a copy editor for the Church of God Evangel in addition to preaching and conducting revivals. Along with her husband, Fred, who was a licensed deacon, Nora ministered in the mountainous regions of eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia prior to assuming her teaching responsibilities. Members of an early evangelistic ministry team with J. W. and Mattie Buckalew and E. J. Boehmer, they often encountered difficulty when conducting revivals in those early years, especially from mobs threatening them, disrupting the services, and even beating them on occasion. Following a meeting at Copper Hill, Tennessee, in 1911, Nora Chambers penned, “Sister Buckalew and I slept with our clothes on, ready for the mob any night. It would seem odd to me to be in a meeting now and not looking for a mob at any time. We are getting used to these things, and, as it is according to the Scriptures, we cannot expect anything else, and the way the Lord blesses us more than repays us for what we go through.”
It is evident Reverend Chambers was undaunted in the face of a challenge. That, accompanied with her ability and positive reputation, made her the perfect choice to serve as the first teacher for the ministerial students. Although she initially hesitated, she had the full confidence of denominational leadership at that time. She had proven herself as a capable and effective minister, and she accepted the role as teacher for the Bible school, even though she was not guaranteed a salary.
Reverend Chambers had been away on a ministry trip at Calhoun, Georgia just before the school opened for its first day of class on January 1, 1918. She arrived by train at the Cleveland station late in the day on December 31, 1917, aboard the “good old 42” train. Also on that same train were Bertha Hilbun from Kentwood, Louisiana, and Lillie Mae Wilcox from Savannah, Georgia-- two of the first students.
Of that first day when opening BTS, Nora Chambers later reflected, “I felt such a load settle over me that first morning we opened school. I didn’t think I could carry it, but as the students prepared their lessons, I prayed. Soon I felt the presence of an unseen guest. He assured me that He would be with us and help us, and He did!"
Of Nora Chambers, historian Charles W. Conn noted she “was a woman of rare intelligence, ability, and, for that early day, education… [She] was an altruistic and tireless woman, seeking to help and encourage others at all times. It was natural that she should be selected as the first teacher for the school; but in keeping with her unassuming disposition, she at first insisted that a man be made instructor. Her modesty, while sincere, was never a mark of timidity.” E. L. Simmons reflected, “Nora Chambers [was] a very remarkable woman evangelist… with aptitude and initiative, coupled with a vision of greater things, which, though, she possibly knew it not, was to be fulfilled within her generation.”
Until her death at Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953, Nora Chambers remained a dedicated minister and champion for the school of which she served as first teacher.
/ L.F. Morgan
Originally from Illinois, Nora Chambers was a 34-year-old, experienced leader in the Church of God, having been licensed as an evangelist in 1910 at Tusquittee, North Carolina. She was an early student at the Bible and missionary institute started by N. J. and Lucy Holmes (now Holmes Bible College) in South Carolina, and she served as a copy editor for the Church of God Evangel in addition to preaching and conducting revivals. Along with her husband, Fred, who was a licensed deacon, Nora ministered in the mountainous regions of eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia prior to assuming her teaching responsibilities. Members of an early evangelistic ministry team with J. W. and Mattie Buckalew and E. J. Boehmer, they often encountered difficulty when conducting revivals in those early years, especially from mobs threatening them, disrupting the services, and even beating them on occasion. Following a meeting at Copper Hill, Tennessee, in 1911, Nora Chambers penned, “Sister Buckalew and I slept with our clothes on, ready for the mob any night. It would seem odd to me to be in a meeting now and not looking for a mob at any time. We are getting used to these things, and, as it is according to the Scriptures, we cannot expect anything else, and the way the Lord blesses us more than repays us for what we go through.”
It is evident Reverend Chambers was undaunted in the face of a challenge. That, accompanied with her ability and positive reputation, made her the perfect choice to serve as the first teacher for the ministerial students. Although she initially hesitated, she had the full confidence of denominational leadership at that time. She had proven herself as a capable and effective minister, and she accepted the role as teacher for the Bible school, even though she was not guaranteed a salary.
Reverend Chambers had been away on a ministry trip at Calhoun, Georgia just before the school opened for its first day of class on January 1, 1918. She arrived by train at the Cleveland station late in the day on December 31, 1917, aboard the “good old 42” train. Also on that same train were Bertha Hilbun from Kentwood, Louisiana, and Lillie Mae Wilcox from Savannah, Georgia-- two of the first students.
Of that first day when opening BTS, Nora Chambers later reflected, “I felt such a load settle over me that first morning we opened school. I didn’t think I could carry it, but as the students prepared their lessons, I prayed. Soon I felt the presence of an unseen guest. He assured me that He would be with us and help us, and He did!"
Of Nora Chambers, historian Charles W. Conn noted she “was a woman of rare intelligence, ability, and, for that early day, education… [She] was an altruistic and tireless woman, seeking to help and encourage others at all times. It was natural that she should be selected as the first teacher for the school; but in keeping with her unassuming disposition, she at first insisted that a man be made instructor. Her modesty, while sincere, was never a mark of timidity.” E. L. Simmons reflected, “Nora Chambers [was] a very remarkable woman evangelist… with aptitude and initiative, coupled with a vision of greater things, which, though, she possibly knew it not, was to be fulfilled within her generation.”
Until her death at Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953, Nora Chambers remained a dedicated minister and champion for the school of which she served as first teacher.
/ L.F. Morgan