Norris, Bertha Hilbun Haynes
Bertha Hilbun Haynes Norris (1895-1977) was one of the original 12 students to enroll the first term of the Bible Training School, now Lee University.
When the school opening was announced at the Church of God General Assembly in November 1917, 21-year-old Bertha Hilbun of Kentwood, Louisiana wanted to attend but could not afford it. Deacons at the Kentwood Church of God, where she was a member, saw Bertha’s gifting for ministry, and the local churches at Kentwood and Dunn, Louisiana, collected offerings to pay her expenses. After arriving by train on December 31, 1917, Bertha grew homesick often during that first term. Once she packed her trunk and sent it ahead to the train depot in order to leave, but the other students and Nora Chambers talked her out of leaving and her trunk was retrieved from the depot. In 1960 Bertha remembered, "Our teacher, Sister Nora Chambers, was wonderful to me and my pet name was 'Baby' from her, as I cried when I became homesick and she would sit in a rocker and have me sit in her lap and she would pray and console me, and, of course, after then I could make it all right for several days."
The first term ended April 5, 1918, and Bertha married Bishop M. S. [Martin Scott] Haynes the following day. Since 1916 he had served as state administrator for the Church of God congregations in Louisiana and resided at Bertha’s hometown of Kentwood. He knew Bertha well prior to her arrival as a student at the Bible school. Haynes was considerably older than Bertha and had children already, and he married her after the death of his wife. Following their marriage, Bertha did not return to the school, but she joined Haynes in ministry in Louisiana. Already an evangelist in practice, Bertha received ministerial license in early 1919. She then pastored the Church of God at Bogalusa, Louisiana, and the Haynes family continued to live at Kentwood (about 45 miles away). They later settled in Haynes' home state of Alabama.
After the death of M. S. Haynes in 1946, Bertha remained active as an evangelist. Sometime between August 1952 and August 1954, she married Grover Cleveland Norris and continued to serve as an evangelist until her death in 1977. She is buried at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
/ L.F. Morgan
When the school opening was announced at the Church of God General Assembly in November 1917, 21-year-old Bertha Hilbun of Kentwood, Louisiana wanted to attend but could not afford it. Deacons at the Kentwood Church of God, where she was a member, saw Bertha’s gifting for ministry, and the local churches at Kentwood and Dunn, Louisiana, collected offerings to pay her expenses. After arriving by train on December 31, 1917, Bertha grew homesick often during that first term. Once she packed her trunk and sent it ahead to the train depot in order to leave, but the other students and Nora Chambers talked her out of leaving and her trunk was retrieved from the depot. In 1960 Bertha remembered, "Our teacher, Sister Nora Chambers, was wonderful to me and my pet name was 'Baby' from her, as I cried when I became homesick and she would sit in a rocker and have me sit in her lap and she would pray and console me, and, of course, after then I could make it all right for several days."
The first term ended April 5, 1918, and Bertha married Bishop M. S. [Martin Scott] Haynes the following day. Since 1916 he had served as state administrator for the Church of God congregations in Louisiana and resided at Bertha’s hometown of Kentwood. He knew Bertha well prior to her arrival as a student at the Bible school. Haynes was considerably older than Bertha and had children already, and he married her after the death of his wife. Following their marriage, Bertha did not return to the school, but she joined Haynes in ministry in Louisiana. Already an evangelist in practice, Bertha received ministerial license in early 1919. She then pastored the Church of God at Bogalusa, Louisiana, and the Haynes family continued to live at Kentwood (about 45 miles away). They later settled in Haynes' home state of Alabama.
After the death of M. S. Haynes in 1946, Bertha remained active as an evangelist. Sometime between August 1952 and August 1954, she married Grover Cleveland Norris and continued to serve as an evangelist until her death in 1977. She is buried at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
/ L.F. Morgan