Jim Conrad ’62: A Story of God’s Faithfulness

Every Covenant grad has a story about how they first heard of Covenant and what brought them to the college. Some learn about the college from alumni, others from their youth pastor, and perhaps others joined friends on a college visit. Not everyone can say they heard about the college after hitchhiking to a Young Life camp in Missouri, but that’s what happened to Jim Conrad ’62.  

Learning about Covenant

Jim grew up in St. Louis in a music loving family. He admits that he wasn’t a great student. He says, “I simply didn’t enjoy studying.” After finishing high school, he attended Washington University for a semester and then dropped out. He found a temporary job at a packaging company that soon turned into permanent work. In July of that year, he decided to go to a Young Life camp where his former high school Young Life leader was the director. “I packed up my suitcase and hitchhiked. It was about a hundred miles away. I stuck out my thumb and got a ride with two guys who were guzzling down beer. They ran out of beer and pulled into a bar to get some more. And I thought this would be a good time to pray–pray that I get there safely to camp. So I laid down in the back seat, and I prayed that the Lord would get me there safely.” The Lord did bring him there safely, and it was at that camp that he met the first president of Covenant College, Robert Rayburn, who was there as a speaker. 

Jim recounts that Dr. Rayburn had once studied to be a concert pianist. “On that old camp piano–those things were so rickety–he made that thing jump! I was impressed by his ability to play the piano and to speak. The Young Life leader made sure that the next day at lunch I was sitting next to Dr. Rayburn. He talked to me about coming to the college. And I said, ‘Well, Dr. Rayburn, I really didn't study in high school. I goofed off. I was more interested in golf and shooting basketball and riding my bike. I don't even know if I could get into your college.’ He said, ‘Well, I'm the president, and I have a little influence.’ A month later, I was a student at Covenant College.”

Stories of God’s Faithfulness

Jim was a Bible major at Covenant and loved learning about God’s Word from his professors. He was also part of Covenant’s chorale and traveled with a group of five singers, called the Ambassadors. They traveled all throughout the country, singing at churches and introducing people to the college. This experience increased his interest in pursuing ministry. 

After his second year at Covenant, he continued to struggle with his studies and began to doubt whether college was the right fit for him. He considered dropping out. Word got around about his plans. That summer, he received a letter in the mail from an anonymous sender. “It said if you were to return to  Covenant College, your full tuition will be paid.” He couldn’t figure out who sent it, nor who would have enough money to help him. It wasn’t until years later that he learned that a fellow classmate, the late Paul Davenport ’60, a friend and fellow chorale singer, had paid his tuition for him. Paul was one of twelve children, had worked many hours at a funeral home to pay his own tuition, and also paid Jim’s. 
 
Jim returned to Covenant and continued in his studies. Dr. Rayburn became a mentor to Jim, a father figure who encouraged him to go into ministry. “I told Dr. Rayburn I can't preach. I said, ‘I'm not this; I'm not that.’ He would just look at me and shake his head and encourage me to go on to seminary and become a pastor, which I did.”

After graduation, he went on to seminary and then started pastoring a small church in Pennsylvania. He got a call from the college, which had since moved to Lookout Mountain, that they needed a Dean of Men. He took the job, and while working for the college, he met Evie, his wife. They married on the south porch of Carter and have been married for fifty-eight years. 

A Lasting Impact

Jim went on to pastor Covenant Presbyterian Church in Naples, FL, where he pastored from 1974 to 2000. He attributes the call to pastor there to Dr. Rayburn, who encouraged the church there to consider him for the pastorate. During these years, Jim also served on Covenant College’s board of trustees. During President Frank Brock’s tenure at the college, the college contacted him to see if he knew anyone in Naples who would be interested in hearing Frank come and share about the mission of the college. Jim contacted a church member, Lowell Andreas, a prominent businessman, who met with Frank. “Frank laid out beautifully the philosophy, vision, and mission of Covenant College. And Lowell said, ‘That's exactly what I believe.’ And he left the largest bequest (at that time) to Covenant College, and they named a dorm after him, Andreas Hall.”

He went on to pastor two other churches, one in North Carolina and one in Pennsylvania. He also had the opportunity to minister at his son’s church, where he pastors in Midlothian, VA, for four years (Andrew was a 1993 alumnus of Covenant). This was a meaningful time for Jim to work alongside his son in ministry. Currently, Jim and Evie have a grandson who is a student at Covenant and hope to see more attend in the future.

Jim looks back on his life with amazement at God’s grace. “It's just interesting to see how God could use somebody like me–who was voted runner-up as the most shy student in my high school class–to be a preacher of the gospel. God is good. I didn't understand in my younger years the meaning of the providence of God. But I experienced it throughout my life. What does catechism say? It says, ‘God's works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.’ And that's what he did in my life, as he led me step by step at work in his Kingdom. So here I am today, thanking the Lord for Covenant College. God used it to transform my life and give me a life partner in Evie.”