A Good and Faithful Servant: Remembering Dr. R Edwin Groover

Dr. Eddie Groover ’67, chancellor emeritus, passed away on July 3 after an extended illness. All who knew him can attest to his kindness, intelligence and generosity. His knowledge of the Restoration Movement, including the founding of this University, was unparalleled. He filled many roles at Atlanta Christian College, serving as president from 1993-2006. He was supportive and encouraging as we transitioned to becoming Point University, serving for a time as chancellor and frequently attending special events on the West Point campus. He was a man of strong faith whose Christian commitment impacted generations of our students. On these pages, some of his closest friends and colleagues share their memories of him.

I met Eddie in 1970, when I was a knuckle-headed sophomore basketball player who happened to be taking some classes, and he was the newly minted M.Div. from Emmanuel School of Religion, hired by President Jim Redmon to teach us all things related to church history and the Restoration Movement (on which eventually he did his doctoral dissertation at Emory).

Two years later he became the dean of men, and Eddie and I began to become friends. My last year in college, I moved into the dorm, and we sealed the friendship. He became a groomsman in my wedding on December 21, 1973. It was the last day of the semester and final exams. We would be wed that night.

That morning I had one exam, and I sat next to a student who was a bit older than I, and already a nurse, who had come to ACC to become a medical missionary. Her name was Belinda. Before the exam, we were chatting, and she said she needed a ride to the airport to catch a flight home in the morning. I said, “I think I know someone.” After the exam, I chased down Eddie and asked if he would take her. I think he blushed, gave me that Cheshire Cat grin and said he would be happy to do it.

Six months later, they were married, and next June, they would have celebrated 50 years together — they will celebrate without us!

A few nights before he died, my son and I visited Eddie. During the conversation, Eddie – speaking through the irritating oxygen mechanism and the nebulizer – said, “I want to live, but I am not afraid of dying . . . I am in the hands of the Lord.” Indeed, he is.

That is true for all of us who have placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as well. We are in the hands of the Lord! There is no better place to be.

—Dr. Jim Donovan ’74

Our roots go back far – even before either of us were born. My great grandmother, a missionary to Japan, nearly recruited Eddie’s mother on the ACC campus to move to Japan. Eddie was my boss, my hiking and camping buddy, my carpool partner and my friend. His old roll-top desk sits in my home office, a relic he didn’t have room for years ago, and he gave it to me. I think of him each time I sit down to work.

We traveled many miles together and had many adventures, both within the U.S. and abroad. We swapped parenting ideas over the years. I performed a rededication wedding for him and Belinda when they celebrated their 25th anniversary, and I walked with him as he watched his mother, then his lovely bride, suffer through the painful process of dementia. He called me early on a Sunday morning from the hospice when Belinda passed away. I met him, cleaned out her room for him, and went to the funeral home with him – the same one where his visitation was held.

I know the hole I feel in my heart is felt by everyone who knew him. It is a chasm that is impossible to close. On the way home from the funeral home, my wife asked me someone’s name. Unable to recall it, I absentmindedly picked up my phone and said, “I’ll call Eddie. He’ll know.” He loved Point, he loved people, and most of all, he loved his Lord. Not once in our 40 years did I ever hear him speak ill of anyone. That is a legacy of living one’s faith that few achieve.

—Dr. Greg Moffatt ’88

As a new history professor at Atlanta Christian College, one of my first assignments was to attend Dr. Eddie Groover’s class on Restoration History. Restoration History was a course on the founding of the Christian Church and Churches of Christ. President Collins, it seemed, was concerned that the knowledge Dr. Groover shared in this course needed to somehow be recorded. Not to question my boss, I began a new semester sitting in the back of a Tuesday and Thursday 8:00 class.

Dr. Groover taught without notes, referenced unique, primary sources and discussed past pastors and meeting houses as if speaking of dear friends and places. I was enthralled. I took voluminous notes. I copied handouts. I began research of my own to see if I could add to his narrative. When I shared new information, thinking to impress him, not only was he aware of my “new” information, but he would add a witticism about a person or place I named.

I typed up notes weekly, I wrote test questions for him, I added some videos, and then I asked if I could retake the course the following semester to double-check my work. What resulted is one of my most prized possessions. Some years later, I went on to teach Restoration History, using Dr. Groover’s notes, but without his flair and depth of knowledge. A true intellect, a fellow historian, a friend I was blessed to know.

—Dr. Kim Macenczak (’80-’82)

I am grateful to be able to say that in my many years of knowing Eddie Groover, I was first his student, then his faculty colleague. He was the academic dean who kept me teaching at Point while I was on a mission of preaching in a local church, and finally, the president who, among other things, invited me to speak at fall convocation one year.

But those are all more formal and professional relationships –for which I have no complaints. More than that, however, is the fact that Eddie Groover and I were friends.

There is much that I admire about my friend Eddie. He found a way to love the academy and the church, a rare combination. Most people seem to love one or the other, but not both. But Eddie was quite comfortable in any role he ever took in the academy, and always seemed to love the church in ways that made my heart glad. He was as brilliant as any friend I’ve known, yet I still remember a moving sermon he preached in chapel years ago on Paul’s attempt at stand-up comedy in 1 Corinthians 12. I never read that great chapter without seeing Eddie behind the pulpit at Westside Chapel, speaking so passionately about the body of Christ, the church.

Few, if any, can ever say they served the Lord at Point University for as long and as faithfully as Eddie did. That he was my friend warms my heart as a blessing from God Himself.

—Wye Huxford ’73

In early 1986, I learned of an opening for a New Testament professor at Atlanta Christian College. My contact was Eddie Groover, academic dean. Thus began a 37-year friendship that has blessed me beyond what words can express. I’ve had a number of friends in my 70 years, but few brought me more joy and wisdom than Eddie.

In the early years of my tenure at ACC, Eddie and Belinda reached out to share themselves with me, Kathy and our kids. There were happy outings to Callaway Gardens, to a seafood restaurant in Atlanta whose name escapes memory, to Symphony Hall to hear The Messiah, to Sisters Chapel at Spelman College to hear the combined Spelman-Morehouse Glee Clubs, and to Eddie’s Attic to hear Pierce Pettis. We especially bonded when he and I attended a number of professional conferences together.

From Eddie I learned so much: how to be a better writer, how to be a better preacher, how to think of others rather than oneself, how to be kind and compassionate, how to be a thoughtful and considerate friend, and how to hold firm convictions while remaining kind and charitable towards others. As I’m now older, I pray that the Lord will make me holy, preparing me for the life of heaven. Looking back, I know of few souls as holy as Eddie’s. And, at the same time, I have known few as humble as his. I will always thank God for a friend as holy and humble as Eddie Groover.

—Dr. Barry Blackburn

Eddie Groover and I were friends for more than 50 years. We were roommates at ACC and at Emmanuel School of Religion. We were groomsmen at one another’s weddings and lived in the same town. We worked together at Point University until our retirement.

Eddie had a major influence on my life. Of the many admirable traits of character he displayed, the one I admired the most and for which I will remember him most was his kindness. When I say “kindness,” I mean something more than socially polite or considerate of other people’s feelings. His kindness ran much deeper. He had a selfless and compassionate heart for people that always sought what was best for them. It inspired his ministry and motivated the generous giving of his time and money. His kindness was like the kindness of God.

Eddie showed me that kindness when I succeeded and when I failed, when I was being praised or when I was being criticized, when I was righteous and when I was unrighteous.

Thank you, Eddie, for showing me kindness. It has helped me to reach for the person God wants me to be.

—Dr. Steve Hooks ’69

When our campus was in East Point, my office was just down the hall from Dr. Groover’s. We chatted often, and during one of our conversations, Dr. Groover and I discovered some similarities in our journeys. We both had a parent from Bowdon, Georgia, both grew up in the Ben Hill community, both graduated from D. M. Therrell High School, and both earned our doctoral degrees from Emory University. It was quite remarkable! Dr. Groover was 26 years older than me, and we noted how various circumstances were different from the time that he was in those spaces to when I came along.

Considering this, we put together a presentation that compared and contrasted our common paths and looked at how we were impacted by race relations along the way. I was honored to partner with him in sharing our story on four different occasions, and I truly enjoyed the time that we spent getting to know each other.

Dr. Groover was also instrumental in connecting me with generous donors who sponsored the children of faculty to attend Camp WinShape. Each year, I would get an email from him asking if my sons wanted to go back to camp, and the camp experience became one of the highlights of the year for each of my three boys for over 10 years! I’ll never forget Dr. Groover’s kindness in how he always thought of them for that opportunity.

My most recent interaction with Dr. Groover was in fall 2022, when he graciously agreed to help us out by teaching a course. He hadn’t been in the classroom for several years, but was eager to fill the need and to learn how to use Canvas. As the semester ended, he kept me up to date regarding his health concerns and surgery. In our last email exchange, we shared Christmas blessings with each other. I was saddened to hear of his passing, but I am comforted by the scripture that says “blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on . . . that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” (Revelation 14:13). I am grateful to have known Dr. Eddie Groover and to call him a friend in Christ.

—Dr. Dedra Woolfolk

To read more reflections on Dr. Groover’s legacy or share your own, please visit point.edu/groover.