Henry J. Durham was born in High Point, North Carolina, in September 1924. He graduated high school from Fernandina Beach, Florida, in 1941 and served in the U.S. Army during World War II (1943-1946). He married Ruby Lee Kelly in 1946. He graduated from Mercer University in 1949 and from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1952. Durham was ordained by First Baptist Church of Fernandina Beach, Florida, and served in pastorates in Irwinton, McIntyre, Donalsonville, and Eatonton, Georgia; Dupont, Indiana; and Taylorsville, Kentucky. He taught New Testament Greek at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for 3 years. He and his wife had two daughters: Sharon (1956) and Melanie (1960). Durham served as a moderator for the Bowen and Central Baptist Associations. He also was a member of the Georgia Baptist Convention Executive Committee and Education Commission, the Kiwanis Club, and the Human Relations Committee of Eatonton and Putnam County. He was a trustee of the Baptist Village and of Tift College. He served as President of the Ministers’ Chapter of the Mercer University. His last pastorate was at Perkerson Church in Atlanta. Henry J. Durham died from a heart attack in 1982.