Introduction

Biography

Purd was the son of Har­ry Will­iam Dietz and Ada Ger­trude Gil­bert.

As a boy, he sang in the choir at St. James Epis­co­pal Church in York. At col­lege, he be­longed to both the col­lege choir and glee club.

He at­tend­ed Ur­si­nus Col­lege, Col­lege­ville, Penn­syl­van­ia (AB 1918, DD 1937); Cen­tral Theo­lo­gic­al Se­mi­na­ry, Day­ton, Ohio; and the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ed­in­burgh (a year of gra­du­ate stu­dy around 1940).

Ordained in 1921, he mar­ried Thisbe Eli­za­beth Schultz that same year. He served at the Fourth Re­formed Church in Day­ton, Ohio, for four years, and for 13 years at Tri­ni­ty Church, Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia.

He then be­came pro­fess­or of prac­ti­cal theo­lo­gy at Ed­en Se­mi­na­ry, St. Lou­is, Mis­sou­ri.

He served on the com­mittee that com­piled the Ev­an­ge­li­cal and Re­formed Church’s Book of Wor­ship, and was pre­si­dent of the de­no­mi­na­tion’s Board of Na­tion­al Mis­sions (elect­ed the board’s ex­ecu­tive sec­re­ta­ry in 1949).