Sharing The Wondrous Wit, Wisdom, Ministry Of Dr. Dale Turner

"Give me a sense of humor, Lord.

"Give me the grace to see a joke,

"To get some pleasure out of life

"And pass it on to other folk.

"Give me sympathy and sense

"And help keep my courage high.

"Give me calm and confidence

"And, please, a twinkle in my eye."

Dr. Dale Turner chose that prayer to guide him and his ministry more than 50 years ago. Anyone who has met him or reads his column in the Saturday Seattle Times knows he lives that message.

I saw him across the crowded room at a luncheon banquet downtown the other day, and I can report with absolute certainty that the twinkle is there.

Our eyes met, he smiled the way he does, and my day was made brighter.

It seems a lot less than 13 years ago that Alex MacLeod suggested we ask Dale to write a column for the Saturday religion page. I wasn't familiar with Dale, but I could sense this was a heartfelt idea.

Alex tells the story of early Sunday morning services at Seattle's University Congregational Church:

"They began with a stirring hymn, a short, inspiring prayer and a brief sermonette. When the sermonette was finished, the children left the sanctuary for Sunday-school classes, leaving the adults behind for more hymns, prayers and a full-blown, 20-minute sermon.

"For most of the children, rushing off to the Sunday-school classes was a joyous relief from the stuffiness of the sanctuary. I know. I was one of those children.

"My relief, however, knew so few civilized bounds that at the peak of puberty, for crimes numerous if not capital, I was expelled from Sunday school. My punishment: to sit through the entire Sunday service, my parents on either side like guards at an execution.

"And that was how I first came to know the wondrous talents of Dale Emerson Turner.

"Dale Turner first stepped into the pulpit at University Congregational in 1958, about the time I was booted out of what the church called "character school." He brought with him a practical theology forged in the home of a Protestant mother and a Roman Catholic father and polished at Yale's Divinity School. He also brought with him a way with words that filled `U-Con's' pews twice each Sunday for the next 24 years.

"What made sitting through Turner's sermons so special was the clarity of his thought, the care of delivery and the frequent touches of humor which only underscored the seriousness of his convictions. Turner obviously agreed with Oscar Wilde when Wilde noted: `The original sin is that we take ourselves too seriously.'

"Dale Turner's humor made me laugh. His finely crafted messages made me think. It wasn't long before I felt lucky to have been kicked out of character school. I had graduated to something much more important."

I like to recall that story because it speaks so wonderfully about Alex's motivation for suggesting a column for Dale, who was "retiring" from the pulpit after 40 years. This was a chance to extend Dale's ministry and share his wisdom.

Dale's first column ran March 19, 1983. Since then he's written hundreds of columns without losing an ounce of freshness of spirit.

Bill Ristow, an editor who has worked with Dale, described how he bonds with readers:

"You know how there are some paintings in which the eyes of the subject always seem to be on you, no matter where you walk in the room? Amazingly often it feels that way to me when I read one of Dale's columns: as though he had his eyes directly on me when he was writing - as though he knew what was on my mind that week and wanted to share some thoughts on it.

"That says a lot about what a good job he does of addressing common human experiences in an extraordinarily personal way."

Janet Horne, another of Dale's editors along the way, says, "When he drops his weekly column off in the newsroom, Dale is never too busy to visit a bit with the editors he's come to know over the years. Many times has he stopped at my desk to ask how I'm doing and `How are the boys, Jan?' referring to my children.

"About 10 or 11 years ago my brother died at what was already a difficult time. Dale took me downstairs for coffee. He has such a gentle way. I poured out my feelings. His words of understanding and encouragement were a great help to me," she confides.

Steve Pierce, who has been Dale's editor the past 10 months, says, "Dale, by his life, defines words such as gentleness, compassion, love, kindness. He doesn't mouth these things; he truly lives them."

Those of us at The Times are a tiny fraction of the thousands who have been directly touched by Dale's goodness.

Two of those people are Tom and Dixie Porter, who met Dale when he came to University Congregational. They were dating each other and Dixie was church moderator, the top lay person.

When he retired, they recognized his ministry hadn't generated a lot of resources to live on. Working with Bruce Nordstrom, they set up a foundation to assist Dale and his wife, Leone.

When the YWCA of Seattle-King County presented Dale its Isabel Colman Pierce Award in 1993, Dixie Porter announced the start of an endowed scholarship in Dale's name at Yale Divinity School. Its purpose would be to encourage students from the Northwest and, in particular, from the greater Seattle area, to study for the ministry at Yale, where Dale received his master of divinity degree in 1943.

"He has touched so many lives in this community. And he is loved by so many people," she said at the time of the announcement. "I thought how wonderful it would be to have more Dale Turners around, whether male or female."

Tom Porter says, "Of course, we didn't have any money at that time. We announced it and said, `Now let's go get it.' "

Did they ever. The fund is almost $500,000 and growing. Two students, Gretchen Strohmaier and Linda Smith, both graduates of Seattle Pacific University, already are receiving scholarships from the fund.

The effort was given a big boost late last year when Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda French Gates pledged $50,000 as a challenge gift. Bill Gates' family was active in the church during Dale's tenure. His mother, the late Mary Gates, a longtime civic leader, was an early supporter of Dixie Porter's idea for the scholarship fund.

(Gifts can be made payable to Dale E. Turner Scholarship Fund, Yale Divinity School, 409 Prospect St., New Haven, CT 06511. The Development Office can be reached at 1-203-432-5358.)

It's impossible to imagine Dale Turner at a loss for words. There is just too much good humor in the world available to call upon. Not surprisingly, he rose to the occasion at a recent gathering at which it was announced that the scholarship fund was officially endowed.

Dale simply recalled another anonymous honoree who stepped to the podium and graciously said, "I don't appreciate this, but I deserve it from the bottom of my heart."

That's pure Dale Turner. I'm sure that when he said it, there was a twinkle in his eye for all to see.

The best of Dr. Dale Turner

Dr. Dale Turner's columns are so popular with readers that we have assembled a fifth collection of them in a 60-page booklet called "Let's Think About It." It includes 28 of his best columns published over the past four years.

Copies are $2 if picked up at The Times office, Fairview Avenue North and John Street. Or, they're available by mail order for $3.

All profits from the booklet will benefit AIDS organizations, at his request.

Inside The Times appears each Sunday. If you have a comment about news coverage, write to Michael R. Fancher, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111, call 464-3310, or send e-mail to mfan-new@seatimes.com