On June 15, we lost a spiritual giant, our brother Jay Guin. Many of you have benefited from Jay's writing over the years. Jay helped many people navigate the difficult road from legalism to a healthier acknowledgement of grace and the Holy Spirit. Jay's blog was most likely the most read blog within Churches of Christ at the time of his passing and will continue to be a resource for Christians for years to come. We honor his life. We appreciate the time and energy he poured into his writing and teaching. Jay will be truly missed. My prayer has been that God has already been at work raising up 50-100 to replace him in the years to come, much due to his influence and teaching. Our prayers continue to go out to his family.Here is Jay's obituary,
TUSCALOOSA - Jay F. Guin, age 63, of Tuscaloosa, passed away on June 12, 2017, at Hospice of West Alabama. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., today, June 15, 2017 at Tuscaloosa Memorial Chapel with Buddy Jones officiating. The family received guests on Wednesday, June 14, 2017, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the funeral home. A private family internment will take place in Tuscaloosa Memorial Park with Tuscaloosa Memorial Chapel Funeral Home directing.
He was preceded in death by his father, J. Foy Guin, Jr. and mother-in-law, Velma Shirley Hendrix.Survivors include his wife, Denise Hendrix Guin; sons, Christopher Guin, Jonathan Guin (Erin), Tyler Guin (Tara) and Philip Guin; mother, Dorace Caldwell Guin; sisters, Jan Smith (Tommy) and Judy Mullican (Jim); brother, David Guin (April); and grandchildren, Daniel Guin and Rachel Guin.Jay grew up in Russellville, Ala., a hotbed of legal talent for its small stature and size.
Jay's grandfather and father were both brilliant lawyers in their own right, having practiced together in Russellville for a time, so naturally Jay decided to be a math teacher.
After bringing tennis to Russellville when his family built the only full-sized court in the town in his backyard, he moved on to David Lipscomb College. There, he further developed his love of math, graduating with a mathematics degree which saw almost no use over the years outside of his teaching at the University Church of Christ apologetics classes. He met Denise at Lipscomb, and one year later got married.
After putting his brilliant mathematical mind to work, he realized math teachers made less money than lawyers, and so followed in the family tradition to become a lawyer. Thus, he entered into and graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1978, second in his class (although he was first until the last semester, which he only mentioned about 1,000 times). Shortly thereafter, and at great insistence from no one in particular, he started his own law firm with his good friend and mentor, Bob Tanner.Jay loved few things more than practicing law, which is why he told his children never to be lawyers, which only three of his children listened to, much to his regret.
Outside of work, Jay worked tirelessly as a progressive Church of Christ theologian and teacher, greatly transforming many churches and lives through his work. No doubt he will be well remembered by countless Christians who owe a small or large part of their faith to his work. This work consumed his time and thoughts, and the world is lucky to have all of it recorded on his blog, which will be a lasting testament to him.
Also, he raised four nit-picking, hypercritical children, three of whom contributed, in their own unique ways to this poorly thought-out obituary. Please find and thank the one who had the good sense and maturity to stay out of it.Honorary pallbearers are the employees of the law firm of Campbell Guin and members of the University Church of Christ