Roger Lee Hahn

Roger Lee Hahn was born to Lee Arthur and Hattie Lois Hahn on February 8, 1950. He lived the first 8 years of his life on a quarter-section of land several miles outside of the small town of Hamlet, NE, that his great-grandfather had homesteaded under the Homestead Act. Five sequential crops lost to the severe droughts that hit the Great Plains in the mid-to-late 1950s led the family, now with four children, to sell the family farm and move to an acreage outside of Boulder, CO. There, Roger grew up pursuing a range of well-rounded interests. He excelled in school, sports, and music. In addition to being among the valedictorians of his high school class, Roger left for college able to speak Spanish with near-fluency—a skill he would use for the rest of his life. In athletics, Roger ranked among the top gymnasts in the state of Colorado—taking the state championship in the floor routine in his junior year. An injury in his senior season saw him compete at the state championship meet in floor, vault, trampoline, and tumbling on only one arm—the other taped to his chest. In music, Roger was constantly encouraged by his parents—especially his mother—who urged him to develop his musical talents “in case God calls you to be a missionary.” He toured with youth choirs throughout his high school and college years. Though he was recruited to the University of Colorado for gymnastics, Roger left home to study at Bethany Nazarene College (now, Southern Nazarene University) in 1968. He soon met Dorothy Bland—who worked in the bakery of the cafeteria where he worked as a dishwasher. He invited Dorothy to a week of revival services. The preaching was so romantic that, at the end of the week, Roger asked Dorothy to marry him! In perhaps the greatest work of grace of the revival, she said yes. Their engagement lasted 2.5 years before they married between Roger’s junior and senior years. During his college years, he came to believe that resurrection hope was the basis of Christian faith, and that the famous hymn lyrics ought to be edited to read: “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness—and resurrection!” Roger wanted to become a preacher, but had not experienced a clear call to ministry. So, he majored in Mathematics, and earned a minor in Secondary Education as well as in Physics—all while taking every course in Bible that he could fit into his schedule. In his junior year, while doing devotions in his dorm room, Roger received his long-awaited call to ministry while reading the opening verses of Romans 1:14-15: “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish—hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” Roger finished his degree in Math, and immediately pursued an M.A. in Bible at BNC while he taught 8th grade Math at a middle school in Oklahoma City. In 1974, he and Dorothy moved to Kansas City for him to attend Nazarene Theological Seminary, where he earned the M.Div. in 1976. So great were the impact of his studies at NTS, Roger often remembered thinking in his first week of classes that, had he not come to the Seminary, he’d have never known what it meant to be a Christian. From Kansas City, Roger and Dorothy moved to Durham, NC, where Roger earned the Ph.D. in New Testament Studies, with a cognate in Ancient History from Duke University. During his studies, he pastored the Durham Church of the Nazarene. In a move that Roger and Dorothy would repeat throughout their lives, they gave themselves in love to the church, and the church congregation gave themselves in love to Roger and Dorothy. They had three happy years of ministry in Durham before Roger was hired by his alma mater, BNC (SNU), to teach New Testament. Roger taught at SNU for 15 years, where his students affectionately-but-fearfully referred to him as “Atilla-the-Hahn.” While in Bethany, he and Dorothy welcomed three boys into their home: Jonathan, born in 1984, Matthew, born in 1986, and Timothy, born in 1988. In 1994, Roger and his family moved to Kansas City, where he joined the faculty of Nazarene Theological Seminary as Professor of New Testament. In 2002, he was elected Dean of the Faculty. In 2006, he was named the Willard H. Taylor Chair of Biblical Theology. He led the Seminary faculty through the tenures of three Seminary presidents, the rapidly changing landscape of graduate theological education, and the ravages of two economic down-turns. He stepped down as Dean in 2017, and retired from full-time teaching in 2020. In what he would often call some of the most fulfilling years of his life, Roger spent the years from 2020-2023 pastoring Overland Park Church of the Nazarene. Roger’s years of ministry and teaching were marked by care and enthusiasm. He was beloved by students, respected by colleagues, and trusted by his church. His prodigious reading appetite nurtured lively courses and robust bibliographies gifted to his students to help them continue their learning years after they left his classroom. He is most often remembered for his stubborn insistence that academic learning and pastoral ministry were natural partners, and for his pastoral posture in both the classroom and the pulpit. Roger died peacefully in the morning on October 6, 2023, surrounded by his family, after a sudden and sharp journey through aggressive cancer. He is survived by wife, Dorothy, and three sons, Jonathan, Matthew, and Timothy, daughter-in-law Laura, siblings Susan, Larry, and Sally, several nephews, nieces, great-nephews and -nieces, and a grateful church. Roger’s funeral will be held at Overland Park Church of the Nazarene on October 21, 2023, at 2pm. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Hahn Family Scholarship fund at Nazarene Theological Seminary. (https://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/donor-form?svcid=renxt&formId=4e5e8523-8918-42aa-9475-add4c958fe08&envid=p-1h0zxEePjk2DhgAp2Xxn7w&zone=usa)

Roger Lee Hahn

February 8, 1950 - October 6, 2023