Hey, this is Chris Guin, Jay’s oldest son. I’m so sorry to report that my dad passed away at 12:30 pm today after a lengthy hospitalization following two surgeries. We haven’t made any arrangements yet, but we will be sure to post them as soon as we have them. (UPDATE: On Wednesday, the family will be receiving friends at Tuscaloosa Memorial Chapel from 5-8 pm. The memorial service will be there at 2:00 pm Thursday.)
Thank you so much to everyone who has posted or sent in notes to us telling what my father meant to them. My dad was very grateful to be so bathed in prayer and surrounded by love. His ministry via this blog meant a lot to him as well, and we will be doing what we can to keep the resources here live so they can continue to be a blessing to anyone who wants them.
**If you’d like to send any words regarding how Jay influenced your ministry, or your personal walk, direct them to ejguin(at)gmail(dot)com with subject “jay”. Thanks-Erin (his daughter in law)
This is terrible news, but I will rejoice with Jay now as he stands with our Savior. I will pray for the peace that passes all understanding for you and your family in this difficult moment.
Jay and I visited several times after I became engaged with a woman who had belonged to the church of Christ since birth. He helped me understand a more ecumenical church than the one I kept reading about and while we still had disagreements, we continued our conversation with loving hearts. I will miss my friend and can’t wait to meet him face to face one day.
In Christ,
Trey Patterson (Jay’s Lutheran friend 🙂 )
Please let me know if there is anything I can do. I’m an AWS / WordPress guy in my spare time and keep my local congregation’s site running on AWS. I’d be happy to add this site to my AWS deployment or contribute in any way I can. This site (and Jay) have been instrumental in my growth and journey as a Christian. Jay will be missed here, but we will see him. I never did make it out there to enjoy some BBQ.
My thoughts and prayers for your family.
I’m so sorry for your loss, though I rejoice in your dad’s victory. Your family will be in my prayers.
I’m very sad for all of us, and very happy for Jay
I am so saddened to get this news. His blog has been a tribute to all who believe St. Anselm’s definition of theology, “Faith seeking understanding”. Jay was tirelessly seeking understanding to the many questions he sought to resolve in his on journey of faith. I applaud his courage and determination. Please accept my sincerest condolences.
I’m so sorry to you and the rest of your family for your loss!
I’ve enjoyed Jay’s teachings so much!
What a grand blog article Jay would write for us tomorrow. Can’t wait to see him again and get on his mailing list for eternity. He has shed much light in my direction.
Chris, my deepest sympathies to you and the family. Like all of us yet to claim our hope we are saddened by the loss of a brother, but happy for the peace your dad knows now. He was really looking forward to a new body without the pain.
Steve Clifton
A great and gifted man. His ministry has blessed me for years. I will miss Jay and pray for those left behind for now.
I’m sorry for your family’s loss. Jay taught a lot of us much more about Christianity than we ever learned previously and let people discuss topics at length with him and with each other. I hope he lives on not only through what he taught but how he taught. He will be missed.
I’m sorry to hear about Jay passing. His blog has been nothing short of a inspiration to me over the years. My prayers are with everyone. Hugs
It was heartbreaking to learn of Jay’s death. His passing will leave a huge gap in God’s kingdom here on earth. He was truly one of the spiritual giants in the church, and only eternity will reveal what a tremendous effect he had on thousands (millions?) through his writings. To God be the glory!
I am so sorry for the loss of your father and will continue to keep your family in my prayers.
I never met your dad, we never spoke or corresponded. However, he has been my teacher for many years and has like all great teachers challenged me, made we think and given me a greater desire to study God’s word to search out the truth. My life and faith have been blessed because of his putting his faith and talents into great action.
God bless you.
David
My sincerest condolences to you and your family in your dad’s passing. I echo everyone else’s comments who have posted already. Jay has been so instrumental in my faith walk the past several years I feel I have lost a close friend even though we’ve never met in person. I started each morning by coming to his blog for my daily dose of his teachings. Jay has taught us all more than just theology and how to be a better student of the word but also how to be a better person by being kind and gracious even when you disagree with someone. My prayers are with you and your family.
This is a great loss to us here, but we rejoice with him. Please know how much his work impacted the faith of myself and so many. We are sorry for your loss.
Hi this is Erin, Jay’s daughter in law (married to Jonathan). If you have anything you’d like to send in to the family regarding the ways Jay has influenced your spiritual journey, they can be emailed to ejguin(at)gmail(dot)com. Please put subject as “jay”. I will compile them for Denise and the boys. Thank you so so much. My father in law is irreplaceable!
Love, Erin
What a great man who taught us all how to grow. We are all better people because of him. Thank you Jay.
Blessings on you and your family. I made a special trip to Tuscaloosa to meet Jay and attend his Sunday morning Bible class back in 2008. His love, work, and words were encouraging and educational.
Blessing to your family. We are all saddened by the news. May God bring comfort to you at this time. God bless.
My deepest condolences. May the God of peace rain his blessing on you and gave you comfort and peace. I only knew Jay through his writings in this blog and he was one of my heroes of faith. He had a great ability to look at scripture and analyze both (or many) sides of ways to understand the relevance of the passage in today’s world – he had strong beliefs and argued them well but I found he gave you the ability to use his research to draw your own conclusions and he was always gracious in responding to those who criticized. Many blessings.
I was never privileged to know Jay personally but we interacted quite a bit these last several years through One in Jesus. We often disagreed although in reality I believe we agreed on the things that are the most important to Christian faith. Churches of Christ were blessed to have Jay Guin as a leader. I will always appreciate and admire Jay’s insistence in One in Jesus on allowing a free, full and fair presentation of all viewpoints no matter how opposed they may have been to his own beliefs. As a gay Christian my comments were no longer allowed on either the Christian Chronicle website or on Edward Fudge’s blog. But Jay always welcomed my participation on One in Jesus no matter how much we disagreed about homosexuality. I had shared with Jay at one point my struggle with chronic depression or dysthymia. Later when I had not commented for awhile Jay contacted me to see how I was doing. Jay will truly be missed by many people including me.
So sorry to lose Jay. Our online conversations predate the blog. I especially appreciated Jay’s ability to take in things he had never considered before and think them over without first straining them through his assumptions. We disagreed on a number of issues, but that did not dent my respect for him. An intellectually honest man, which is a rare find. May God give his family great peace.
Jay Guin was a visionary and a wonderful Christian theologian. He will be greatly missed. May God bless you and all of his family. Sincerest condolences.
So full of joy that Jay is finally home with the Lord we love. I am praying for your comfort and your continued walk with Jesus. May we all strain forward to the prize Jay has taken hold of.
I’m very sorry to hear about Jay. My condolences to you and your family. I think he touched a lot of people in his life. Through his prolific writing on this website he can continue to impact people all over the world.
It feels weird to post this but this blog itself is a legacy and testament to faithfulness. I have only just started reading some of the posts and after Jay’s passing. The word of the Lord will not return void.