If a minister in your Baptist church excels at pastoral care, you probably have Wayne Oates to thank. If you've been touched by the ministry of a Christian chaplain in the hospital, in the military or in a business setting, you probably have Wayne Oates to thank. Oates may never have stepped foot in the church, hospital or military base where you received ministry, but his writings and teachings over the past 50 years probably have been influential in the life of the minister or chaplain you encountered.

Mark Wingfield, "Pastoral Counseling's Pioneer Recalls His
Experiences," Western Recorder, 3 November 1998, 172, 43.

With his doctorate in Psychology of Religion, Dr. Wayne E. Oates began teaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1947.  In that same year he began serving as theological consultant to Dr. Spafford Ackerly, Chairman of the Department of psychiatry at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, and in 1974 he formally joined the medical school faculty.

Through his 57 books and numerous articles he addressed the relationship between religion, spirituality, health and healing. He mentored theological and medical students in the understanding that treatment requires compassion and collaboration. While combining his knowledge of Christian Theology with his psychiatric insights, he helped his students to be more aware of the spiritual issues they would encounter in the lives of their patients.

In 1984 the American Psychiatric Association conferred on him the Oskar Pfister Award for his contribution to the relationship between psychiatry and religion. Wayne Edward Oates physically left us on Thursday, October 21, 1999 at the age of 82. His influence continues in countless ways through his writing, through the lives of his family, friends, colleagues and students, and through the Wayne E. Oates Institute.