James M. “Buck” Hatch, served Columbia International University (CIU) as teacher, counselor and administrator for almost 40 years. A pioneer in the field of biblical counseling, Hatch taught and counseled not from a platform of strength, but from his own experience of brokenness and pain.James “Buck” Hatch grew up in an outwardly successful, but inwardly unhappy family. His parents’ marriage ended in divorce.
Insecurity, melancholy, timidity — brokenness — marked the young Hatch. He came to faith in Christ while a medical student at Duke University. God called him into ministry and he left Duke after earning his bachelors degree to attend Columbia International University (then Columbia Bible College), where he obtained a master of theology degree.
At CIU, the still-broken Hatch gained hope as Robert C. McQuilkin and others taught and modeled “a life that is supernatural, flowing from a continuous relationship with the Lord Jesus.”
Mr. Hatch pastored in Mississippi for five years, then entered the University of Chicago to study anthropology, sociology and psychology. After earning a second masters degree, he joined the CIU faculty in 1947.
As a teacher, counselor, and administrator, Mr. Hatch was an integral part of Columbia International University for more than forty years. He was honored as CIU Alumni of the Year in 1998, and went to be with the Lord in 1999.