Dear Southeastern California Conference members,

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Pastor Bernard Taylor. He passed away Saturday, February 15, 2025, and is now at rest in Jesus. A memorial service for Dr. Taylor will be held on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. at the Loma Linda University Church. All are welcome to attend his memorial service.

Dr. Taylor taught biblical languages at La Sierra University beginning in the early 1990s until 2021. Upon accepting appointment as Associate Pastor of the Loma Linda University Church in 1990, Dr. Taylor also joined La Sierra University’s School of Religion as Collaborating Professor of Biblical Languages and Old Testament Theology—a position he held until 2021. During these years he regularly led La Sierra's pastoral ministry students into a thorough knowledge of the biblical languages of classical Hebrew and Koiné Greek, as well as into Ecclesiastical Latin, and the theological thought of the Hebrew scriptures. The publication of his Analytical Lexicon to the Septuagint (Zondervan 1994; rev. 2009) marked his thoroughgoing scholarship and lasting contribution to the field of scriptural linguistics. Accordingly, graduates of La Sierra who applied for admission into graduate programs in pastoral ministry at the SDA Theological Seminary and other advanced institutions found ready acceptance; their knowledge of the biblical languages was consistently strong.  

Another significant part of Dr. Taylor's public ministry during these years was his regular participation over a couple of decades and more, as a panelist on "Searching for Answers," the popular weekly telecast on Loma Linda Broadcasting Network, with world-wide viewership. His spiritual insights into biblical teachings, arising from his thorough linguistic knowledge that were delivered in terms that spoke to the Christian lives of ordinary laypeople (often with a touch of his gentle trademark humor), contributed definitively to the program's success.  

Please keep his family and his loved ones in prayer.

Memorial Service for Dr. Bernard Taylor

March 22, 2025, at 4:00 p.m.

Loma Linda University Church

11125 Campus St.

Loma Linda, CA 92354