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08247
March 31, 2008
Lindner leaves National Council of Churches
after three decades of ecumenical service
PC(USA) minister is tireless ecumenist, child advocate
by Philip E. Jenks
NCC News
NEW YORK — The Rev. Eileen W. Lindner, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister widely known as editor of the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches and as a tireless leader and chronicler of the ecumenical movement, has announced her departure from the National Council of Churches USA on May 15.
Lindner, former NCC deputy general secretary research and planning, has served as director of organizational development since a reorganization of the NCC on Jan. 1.
“Fund raising is a crucial position for any non-profit organization and this has never been more true for the Council than it is now,” Lindner said. “The role of fund raiser needs to be focused much more sharply than is possible in my current position.”
Lindner, a historian, researcher, pastor and popular public speaker, said her interests “have always been wider than fund development and the Council needs to feel free to rewrite the position description and search for a full-time professional in the field.”
The Rev. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary, praised Lindner’s contributions to the Council and said, “Eileen will certainly be missed as the NCC moves forward with this transition necessary to serving its best interests.”
In a memorandum to NCC staff, Kinnamon said: “I am sure you join me in celebrating Eileen’s commitment and ministry in her time with the Council, especially her leadership with the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, the development of the policy statement on human genetics and her concerns for children and health care to list only a few. I am deeply appreciative of Eileen’s abiding commitment to the Council and its future and trust that her ministry will continue to serve Christ’s church.”
During Lindner’s 10-year-long tenure as editor of the annual Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, the yearbook continued to be widely recognized as the most accurate and complete compilation of facts and figures on U.S. and Canadian churches and organizations.
Earlier in her career at the Council, Lindner served as director of the Child Advocacy Office. During her tenure she established the Ecumenical Child Care Network, serving 18,000 preschool programs housed in churches of all denominations nationwide.
Lindner has also served the NCC as associate general secretary for unity and relationships.
Lindner holds a doctorate in American church history from Union Theological Seminary in New York. Over three decades, she has served the PC(USA) in a variety of capacities. Most recently, she was vice chair of a Presbyterian task force studying the pros and cons of establishing a separate corporation for disaster assistance, and chair of the denomination’s Special Offerings Review Task Force.
In May 2006 Lindner was named the first dean of the Riggio Lynch Interfaith Chapel, a three-month appointment, at the Children’s Defense Fund’s Alex Haley Farm. The farm, in Clinton, TN, serves as the spiritual home of the children’s movement, where people of all ages come for spiritual renewal, character and leadership development, intergenerational mentoring, and interracial, interfaith and interdisciplinary communication. |
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