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08937
December 17, 2008
Notes about people
The Rev. Carl H. Geores, a champion for rural and small church ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for more than 50 years, died at his home in Monmouth, ME, Dec. 15. He was 86.
The New Jersey native served 43 months in the Marine Corps during World War II before graduating from Union College in Schenectady, NY, and Princeton Theological Seminary. Ordained by Albany Presbytery in 1952, embarked on a lifelong career of serving small and rural churches and advocating for stronger denominational support for small and rural church ministry, including lengthy service on the PC(USA)’s Rural Ministry Advisory Committee.
Serving under the PC(USA)’s Board of National Missions, Geores organized three churches in the rural central Maine communities of Leeds, Wales and Hartford. In 1954. He was instrumental in developing Mission at the Eastward (MATE), an ecumenical church support organization in the region, where he served as assistant director and then coordinator.
In that position he helped found the Rural Community Action Ministry ― an ecumenical, non-profit social service agency dedicated to meeting the needs of the rural poor. In the course of those efforts, Geores received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Princeton Seminary and the Jefferson Award for public service from the State of Maine. RCAM created a Housing Ministry that served the area. After his retirement in 1989, he continued to serve as a rural ministry consultant with the presbyteries of Northern New York, Utica (NY) and Kendall in Idaho.
Geores is survived by his wife Melva; three daughters, Martha, Ruth and Deborah; three sons, Paul, Peter and Timothy; 10 grandchildren, a great-grandson and a niece. A funeral service will be held Dec. 20 at Leeds (ME) Community Church.
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The Rev. Timothy T. Boggess, pastor of Northwest Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Ga., is the featured preacher Jan. 11, 2009, on “Day 1” ― the radio program formerly known as “The Protestant Hour.
The program, broadcast nationally on 150 stations and also accessible by podcast, includes a sermon by Boggess, as well as interviews conducted by the program's host and executive producer, Peter Wallace. It is produced by the Alliance for Christian Media in association with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church.
Boggess’ sermon, based on Mark 1:4-11, is entitled “In the Hole He Goes.” The title was taken from a child’s misunderstanding of the baptismal formula “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
For more information, call toll-free at (888) 411-Day1 (3291).
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Montreat Conference Center in North Carolina and Vice-President for Development John Richardson have severed their relationship, effective Dec. 31.
During Richardson’s three years at Montreat, the annual fund reached an all-time high with almost $800,000 in cash gifts. In 2007-2008 the donor base grew by 94 new patrons and 23 new donor churches. Montreat’s College Conference has been revitalized, with 1,000 participants expected in January 2009. Richardson also oversaw technological improvements that have led to online giving, video promotion for the Annual Fund, and movement toward further website communication capabilities demanded by the church’s youth constituencies.
Frank Spencer, chair of Montreat’s board, said, “John Richardson has helped the conference center imagine its ministry in the context of the changing Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and has appropriately pressed us to embrace young adult leaders at the conference center and in the Presbyterian Church. I remain deeply grateful for his love of Montreat and his passion to serve Jesus Christ.”
Montreat Conference Center President Pete Peery will begin the search process for a Vice President of Development immediately. In the meantime, Bill Straughan will continue to serve as the interim Vice President of Development.
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The Rev. Bruce Larson, who served as pastor of Seattle’s University Presbyterian Church from 1980-1990 and then joined Robert Schuller as co-pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA, died Dec. 15 at age 83. He had suffered for a number of years with Parkinson’s Disease.
Bruce Larson Larson, who wrote dozens of books and helped pioneer church movements, including those that emphasized relationships and small groups, went into the ministry after serving as an infantry sergeant in World War II. Prior to going to University Church ― where membership doubled to 3,600 during his decade there ― he served pastorates in New York and Illinois.
In addition to his wife of 58 years, Hazel, Larson is survived by sons Mark and Peter Larson; a daughter Christine; and eight grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Jan. 8 at University Presbyterian Church.
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Valentine MokiwaArchbishop Valentine Mokiwa of the Anglican Church of Tanzania is the new president of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC). He was elected at the just concluded AACC 9th General Assembly held in Maputo, Mozambique from Dec. 7-12.
Mokiwa succeeds the Rev. Nyansako-ni-Nku of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, who led the AACC for the last five years. He was inducted into office on Dec. 12 along with other officers and the Rev. André Karamaga of the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda as the AACC’s new general secretary.
Mokiwa joins the AACC leadership at a time when the church in Africa is faced with many critical challenges, including crises in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Congo; the ravages of HIV/AIDS; economic disparities resulting from globalization; and widespread poverty and drought.
AACC is a Pan-African Christian organization founded in 1963 in Kampala, Uganda. It brings together in fellowship 173 churches and Christian councils from 40 African countries.
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The Rev. Richard Cizik, the top Washington lobbyist for the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), who had already faced criticism for his embrace of environmental activism, resigned Dec. 11 after signaling support for same-sex civil unions.
Cizik, 58, who had worked in the NAE’s Washington office for 28 years, resigned after being harshly criticized for the civil union comments and saying he voted for President-elect Barack Obama in the Virginia primary despite Obama’s support of abortion rights.
NAE President Leith Anderson, a Minnesota megachurch pastor, said Cizik's comments in a Dec. 2 interview with National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air” program were problematic because they did not reflect the views of many NAE member organizations. Cizik declined to comment on Thursday.
“It’s possible for me to disagree with a candidate on high-profile issues and still believe that, on the basis of character or philosophy, he’s the better of the two candidates,” Cizik said in the interview. “So, in this case, it would be possible, as evangelicals did, to disagree with Barack Obama on same-sex marriage and abortion and yet vote for him. We know they did, not because of those positions ... but in spite of those positions.”
He also said his position on same-sex relationships was changing. “I’m shifting, I have to admit,” he said. “In other words, I would be willing to say I believe in civil unions. I don’t officially support redefining marriage from its traditional definition, I don’t think.”
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Cardinal Avery Dulles, who left a prominent Presbyterian pedigree to become one of the nation’s most distinguished theologians and a prince of the Catholic Church, died Dec. 12 at the age of 90.
Dulles, who was one of the oldest men to be named a cardinal, at age 82, by Pope John Paul II in 2001, died at the Jesuit infirmary at Fordham University in New York, where he had taught since 1988. With Dulles’ death, the U.S. church now has 16 American cardinals.
Dulles’ father, John Foster Dulles, was secretary of state in the Eisenhower administration. Two other family members were appointed to the same post: John W. Foster, in 1892, and Robert Lansing, in 1915. His uncle, Allen Dulles, was Eisenhower's CIA director, and a great uncle, the Rev. Allen Macy Dulles, was a noted Presbyterian theologian.
Dulles became interested in Catholicism through his studies of art, philosophy, theology and medieval literature at Harvard, and became a Catholic after his graduation in 1940. He became a Jesuit and was ordained a priest in 1956 by New York’s legendary Cardinal Francis Spellman.
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Erol Kekic has been named director of Church World Service’s Immigration and Refugee Program. Kekic, who was associate director of the program, has served as interim director for the past three months.
Kekic came to Church World Service from Lutheran Family and Community Service/Immigration and Refugee Program in New York City, where he served as associate director. Prior to that, he was assistant director for resettlement for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, also in New York.
Church World Service is one of 10 agencies that work with the Department of State Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration to resettle refugees in the U.S. CWS administers the Religious Services Program, which operates in seven government-run immigration detention centers across the U.S. and also helps serves people in drawn-out refugee situations through its Durable Solutions for Displaced Persons programs. |
