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96217     Presbyterian Church Loses Two Towering Leaders 
 
                      by Jerry L. Van Marter 
                         and Alexa Smith 
 
     Two preeminent leaders of the Presbyterian Church -- the Rev. Kenneth 
G. Neigh and the Rev.  H. Eugene Farlough, Jr. -- died recently.  They will 
be greatly missed, not only by those who knew them, but by countless 
Presbyterians who benefit because of their lives and ministries. 
 
                    The Rev. Kenneth G. Neigh 
 
     The Rev. Kenneth G. Neigh died of Parkinson's Disease on May 5 at the 
Presbyterian Homes of New Jersey at Meadow Lakes in Heightstown, N.J. He 
was 88. 
 
     A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 16, at the 
Allen Park Presbyterian Church in Allen Park, Mich., the church Neigh began 
serving in 1937, just after his graduation from McCormick Theological 
Seminary. 
 
     Over four decades, Neigh ministered in the Presbyterian Church and the 
ecumenical movement.  Called an "architect of the modern mission movement" 
by the "Christian Century," Neigh served as the general secretary of the 
Board of National Missions in the United Presbyterian Church from 1959-72. 
He was a founding member of the Consultation on Church Union and a former 
vice president of the National Council of Churches (NCC), as well as chair 
of the NCC's Division of Christian Life and Mission. 
 
     Describing Neigh as both "humble" and "versatile," former United 
Presbyterian Church stated clerk William P. Thompson said, "Ken Neigh was 
an innovator, willing to take new steps in the mission of the church which 
others avoided ... 
 
     "He was willing to cooperate with others whose goals were the same as 
the church, even if their motivations were somewhat different." 
 
     Neigh was executive of the Presbytery of Detroit and Synod of Michigan 
from 1949-59 and served as McCormick Theological Seminary's executive vice 
president and acting president in 1947. 
 
     He is survived by one daughter, Judith Schultheiss of Franklin, Mich. 
 
 
                     H. Eugene Farlough, Jr. 
 
     "Gene" Farlough died May 28 of a massive heart attack at the home he 
maintained with his wife, Arlyce, in Richmond, Calif.  He had just received 
the Distinguished Alumnus Award from San Francisco Theological Seminary 
after being a featured speaker at the seminary's May 25 commencement 
ceremony. 
     At his death, Farlough was serving as director of student affairs for 
the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, which includes 
Johnson C. Smith Seminary.  Prior to that he served on the faculty of San 
Francisco Theological Seminary.  But Farlough is best known and loved as 
founding pastor of Sojourner Truth Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Calif., 
a small but vital congregation in the San Francisco Bay Area that has 
produced numerous African American Presbyterian ministers because of 
Farlough's inspired leadership. 
     Farlough was a dogged advocate for the civil rights of black Americans 
and for greater inclusion of black Presbyterians in the life of the 
Presbyterian Church.  He was one of the driving forces behind the creation 
of the Self Development of People program and numerous other efforts to 
raise the Presbyterian Church's awareness of and commitment to the cause of 
racial justice in American society and the church. 
     When this reporter (Van Marter) took his first call at a neighboring 
church in Richmond, Farlough was a welcoming colleague and tireless mentor. 
     An overflow crowd of perhaps 1,000 attended the June 3 memorial 
service for Gene Farlough at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, Calif. 
The service concluded with a benediction he wrote in 1970 and used often: 
 
     "I charge you to: 
          Get to stepping... 
          Out into the world, 
          Where God is preceding you. 
     Get to stepping... 
          Into the Church, 
          Make it the Church of Jesus Christ. 
     Get to stepping... 
          Outside yourselves, 
          And be people for others. 
     And now... 
          May the justice of God 
          and the liberation of Jesus Christ, 
          and the militant action of the Holy Spirit 
          Be with you all 
          Now and forever more. 
 
     Right on! 

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