wfn.org | Notes about People

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17-December-1996 
 
 
96500                   Notes about People 
 
                      by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
     The Rev. C. Frederick Mathias, pastor of Northminster Presbyterian 
Church in Indianapolis, and his wife, Cleta, were found brutally murdered 
in their home Dec. 15 by firefighters responding to a fire in the house. 
     Mathias, who recently announced plans to retire next summer, has 
served the Presbyterian Church at all levels.  He served pastorates in 
Donegal and New Castle presbyteries before coming to the Northminster 
church in Whitewater Valley Presbytery in 1984. 
     Funeral arrangements are pending. 
 
                              # # # 
 
     The Rev. Kirk P. Perucca, a Presbyterian minister, has been named 
president and CEO of Project Equality, effective Dec. 1. 
     Project Equality is a national program sponsored by 150 religious, 
non-profit and for-profit organizations to assist employers to achieve 
equal employment opportunities for all people. 
     Perucca, a graduate of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 
has served as a pastor in Kansas City, as a member of the staff of 
Heartland Presbytery and as regional director of Joint Action in Community 
Service in Kansas City. 
 
                              # # # 
 
     The Presbyterian News Service has just learned of the death last 
summer of Ben Hartley, who served as editor of "Presbyterian Survey" 
magazine from 1959-1971.  He died July 4 in Decatur, Ga. 
     Hartley, a native of Weatherford, Texas, was widely credited for 
transforming "Presbyterian Survey" from an internal house organ of the 
former Presbyterian Church in the United States into one of the top 
denominational magazines in the country, a reputation the magazine still 
enjoys as "Presbyterians Today."  He was also a tireless advocate for 
racial equality and Presbyterian reunion. 

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