wfn.org | Notes about People

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4-February-1998 
98044 
 
                       Notes about People 
 
                      by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
          Bishop Lesslie Newbigin, 88, a towering figure in the world 
ecumenical movement, died Jan. 30 in England. 
          At his death, Newbigin was a member of the United Reformed Church 
in the United Kingdom (the product of a union in 1972 of Presbyterians and 
Congregationalists).  He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister by the 
Church of Scotland in 1936 and sent to work in India, where he worked 
tirelessly in negotiations that led to the establishment of the Church of 
South India (CSI) in 1947.  At the inauguration of the CSI he was appointed 
bishop in Madurai and Ramnad. 
          As a senior statesman of the ecumenical movement, he saw the 
World Council of Churches (WCC) develop from its beginning in Amsterdam 50 
years ago (he was a delegate from the CSI) and was within the circle of the 
World Student Christian Movement that provided so many ecumenical leaders. 
He was a founder of the International Missionary Council, which became part 
of the WCC in 1961.  He then served as associate general secretary of the 
WCC and director of its Commission on World Mission and Evangelism until 
1965, when he returned to serve the CSI as bishop of Madras until he 
retired in 1974. 
          His retirement meant a new career, first as a lecturer at the 
Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, and then, from 1980 to 1988, as minister of 
the United Reformed Church at Winson Green, Birmingham. 
          He was a prolific writer. A bibliography prepared for  a volume 
to mark his 85th birthday in 1994 listed 209 titles, but recent research in 
the WCC's library in Geneva revealed a number of omissions. A surprising 
number of his works are still in print. Of these, the most important 
heavyweight contribution is "The Gospel in a Pluralist Society" (1987), in 
which he tackles the Christian crisis of confidence in the face of 
postmodernism and secularism, but the book that has been most widely read 
and has had most influence is "The Other Side of 1984: Questions for the 
Churches" (1983). 
          Lesslie Newbigin is survived by his wife of 61 years, Helen, and 
their children, Margaret, Alison, Janet and John. 
 
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    Following two and a half years of intensive study and training, the 
Rev. Forrest Andrew (Andy) Carhartt has been ordained by the Diocese of 
Colorado of the Episcopal Church.  He is the third known Presbyterian, 
joining the Rev. John C. Matthew and the Rev. Judy A. McKay, to attain dual 
ordination by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Episcopal Church. 
    Carhartt, a candidate for moderator of the General Assembly in 1983, 
continues as an active member of Denver Presbytery.  Ordained by the 
Episcopal Church on Dec. 28, 1997, he is associate priest at St. John's 
Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colo.  His duties include pastoral care, 
preaching, Bible study leadership, resourcing intergenerational study 
groups and conflict resolution.  Carhartt is also resourcing a crisis task 
force of the congregation, dealing with some of the issues it is facing in 
the wake of the unsolved murder of JonBenet Ramsey, who was a member of St. 
John's Church. 
 
                               # # # 
 
          On Jan. 25, the Rev. David Kim-Shinn became what is believed to 
be the first second-generation Taiwanese Presbyterian to be ordained in the 
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  Shinn was ordained by Greater Atlanta 
Presbytery and installed as associate pastor of the Atlanta Taiwanese 
Presbyterian Church, with specific responsibility for developing an 
English-speaking ministry for the church. 

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