wfn.org | Church, friends and colleagues honor the associate

["Communication Ministries" <wshuffit@cm.disciples.org>]

general minister 
Date: February 1, 2002
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Curt Miller
E-mail: cmiller@cm.disciples.org
on the Web: http://www.disciples.org

02a-9

	INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- More than 150 persons gathered here
Jan. 27 to honor the ministry of the Rev. Donald B.
Manworren, associate general minister of the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ). Manworren retired Jan. 31. 

	Manworren was named deputy general minister in Jan. 1986.
His title changed to associate general minister in 1996.
With particular responsibilities for administration,
Manworren was general manager of each General Assembly of
the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) since 1987.
While he is popularly known for his wry wit in the delivery
of General Assembly announcements, he was a gifted event
planner, responsible for a myriad of details from
convention center and hotel negotiations to the planning of
shuttle bus routes. He is admired for his ability to manage
unexpected requests and crises minor and major. 

	Manworren's gifts to the church were greater than his
seamless execution of administrative duties, however. His
deep love of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and
passion for Christian unity, justice and reconciliation
often surfaced in public meetings and during staff
discussions of difficult issues. He took seriously the
position that Christian faith is embodied by and revealed
in the character of the church as an institution. "Thank
you, good friend, for teaching this church about the
theological dimensions of our institutions, about the
ecumenical dimension of our life as denomination, and about
the hopeful dimension of all life under God," said keynote
speaker the Rev. Michael Kinnamon, professor of mission and
peace, Eden Theological Seminary, Saint Louis. 

	Manworren's ministry also included planning several other
regular churchwide events and meetings, including General
Board and the Administrative Committee. He managed the
budget of the Office of General Minister and President,
served on the General Cabinet, the Standing Committee on
Renewal and Structural Reform, the Week of Compassion
Committee, and numerous boards of general units and
Disciples-related and ecumenical institutions. Any board,
committee or group in which Manworren participated often
turned to him for his expert working knowledge of church
structures, procedures and founding principles detailed in
such documents as The Design for the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ). 

	The Rev. Tom Jewell, regional minister of the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma said that
Manworren was inspirational as a "general ministry partner"
to the Oklahoma region. "His keen sense of the greater
mission of the church, beyond regional and international
borders was the catalyst for Oklahoma's renewed interest in
its mission partners. What a gift to all of us," Jewell
said. 

	Manworren was acknowledged as a valued colleague, mentor
and friend. "Don, if you'll remember, the first day I
arrived in the office, you told me if you don't get it
straightened out now, you'll never get it straightened
out,'" said the Rev. John Foulkes, associate general
minister, and Manworren's close colleague. "I need to let
you know that 13 years later, I still don't have it
straightened out. You're moving to Plano, Texas, which
means that you're going to be a long way away. Because I've
been the one who's kept you awake for 13 years, every now
and then I'm going to go to Plano, just to make sure that
you stay awake. It's been great being your partner, my
brother," said Foulkes. 

	"We are particularly grateful to Dr. Manworren for his
creative contributions, his support and advocacy for the
Central Pastoral Office of Hispanic Ministries," said the
Rev. Lucas Torres, former Disciples National Hispanic
Pastor. Speaking on behalf of Hispanic Disciples and
current National Hispanic Pastor, the Rev. Pablo Jiminez,
Torres spoke of Manworren's contribution to the healthy
development of Disciples Hispanic ministries over the last
decade. "All the way through, Dr. Marworren's counsel and
support was an important factor for the success of our
efforts," Torres said. 

	Former Deputy General Minister Claudia Grant thanked her
former colleague for the "learning that bureaucracy did not
have to be a dirty word, but could be a means of grace." 

	After teasing Manworren for being tall by Korean
standards, the Rev. Geunhee Yu, executive pastor for North
American Asian Ministries, Division of Homeland Ministries
said, "He taught us that regardless of our heights and
color, we can be good friends. You have been a good friend
to Asian Disciples."

	General Minister and President Richard L. Hamm praised
Manworren's loyalty, integrity and courage. "In eight and a
half years of working with Don I have never known him to be
anything other than a person who tells the truth and who is
trustworthy," said the GMP.  Hamm announced that a
scholarship fund had been established to honor Manworren's
ministry. The fund, already over $19,000, is to help
associate general ministers experience the enrichment of
international travel. Those wishing to contribute to the
fund should contact the Office of General Minister and
President. 

	"It's just amazing to me that you're here," said Manworren
at the close of his retirement event. "I don't think of
ministry as something that earns any kind of merit. It's
such a privilege to offer one's life. What are the passions
of our life?" he asked, "the wholeness of the church, and
the given unity of Christ's people. And I pray that spirit
has caught a spark in many of your lives and that we will
continue to discover what God has in store for us in the
days ahead as a faithful people longing to incarnate in our
human existence the vision and calling that God has
inspired in us."

	Manworren is a native of Galesburg, Ill. He received a
bachelor of arts degree from Drake University, Des Moines,
Iowa. He earned a master of divinity degree from Drake
Divinity School and a master of sacred theology from the
Yale University Divinity School. Drake awarded him an
honorary doctor of divinity degree and he studied at the
School of Theology at Claremont (Calif.) and Assumption
College in Worcester, Mass. He was ordained in Marion, Iowa
in 1962. 

	From 1962 to 1977 Manworren served as pastor of Disciples
congregations in Keota, Urbandale and Waterloo, Iowa. From
1977 to 1985 he served as the executive coordinator of the
Iowa Inter-Church Forum, a statewide ecumenical agency. 

	Manworren and his wife of 45 years, Elaine, have three
grown children and seven grandchildren. The Manworrens plan
to resettle in Texas in mid-February. 

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