wfn.org | ABCUSA: J. Lester Harnish, Former ABCUSA President, Dies

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Richard.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 11/26/02)--Word has been
received of the death Nov. 23 of the Rev. Dr. J. Lester Harnish, pastor,
educational administrator and past president of American Baptist Churches
USA.

Harnish served as president of the then American Baptist Convention in 1965.
Active in American Baptist life, Harnish also served on the Board of
Managers of the American Baptist Home Mission Societies and on the Board of
Directors of the Los Angeles Baptist City Mission Society, among other
responsibilities.

He held several pastorates, including First Baptist Church in Portland,
Oreg., and Third Baptist Church in St. Louis.  

Harnish served four years as president of American Baptist-related Eastern
Baptist College and Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary beginning in 1968.
He also was a member of the Board of Trustees of Northern Baptist
Theological Seminary.

Harnish was general chairman of the Pacific Northwest Billy Graham Crusade
and later a member of the Executive Committee for Graham's St. Louis
Crusade.  He also was a member of the Evangelism Committee of the Baptist
World Alliance.

02ABN181

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (610)768-2077; fax:
(610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org; richard.schramm@abc-usa.org