wfn.org | ABCUSA: Emma Lou Benignus, Former NM Staff Member, Dies

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

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 12/13/04)--Dr. Emma Lou
Benignus, who managed National Ministries' Alternatives for the Aging program
from 1977 to 1983, died Dec. 4.

During her tenure with National Ministries Benignus worked with a task force
of older adults-including practitioners, academicians and consultants in
geriatrics-developing projects that served as models and resources for
churches' older adult ministries to address task force members' concerns that
justice in church and society include senior citizens.

These projects included: aging awareness training, orientation of local
churches to home care ministry and aging conferences that considered
biblical, theological and cultural perspectives and the implications of those
perspectives for ministry. 

Prior to her work with National Ministries Benignus served as associate
director for adult education for the National Council of the Episcopal Church
in New York City, which sent her to Geneva, Switzerland, for a year and a
half to work with the World Council of Churches (WCC). Her work there
included assisting in the preparation of documents and personnel of European
churches for a WCC conference in Madras, India. Benignus also organized the
WCC's first worldwide conference on evangelism.

Benignus served Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass., as professor of
pastoral theology. At Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Va.-where
she worked as assistant professor of religion and a religious counselor in
the early 1950s-she convinced the administration of the need for a college
chaplain.

Early in her career Benignus was part of a research team at Barnard Skin and
Cancer Hospital in St. Louis, Mo., that studied the effect of carbon (coal
smoke soot) in the lungs of mice. She coauthored three monographs about the
study published in the American Journal of Cancer from 1936-1938. 

Benignus held doctor of divinity and bachelor of arts degrees from Illinois
College, Jacksonville, Ill., and a master of arts degree from the University
of Wisconsin-Madison. 

K/2004ABNS/04ABN141

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA x2077
/ (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org