wfn.org | World ecumenists offer tribute to Disciples leader

[DISCNEWS.parti@ecunet.org (DISCNEWS)]

Date: February 18, 1998
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Clifford L. Willis
Email: CWillis@oc.disciples.org
on the web: http//www.disciples.org

98b-11

     INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- "A life given to the ecumenical quest."
That's how 30 world ecumenists describe the contributions of the Rev. Paul A.
Crow, Jr., of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to the Christian unity
movement. 

     Their reflections have been bound and published in a new book, The
Vision of Christian Unity; A Life Given to the Ecumenical Quest: Essays in
Honor of Paul A. Crow, Jr.

     In the new volume, "world leaders of the ecumenical movement have
thoughtfully captured many of the strands that celebrate the unity of the
church, even in the midst of the struggle toward its visible unity," said the Rev.
Suzanne J. Webb, Carbondale, Ill. Webb is pastor of First Christian Church
and is first vice-chairperson of the Council on Christian Unity board of
directors. 

     The honoree, the Rev. Paul A. Crow, Jr., is retiring December 31 after
nearly 25 years as president of the Disciples Council on Christian Unity and
almost 40 years in the vanguard of ecumenism. 

     The Alabama native was the first general secretary of the Consultation
on Church Union, a unity movement which has forged new relationships
among the Disciples and eight other U.S. mainline church bodies. Crow also
has served for 23 years on the World Council of Churches Central Committee.

     The Vision of Christian Unity was edited by the Rev. Theodore J.
Nottingham, Indianapolis, and the Rev. Thomas F. Best, Geneva, Switzerland.
Nottingham is director of production and consultation services for the
Disciples Office of Communication. Best is executive director of the WCC
Faith and Order Commission. Both men also wrote essays for the volume.  

     "This book illustrates the unique legacy  -- not only of one individual -- but 
of the Disciples call to Christian unity," said Nottingham, "and will
hopefully inspire others to follow that path in the future."

     South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, National Council of
Churches General Secretary Joan Brown Campbell and World Council of
Churches General Secretary Konrad Raiser 
are among those who have written essays or tributes in Crow's honor.  

     Other contributors include Disciples General Minister and President
Richard L. Hamm; Edward Cardinal Idris Cassidy, president, the Pontifical
Council for Promoting Christian Unity for the Roman Catholic Church; Mary
Tanner, general secretary for the Anglican Council on Christian Unity; the
ecumenical patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Bartholomew of
Constantinople, and the patriarch of the Moscow and Russia, Alexy II.

     The Vision of Christian Unity is available from the Council on
Christian Unity, P.O. Box 1986, Indianapolis, IN 46206-1986.

                   -- end --

DISCNEWS - inbox for Disciples News Service, Office of Communication, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), PO Box 1986 Indianapolis, IN 46206, tele. (317) 635-3100, (DISCNEWS@ecunet.org) Wilma Shuffitt, News and Information Assistant; (CWILLIS@oc.disciples.org) Cliff Willis, Director of News and Information; (CMILLER@oc.disciples.org) Executive Director