wfn.org | Minister, scholar, "Disciples statesman" dies

["Curt Miller"<wshuffit@oc.disciples.org>]

Date: October 2, 1998
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Curt Miller
Email: CMiller@oc.disciples.org
on the Web: http://www.disciples.org

98a-60

	EUGENE, ORE. (DNS) -- The Rev. Ronald E. Osborn, 81, a widely 
respected Disciples minister and scholar died here October 1. He was 
an renowned church historian, and an architect of church history as 
well. He served as the first moderator of the Christian Church 
(Disciples of Christ). 

	His memorial service will  be held Thursday, October 8, 1998 at 3:00 
p.m. at First Christian Church, 116 Oak Street, Eugene. Inurnment 
took place in Pleasant Hill, Oregon on Saturday, October 3.

	"We've lost a giant among Disciples -- a vibrant warm voice for 
Christ and the church," said the Rev. A. Dale Fiers, Osborn's 
colleague and friend in the formative years of the Christian Church 
(Disciples of Christ).  

	Drs. Osborn and Fiers served together on the Commission on 
Brotherhood Restructure in the 1960s.  Until 1968, the Christian 
Churches (Disciples of Christ) was referred to as a brotherhood, made 
up of national and state societies. "They were societies of 
individuals," Fiers explained. Osborn, he said, was instrumental in 
the "giant leap" to a design for the church that moved from the 
"interests of a collective group of individuals" to a covenantal body 
expressed in congregations, regions and general ministries. "All of 
these manifestations of the church were within the church universal, 
not apart from it," Fiers said. 

	Osborn was "one of the - if not the - primary guiding figure" in 
developing the elegant pattern for restructure, Fiers recalled. 
Osborn was the chief author of the preamble to The Design for the 
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The preamble, while not a 
creed, is widely regarded as a Disciples affirmation of faith. He 
brought to the task enormous personal depth in the disciplines of 
theology, ecclesiology and church history.  Fiers said Osborn's 
spiritual depth augmented his ability to lead the church during a 
momentous period. "He was able to relate an understanding of God's 
will for the church as we tried to restructure ourselves." 

	Six years of work on restructure by Osborn, Fiers and many others 
culminated in the pivotal 1968 International Convention.  Osborn  
began the Kansas City gathering as president of the convention and 
later presided as first "moderator" of the General Assembly of the 
restructured Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  Fiers was named 
the church's first general minister and president at that same 
gathering. 

	Osborn was a professor of church history at Christian Theological 
Seminary, Indianapolis, for 23 years.  He was dean of that 
institution for 11 years and subsequently served as professor of 
American church history at the School of Theology at Claremont, Ca.

	"Ronald was a kind of Disciples statesman in the 1960s," said the 
Rev. T.J. Liggett,  president of Christian Theological Seminary, 
1974-1986. "He was looked to with confidence by people in the 
bureaucracy and the local church; the pietists and the socially 
active people;  the pastoral ministry and the scholarly community."  
Osborn served on the search committee that called Dr. Liggett to the 
CTS presidency. 

	Osborn was devoted to Christian unity.  He lectured on ecumenism in 
the Philippines and at the Institut Oecumenique, Chateau de Bossey, 
Caligny, Switzerland.  He was a delegate to the Consultation on 
Church Union from 1963-1976 and a delegate to the Fourth Assembly of 
the World Council of Churches, Upsala, Sweden and made many other 
contributions to that field.  "He was deeply involved in the 
ecumenical movement," said Liggett, "he was nevertheless a very loyal 
Disciple.  Ronald was heard with respect in all circles." 

	Osborn authored numerous books and scores of articles and papers.  
The first in a three-volume analysis of preaching in Christian 
history, "The Folly of God: Rise of Christian Preaching" is due to be 
released by Chalice Press soon.  Dr. Osborn was working on the second 
volume at the time of his death.  According to the Rev. Dan Bryant, 
Osborn's pastor in Eugene, Osborn had made arrangements for his 
colleague, Dr. Joey Jeter to complete the work. 

	Osborn died early Thursday morning, October 1. He had suffered a 
heart attack, and died after emergency surgeries to repair the 
damage.

	Osborn, born Sept. 5, 1917 in Chicago, Ill.,  is survived by Nola 
Osborne. The two married after both had experienced the death of a 
spouse. Nola has three children, Marylou Moore, Patrick Neill and 
Barbara Sinclair and numerous grandchildren.  

	Osborn's first wife, Naomi, died in 1986. Their daughter, Virginia, 
was killed in an automobile accident in 1968. 

	At the time of Dr. Osborn's death, he and Nola, were members of 
First Christian Church, Eugene. "His loss will be mourned around the 
world, but no where as great as in his own congregation where he had 
become for all here a model servant of Christ," said pastor Dan 
Bryant.

	-- end -- 

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