wfn.org | Dr. Pennybacker Retires; Commitments Continue

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227
Email: news@ncccusa.org  Web: www.ncccusa.org

COMMITMENTS CONTINUE FOR THE REV. DR. ALBERT M. PENNYBACKER
But in Retirement, NCC's "Utility Player" Expects "New and 
Less Hurried Expressions"

66NCC6/2/99

 In his 45 years of active ministry, the Rev. Dr. Albert 
M. Pennybacker constantly juggled a rich array of 
responsibilities - preaching, teaching, organizing and 
leading ecumenical and community groups, counseling, fund-
raising, meeting with legislators, writing, giving media 
interviews, and serving on boards and committees.

 His just-completed seven-plus years with the National 
Council of Churches were no exception.  He was called to 
help meet such a variety of needs that he finally hit on the 
term "utility player" as the most succinct description of 
his multifaceted responsibilities.

 He carried two titles ("without two salaries!") - 
associate general secretary for income development and 
associate general secretary for public policy - and also 
worked with Faith and Order, assisted with support for the 
AmeriCorps program and promoted the NCC in numerous arenas, 
both public and private.

 Now officially retired (as of March 31), he says, "I 
look forward to the commitments of my life finding new and 
less hurried expressions."  "Penny," as he is called, has 
returned to his Lexington, Ky., home with his wife, Martha, 
and will be enjoying leisure activities and grandchildren.

But it will come as no surprise to those who know him 
that he also is responding to an already growing body of 
invitations, engaging in some consultant work and finding 
again "the way to be part of local church and community 
life."

 Penny was born Oct. 20, 1931, in Chattanooga, Tenn.  
Ordained in 1954 in the Christian Church (Disciples of 
Christ), he holds degrees from Vanderbilt University (B.A., 
1953), Yale (M.Div., 1956) and Bethany College, Bethany, W. 
Va. (honorary doctor of divinity, 1965). 

For 35 years, he served as senior minister to 
congregations in Taftville, Conn.; Youngstown and Shaker 
Heights, Ohio, and in Fort Worth, Texas.  During his 16 
years leading Fort Worth's University Christian Church, the 
congregation - with more than 4,000 members - was the 
Disciples' numerically largest.  The ABC-TV network 
broadcast the congregation's Christmas Eve service 
nationally in 1988.

 Active in denominational leadership, he was first vice 
moderator of the 1969 Disciples General Assembly, taught 
homiletics and ecumenical studies at Lexington Theological 
Seminary, chaired the United Christian Missionary Society's 
board and served the Division of Overseas Ministry, Council 
on Church Unity and other governing bodies.

 At the same time, he was never far from community 
leadership or from ecumenical service.  He was an organizer 
and leader of the Norwich (Conn.) Area Council of Churches, 
chair of the Metropolitan Affairs Division of the Greater 
Cleveland Church Council during the Civil Rights Movement 
era, executive committee organizer of the Black Jail 
Chaplaincy Program in Tarrant County, Texas, and an active 
member of Clergy and Laymen Concerned.

As seasoned in global ecumenism as in its local 
expressions, Dr. Pennybacker was a steward for the Disciples 
delegation to the World Council of Churches Assembly in 
Evanston, Ill., a delegate to subsequent WCC assemblies in 
New Delhi and Uppsala, and an invited guest to Canberra, and 
has served the WCC Executive Committee as a pastoral 
consultant.  He also has participated in several WCC study 
groups and conferences.

Dr. Pennybacker was a Disciples representative to the 
World Alliance of Reformed Churches and member of the 
Disciples-Roman Catholic Dialogue, and represented his 
denomination at three NCC General Assemblies.  A founder of 
the Interfaith Alliance, dedicated to promoting civility in 
public discourse, Dr. Pennybacker served as the Alliance's 
second president.

On the "academic" side, he has served as a fellow and 
visiting professor at Yale Divinity School, trustee and 
lecturer at Texas Christian University and Brite Divinity 
School, trustee of the Disciples Divinity House at the 
University of Chicago and as a Chautauqua Institution 
chaplain.

No wonder he ended up the NCC's "utility player."  In 
the years since his arrival part-time in 1991 and then full-
time in 1993, the foundation for income development has been 
laid, with trust accounts, charitable gift annuities, 
bequests and direct gifts.  

The Ecumenical Trust - Dr. Pennybacker's presidency will 
conclude June 8 - has been established as a joint NCC/World 
Council of Churches gift manager with more than $1 million 
assets.  And as income was needed for the crash program for 
the burned churches - Page 2, he directed the raising of $7 
to $8 million the more than $10 million and provided staff 
counsel on its uses. 

In addition to his responsibilities as associate 
general secretary for income development, he has also served 
as associate general secretary for public policy and, since 
January 1996, directed the Washington Office.  An advocate 
of peace and justice, his work "gained respect in the halls 
of Congress and the Administration, and thus a place for the 
Council to speak to power," said NCC General Secretary Joan 
B. Campbell.  She also cited his "profound theological 
understanding of unity" and ability as a bridge builder, 
among other gifts.

 The bridge-building often has been with unlikely 
dialogue partners.  For example, "we opened a conversation 
with the U.S. Defense Department on ethical issues around 
sanctions, and had a focus on sanctions against Iraq," Dr. 
Campbell said.  Dr. John Hamre, the Deputy Secretary of 
Defense, an active Lutheran layperson with theological 
training, reached out to the NCC and Dr. Pennybacker 
responded.

 Dr. Pennybacker also is known for his work on the issue 
of religious persecution as it occurs around the globe.  He 
and the Rev. Oliver Thomas together, many would say, were 
responsible for changing the nature of that legislation, Dr. 
Campbell said.

He has written public statements, advised on speeches - 
and given many himself, responded to media interviews, 
testified before Congress, and advocated on Capitol Hill and 
in the Administration for NCC public policy positions.

 Reflecting on his years with the NCC, Dr. Pennybacker 
said, "I leave grateful for the Council, these years as a 
member of the staff and all who have been part of its 
colorful web of life and service.  I am especially grateful 
to Joan Campbell for her friendship and for opening wider 
the ecumenical door.

 "The Council, like most ecumenical bodies, is marked by 
the fragility of casual commitments among so many 
constituencies," he said.  "Yet it serves, admittedly 
imperfectly but often courageously, the vision of God's 
intended life for all people in all the world.  The NCC is 
therefore precious and as our wonderfully able general 
secretary has often said, `to be handled with care.'  It has 
been a joy and an honor to be a part of the Council's unique 
ecumenical ministries."

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