wfn.org | Iowa delegate to General Conference commits suicide

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Sept. 14, 1999	News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.    10-21-71B{468}

By United Methodist News Service

An Iowa pastor who was to have served with his wife as a delegate to the
2000 General Conference of the United Methodist Church was found dead Sept.
9. Cause of death was suicide, according to Michael Gross, Polk County
medical examiner and investigator.    

The Rev. Lynn A. Ryon, 51, had been senior pastor of First United Methodist
Church in Ankeny, near Des Moines, since July 1. He had just completed five
years as superintendent of the Fort Dodge District. Previously, he had
served as superintendent of the Creston District and pastor of United
Methodist churches in nine Iowa communities.

At the most recent session of the Iowa Annual Conference in June, Ryon was
elected a clergy delegate and his wife was elected a lay delegate to the
church's top legislative body in Cleveland May 2-12. In addition, they and
their daughter Anna, a graduate student at the University of Virginia, were
elected to serve as delegates to the North Central Jurisdictional Conference
next July. Ryon's place in the Iowa delegation to the two conferences will
be filled by an alternate who was elected in June.  

The Ryons also have a son, Joel, who is a student at the University of Iowa.
Ryon's wife, Susan, is the disaster relief coordinator for the Iowa
Conference and was volunteering for the American Red Cross in Texas when he
died. 

The Rev. Stephen Peters, an associate pastor at the Ankeny church, said
Ryon's leadership would be greatly missed. "His vision for the church and
his positive approach to everything was absolutely inspiring to me and to
the congregation," he said.  

Peters said there had been no indication that Ryon was unhappy with his new
appointment. "The church, as I discussed with him, was a place of great
opportunity and forward thinking. At no time in my collegial relationship
with him did I see anything that would make me think the church fit in with
his despair. He was always positive and saw this as an exciting place to be.
His attitude was contagious." 
Iowa Bishop Charles W. Jordan described Ryon as a longtime effective leader
in the conference and the denomination.  

"His death is a tragedy and a mystery and one we can never fully
understand," he said in a prepared statement. "In the midst of this, we must
remember that we are all human and subject to human weaknesses, but the
church is divine. Rev. Ryan knew this and helped so many people understand
this. He also understood that God promises to be with us in times such as
this, as God is with us in everything." 

Ryon was a graduate of Iowa State University in Ames, where he earned a
bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in higher
education administration. He earned his master of divinity degree from
United Methodist-related Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo.
He served as chaplain and director of church relations for Elmhurst (Ill.)
College for two years beginning in 1980.  

Nearly 900 people attended Ryon's funeral services Sept. 13 at First United
Methodist Church in Ankeny. Memorial gifts are being made to the Hope for
the Children of Africa, Advance Special #101000-4.
# # #

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