wfn.org | ABCUSA: ECUMENICAL AWARD RECIPIENT NAMED

[RICH.SCHRAMM@ecunet.org]

AMERICAN BAPTIST NEWS SERVICE 
Office of Communication  
American Baptist Churches USA 
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851 
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320 
Web: www.abc-usa.org
Richard W. Schramm, Director 
 E-mail: richard.schramm@abc-usa.org

HODGES WILL BE RECIPIENT OF 2001 MOWBRAY ECUMENICAL AWARD
 The Rev. Lynn E. Hodges of Belgrade, Mont., for more 
than half a century an advocate for ecumenical ministries 
and dialog, has been named recipient of the Luke Mowbray 
Ecumenical Award of American Baptist Churches USA.  
 Hodges will be honored with the award next June in 
Providence, R.I.
 The Mowbray award, presented during Biennial Meetings 
of American Baptist Churches USA, is given to individuals 
who have made significant contributions to ecumenical 
cooperation and understanding.
 Hodges' work to support ecumenical endeavors began in 
Topeka, where as pastor of North Topeka Baptist Church and 
Community Baptist Church he promoted racial understanding 
and justice in the years leading up to the Supreme Court's 
Brown v. Board of Education desegregation ruling.
 Later, as a member of the board of the San Francisco 
Council of Churches, Hodges organized and help lead 
Christian-Jewish dialogs and worked to assure fair housing 
practices.  In 1961 he became executive minister of the 
American Baptist Union of San Francisco Bay Cities, 
organizing ecumenical workshops as well as students'rights 
and racial justice groups, and encouraging the mayor to form 
a human rights commission in San Francisco.
 He continued his ecumenical commitment as pastor of 
First Baptist Church of Tacoma, Wash., where he spearheaded 
efforts to establish affordable housing for seniors.  He 
served on the mayor's committee that recommended a human 
rights department be established by the city and became its 
first director when it was established.   As its director he 
led the way in forming the Tacoma Pierce County Urban 
Coalition as an arm of the commission.  For these and other 
efforts he received the 1972 Distinguished Citizen Award 
from the Municipal League of Tacoma.  
 He became executive director of the Northern 
California Executive Council in 1972, helping lead dozens of 
church bodies in a broad spectrum of ecumenical activities, 
including the Farm Worker movement, the San Francisco 
Interfaith Council and the Nicaragua Interfaith Action 
Committee.
 Hodges and his wife undertook a 48-state "peace 
pilgrimage" in 1986, in which he spoke in churches and 
schools on issues of peace and the need for change in some 
U.S. government policies.
 Since 1987 Hodges has served a number of interim 
pastorates in American Baptist and other churches.  He 
continues to be active in the Montana Association of 
Churches and a wide range of other religious and civic 
organizations.

WFN1215A.TXT

 -0-