wfn.org | ABCUSA: Paul Abrecht, Social Ethicist and Ecumenical Leader, Dies

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Rich.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 6/3/05)--Dr. Paul
Abrecht, a Christian social ethicist who helped lead the World Council
of Churches as it defined and dealt with issues of "church and society"
beginning in the late 1940s, died May 21.  He was 87.

Abrecht, an American Baptist, was regarded by many as one of the giants
of twentieth century ecumenism.  He was instrumental in planning two
landmark events shaping Christian social ethics: the 1966 world
conference on Church and Society in Geneva and the 1979 world conference
on Faith, Science and the Future at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.

He joined the staff of the World Council of Churches in 1949 as
secretary for the program addressing Christian action in society.  In
1954 he became director of the department on Church and Society and
served in that capacity until his retirement in 1983.  He also
frequently taught courses at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey,
Switzerland.

Abrecht provided leadership at a time when the WCC expanded
participation in social dialog to include more Orthodox churches and
Christians from nations of the global South and East, as well as
professional scientists and other laypersons.  Recognizing the challenge
of such diverse opinion and the realization that consensus was not
easily achieved, he noted, "Possibly the most significant achievement of
the ecumenical movement has been its ability to encourage and nourish
that dialectic of obedience and unity even in situations where opposing
points of view seemed to make real encounter impossible. We can hope for
no more and aspire to no less in the future."

K/2005ABNS/05ABN51

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA
x2077 / (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org