Note #9127 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06082 Feb. 13, 2006
Rev. Richard Ferguson dies at age 74
Longtime Pennsylvania pastor served PC(USA)
in many capacities, directed Bicentennial Fund drive
by Alexa Smith
LOUISVILLE - A memorial service will be held Friday (Feb. 17) to celebrate the life of the Rev. Richard M. Ferguson, a longtime pastor and national-level church administrator.
Ferguson's most visible post was as director of the Bicentennial Fund Campaign, a church-wide mission-funding effort that raised $83 million for presbytery, synod and General Assembly ministry. The campaign was launched shortly after the northern and southern streams of Presbyterianism reunited to form the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Its name referred to the 200th anniversary of the first Presbyterian General Assembly in 1789.
Ferguson died on Saturday, Feb. 11, at St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill, PA, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 74.
Ferguson is survived by his wife, Norma, to whom he was married for more than 53 years.
The service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at the First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem, PA, where Ferguson served as executive pastor for 18 years.
"Dick was the guy who made dreams come true," said the Rev. Keith Brown, the pastoral associate at Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church in Liberty Corner, NJ, who served in two parishes with Ferguson for a total of 20 years of mutual ministry.
"By that I mean, I did most of the preaching; I was the guy who said, 'Let's cross the river.' And Dick was the guy who said, 'All right. But let's cut the trees down. Let's build the boat. Let's get a map for what's on the other side of the river. Let's get the names of all the people in the boat. And let's clear everything with presbytery.'
"He was the one with the administrative gifts," Brown added. "If dreamers don't have Dick Fergusons ... you always see what you'd like to see happen, but it never comes to pass. It was a great gift he had."
Ferguson, ordained in 1955, served congregations in Aliquippa, PA; St. Clairsville, OH, and Bethlehem, PA, and retired as interim executive pastor at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh in January, 2005.
A native of Hamilton, OH, Ferguson was a son and grandson of Presbyterian ministers. He graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1955 and earned his bachelor's degree at Muskingum College in New Concord, OH, in 1952.
After directing the Bicentennial Fund, Ferguson took a number of interim positions in Louisville, both in the presbytery and at the Presbyterian Center, the denomination's national office - which meant that he retired frequently. His daughter, the Rev. Laurie Ferguson of Palisades, NY, said he retired four times.
During the 1990s he was interim executive presbytery of Mid-Kentucky Presbytery and interim director of the Congregational Ministries Division (CMD). He served briefly as director of General Assembly planning in the Office of the General Assembly.
In 2003 he rejoined Brown at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church, where he served as interim executive pastor.
Over the years, he was stated clerk of Lehigh Presbytery and moderator of Muskingum Presbytery and the Synod of the Trinity. He was a commissioner to the General Assembly in 1958 and 1968. And he served on the board of Presbyterian House in Chautauqua, NY.
"The thing that impressed me about Dick was that he couldn't quit working," said the Rev. John Coffin, of Atlanta, GA, a retired colleague of Ferguson's from his CMD days. "He looked for things and things came to him. His willingness and his obvious ability made him desirable for everything that came up. Of course, Dick was such a gracious person. I always wished that he came from the South. He had what we call Southern charm ... and he and Norma made a wonderful team."
Ferguson is survived by his wife; his daughter and her husband, William Saum, of Palisades, NY; three sons, Jeffrey and his wife, Susan, of Lansdowne, VA; Mark and his wife, Tammy, of Bethlehem, PA; and Bruce and his wife, Barbara, of Cincinnati, OH; and one sister, Shirley Fuller of Erie, PA.
He was a pilot and a photographer.
"There aren't many like him," said the Rev. Robert Bohl of Naples, FL, a former moderator of the General Assembly and one of the national co-chairs of the Bicentennial Fund, who recalled that Ferguson stepped in to direct the program after a colleague died.
"We had no backup ... and he was extremely well organized," Bohl said. "He was always good on follow-up ... because he believed in the cause so very much."
Bohl noted that Ferguson never forgot anyone's name, and added: "He was very gentle, very gracious."
Memorial gifts may be sent to First Presbyterian Church, 2344 Center Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018; to Presbyterian House, 9 Palestine Avenue, P.O. Box 1039, Chautauqua, NY 14722; or to Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, 616 North Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206.
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