The ecumenical and interreligious family is richly diverse and populated with sisters and brothers whose lives were models of faith, fortitude and courage. Some made powerful impacts on the world stage while others lived out God's call in humbler settings. All of them, when they are gone, leave an enormous void. In this page we pause to remember some of them with gratitude and love.

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 (cell)

Bruno Kroker, d. June 11, 2009

Arnold Tiemeyer, d. May 31, 2009

Arnold Tiemeyer, 72, a pastor and social service agency executive, died May 31.   Pastor Tiemeyer, father of Pastor Ann Tiemeyer, director of Women's Ministries for the National Council of Churches, recently retired from Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lansdale, Pa., and lived with his wife, Betsy, at Shannondell in Audubon, Pa.  The common thread running through the mission of Arnold’s life was a commitment to making room for everyone at the table – both our community table and the Lord’s table.   During his 45 years of ordained ministry, Arnold worked continuously to bridge community divisions over social and civil rights rooted in economic circumstance, race and ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. Pastor Tiemeyer was most proud of his work to open Betak, the first AIDS hospice in Philadelphia during the early 1990s.   At his installation as President of the Lutheran Home at Germanton (LHG) social service organization, Arnold said LHG’s mission was to “reach out to anyone in need”.   A community member attending the event challenged him to bring this promise to the AIDS community.   Arnold remained committed to the promise throughout the significant struggles to open and manage Betak for four years.   

Richard M. Jones, d. May 8, 2009

The Rev. Dr. Richard M. Jones, a senior staff leader of American Baptist National Ministries, was a key participant in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, walking in the March on Washington in 1963. Jones wrote of that event: “We…gathered at the First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C., for a short prayer service and then joined thousands of others to walk toward the Lincoln Memorial for a time of music and the famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech by Dr. King. I was fortunate to be close to the platform and hear those words and feel the power of them.” Jones wrote of a 1963 meeting with Dr. King to plan strategies for taking stands against injustice: “There was a sense of emergency, fear and authenticity to the relationship of faith with action. Dr. King…had a sense of what might befall the movement as it took shape.” Jones' engagement in the Civil Rights Movement, he wrote, transformed his theological understanding and commitment along with his belief that personal salvation and action for social justice are intertwined.  The Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley, general secretary for ABCUSA, said, “Working with Dick, there was no room for sloppy thinking or theology. He pressed us to think our best, to reach deep into our faith and how it challenged and had transformative power for our culture. His prophetic voice will be greatly missed.”  

Herman E. Luben, d. April 15, 2009

The Rev. Herman E. Luben, 91, served the National Council of Churches as the executive director of the Commission on Worship and Evangelism and administrator of Common Worship and the Arts.

He also served the General Program Council of the Reformed Church in America as the secretary of new life and evangelism. Herm’s daughter, Jan Luben-Hoffman (pictured with her father), is also an RCA pastor.

Calling himself a citizen of the world, Herm was born on a farm in Coopersville, Michigan. He always kept a garden, and, later in life, kept bees. His practice of ministry took him to Alberta, Canada, where he distributed Bibles on horseback; Baldwin, N.Y. (Long Island); Roxbury, N.Y.; Utica, N.Y., where he started a church; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Lucerne, Switzerland; and Athens, Greece. He served the Reformed Church in America as an executive responsible for church growth and evangelism, and was instrumental in establishing the Fowler Camp and Retreat Center in Speculator, N.Y. A prayer cabin there was recently named in his honor - Vrede, Dutch for "peace." Herm was a gifted pastor and preacher, and over the years became a friend and mentor to many.

Kosuke Koyama, d. March 25, 2009

The Rev. Dr. Kosuke Koyama, 79, an international ecumenical leader who specialized in bridging gaps between Eastern and Western religions, died in Springfield, Mass. Koyama became a Christian in 1945, at age 15, as American bombs poured over his native Tokyo home. He was touched by the words of a local pastor who taught his congregation the importance of loving everybody, “even the Americans.” It was a value system Koyama would spend the rest of his life teaching others. Koyama, who attended Princeton Theological Seminary, travelled to Thailand to become a missionary with the United Church of Christ. By 1968, he had moved to Singapore to become dean of the South East Asia Graduate School of Theology and editor of The South East Asia Journal of Theology. A decade later, Koyama moved to Manhattan to lecture at Union Theological Seminary. He authored 13 books over the course of his career. Many served to explain Christianity to an Eastern audience. Koyama was responsible for much productive communication between Christian and Buddhist leaders. He retired in 1996. Koyama is survived by his wife, Lois; son, James; daughter, Elizabeth; and five grandchildren

Claude Black, Jr., d. March 13, 2009 

The Rev. Claude William Black, Jr., 92, an American Baptist pastor and pivotal player in the civil rights movement died in San Antonio, Texas. For over half a century, Black served as pastor of Mount Zion First Baptist Church, the largest African-American church in San Antonio. Black had a long history of serving his city, working as a council member from 1973 to 1977 and becoming the city’s first black mayor pro-tem. Black was among the most significant religious leaders who fought for civil rights. He was an associate of Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Phillip Randolph and Thurgood Marshall. Black helped desegregate department stores, swimming pools and parks in San Antonio. President Johnson appointed Black as a delegate to the White House Conference on Civil Rights. Black also served his nation under the Clinton administration as a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging. A graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, he earned his master's degree in divinity from the Andover Newton Theological Seminary, near Boston, in 1943. The San Antonio native returned to his hometown where he lived the remainder of his days.

Robert E. A. Lee, d. February 27, 2009 

Robert E. A. Lee, 87, film producer and Lutheran communicator, died at his home in Baldwin, N.Y. For over a half of a century, Lee dedicated his life to ecumenicism and equality. He served as the executive secretary of Lutheran Film Associates and also as executive director for communications of the Lutheran Council in the United States. He produced two highly controversial but extremely well-received films, A Time for Burning and Martin Luther. The first was a documentary demonstrating race relations in the 1960s. Though the film was rejected by three major television networks, it was finally broadcast in October 1966. The critical success led to its later theatrical release and subsequent Oscar nomination for best documentary. In 2005, A Time for Burning was added to the National Film Registry, a prestigious list of films that are preserved for their cultural impact. Martin Luther, a film chronicling the life of the great reformer, received two Oscar nominations. Lee produced several other successful films throughout his lifetime. His wife, Elaine, died in 2000. Lee is survived by their six children, Peg Harris, Barbara Greenfeldt, Sigrid Lee, Richard Lee, Sylvia Lee-Thompson and Paul Lee; two sisters, Juliet Seim and Naomi Hysell; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Leon Howell, d. February 26, 2009

Leon Howell, an author and essayist who was the last editor of the influential liberal-tilting journal Christianity and Crisis, has died. He was 73.Howell died Feb. 26 at his home in Silver Spring, Md. He had suffered for years from a viral spinal infection that was never fully diagnosed. Christianity and Crisis, founded in 1941 by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, reached its peak in the late 1960s, when it was a leading critic of the Vietnam War. Howell began contributing to the publication during that time and was its editor from 1985 until it folded in 1993. He told the New York Times that it was the high cost of postage and health insurance more than any theological dispute that prompted the publication's closing. In retirement, Howell helped organize an annual weeklong seminar at the Ghost Ranch conference center in New Mexico called "Discerning the Signs of the Times," named after an anthology of Niebuhr's sermons.  Howell's books included "Freedom City: The Substance of Things Hoped For" (1969), about the struggle for black tenant farmers in Mississippi to start their own community, and "Asia, Oil Politics and the Energy Crisis" (1974), written with Michael Morrow.

Millard Fuller, d. February 3, 2009  

Millard Fuller, 74, founder of Habitat for Humanity and a pioneer of modern volunteerism, died near Americus, Ga. Fuller was  29 when he decided to give up his successful business and millionaire lifestyle to devote himself to fulfilling the lives of the needy. He, and his wife, Linda, used Christian principles and a notion Fuller described as “sweat equality” to build a network of devoted volunteers who together have built over 300,000 homes worldwide. Fuller first began the project in 1968, building 114 houses. By 1973, he had officially established Habitat for Humanity International as an organization that would provide homes for low income people. The homes are built using donated material and funds, and using volunteer labor. The homes are then sold without profit. Since its founding, the organization has created chapters in 14 countries. Fuller’s humanitarianism earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. Three years later, Christianity Today called him “God’s contractor.” He is survived by his wife, Linda; brother, Doyle; son, Christopher; daughters, Kim Isakson, and Faith Umstattd; and nine grandchildren.

Richard John Neuhaus,  d. January 8, 2009  

The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, 72, a theologian whose ideas transcended the political spectrum, died in Manhattan. The Ontario-born idealogue came to the United States as a young man and initially served as a Lutheran minister with liberal Democrat values. At the age of 54, he was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest. With this sweeping theological change came an equally drastic change of political views. The man who protested the Vietnam War and helped lead the civil rights movement became a neoconservative -- and a frequent critic of ecumenical organizations like the NCC and World Council of Churches. In later years, Father Neuhaus was an advisor to former President George W. Bush. Father Neuhaus wrote over 30 books, the best-known, The Naked Public Square, argued that American government should be based on Christian values. His survivors include his sisters, Mildred Schwich and Johanna Speckhard; and his brothers, Clemens, George, Joseph, and Thomas.