[uua_l@uua.org: [UUA-L] In Memoriam: Rev. Dr. Forrest Church]
wo...@wolves.durham.nc.us
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:32:31 -0400
From: Unitarian Universalist Association <uu...@uua.org>
To: uu...@lists.uua.org
Subject: [UUA-L] In Memoriam: Rev. Dr. Forrest Church
Rev. Forrest Church, acclaimed author of more than two dozen books and
longtime minister of the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City,
died on September 24, 2009 following a three-year battle with esophageal
cancer. He was sixty-one years old. Church is survived by his children,
Frank, Nina, Jacob and Nathan, and by his wife, Carolyn Buck Luce.
"I join thousands of Unitarian Universalists and Americans in mourning
the loss of Forrest Church," said Unitarian Universalist Association
President Peter Morales today. "We have lost a brilliant and articulate
thinker, a champion of democratic values, and a compelling advocate for
liberal religion. More importantly, we have lost a kind, thoughtful, and
loving spirit. What courage and grace he showed in his final years. Even
as we feel our loss, let us be grateful for his enduring legacy."
Church reached a wide audience through the approximately two dozen books
that he authored or edited in the course of his career. He published his
first book, Father and Son: A Personal Biography of Senator Frank Church
of Idaho, in 1985. His other prominent works include Our Chosen Faith:
An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism (1989, co-authored with John
Buehrens), The American Creed (2002), So Help Me God: The Founding
Fathers and the First Great Battle over Church and State (2007), and
Love and Death (2008). Church's final book, The Cathedral of the World:
A Universalist Theology, will be published by Beacon Press in November.
At the UUA's 2008 General Assembly, Church received the Award for
Distinguished Service to the Cause of Unitarian Universalism, the most
prestigious award given by the UUA. "Let us never forget what a
privilege it is to be part of this great movement and to pronounce its
saving faith: one Light (Unitarianism) shining through many windows
(Universalism)," Church remarked upon receiving the award. "Let us
continue our quest together, with awe and humility, with saving openness
and saving doubt, never forgetting to honor those who charted our way."
Church spent his final years reflecting on the importance of living each
day with love and gratitude. He writes in Love and Death, "The goal is
to live in such a way that our lives will prove worth dying for...The
one thing that can't be taken from us, even by death, is the love we
give away before we go."
Read the complete UUA obituary:
http://www.uua.org/news/newssubmissions/151146.shtml
Read a remembrance of Forrest Church by his friend, Theodore Sorensen:
http://www.uua.org/news/newssubmissions/151160.shtml
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