wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Notes about people

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This story and photos available online:
www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2008/08937<http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2008/08937>

Notes about people

by Jerry L. Van Marter
Presbyterian News Service

The Rev. Carl H. Geores, a champion for rural and small
church ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for
more than 50 years, died at his home in Monmouth, ME, Dec.
15. He was 86.

The New Jersey native served 43 months in the Marine Corps
during World War II before graduating from Union College in
Schenectady, NY, and Princeton Theological Seminary.
Ordained by Albany Presbytery in 1952, embarked on a
lifelong career of serving small and rural churches and
advocating for stronger denominational support for small
and rural church ministry, including lengthy service on the
PC(USA)’s Rural Ministry Advisory Committee.

Serving under the PC(USA)’s Board of National Missions,
Geores organized three churches in the rural central Maine
communities of Leeds, Wales and Hartford. In 1954. He was
instrumental in developing Mission at the Eastward (MATE),
an ecumenical church support organization in the region,
where he served as assistant director and then coordinator.

In that position he helped found the Rural Community Action
Ministry ? an ecumenical, non-profit social service agency
dedicated to meeting the needs of the rural poor. In the
course of those efforts, Geores received numerous awards,
including the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Princeton
Seminary and the Jefferson Award for public service from
the State of Maine. RCAM created a Housing Ministry that
served the area. After his retirement in 1989, he continued
to serve as a rural ministry consultant with the
presbyteries of Northern New York, Utica (NY) and Kendall
in Idaho.

Geores is survived by his wife Melva; three daughters,
Martha, Ruth and Deborah; three sons, Paul, Peter and
Timothy; 10 grandchildren, a great-grandson and a niece. A
funeral service will be held Dec. 20 at Leeds (ME)
Community Church.

# # #

The Rev. Timothy T. Boggess, pastor of Northwest
Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Ga., is the featured
preacher Jan. 11, 2009, on “Day 1” [www.day1.org] ? the
radio program formerly known as “The Protestant Hour.

The program, broadcast nationally on 150 stations and also
accessible by podcast, includes a sermon by Boggess, as
well as interviews conducted by the program's host and
executive producer, Peter Wallace. It is produced by the
Alliance for Christian Media in association with the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Cooperative Baptist
Fellowship, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, the United Church of Christ and the
United Methodist Church.

Boggess’ sermon, based on Mark 1:4-11, is entitled “In the
Hole He Goes.” The title was taken from a child’s
misunderstanding of the baptismal formula “in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

For more information, call toll-free at (888) 411-Day1
(3291).

# # #

Montreat Conference Center in North Carolina and
Vice-President for Development John Richardson have severed
their relationship, effective Dec. 31.

During Richardson’s three years at Montreat, the annual
fund reached an all-time high with almost $800,000 in cash
gifts. In 2007-2008 the donor base grew by 94 new patrons
and 23 new donor churches. Montreat’s College Conference
has been revitalized, with 1,000 participants expected in
January 2009. Richardson also oversaw technological
improvements that have led to online giving, video
promotion for the Annual Fund, and movement toward further
website communication capabilities demanded by the church’s
youth constituencies.

Frank Spencer, chair of Montreat’s board, said, “John
Richardson has helped the conference center imagine its
ministry in the context of the changing Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) and has appropriately pressed us to embrace young
adult leaders at the conference center and in the
Presbyterian Church. I remain deeply grateful for his love
of Montreat and his passion to serve Jesus Christ.”

Montreat Conference Center President Pete Peery will begin
the search process for a Vice President of Development
immediately. In the meantime, Bill Straughan will continue
to serve as the interim Vice President of Development.

# # #

The Rev. Bruce Larson, who served as pastor of Seattle’s
University Presbyterian Church from 1980-1990 and then
joined Robert Schuller as co-pastor of the Crystal
Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA, died Dec. 15 at age 83. He
had suffered for a number of years with Parkinson’s
Disease.

Larson, who wrote dozens of books and helped pioneer church
movements, including those that emphasized relationships
and small groups, went into the ministry after serving as
an infantry sergeant in World War II. Prior to going to
University Church ? where membership doubled to 3,600
during his decade there ? he served pastorates in New York
and Illinois.

In addition to his wife of 58 years, Hazel, Larson is
survived by sons Mark and Peter Larson; a daughter
Christine; and eight grandchildren. A memorial service will
be held Jan. 8 at University Presbyterian Church.

# # #

Archbishop Valentine Mokiwa of the Anglican Church of
Tanzania is the new president of the All Africa Conference
of Churches (AACC). He was elected at the just concluded
AACC 9th General Assembly held in Maputo, Mozambique from
Dec. 7-12.

Mokiwa succeeds the Rev. Nyansako-ni-Nku of the
Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, who led the AACC for the
last five years. He was inducted into office on Dec. 12 along
with other officers and the Rev. André Karamaga of the
Presbyterian Church of Ghana as the AACC’s new general
secretary.

Mokiwa joins the AACC leadership at a time when the church
in Africa is faced with many critical challenges, including
crises in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Congo; the ravages of HIV/AIDS;
economic disparities resulting from globalization; and
widespread poverty and drought.

AACC is a Pan-African Christian organization founded in
1963 in Kampala, Uganda. It brings together in fellowship
173 churches and Christian councils from 40 African
countries.

# # #

The Rev. Richard Cizik, the top Washington lobbyist for the
National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), who had already
faced criticism for his embrace of environmental activism,
resigned Dec. 11 after signaling support for same-sex civil
unions.

Cizik, 58, who had worked in the NAE’s Washington office
for 28 years, resigned after being harshly criticized for
the civil union comments and saying he voted for
President-elect Barack Obama in the Virginia primary
despite Obama’s support of abortion rights.

NAE President Leith Anderson, a Minnesota megachurch
pastor, said Cizik's comments in a Dec. 2 interview with
National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air” program were
problematic because they did not reflect the views of many
NAE member organizations. Cizik declined to comment on
Thursday.

“It’s possible for me to disagree with a candidate on
high-profile issues and still believe that, on the basis of
character or philosophy, he’s the better of the two
candidates,” Cizik said in the interview. “So, in this
case, it would be possible, as evangelicals did, to
disagree with Barack Obama on same-sex marriage and
abortion and yet vote for him. We know they did, not
because of those positions ... but in spite of those
positions.”

He also said his position on same-sex relationships was
changing. “I’m shifting, I have to admit,” he said. “In
other words, I would be willing to say I believe in civil
unions. I don’t officially support redefining marriage from
its traditional definition, I don’t think.”

# # #

Cardinal Avery Dulles, who left a prominent Presbyterian
pedigree to become one of the nation’s most distinguished
theologians and a prince of the Catholic Church, died Dec.
12 at the age of 90.

Dulles, who was one of the oldest men to be named a
cardinal, at age 82, by Pope John Paul II in 2001, died at
the Jesuit infirmary at Fordham University in New York,
where he had taught since 1988. With Dulles’ death, the
U.S. church now has 16 American cardinals.

Dulles’ father, John Foster Dulles, was secretary of state
in the Eisenhower administration. Two other family members
were appointed to the same post: John W. Foster, in 1892,
and Robert Lansing, in 1915. His uncle, Allen Dulles, was
Eisenhower's CIA director, and a great uncle, the Rev.
Allen Macy Dulles, was a noted Presbyterian theologian.

Dulles became interested in Catholicism through his studies
of art, philosophy, theology and medieval literature at
Harvard, and became a Catholic after his graduation in
1940. He became a Jesuit and was ordained a priest in 1956
by New York’s legendary Cardinal Francis Spellman.

# # #

Erol Kekic has been named director of Church World
Service’s Immigration and Refugee Program. Kekic, who was
associate director of the program, has served as interim
director for the past three months.

Kekic came to Church World Service from Lutheran Family and
Community Service/Immigration and Refugee Program in New
York City, where he served as associate director. Prior to
that, he was assistant director for resettlement for
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, also in New York.

Church World Service is one of 10 agencies that work with
the Department of State Bureau for Population, Refugees and
Migration to resettle refugees in the U.S. CWS administers
the Religious Services Program, which operates in seven
government-run immigration detention centers across the
U.S. and also helps serves people in drawn-out refugee
situations through its Durable Solutions for Displaced
Persons programs.