Forrest Church
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Wikidata image Frank Forrester Church IV (September 23, 1948 – September 24, 2009) was a leading Unitarian Universalist minister, author, and theologian. He was Senior Minister of the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City, until late 2006 when he was appointed as Minister of Public Theology.[1] He wrote about Christianity, Gnosticism, religious liberty in the US tradition, and his own father, a US Senator.
Biography
Church was born in Palo Alto, California, while his father, Frank Church, was a student at Stanford Law School. Following graduation in 1950, the family returned to Boise, Idaho.[2] His father was elected to the United States Senate in 1956 and served four terms, until January 1981.
Church was a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Divinity School. He received a Ph.D. in early church history from Harvard University in 1978.
In 1991, Church's affair with a congregant brought his ability to serve as minister into question, but most of his congregation supported him.[3]
On February 4, 2008, Church sent a letter to the members of his congregation informing them that he had terminal cancer. He told them of his intention, which he successfully realized, to sum up his thoughts on the topics that had been pervasive in his work in a final book, entitled Love & Death.
Church died of esophageal cancer in New York City on September 24, 2009, a day after his 61st birthday.[4] He is buried in Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.
Writings
Church is best known as a leader of liberal religion. Between 1985 and his death, he wrote or edited more than 20 books. These include technical studies of Christian and Gnostic literature, as well as over a dozen books addressing a wider audience.[1][5]
Books authored by Church include:
- Father and Son: A Personal Biography of Senator Frank Church of Idaho
- The trilogy A Humane Comedy: The Devil and Dr. Church, Entertaining Angels, and The Seven Deadly Virtues
- Early Christian Prayer
- Early Christian Hymns
- The Essential Tillich
- God and Other Famous Liberals: Recapturing Bible, Flag, and Family from the Far Right, Walker & Company, 1996 (Template:ISBN)
- A Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism, with John A. Buehrens, Beacon Press, 1998 (Template:ISBN)
- The American Creed: A Spiritual and Patriotic Primer, 2002 (Template:ISBN)
- So Help Me God: The Founding Fathers and the First Great Battle Over Church and State, 2007 (Template:ISBN)
- Freedom From Fear: Finding the Courage to Act, Love and Be (Template:ISBN)
- Love & Death, Beacon Press, 2008 (Template:ISBN)
- The Cathedral of the World: A Universalist Theology, Beacon Press, 2009 (Template:ISBN)
Books edited by Church:
- Restoring Faith: America's Religious Leaders Answer Terror with Hope, Walker & Company, 2001 (Template:ISBN)
- The Separation of Church and State: Writings on a Fundamental Freedom by America's Founders, Beacon Press, 2004 (Template:ISBN)
Television appearances
Church can be seen offering commentary in the History Channel documentaries Haunted History of Halloween[6] and Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas.[7]
References
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- ↑ a b Biography on All Souls NYC page Template:Webarchive, retrieved 10 June 2007.
- ↑ "Things To Do When You Get Your Life Back" Template:Webarchive, sermon by Forrester Church, November 14, 1999, retrieved 10 June 2007.
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External links
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- Love and Death Facing cancer with lessons learned from my parishioners, By Forrest Church in UU World magazine
- New York Times obituary
- Obituary at Unitarian Universalist Association site
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- People magazine - May 19, 1986
- Template:PAGENAMEBASE at Find a GraveTemplate:EditAtWikidata
- Pages with script errors
- Pages with reference errors
- 1948 births
- 2009 deaths
- 20th-century American writers
- 20th-century Unitarian clergy
- 21st-century American writers
- 21st-century Unitarian clergy
- American Christian religious leaders
- American Unitarian Universalists
- Deaths from esophageal cancer in New York (state)
- Harvard Divinity School alumni
- Stanford University alumni
- Unitarian Universalist clergy
- Writers from Boise, Idaho
- Writers from New York City
- 20th-century American male writers