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A Celebration of Life - 2 CD Set
The funeral service for civil rights/peace activist
and former Riverside Church Senior Minister, The Rev.
Dr. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., 81, took place Thursday,
April 20 in the Nave.
The Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr.,current Senior Minister of The Riverside Church, led the service, which included music selections, readings and remembrances celebrating the life and legacy of Rev. Coffin.
Click here for a copy of the Program
Proceeds from the sale of these CDs go to the Rev. William Sloane Coffin Scholarship Fund at Union Theological Seminary.
Born in 1924, The Rev. Dr. William Sloane Coffin, Jr. was
appointed the fourth senior minister of The Riverside Church
in 1976 and served in that position until 1987. A graduate
of Yale University, Rev. Coffin led a full life, which
took him down a non-traditional path. He was an infantry
officer during the last two years of World War II and
later joined the CIA, working in Germany for three years
during the Korean War. Afterwards, he resumed his
seminary education and graduated from Yale Divinity School in 1956. In the 18 years prior to joining Riverside, Rev. Coffin was chaplain at Yale University and became known for his peace activism during the Vietnam War. While at Riverside he was dedicated to addressing issues of peace, nuclear disarmament, poverty, homelessness, protecting the environment and other moral and ethical issues.
*****
"When Bill Coffin first came to Riverside to serve as Senior Minister, he said 'This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine,'
and he did...during these last few years of failing health, Bill Coffin was as vigilant in his fight against the war in Iraq as he was in his protest against the war in Vietnam decades earlier."
Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes Jr.
Senior Minister, The Riverside Church
"Like Martin Luther King, Bill Coffin also knew the heart
of power is hard; knew it arranged the rules for its own
advantage, knew that before justice could roll down like
water and righteousness like a flowing river, the dam of
oppression, deception and corruption had first to be
broken, cracked open by the moral power of people aroused
to demand that the right thing be done."
Bill Moyers
Remembering Bill Coffin
"What can we say? He was brave, bright, committed, and joyful. I learned from him, while I was still a secular activist, what it could mean to be prophetically committed. When God's opening came to me, Bill's teaching was a great part of what I was able to bring."
Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Director, The Shalom Center
"The Union community will be saddened at the loss of this remarkable Christian leader...Bill is dead, but I shall rely on the precious gifts of memory to continue to live my history with him. Recollection, like anticipation, is as much a part of the fabric of our lives as the present moment. In some ways it is richer and allows for a generous and loving selectivity. And memories, unlike anticipation, do not disappoint us. That is why the unwelcome intrusion of death into life never is the final act. Death is but the transition from the creation of new personal history to a time of enjoyment of a cherished history that is now done. So that is how it is for me in this day of sorrow and loss.
Joseph C. Hough, Jr.
President, Union Theological Seminary
I loved Bill Coffin. He died yesterday. It seems that he was the midwife to every important moral decision I ever made. He could never have known that, but I always consulted him in my heart when I had to risk something principled ---starting with turning my draft card over to him at an anti-Vietnam War rally at Yale in 1968. He inspired moral courage.
Robert Shetterly
Common Dreams.Org
Bill often spoke of the greatest of these, Love and he invited all of
us to "make love your aim." He certainly did so himself, presiding at
the baptisms, weddings, ordinations and memorial services for thousands
of us throughout his life-long ministry. We are grateful for his
shining presence and brilliant mind, for his willingness to fly
anywhere at any time to bless us with whatever we needed and for his
spectacular soul, always challenging, always loving.
Patricia de Jong
Senior Minister, First Cong. Church of Berkeley
*****
Click here for the AP Story.
Click here for Washington Post Story.
Click here for NY Times Story
Click here for Common Dreams.Org.
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