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William Sterling Cary dies at 94

William Sterling Cary, a pioneering minister and civil rights activist who was the first Black person in prominent church leadership roles, including president of the National Council of Churches, has died, according to family members. He was 94.

Cary died November 14 at his suburban Chicago home following heart failure stemming from a long illness, his daughter Yvonne Cary Carter said.

Marvin Olasky resigns from World magazine

Marvin Olasky, the longtime editor in chief of World, a magazine that has long aimed to pair a conservative Chris­tian viewpoint with careful, detailed re­porting, resigned on November 1, effective January 31.

Olasky had hoped to end his tenure, which began in 1994, next summer. Those plans changed after World’s publisher announced the launch of a new online opinion section, overseen by Albert Mohler, a prominent Southern Baptist seminary president known for his conservative commentary.

Bryan Massingale wins social justice award from Paulist Center

Bryan Massingale accepted the Isaac Hecker Award for Social Justice from the Paulist Center on November 13. Mas­sin­gale, a Catholic priest and theological ethicist, was given the award for his work toward justice and inclusion for Black and LGBTQ people in the Catholic Church.

Previous recipients of the award include Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, and Helen Prejean.

In a statement, the Paulist Center said that for more than four decades Massin­gale had “addressed these twin bases of discrimination,” calling him a modern prophet.

Lutheran scholar, archaeologist Edgar M. Krentz dies at 93

New Testament scholar and archaeolo­gist Edgar M. Krentz died on October 31. He was 93.

Krentz was perhaps best known for his 1975 book The Historical-Critical Method, which provided an introduction to and survey of historical criticism as a means of biblical interpretation. He was also a longtime professor at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, teaching his last class in 2018 despite retiring 20 years earlier.

Krentz’s interest in the historical-critical method began in 1963.

Thema Bryant-Davis elected president of the American Psychological Association

Thema Bryant-Davis, an ordained elder in the African Methodist Epis­co­pal Church, has been elected as the 2023 president of the American Psy­cho­logical Associa­tion. Bryant-Davis currently directs the Culture and Trauma Research Lab at Pepperdine University, along with the mental health ministry at First AME Church in South Los Angeles.

Donald Ottenhoff retires from Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research

This summer, Donald Ottenhoff, a former Century senior editor, retired from his position as executive director of the Collegeville Insti­tute for Ecumenical and Cultural Re­search. Ottenhoff led the institute, located on the property of Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, for 17 years.

Ottenhoff is credited with expanding the institute beyond its original residential scholars program where, beginning in 1968, scholars could come to the campus for either a year or a semester of independent study, prayer, and ecumenical dialogue.

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Peace activist nun Megan Rice dies at 91

Megan Rice, a Catholic sister and peace activist who spent two years in federal prison after breaking into a government security complex to protest nuclear weapons, has died. She was 91.

Rice spent 23 years in West Africa working as a teacher and pastoral guide. It was there that she started hearing about the Plowshares movement for peace.

When she returned to the United States, Rice began her involvement in antinuclear activism.

Influential UMC bibliographer Kenneth Rowe dies at 84

Kenneth Rowe, a historian who was known as the leading United Methodist bibliographer, died on October 8. He was 84.

“He completely reshaped how we understand the narrative of Methodism in America, expanding it to include indigenous persons, women and LGBTQ+ persons,” said the United Methodist Commis­sion on Archives and History in a remembrance.

Rowe was an ordained United Methodist elder, but after a brief period in local church and campus ministry, he found his calling in academia.