ELCA NEWS SERVICE
December 22, 2003
The Rev. Michael McDaniel, Former ELCA North Carolina Synod Bishop, Dies
03-233-DP*/JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Michael C. D. McDaniel, former Lutheran
bishop of North Carolina, died Dec. 18 at Lutheran Home West, Hickory,
N.C.
McDaniel, 74, served as bishop of the North Carolina Synod of the
former Lutheran Church in America (LCA) from 1982 to 1987. When the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was formed through the
merger of the LCA, American Lutheran Church and Association of Evangelical
Lutheran Churches, McDaniel became bishop of the ELCA North Carolina
Synod, serving 1988 to 1991. At the 2003 North Carolina Synod Assembly, he
was named "Bishop Emeritus" of the synod.
A memorial service was held Dec. 22 at St. Andrew Lutheran Church,
Hickory. The Rev. W. Richard Fritz Jr., pastor of St. Andrew, officiated.
Burial was private.
"What I will remember most about him is his passion for telling the
story of God's love," the Rev. Leonard H. Bolick, told the Salisbury
(N.C.) Post newspaper. Bolick is currently serving as bishop of the ELCA
North Carolina Synod.
"I knew Michael for 20 years and I absolutely considered him a friend
and mentor," Bolick told the Post. "He was articulate, courageous and
compassionate. He will certainly be irreplaceable."
During his terms as bishop, McDaniel built and strengthened a number
of ecumenical relationships with other Lutherans, Roman Catholics,
Episcopalians, United Methodists, African Methodist Episcopal Zionists and
Baptists, according to a synod news release.
In 1991 he was instrumental in forming the groundbreaking covenant
with the two Roman Catholic dioceses in North Carolina and with the
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the release said. In 1993 he received The
Cuthbert E. Allen Award for Contributions to Ecumenism from the Ecumenical
Institute, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C., and Belmont Abbey
College, Charlotte, N.C.
From 1983 to 1989, McDaniel took part in Round Two of the
Lutheran/Orthodox Dialogue in the U.S.A., served as chairman of the Task
Force on Ecumenical Relations for the Commission for a New Lutheran
Church, and in 1985 he was a member of a group that visited Orthodox
Patriarch Demetrios I, Pope John Paul II and Anglican Archbishop Robert
Runcie.
He was an elected member of the Board of Publications (LCA); member
and first chair of the advisory bishops, Church Council (ELCA); and
advisory member of the Standing Committee of the Office for Ecumenical
Affairs (ELCA). He took a leave of absence in 1989 to accept a joint
appointment from the Lutheran World Federation, Geneva, Switzerland, and
Oxford University, Oxford, England, to teach.
In 1991, McDaniel was founding director of the Center for Theology at
Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory. The center serves as a resource for
continuing education for clergy and laity, including a weekly preaching
seminar, monthly colloquia and an annual Aquinas/Luther Conference, the
synod news release said. He was professor emeritus of Lenoir-Rhyne,
teaching classes and advanced seminars.
McDaniel was born in Mt. Pleasant, N.C., in 1929. He was an Eagle
Scout and was awarded the Order of the Arrow by the Boy Scouts of America.
He served in the U.S. Army in Korea from 1946 to 1948.
In 1951 McDaniel graduated from the University of North Carolina. In
1954 he was awarded a bachelor of divinity from Hamma Divinity School,
which later merged into Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. He
earned a master of arts in systematic theology in 1969, and in 1978 earned
a doctoral degree in Christian theology, both from the University of
Chicago. McDaniel was awarded honorary doctoral degrees from Lenoir-Rhyne
College and from Belmont Abbey College.
McDaniel received a certificate of excellence in 1968 from the Goethe
Institute for German Language and Culture, West Germany, and did
post-graduate study at the University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, in
1968 and 1969. He was named "Distinguished Alumnus" of Trinity Lutheran
Seminary in 1990.
McDaniel was ordained in 1954 by the United Lutheran Church in
America (ULCA). He was pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, Faith, N.C., from
1954 to 1958, and was pastor of Lutheran Church of the Ascension,
Savannah, Ga., from 1958 to 1960.
McDaniel was associate director, ULCA Department of Evangelism, from
1960 to 1962. He then was pastor of Edgebrook Lutheran Church, Chicago,
from 1962 to 1967.
After full-time graduate study McDaniel became guest lecturer and
interim "Pastor to the University" at Wittenberg University, Springfield,
Ohio, from 1970 to 1971. From 1971 to 1982 he was professor of religion
and philosophy at Lenoir-Rhyne College and was elected to three terms as
chair of the Humanities Division. In 1982, he was named distinguished
professor. Wittenberg University and Lenoir-Rhyne College are two of the
ELCA's 28 colleges and universities.
McDaniel's published writings include "Welcome to the Lord's Table,"
published by Augsburg Publishing House, 1971.
In the community, McDaniel was president of the Hickory Community
Concerts Association from 1977 to 1980 and was president of the board of
directors of the Western Piedmont Symphony Orchestra.
McDaniel is survived by his wife, Marjorie Ruth Schneiter McDaniel,
whom he married in 1953, and a son, John.
---
* Donna D. Prunkl is communications coordinator for the ELCA North
Carolina Synod.
Information about the ELCA North Carolina Synod can be found at
http://www.nclutheran.org on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
