ELCA NEWS SERVICE
December 22, 2008
Robert Marshall, Lutheran President, Scholar, Pastor, Dies
08-210-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert J. Marshall, a pastor of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), biblical
scholar and president of the former Lutheran Church in America
(LCA), died Dec. 22 in Allentown, Pa. He was 90.
Funeral plans are being made in Burlington, Iowa, and
memorials are being planned for 2009 in Allentown and across the
United States.
In 1962 Marshall was elected president of the LCA Illinois
Synod, and six years later he was elected president of the LCA.
During his decade as LCA president, the groundwork was set for
that church's merger with the American Lutheran Church and
Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in 1987 to form the
ELCA.
Marshall "became one of those giants among Lutheran leaders
who served in the 20th century," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson,
ELCA presiding bishop.
"The years do pass quickly. Leaders are called by the
church and serve during their particular time, but their
contributions should not be forgotten. We now remember such a
leader -- a leader who showed grace, dignity, dedication, courage
and vision as a faithful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ,"
Hanson said in a tribute to Marshall.
Born in Burlington, Marshall graduated from Wittenberg
University, Springfield, Ohio, and the Chicago Lutheran
Theological Seminary, Maywood, Ill. He earned a doctorate from
the University of Chicago and, during his professional life,
received 15 honorary doctorates.
Ordained in 1944 in the Wartburg Synod of the former United
Lutheran Church in America, he served as pastor of Grace Lutheran
Church, Alhambra, Calif.
One of Marshall's confirmands in Alhambra went on to become
the ELCA's second presiding bishop. "I will always remember him
as 'Pastor Marshall,'" said the Rev. H. George Anderson, Decorah,
Iowa.
"He was indeed a shepherd -- vigilant, hard-working and
always accountable to his Master. He led, he taught, he
challenged," Anderson said. "I am grateful for all he gave to me
and to this church."
In 1947 Marshall joined the faculty of Muhlenberg College,
Allentown, Pa., as an instructor in religion. He became head of
the religion department in 1952. From 1953 to 1962 he was a
professor of Old Testament at Chicago Lutheran Theological
Seminary (now the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago), and he
served as a visiting professor at the American School of Oriental
Research, Jerusalem, before his election as LCA Illinois Synod
president.
Marshall was director of the Office on Mission, Service and
Development, Lutheran World Ministries, New York. After his
service as LCA Illinois Synod president and LCA president, from
1981 to 1988 Marshall was professor of Old Testament at the
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C., before
returning to LSTC as an adjunct professor of Old Testament.
Marshall also served LSTC as senior scholar in residence and
director for its Center for Global Ministries.
"Dr. Marshall was a faithful, impressive and skilled
Lutheran leader as a pastor, seminary professor, synod president,
and as president of the LCA. Perhaps less well known is that Dr.
Marshall was both a son of the Lutheran School of Theology at
Chicago and a steadfast supporter," said the Rev. James K.
Echols, LSTC president.
"Throughout his life he gave consistently to The Annual
Fund, even as several endowed student scholarships were
established in his honor," Echols said of Marshall. In 2001 LSTC
established the Robert J. Marshall Graduate Fellowship to create
an endowment in the master of theology and doctor of philosophy
degree programs.
Marshall served as vice president of the Lutheran World
Federation, as chairman of Lutheran World Relief and Church World
Service, and as a member of the Commission for a New Lutheran
Church and the ELCA Church Council, the board of the Wheat Ridge
Foundation and the executive committee of the World Council of
Churches.
Marshall is preceded in death by his wife Alice Hepner
Marshall. He is survived by their two children: Robert E.
Marshall and the Rev. Margaret A. (Peggy) Niederer, Holy Spirit
Lutheran Church, Leonia, N.J.
-- -- --
The full text of Bishop Hanson's tribute is at
http://tinyurl.com/9ymuao on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
