PNS — Rev. Lewis S. Mudge, a scholar and theologian whose breadth of interests and expertise enriched virtually every corner of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the global ecumenical movement, died on Sept. 11 at his California home at the age of 79.
Ordained by Philadelphia Presbytery in 1955, Mudge served as a Presbyterian pastor at Princeton University for two years before taking on his first ecumenical assignment as secretary of the theology department for the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.
From 1976 to 1987, he served as dean of the faculty and professor of theology at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. Mudge then joined the faculty of San Francisco Theological Seminary, and a year later, began teaching at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He served both institutions until 2000.
“Lew Mudge was a truly great church leader who lived out the rare combination of being both a prophet and a pastor,” said the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Rev. Gradye Parsons. “His enormous intellect and integrity were apparent throughout his extensive history in the ecumenical movement, the classroom and beyond.”
