Franklin Clark Fry

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Franklin Clark Fry (born August 30, 1900 in Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) , † June 6, 1968 in New Rochelle , New York) was an American Lutheran theologian and a leader of the ecumenical movement .

Life

Raised the son of a minister, Fry studied at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York and at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia . After receiving his master's degree and ordination in 1925, he became a parish priest in Yonkers , New York, and in 1929 joined the ward at Trinity Lutheran Church in Akron , Ohio. In 1944 he was elected President of his church, the United Lutheran Church in America . In this office he was re-elected several times, most recently in 1960. He was very committed to the merger of several smaller Lutheran churches, and when this was consummated in 1962 with the Lutheran Church in America (one of the predecessor churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ) Fry also the president of this church. Due to cancer he had to give up his post in 1968 and died a few days later.

Working in ecumenism

Fry was not only concerned with the fellowship of the Lutheran churches in the United States, but also served in the wider ecumenical movement. In 1950 he was chairman of the founding assembly of the National Council of Churches in the USA. In the World Council of Churches , which he was also involved in founding in 1948, he was a member of the central committee from 1949, and from 1954 as its chairman. In the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) he served as treasurer from 1948 to 1952, from 1952 to 1957 as vice president and from 1957 to 1963 as president.

Honors

For his commitment to the advancement of the Christian community he was honored with 34 honorary doctorates from all over the world. In 1953 he received the Grand Cross and in 1963 the Grand Cross of the Federal Cross of Merit .

Fonts

  • The assignment in South Africa: April - December 1960; prepared by the delegation of the World Council at the December 1960 consultation . Geneva, WCC, 1961.
  • (Ed.): Historical Reality and Faith Proof: Festschrift for Friedrich Müller . Stuttgart: Evangelisches Verlagswerk, 1967.
  • From New Delhi to Uppsala 1961–1968: Report of the Central Committee to the 4th Assembly of the World Council of Churches . Geneva, WCC, 1968.

literature

  • United Lutheran Church in America: Mr. Protestant; an informal biography of Franklin Clark Fry . Philadelphia 1960.
  • Robert H. Fischer: Franklin Clark Fry: a palette for a portrait . Springfield, Ohio, 1972.
  • William H. Lazareth: Franklin Clark Fry . In: Ion Bria, Dagmar Heller (eds.): Ecumenical Pilgrims: Profiles of Pioneers in Christian Reconciliation . Geneva 1995.
  • Norman A. Hjelm, Prasanna Kumari, Jens Holger Schjørring (eds.): From the World Federation to Community. History of the Lutheran World Federation 1947–1997 , Hanover 1997, pp. 386–392.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Fry, Franklin Clark
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Lutheran theologian
DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 1968
Place of death New Rochelle , New York