The Preus clan originated in Berlin, Prussia,
but one branch moved to Scandihoovia.
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
February 6, 2009
Lutheran Memorials Celebrate the Life of Former President Robert Marshall
09-038-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Memorials have been planned to celebrate the life of the Rev. Robert J. Marshall, biblical scholar and president of the former Lutheran Church in America (LCA), who died Dec. 22 in Allentown, Pa. He was 90. A funeral was held Jan. in Burlington, Iowa.
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, groundwork was set for that church's merger with the American Lutheran Church and Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in 1987 to form the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
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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.
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GJ - I met David Preus and Jack Preus, but I knew Robert Preus best of those pictured above. Robert Mashall sat next to me at a Michigan Synod, LCA convention. He offered constant patter about his favorite left-wing causes. Marshall was the Illinois president who asked me years before if Salem, Moline, used the Votum. I was new to the Lutheran liturgy and had no idea what the Votum was.
Various articles say Marshall earned a PhD from the University of Chicago. I think that is an error. Wikipedia even changes his last name to Kaufman midway in their article. I wrote to Marshall when I was working on my dissertation. His letter hinted that the dissertation was the point where his degree stopped. He never used PhD on his letterhead and no one claimed he had one during his active career, as far as I know. Did he go back and finish? That is possible but unlikely.
Marshall's devotion to social activism doomed the LCA. His next-in-command considered Marshall an idiot who destroyed the synod in 10 years. Marshall chose not to run again because he would have been defeated. His next gig was working with WELS and Missouri as head of Lutheran World Relief, which also got involved in social activism. Imagine that.
Franklin C. Fry (ULCA, then LCA president - Mr. Lutheran) chose Marshall as his successor. Fry would not even discuss women's ordination. As soon as Marshall took over, he changed the LCA constitution to allow women's ordination. That opened the doors for abortion and gay activism. Mrs. Ichabod and I knew Franklin D. Fry (President Fry's son) fairly well from his connections with the Michigan Synod, attendance at retreats.
Franklin C. Fry led a constant campaign against the inerrancy of the Bible in his ULCA days. He was very effective. The ALC did the same as soon as they were formed in the 1960s. Franklin D. Fry was a liberal social activist, using old Social Gospel bromides, but he refused to let his congregation sponsor a Masonic Lodge meeting. He said, "If it is held here, I will resign as pastor." The congregation withdrew its sponsorship of the lodge gathering.
