World Council of Churches organizer dead at 89

Presbyterian minister Robert Bilheimer died Sunday, December 17, in Canandaigua, New York, from complications from a hip fracture and the late stages of Alzheimer's disease. As a student, he was inspired by the leader of the Student Christian Movement at Yale University, and went on to receive his master's degree from the divinity school in 1945. Bilheimer organized the first meeting of the World Council of Churches in 1948 in an effort to unite Christians of all different faiths. 340 churches from over 100 countries make up the council. He was also instrumental in organizing the second (1954) and third (1961) councils. In 1960, Bilheimer organized a mission for the council's South African members, which led to a proclamation rejecting all religious arguments supporting apartheid. In 1971, Bilheimer organized Christian and Jewish leaders in opposition to the war in Vietnam. He was executive director of the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research in Collegeville, Minnesota, from 1974 until his retirement in 1984. He was 89.

Sources: wcc-coe.org, Associated Press, NYTimes.com, Yale.edu