The Rev'd Charles Henry Long, Jr., D.D., a major figure in the world mission of the Episcopal Church, died 17 November at his home in Cincinnati, Ohio, after a struggle with lymphoma. His wife Nancy is grateful for any way this news can be shared with mission activists throughout the Church.
Services for Charles will be held on Saturday, 2 December, at Ascension and Holy Trinity Church in Wyoming, Ohio, at 11 a.m., and also on Thursday, 7 December, in Philadelphia.
In view of Charles' longstanding concern for cooperation in the Church's world mission efforts, Nancy Long requests that memorial donations be made to the Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission. Gifts may be sent to EPGM at 9923 Natick Rd., Burke, Va. 22015.
Born in Philadelphia in 1923, Charles was the son of the Rev'd Charles Henry Long and Evelyn Long. Graduated from Yale College in 1943, he received the B.D. degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1946. He married Nancy Marie Ingham in 1946, and the Longs had four children.
The Longs served as missionaries of the Episcopal Church in China from 1946 to 1949, after which Charles was personnel secretary of the then Overseas Department of Executive Council from 1950 to 1954. The Longs served as missionaries in Hong Kong from 1954 to 1958 as part of what was then known as the Yale in China program. Charles was a member of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Hong Kong.
Charles served in Geneva, Switzerland, as secretary of the World Christian Student Federation from 1958 to 1960 and was instrumental in organizing the 1960 WSCF Conference on the Life and Mission of the Church in Strasbourg, France.
During his rectorship of St. Peter's Church, Glenside, Pa., 1960-73, Charles was visiting lecturer in mission and ecumenism at the Philadelphia Divinity School and served as vice president of the Greater Philadelphia Council of Churches. From 1973 to 1978, he was executive secretary of the New York office of the World Council of Churches. He was director and editor of Forward Movement Publications from 1978 to 1995, sponsoring many mission-related publications.
Charles served on the boards of SPCK/USA and the Evangelical Education Society. As a General Convention deputy, he chaired the House of Deputies Committee on Theological Education. He was vice chair of the General Board of Examining Chaplains. In 1988, he authored "Who Are the Anglicans?", a booklet which introduces the provinces of the Anglican Communion, and in 1998, the memoir, "Remembering John Krumm."
Charles received the S.T.M. degree from the Philadelphia Lutheran Seminary in 1968 and the S.T.D. degree from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of Kentucky in 1983. He was honored as a Doctor of Divinity by the Virginia Seminary in 1976 and a Doctor of Humane Letters by the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in 1984.
Condolences may be sent to Mrs. Nancy Long at 23 Euclid Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio 45215-4217.
Rest eternal grant to your servant, O Lord;
And let light perpetual shine upon him.
May his soul, and the souls of all the departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.