Civil Rights Leaders Mourn Loss of National Urban Ministry Pioneer Don Benedict

CHICAGO, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National civil rights leader Don Benedict, a tireless fighter and life long defender of social justice for more than 60 years, died early Thursday morning from complications due to a cerebral hemorrhage in a Vermont hospital near his summer home in the Town of Rutland. He was 90 years old.

Rev. Dr. Benedict was a conscientious objector in World War II. He became a graduate of Albion College in Michigan and Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and was a pioneer in urban ministry, creating the East Harlem Protestant Parish in New York City in 1948, developing similar ministries in Cleveland and Detroit in the 1950s, then serving as executive director of Community Renewal Society from 1960 to 1982, and conceiving of, and co-founding, Protestants for the Common Good in 1995.

"Don Benedict was an innovative, far-seeing individual who believed strongly in the nexus between faith and action," said Rev. Dr. Calvin Morris, executive director of Community Renewal Society. "He passionately defended the rights of the poor and groups suffering discrimination, spent a lifetime building institutions that support social justice, and was a master in fostering collaboration and understanding among a true diversity of people and organizations."

A PIONEER IN URBAN MINISTRY

A Detroit native born in 1917, Rev. Dr. Benedict persistently attacked the causes of urban suffering, helped the oppressed help themselves, and affirmed the need for reflection as well as action in every city he served: New York; Detroit; Cleveland; and Chicago.

An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Rev. Dr. Benedict devoted his life to the cause of civil rights through urban ministry. As a student of New York's Union Theological Seminary, he and his wife, Ann, declared that they were willing and ready to devote themselves to the needs of the poor and oppressed minority groups. Together with South Shore Community Church Pastor Archie Hargraves and New York Theological Seminary founder Bill Webber, they founded the East Harlem Protestant Parish in New York and created a group ministry that sought to overcome racism and housing discrimination in the community.

In the 1950s, Rev. Dr. Benedict created similar ministries in Detroit, where he counseled urban gang members, and in Cleveland, as founder and executive director of the Inner City Protestant Parish and pastor of St. Paul's Community Church.

A HELMSMAN FOR COMMUNITY RENEWAL

Believing in a vital need for people of good will to identify with the oppressed, in 1960 Rev. Dr. Benedict moved to Chicago to become the executive director of Community Renewal Society, a social-justice organization that celebrated its 125th anniversary earlier this year, and began interpreting the needs of the poor for a broader audience.

During a 22-year tenure that would last until 1982, Rev. Dr. Benedict helped the organization expand and diversify its advocacy work on behalf of community self-determination and systemic change. Under his leadership, Community Renewal created such programs as Towards Responsible Freedom, a prototype self-help and self-determination development project on the South Side of Chicago and Churches in Transition, a nationally acclaimed effort enabling white ethnic congregations in racially changing communities to make the transition from all-white to all-Black or Latino membership, and, in concert with founder John A. McDermott, launched The Chicago Reporter, the enduring, award-winning investigative journal on social-justice issues.

Rev. Dr. Benedict was also instrumental in the formation of the Urban Training Center, which trained residents in community organizing and advocacy around issues of race and poverty, founded the Westside Organization (WSO), a group whose leadership was comprised of the formerly incarcerated, helping to channel their energies in positive ways, and in collaboration with St. Pauls United Church of Christ, invited Daniel Alvarez from New York to come to Chicago to create Casa Central, now the Midwest's largest Latino social-service organization. In addition, Rev. Dr. Benedict spearheaded the drive that brought Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King to Chicago to launch the Chicago Freedom Movement.

"There [were] few things more dangerous than Don Benedict fresh off his knees," said William Sloane Coffin, former senior minister of New York City's Riverside Church of his colleague on the occasion of a tribute ceremony for Rev. Dr. Benedict in 2001. "All his life he ... erred on the side of boldness. People have opposed Don Benedict fiercely not because they knew him to be wrong but because they suspected he might be right."

A WATCHDOG FOR THE COMMON GOOD

Following his work with Community Renewal, in 1995 Rev. Dr. Benedict conceived of and joined with several colleagues to form Protestants for the Common Good as a way to bring an informed and strong Protestant voice into public debate and to offer educational resources and advocacy opportunities to people of faith on matters of public policy.

Rev. Dr. Benedict's impetus in founding the organization was to help ensure that groups from the Christian political right, such as the Christian Coalition, could no longer portray themselves as speaking on behalf of all Protestant Christians.

"Don Benedict always sided with the most vulnerable in our midst, and with Don Benedict at their side, they often obtained justice," said Rev. Alexander Sharp, executive director, Protestants for the Common Good. "He fought for the poor not from a lofty height but by living in their midst, and his spirit will live on in the hearts and minds of all who knew him and in the institutions be built."

A LEGACY OF CONVICTION

In recognition of a lifetime devoted to defending the rights of the oppressed through ministry and politically informed community organizing, Rev. Dr. Benedict received honorary degrees from Albion College in 1965, Elmhurst College in 1969, and The Chicago Theological Seminary in 1976.

"Don Benedict laid the political groundwork for the modern community organizing movement," said Rev. Dr. Morris. "It's no exaggeration to say that America might never have witnessed the power and oratory of a Barack Obama if we had never been blessed with the faith and conviction of Don Benedict."

Rev. Dr. Benedict was a long-time resident of Chicago, Illinois, and is survived by his wife of 61 years, Ann, daughters Sandra, Susan, Kennette, and Ruth and four grandchildren. A service will be held on Monday, September 8th at the Pittsford Congregational Church in Pittsford, Vermont. A memorial service in Chicago is planned at a later date.

Community Renewal Society empowers people to build just communities by working to eradicate racism and poverty. It does so by informing, organizing, training, and encouraging individuals and communities in sustained and strategic efforts to engender systemic change and bring forth a vision of a just community where race and class no longer limit each person's full participation in all aspects of society. For more information, please call 312.427.4830