This book - Centro de Estudos Anglicanos

WEDEL, CYNTHIA CLARK 313WEDEL, CYNTHIA CLARK (26 August 1908, Dearborn, Mich.–24 August1986, Alexandria, Va.). Education: B.A., Northwestern University, 1929; M.A.,1930; Ph.D., George Washington University, 1957. Career: Director of Christianeducation, St. Luke’s Church, Evanston, Ill., 1931–34; fieldworker, then directorof youth work, National Council of the Episcopal Church, New York, 1934–39;teacher, National Cathedral School for Girls, Washington, D.C., 1939–49; nationalexecutive board, Woman’s Auxiliary of the Episcopal Church, 1946–65;presiding officer, Triennial meeting of the Woman’s Auxiliary, 1955; president,United Church Women of the National Council of Churches, 1955–58; assistantgeneral secretary, National Council of Churches, 1962–65; associate general secretaryfor Christian unity, 1965–69; president, 1969–72; associate director, Centerfor a Voluntary Society, 1969–74; president, World Council of Churches, 1975–83.Cynthia Clark Wedel, an ecumenical leader and educator, was born in Dearborn,Michigan, in August 1908. She was the daughter of Arthur Pierson Clark,a civil engineer, and Elizabeth Snow Haigh. After receiving degrees from NorthwesternUniversity, she became director of the Christian education program at St.Luke’s Church in Evanston, Illinois. In 1934 she moved to New York, where sheworked at the national headquarters of the Episcopal Church. In 1939 she marriedTheodore O. Wedel, a priest who was then the general secretary for Episcopalcollege work. The Wedels left New York soon after their marriage, moving toWashington, D.C., when Theodore was appointed warden of the College ofPreachers at the Washington National Cathedral. Cynthia taught religion at theNational Cathedral School for Girls between 1939 and 1949, and she earned aPh.D. in psychology from George Washington University in 1957. During thisperiod, she also became heavily involved as a volunteer in agencies such as theGirl Scouts and the American Red Cross and as a member of the national executiveboard of the Episcopal Woman’s Auxiliary. She also served as the nationalpresident of the United Church Women, a department of the National Council ofChurches (NCC). In addition, in the early 1960s President John F. Kennedy appointedher to the Commission on the Status of Women.Wedel’s most significant contributions were made as a leader in ecumenicalaffairs at both the NCC and the World Council of Churches. She was electedpresident of the NCC—the first woman to hold that position—in December 1969.That election was highly contested because African American delegates nominatedAlbert B. Cleage Jr., a United Church of Christ minister and author of arecent book on black power, The Black Messiah (1968). Although a group ofAfrican American church leaders asked Wedel to withdraw from the election inorder to further the cause of racial justice, she rejected that request. “I deplorediscrimination against black people and have worked hard to eliminate it,” shereplied, “but women have also been victims of discrimination, and I regard myelection as a belated recognition of their importance in the church.” Wedel alsoserved as a delegate to the assemblies of the World Council of Churches that met