|
|
MESSAGES, TRIBUTES AND COMMENTS
page 1::page 2::page 3::page 4::page 5::page 6::page 7::page 8::page 9::page 10::page 11::page 12::page 13::page 14::page 15::page 16::page 17::page 18::page 19
| Richard L. Lindberg, Pottstown, PA |
I only had a couple classes with Mr. Clowney, but I well remember his humor in class, the way he illustrated his points with art work, and his emphasis to us in Ministry of the Word, to preach Christ and avoid the tendency of preachers to moralize. I don't preach much anymore, but when I was preaching, I always tried to remember to ask how I could preach Christ from the text.
God's blessings to you. "Let light perpetual shine upon him."
| Bob Borger, Fort Oglethorpe, GA |
Dr. Clowney's gentleness was the instrument God used to bring me to Westminster Seminary. While Dr. Clowney was a speaker at an IVCF camp in 1972, this ignorant freshman charismatic college student suggested to him that if he just got "the baptism of the Holy Spirit" his ministry would really "take off". Needless to say, my esteemed brother showed me a better way and I owe my introduction to the Reformed faith to him. His wife, Jean, is no less a trophy of God's grace, kindly writing sweet words to me after my first wife's death in 1982. What a wonderful family reunion worship around the Throne is going to be!
| Michael A. Milton, First Presbyterian Church, Chattanooga |
I thank God for the life and ministry of this godly man. I shall never forget how, when struggling with vocational issues, I was encouraged to read Dr Clowney's wonderful Called to the Ministry. The Church of Jesus Christ has been richly blessed by his teaching, his love and his life.
My heart goes out to his family. While the Church has lost a teacher, you have lost a dearly beloved husband and dad and grandad. May the Christ whom Dr Clowney preached bring you peace and comfort and continue the legacy of faith throughout your generations.
| joe novenson, Lookout Mtn. Presb. Church, Lookout Mtn., TN |
I am crying as I write in thanks to God for the gift of grace given me, made more glorious in the administration of truth presented to me in the life and ministry of Ed Clowney. I watched truth poured through personality as it transformed that person through whom it passed with sanctifying wonder and I can say without fear of overstatement that I know the Master better because of His strong work in and through the life of His servant, Dr. Clowney. Memories have filled my mind this week of classroom and hallway and office conversations and times of prayer and sermons.
Providentially, I was preaching the very hour during which Ed was going home and I was describing the baton being passed from one generation to the next at a missions conference and spoke of Dr. Clowney as the illustration of that very reality to my generation.
I will seek to run well the race set out before me fixing my eyes on Jesus with a more steady gaze because my vision has been much clarified by the life and testimony of Dr. Clowney, a little troubadour of the great King who sings a little more clearly because the melody was sung in my presence by Edmund P. Clowney.
joe
Dr Ed Clowney was a most encouraging friend and mentor to me. We met a number of times at Preaching Conferences in the USA. But my richest memories are of his visits to St Helen's for the Tuesday lunch-hour services when he was in London to see his son Paul and family. He loved being among the men who crowded in, and always came for a word of encouragement afterwards. He even mentioned it in one of his excellent books!
He was a most gracious, good and gentle man whose leadership and learning have had an abiding influence. Many thank God for him at The Proclamation Trust and at St Helen's, as I do myself.
Dick Lucas, one time Rector of St Helen's, Bishopsgate
| Richard Alton, Saint Mark's Church, 1625 Locust Street, Philadelphia PA 19103 |
The clergy and people of Saint Mark's Church offer their condolences to all the members of Mr. Clowney's family and particularly to his son and daughter-in-law David and Bettina. Edmund will be remembered in our prayers at Easter.
Ed was a great inspiration to me as a writer. Occasionally we would talk about deadlines, and he would laugh and tell me he was only three books behind.
Together we started a writers' group at Trinity, and I appreciated the fact that Ed insisted it was a group for people who were writing, not for those who liked to just talk about writing but never got around to doing it.
On other occasions he advised me when my writing took me in over my head in theological waters.
He was such a friendly, cheerful spirit and I will miss him. I grieve the loss of this dear friend.
Ron Wilson
I met Ed briefly while working for his son Paul. Even though it must be over seven years ago, I can picture it all in my mind as if it were yesterday. He told us one of the only jokes I can ever remember: "You know you're getting old when you bend over to tie up your shoe laces and wonder what else you can do while you're down there."
| Peter Jones, Escondido, CA |
Ed Clowney was known for his gentleness and patience with all kinds of people, and I greatly benefited from that as a son-in-law, but I can testify that Ed had it out for incalcitrant, inanimate objects. Disobedient golf balls that would lodge, unplayable, behind large trees or heavy pieces of furniture that refused to go through doorways got him sometimes so frustrated he would almost cry! This, in a funny kind of way, only made Ed so human.
I came to know of his human integrity through his daughter, my wife, Rebecca. Like many daughters, Rebecca loved and admired her father. However what has deeply struck me in our thirty four years of marriage (and four years of courtship before that) is the fact that I have never once heard from her mouth a word of complaint or criticism about him. It is tough being a dad, as everyone knows, but his life-long example of paternal, faithful, passionate love inspires me, even now, to keep on persevering to be the best dad I can be.
The other thing that inspires me about Ed was his love for Jesus. How easy it is for theologians, even Reformed theologians, to get so caught up in the system of doctrine that we forget the person of Jesus and make him simply one more piece in the great theological edifice we construct. In Ed’s sermons but equally in his theology, Jesus took pride of place so that by the study of scripture and by the preaching of the Word Ed drew us to the very person of Christ. There is no one like Jesus in all the other world’s religions. Ed knew that and made Christ the center of everything he did. By this he leaves for us a Christocentric legacy that must be central to our witness in the difficult days that lie ahead.
| Maria Demopoulos, Philadelphia |
While studying at L’Abri in Greatham in 1979, I met Paul and Tessa Clowney and came to stay with them in West Ealing for the summer. The days were spent helping in the renovation of their home on Regina Terrace, doing freelance graphic design in London, and participating in the local church, where Paul, Tessa, and their family still worship. It was there that I first had the privilege to meet Dr. and Mrs. Clowney during one of their trips to visit family. Dr. Clowney learned that we shared a passion for jogging, and so, without fail, each morning before breakfast we ran some miles together on a circuitous route through the neighborhood and around the park. I so appreciated those early morning runs, and was inspired by the gravitas inherent in his humble opinions concerning matters of everyday life, and issues of contemporary culture and current events. He was so steeped in his love for Christ, that it was second nature for him to think his thoughts and live his life accordingly. I know his family will miss his presence greatly. I also know God has welcomed him home with wide, open arms.
|