In the year of his death, the Task Force to Coordinate Ecumenical and Interfaith Work commends the life and work of William Norgren and unanimously honors his contribution to The Episcopal Church and the Ecumenical Movement. His resume is below.

                                                           PERSONAL  SUMMARY

The Rev. Dr. William Andrew Norgren                                                                                          

120 E. 79th Street, Ap. 2D, New York, NY 10075

212 535 4280

williamnorgren@aol.com

Personal Data

Birth: Frostburg, MD May 5, 1927

Parents: William Andrew Norgren and Martha Elizabeth Leona Richardson

Raised: Washington, D.C. suburbs (Riverdale and Hyattsville, Maryland)

Educational Background

College of William and Mary, BA, 1948

General Theological Seminary, MDiv, 1953

Christ Church, Oxford, BLitt, 1959

General Theological Seminary, DD, 1984

Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, DD, 1995                         

Ordination

Deacon May, 1953, Priest December, 1953 the Rt. Rev.  Horace W. B. Donegan, Bishop of New York.

Employment History

Executive training program, then Assistant Manager and Buyer, Bloomingdale’s, New York, NY, 1948-1950.

Fellow and Tutor, General Theological Seminary, New York, NY, 1953-1955.

Assistant, Church of the Resurrection, Richmond Hill, Queens, NY, 1953-1955.

Chaplain, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, England, 1955-1958.

Curate and then Priest in charge, St. Barnabas Church, Oxford, England, 1955-1956.

Executive Director, Commission on Faith and Order, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, New York, NY, 1959-1971.   

An international movement which began in 1910, Faith and Order draws churches

into conference and study over agreements and differences in faith, order and worship.

Proclaiming the essential oneness of the Church, the objective is to learn how Christians can more adequately manifest their unity.  As first director of Faith and Order in the USA, Norgren pioneered national studies and related activities.

Priest in Charge, Church of the Ascension, New York, NY, 1972.

Pastoral Assistant in weekday ministry, Trinity Church Wall Street, New York, NY, 1972-1974.

Assistant Ecumenical Officer, Episcopal Church Center, New York, NY, 1975-1979.

Ecumenical Officer, Episcopal Church Center, New York, NY, 1979-1995.

The officer assisted the Presiding Bishop, the Executive Council, the General Convention Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, and the network of Episcopal Diocesan Ecumenical Officers in the ecumenical and inter-religious work of the Episcopal Church. The Standing Commission conducted dialogues for visible unity with Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. The officer coordinated Episcopal Church participation in the national and world councils of churches, and took initiatives with instrumentalities of the Anglican Communion.

World Mission Partnership Officer for Europe, Episcopal Church Center, New York, NY, to 1995.

Theological Consultant, Ecumenical Office, Episcopal Church Center, New York, NY, 1995-2000.

Publications

Faith and Order Trends 1960-1967, Unity Trends 1967-1969, Ecumenical Bulletin 1973-1995, Editor.

Living Room Dialogues, Co-Editor, Paulist Press and Friendship Press, 1965.

Meanings and Practices of Conversion, Evangelism in a Pluralistic Society, Editor, Midstream, 1969, 1970.  Reports of the National Faith and Order Colloquium.

Forum: Religion Speaks to American Issues, Editor, Project Forward ‘76, 1975. U.S. Bicentennial discussion resources.

The Concordat Relationships, A Communion of Communions: One Eucharistic Fellowship, J. Robert Wright, Ed., Seabury Press, 1979.

What Can We Share: Lutheran-Episcopal Resource and Study Guide, Compiler.  Forward Movement Publications, 1985.

Implications of the Gospel, Toward Full Communion and Concordat of Agreement, Co-editor.         

Lutheran-Episcopal reports.  Augsburg and Forward Movement Publications, 1988, 1991.

Ecumenism of the Possible: Witness, Theology and the Future Church, Editor.  The Riverdale Report. Presentations and documents of the National Consultation on Ecclesiology (1993). Forward Movement Publications, 1994.

Faith & Order in the U.S.A.: A Brief History of Studies and Relationships, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 20ll.

Miscellaneous articles and reviews.

Teaching Assignments

Fellow and Tutor, General Theological Seminary, 1953-1955.

Guest Lecturer, Boston University, 1965.

Lecturer, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Chicago, 1970.

Consultation

Assemblies of the World Council of Churches: New Delhi 1961, Uppsala 1968, Vancouver 1983, Canberra 1991, Advisor.

Second Vatican Council, Observer, Guest of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, Sessions two, three and four, 1963-1965.

Fourth World Conference on Faith and Order, Montreal, 1963.

Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, Bristol 1967, Louvain, 1971.

Working Group of the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council, 1959-1971.            

Consultation on Church Union, Plenary Meetings, Advisor or Delegate.  Various.

Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, 1979-1994, assisting the Presiding Bishop.

Laity Committee, National Council of Churches, Consultant 1964-1967.

Anglican-Orthodox Theological Consultation (USA), 1967-1994.

Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Discussions (Anglican Communion).  Moscow and Dublin Agreed Statements. 1967-1984.

Lutheran-Episcopal Dialogue II, III, 1976-1991.                                                                               

Forum on Bilateral Conversations of the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches and the Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions, Selected  meetings  1978-1990.

Lambeth Conference 1988 preparatory group for the Anglican response to the Final Report of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC I).

Other Responsibilities

Presiding Bishop’s Conference on the Total Ministry of the Church, 1961-1962.

Round Table Dialogues, American Management Association, 1962-1965.

Joint Working Group of the National Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S.A., 1965-1969.

Study Committee on the Relationship of the National Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S.A., 1970-1971.

Conference on Conscience sponsored by the Synagogue Council of America, National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Council of Churches, 1967.

Consultation on Prayer for Unity and Pastoral Considerations, sponsored by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council with participation of the Vatican Secretariat. 1960s-1970s

Committee on the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity of the National Council of Churches, Graymoor and the USA Bishops Committee for Ecumenical Affairs. 1960s-1970s.

Ecumenical Committee, Diocese of New York, chair of sub-committee on the Consultation on Church Union, 1970s.

Committee on Office and Work of the Diocesan Bishop, appointment by Bishop Paul Moore of the Diocese of New York, 1980s.

Governing Board, National Council of Churches, 1979-1994.

Board of the U.S. Conference of the World Council of Churches, 1974-1994.

Joint Strategy and Action Committee (JSAC), president from 1980.

Study on Conciliarity and Conciliar Fellowship, Commission on Faith and Order of the National Council of Churches, Coordinator, 1977-1981.

Europe Committee of the Division of Overseas Ministries, National Council of Churches, 1981-1994, member and chairman.

Board of Governors, Anglican Centre in Rome, 1980s.

Joint Coordinating Committee of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Episcopal Church, staff, to 1994.

Inter-Anglican Ecumenical Advisory Group, 1970s-1994.

Partners in Mission Consultation of the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church, Lusitanian Church (Portugal), Convocation of American Churches in Europe, and Diocese in Europe of the Church of England, 1978, 1980s.

Interests Outside Work

Music, art, architecture.