Death of Bishop Angus Dun
Diocesan Press Service. August 12, 1971 [94-9]
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Rt. Rev. Angus Dun, retired Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Washington, died here today at the age of 79.
The funeral will be held in Washington Cathedral on Monday, August 16, at 12 noon. The Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, will participate in the service. The Rt. Rev. Roger Blanchard, Executive Vice President of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, will attend.
Bishop Hines made the following statement on the death of Bishop Dun:
"Bishop Dun's episcopate was notable not only in the Diocese of Washington and the Episcopal Church, but throughout Christendom. He possessed a giant intellect coupled with a compassionate heart and the rare gift of interpreting the profound meanings of the Christian faith in simple but not simplistic terms. During the Fifties and Sixties he was the most articulate spokesman for the Episcopal Church's educational and ecumenical stance. A great teacher by natural gifts and training,, he proved himself a wise pastor when he forsook the classroom for the bishop's office. Not one to 'suffer fools gladly,' his presence encouraged some to a divine foolishness for Christ's sake, and helped some to avoid being fools for their own sake."
Bishop Dun was born in New York City on May 4, 1892. He received his B.A. degree from Yale University in 1914 and his B. D. degree from Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Mass., in 1917. After his ordination to the priesthood in 1917, he served parishes in Lexington and Ayer, Mass., and as a civilian chaplain at Camp Devens. In 1919 he studied at Oxford, England, and the following year in Edinburgh, Scotland.
On his return to the United States, Bishop Dun taught systematic theology at the Episcopal Theological School from 1920 to 1940. He then became dean of E.T.S. and served until his consecration in 1944. He retired in May, 1962.
Bishop Dun was a leader in the ecumenical movement around the world. His ecumenical interest dated back to the years immediately following the First Faith and Order Conference held at Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1925.
In 1937 he became secretary of the American Theological Commission for the World Conference on Faith and Order at Edinburgh. The following year he was appointed a member of the Commission on Approaches to Unity. He presented an important report on Christian Unity to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church at Cleveland in 1943, and three years later he delivered a series of lectures on the same subject at the University of Chicago. Bishop Dun was one of four official representatives of the Episcopal Church at the first Assembly of the World Council of Churches, held in Amsterdam from August 22 to September 5, 1948. At that time he was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Council, which met annually in the six-year period preceding the Second Assembly in Evanston, Ill., in 1954.
His books include The King's Cross; We Believe; The Meaning of Unity; Studies in Christian Unity; Not by Bread Alone, and Prospecting for a United Church. The latter represents an expansion of the first series of Hoover lectures in Chicago, given by Bishop Dun.
A former member of the National (now Executive) Council of the Episcopal Church, he served as chairman of its Department of Christian Education and also as chairman of the Episcopal Joint Commission on Ecumenical Relations. In 1953 he received the Order of the British Empire through the Washington Cathedral.
Bishop Dun is survived by his wife, the former Catherine Whipple Pew, and two sons.