(ENS) After the war, Coburn began a distinguished career in the Episcopal Church, first as rector of Grace Church in Amherst, Massachusetts, a position in which he also served as chaplain at Amherst College (he also established and coached Amherst’s first lacrosse team). He served as dean of the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Newark, New Jersey, from 1953-57. He earned a doctorate in divinity from Princeton University in 1955. In 1956 he co-founded the Chapel of Saint James the Fisherman in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, along with James Pike. In 1958 he was elected dean of the Episcopal Theological School, where he served for more than a decade guiding the school through expansion and the inclusion of female students. Coburn became rector of St. James’ Church on Madison Avenue in New York City after a year of teaching English in Harlem.
From 1967-1976 he served as president of the House of Deputies, guiding the church through controversial issues of race and social justice, women’s ordination and the adoption of a new Book of Common Prayer.
I am looking at a kind and uplifting note that John Coburn penned me in 1992. My wife Martha keeps it in a special file of correspondence that she brings out on days when the devil’s accusations are louder than usual. She often tells a story of God’s prevenient grace in the build up to her own conversion to Christ in which Bishop John Coburn played an unwitting role. While walking home late at night to her Beacon Hill apartment, Martha beheld a poignant encounter. A luxury vehicle slowed slightly and a “lady of the night” was rudely pushed out of the car and into the gutter. It was a brutal sight. The nearest passerby was the bishop of Massachussetts trudging up the street towards his home. Martha has never forgotten how he stopped, helped the woman up and got her assistance. I could share my own memories of John Coburn acting with compassion. I thank God today for John’s care
for relationships and wise actions for my welfare at times when his vision for my best interests was sharper than my own. He began to teach me a central lesson about forgiveness of those who hurt you that I still am learning to make job one today.
#1, I’ve always thought that the best way to show people Christ is through action and not word. great story.
When I was a priest in the Diocese of Massachusetts and going through a particularly difficult chapter, John Coburn was there and supportive of me and my family, despite an impossible schedule and a heavily loaded plate. I will never forget his kindess and grace, and treasured the contact that I had with him both during and after my years in that diocese. I probably owe him more than I am aware.
The world is a poorer place now that John Coburn has gone to his reward, but I am thankful to have known him and been pastored by him. I suspect I share many of the same emotions as Richard and Martha Menees.