Retired Bishop David Lawson dead at 77

By Daniel R. Gangler*

Bishop David Jerald Lawson

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (UMNS) - Bishop David Jerald Lawson, who played a key role in establishing and developing Africa University, is dead at age 77.

A retired bishop of The United Methodist Church, Lawson died May 31 at his home in Franklin, Ind., following a lengthy illness.

A memorial service will be held at Saint Luke's United Methodist Church in Indianapolis after June 9 when both sessions of the two Indiana Area annual conferences have met. Other arrangements are also pending.

Lawson served for 12 years as bishop of the Wisconsin and Illinois areas until retiring in 1996.
During that time, he served on the site selection committee for Africa University, which opened in 1992 in Old Mutare, Zimbabwe. He wrote the mission statement for the university's faculty (school) of theology in consultation with Dean David K. Yemba, who is now bishop of the Central Congo Area.

"He probably lived and breathed Africa University for a while," said James Salley, the university's associate vice chancellor for institutional advancement. "He will be greatly missed by all of us. He was a good friend of Africa University."

Retired Bishop J. Woodrow Hearn called Lawson "an extremely insightful leader" who was dedicated to the mission of the church. "He had always carried out his responsibilities with a warm heart, a loving interest in people and was dedicated to helping the world move toward the goal of being a part of the kingdom of God," Hearn said.

Born March 26, 1930, in Princeton, Ind., Lawson earned degrees from the University of Evansville and Garrett Biblical Institute, now Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill.

Lawson was ordained a deacon in 1956 and an elder in 1959. He was pastor of numerous churches in Indiana, in addition to his appointment at the Indiana University Wesley Foundation, and served as superintendent of the Evansville District and the director of the South Indiana Conference Council on Ministries. He was pastor of Carmel United Methodist Church near Indianapolis when elected bishop in 1984 by the North Central Jurisdictional Conference.

Lawson was assigned to the Wisconsin Area from 1984 to 1992 and the Illinois Area from 1992 to 1996. He served as vice president of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry and president of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. He also was president of the Wisconsin Conference of Churches and served on various committees of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, including chairing the Committee to Study the Ministry. He was a member of the executive committee of the World Methodist Council and president of its Committee on International Theological Education.

Since retiring in 1996, Lawson had served as bishop-in-residence and a faculty member of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Bishop Michael J. Coyner called Lawson his "consecration bishop" and recalled how he preached at the 1996 service at which Coyner was consecrated as bishop. "Since that time, David has been a colleague, friend, advisor and supporter," Coyner told members of the North Indiana Annual Conference as he announced Lawson's death. "He once told me, 'I am one of your balcony people - encouraging you in your ministry as a bishop.' I have felt and experienced his support, especially since I returned to Indiana three years ago. I will miss having him around to provide that kind of encouragement and advice."

The Rev. Lloyd M. Wright, who went to seminary with Lawson and was a lifelong ministry colleague, said Lawson "shared a rich life of talent and love, a legacy long to be remembered."

"David was a man of deep drives of passion for ministry," said Wright, a retired minister of the South Indiana Conference. "He could hold you spellbound as he described his spiritual development at the time of his ordination as deacon and at his ordination of elder. David spent much of his leadership time with boards of ordained ministry. He shared a real passion for making every step into the ordained ministry a step of faith and growth."

Lawson leaves his wife, Martha Ellen Pegram; two children, John Mark Lawson and Karen Sue Eynon; and three grandchildren.

Upon his retirement, the former Central and Southern Illinois annual conferences, now the Illinois Great Rivers Conference, established the David and Martha Lawson Africa University Scholarship Endowment Fund in his honor. The fund provides a perpetual scholarship for at least one student at Africa University annually.

*Gangler is director of communication, Indiana Area of The United Methodist Church