RNS has a list of leading religious figures who have died in the past year.
They preached and inspired. They wrote and taught. Some lobbied in the halls of government. Others toiled to protect the environment and educate the young. Several died at the hands of persecutors.
Included were some whose voices were especially prominent in Episcopal Church circles, such as:
Marcus Borg – Jan. 21
The prominent liberal theologian and Bible scholar helped popularize the intense debates about the historical Jesus and the veracity and meaning of the New Testament. Borg was a leader in the Jesus Seminar, which brought a skeptical eye to the Scriptures and in particular to supernatural claims about Jesus’ miracles and his resurrection from the dead. He was 72.
Malcolm Boyd – Feb. 27
The A-list Hollywood producer turned Episcopal priest became a Freedom Rider in 1961, marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma and got arrested for protesting the Pentagon. In 1977, Boyd came out as gay, held the first “AIDS Mass” and helped launch the gay spirituality movement. He was 91
Phyllis Tickle – Sept. 22
A prolific author and one of the nation’s leading public intellectuals on all things religious, Tickle began the religion division at Publishers Weekly and was best-known for a range of essays and books on faith and life, most notably and successfully her series on “The Divine Hours,” about the power of daily fixed-hour prayer. She was 81.