The Rev. Glenn Charles Stone, of Jackson Heights, NY, died Saturday, June 6, 2009, after living 23 years with cancer. Born June 13, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, he left high school early to attend the University of Chicago on a full scholarship, graduating with a degree in geology. During college, he felt God's call to ordained ministry, and graduated from Augustana Theological Seminary, Rock Island, IL. Ordained June 15, 1952 as a pastor in the Augustana Lutheran Synod (a predecessor church body of first the Lutheran Church in America, then of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), he was installed as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, New Hyde Park, Long Island, NY. He earned the Master of Sacred Theology degree from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, in 1960, with his thesis on “The Use of the Sacrament of the Altar,” and began assisting at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Roosevelt, Long Island, while also serving other specialized ministries, primarily in publications and teaching. In the 1960s he taught at Our Saviour’s Lutheran High School in the Bronx, worked at the National Lutheran Council, and served as editor of The National Lutheran, in New York City. 

In 1969 he was called as founding editor of the journal, Lutheran Forum, also in Manhattan, and served for many years as executive director of its publisher, the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau; this is the editorial ministry for which he was best known. He later worked as features editor for The Lutheran magazine. In 1987 he began serving as pastor of Salem Danish Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, NY, as well as Director of Communications and Church Relations at the Wartburg Home, Mount Vernon, NY. Eventually he devoted his ministry full-time to the Wartburg, where he wore many hats in addition to his official job, including curator of the Wartburg Museum and assistant chaplain. He retired in 1996, but remained devoted to ministry with the ALPB, the Wartburg, and preaching, and was active for as long as his health allowed. Pastor Stone had a special love of the Eucharist and liturgical renewal, and devoted himself to reintroducing the weekly celebration of the Eucharist in Lutheran churches. In every sermon, he explored the Eucharistic implications of his Scripture text and topic.

He took particular interest in history, and served as president of the Lutheran Historical Society of Greater New York, member of the Metropolitan New York Synod Archives Advisory Committee, and historian and archivist at the Wartburg.  He was also an active member of Atonement Lutheran Church, Jackson Hts., as well as a participant in the Lutheran-Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue, and in the ecumenical movement. As he once wrote, “For all of these opportunities to serve the work of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to use the special gifts God has given me, to meet many interesting people, to travel to numerous places and to participate in countless meetings, and to live daily and richly within the Body of Christ, I am deeply grateful.”

Glenn married the former Meredith Ann Nordos on April 4, 1970, who survives. He is also survived by sons, the Rev. Karl-John and his wife the Rev. Beth Ann of Mifflinburg, PA, and Rolf of Jackson Hts.; a brother, the Rev. Paul and wife Carol, of Seattle, WA; sisters-in-law Dorothy Scott, and Thelma Fricke with her husband Kenneth, of Minneapolis, MN; many nieces, nephews, and cousins; and many friends from a life well lived. His grandsons, Henry and Liam, were the joy of his old age.

Glenn’s parents, Rudolph and Julia (Johnson) Stone, were the children of Swedish immigrants, and their family took pride in their heritage. While growing up, Glenn was active in Salem Lutheran Church, on the south side of Chicago, and in the Boy Scouts. He had a lifelong love for the great outdoors, and enjoyed hiking, camping, the mountains, and taking road trips to remote places out west. He loved gardening, with a particular fondness for roses and tomatoes. Like many in the city of his birth, he was a long-suffering Cubs fan, but enjoyed their holdout status in playing only day games at Wrigley Field, calling it “Citizens United for Baseball in Sunshine.” He loved puns, and other, more formal, usage of words, and could be found every week completing the crossword puzzle in the Sunday New York Times—in pen. His own lucid writing lent itself well to his vocation as an editor, with which he was adept at polishing other people’s writing, yet still keeping it true to that person’s own voice—be it a news article, a theological essay, or a child’s homework assignment.  His memory and mental capacity remained undiminished to the end.

Glenn lived with his cancer with grace and dignity, and rarely complained or called attention to himself. His last days came sooner than expected. While spending time in the Catskills, he became weak and received caring medical and spiritual attention at Benedictine Hospital in Kingston, NY. He was then transferred to a nursing home in nearby Rhinecliff to undergo more radiation. After a few days his situation became more painful and he succumbed peacefully with Meredith at his bedside, soon after she read to him 1 Corinthians 2:9: “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.”

In the 1987 Lenten issue of Lutheran Forum, he wrote an editorial about his experience with radiation therapy.  "[M]y encounter with radiation therapy, symbolized by three painted crosses, has reinforced the message of death and life, of life out of death which fills this Lent and Easter." And finally, "My course of therapy now completed, the crosses painted on my body slowly fade. The cross marked on my soul through the Baptism of Christ's death and resurrection remains forever."

Visitation took place on Friday, June 12, from 6-8 pm at Atonement Lutheran Church, Jackson Hts., followed by a prayer service with communion; and again on Saturday, June 13, from 11-1 at the chapel on the Wartburg campus in Mount Vernon, followed by a funeral mass, and reception. His remains will be interred at a later date in the columbarium at the Wartburg. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Atonement Lutheran Church, the Wartburg Foundation, or the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau.