Charles Daniel Neff (March 24, 1922 – July 16, 1991) was a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

who had a great impact on the mission and theology of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the

Community of Christ The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...

). He also founded the humanitarian agency Outreach International and the Community One Resources Development Inc. also known as CORD. As an Apostle, a leadership position in the RLDS Church, from 1958 to 1984, he was responsible for helping start the church in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. His missionary work in these countries challenged him to rethink the church's theology – opening it to the voices of other cultures – and confronted him with the horrific realities of massive poverty.

Early life and family

Born in Hardin,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in 1922, Neff grew up in a poor but not destitute rural family during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. He was the first in his family to attend college, starting at

Ottawa University Ottawa University (OU) is a private Baptist university with its main campus in Ottawa, Kansas, a second residential campus in Surprise, Arizona, and adult campuses in the Kansas City, Phoenix and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. It was founded in ...

Ottawa, Kansas Ottawa (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Kansas, United States. It is located on both banks of the Marais des Cygnes River near the center of Franklin County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the c ...

, eventually finishing with a BS in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from Central Missouri State Teachers College. He served as an officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

from 1943 to 1945. He saw heavy combat at the battles of

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, the

and

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. When the war ended, he was sent to

as part of the occupation force and was in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

three weeks after the

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

was dropped. "There were hideous sights, like people whose flesh had been torn from bone and muscle so it hung down just like bundles of rags," said Neff. This made an indelible mark on his heart, and he vowed to commit his life and work to helping the suffering. He first encountered the

(at that time, called the

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...

) through Frances Dillon, whom he later married. They had four children: Robert, Nancy, Susan and John.

Philosophy and theology

Neff believed that the entire gospel, and church doctrine, could be boiled down into two essential and non-negotiable principles "''the reality of a personal God and the worth of humans''." He felt it was the church's mission to incarnate these principles through social development, religious witness and political activism. Neff particularly emphasized the importance of: # Community. He felt the church should help people "understand that they are fundamentally not individuals but a collective social being that finds fulfilment and satisfaction in interaction with all persons within that society." # Indigenization and Cultural Sensitivity. Neff believed that "Once the gospel is brought to a nation the interpretation, expression, application, and communication of it should reflect a local, contemporary, and national color...." He objected to the term 'missions abroad' as "though they are a kind of 'white man's burden.'" Neff argued mission ought to be a "two-way street" with all cultures able to "be both senders and receivers" of missionaries. # Liberation for the Poor and Dispossessed. Drawing on liberation theology, Neff believed God ultimately favored the poor and oppressed, and worked for their liberation. He thus believed the church must also do so. He said, "When I think of the mission of the Church, I am frequently compelled to recall the face of the poorest and most helpless person I have ever seen and ask myself if the program we are undertaking will be of any use to that person. Will it restore him the dignity that every man should enjoy? Will it set him free? Will it heal his broken heart?" # Human Equality. In the late 1970s and through the 1980s, he worked hard to advocate for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

within the church. He even suggested that the system of priesthood itself should be abolished because he felt it was an inherently hierarchical system. # Anti-Militarism. As a result of his experiences in

, and having observed the results of conflicts in

and the

, he became quite distrustful of the use of military force. In an address to some 5000 people at the Community of Christ World Conference in 1982 he declared, "The fashioning of nuclear weapons and threatening to use them is a sin...." He helped found the Kansas City Interfaith Peace Alliance and was involved in the campaign against US-sponsored counterinsurgencies in Central America.

Early life and family

Philosophy and theology

Further reading