Kathleen Mary Amelia Bliss (; 5 July 190813 September 1989) was an English theologian,

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 ...

and official of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

(WCC).

Early life

Bliss was born in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. She attended Girton College, Cambridge, graduating in theology ( First Class, 1931) and history (Second Class, 1929). While at university, she participated in the

Student Volunteer Movement The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions was an organization founded in 1886 that sought to recruit college and university students in the United States for missionary service abroad. It also sought to publicize and encourage the mission ...

. Bliss left for an extended missionary trip to

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

in 1932 under the auspices of the London Missionary Society. She went with her husband Rupert, whom she married that year, and they remained in India until 1939.

Literary career

Upon her return to England, Bliss began working at the ''Christian News Letter'', then managed by

J. H. Oldham Joseph Houldsworth Oldham (1874–1969), known as J. H. or Joe, was a Scottish missionary in India, who became a significant figure in Christian ecumenism, though never ordained in the United Free Church as he had wished. Life J.H. Oldham was the ...

. She became assistant editor in 1942 and editor in 1945, in which capacity she served until the publication folded in 1949. From 1950 to 1955, she worked at the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

as a producer.

World Council of Churches

In the 1940s and 1950s, Bliss served in various capacities in the WCC, an

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

organisation founded in 1948. She became a member of WCC's executive committee in 1954. Her work with WCC focused particularly on the role of women in the church. She published a monograph on the subject in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

Academic career

From 1967/8 to 1972, Bliss was a senior lecturer in religious studies at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

Religious views

Originally a Congregationalist, Bliss had become a member of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

by 1948.

Works

In addition to the published works listed below, Bliss prepared, but never finished, a book-length biography of J. H. Oldham. * * * * *

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bliss, Kathleen 1908 births 1989 deaths 20th-century English theologians Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge English missionaries English women writers University of Sussex World Council of Churches 20th-century English women 20th-century English people