Wayne Kenton Clymer (September 24, 1917 – November 25, 2013) was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1972. He also distinguished himself as a pastor in the

Evangelical United Brethren Church The Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) was a North American Protestant church from 1946 to 1968. It was formed by the merger of the Evangelical Church (formerly the Evangelical Association, founded by Jacob Albright) and the Church of the ...

(E.U.B.); as a Preacher and Lecturer; as a professor, Dean and President of an E.U.B./ U.M. Seminary; as a Delegate to United Nations and

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 ...

church bodies; and as an author.

Birth and family

Wayne was born in Napoleon, Ohio, the son of the Rev. George A. and Grace Sallie Hulvey Clymer. His father was a member of the Ohio

Annual Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

of the

Evangelical Church Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...

, having served several churches in that State.

Education

Wayne earned his A.B. degree from Asbury College (1939), and the M.A., degree in Philosophy from Columbia University. Union Theological Seminary, New York City conferred upon him the

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

degree, and he earned his PhD from New York University. He pursued post-doctoral studies at the

New York School for Social Research The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

, the William Alanson White School of Psychiatry, and Columbia University.

Clinical Pastoral Education Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is education to teach spiritual care to clergy and others. CPE is the primary method of training hospital and hospice chaplains and spiritual care providers in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. C ...

was taken at the

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

, and at

St. Luke Luke the Evangelist (Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of t ...

's Hospital in New York City.

Ordained ministry

Wayne was ordained deacon and elder by Bishop

John S. Stamm John Samuel Stamm (1878–1956
) was an American

, becoming a member of the Atlantic Conference of the Evangelical Church. Rev. Clymer served pastorates in

Ozone Park, New York Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing and home to the Resorts W ...

and Forest Hills, New York. In 1946 Dr. Clymer was appointed professor of

Pastoral Care Pastoral care is an ancient model of emotional, social and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions. The term is considered inclusive of distinctly non-religious forms of support, as well as support for people from rel ...

at the Evangelical Theological Seminary, Naperville, Illinois. In 1957 he was appointed Dean of the Seminary. In 1967 he became President. During a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

year (1966–67), Dean Clymer served as a consultant on ministerial training to the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. He also taught at St. Andrew's Theological Seminary in Manila and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in Singapore. During his tenure in theological education, Dr. Clymer served as President of the Association of Seminary Professors, the Chicago Theological Faculties Union, and the Mid-America Theological Center.

Episcopal ministry

Dr. Clymer was elected to the episcopacy in 1972 by the North Central Jurisdictional Conference of the U.M. Church. He was assigned to the Minnesota Episcopal Area, where he served two quadrennia. In 1980 he was assigned to the Iowa Area, where he served one quadrennium. As a bishop he served as the president of The United Methodist Committee on Relief, 1976–84. He was a member of the US delegation to the United Nations Conference on Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland in 1970. Upon his retirement in 1984, Bishop Clymer served as liaison for the Council of Bishops to the theological seminaries.

Honors

Bishop Clymer gave the

Denman Denman may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Denman Glacier, near Antarctica * Denman Shire, New South Wales, Australia ** Denman, New South Wales, a town in the Hunter Valley of Australia * Denman Island, one of the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Can ...

Lectures at the Congress on Evangelism (1976); the Berger Lectures at the University of Dubuque (1985); the

Washburn Washburn (alternatively Wasseburne, Wasseborne, Wasshebourne, Wassheborne, Washbourne, Washburne, Washborne, Washborn, Wasborn, Washbon) is a toponymic surname, probably of Old English origin, with likely Anglo-Norman and Norman-French influen ...

Lectures (1985); and the George Buttrick Lectures, Bayview, Michigan (1990). He was Preacher on the NBC radio series, ''"Art of Living"'' (1962); and Preacher on ''"The Protestant Hour"'' (1970). Four times he was a delegate to the Oxford Conference on Methodist Theological Studies, and represented his denomination at the Fourth World Conference on Faith and Order. Honorary degrees have been conferred upon him by

Westmar College Westmar University was a private four-year liberal arts college in Le Mars, Iowa, United States. It permanently closed on November 21, 1997. Westmar University was founded in 1887 as the Northwestern Normal School and Business College by Jaco ...

, Hamline University, Iowa Wesleyan College,

Rust College Rust College is a private historically black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Founded in 1866, it is the second-oldest private college in the state. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it is one of ten historically black colleges ...

, and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Selected writings

*''Affirmation,'' Nashville, Tidings, 1971. *''Membership Means Discipleship,'' Nashville, Discipleship Resources, 1976. *numerous articles

References

* The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Churc

* InfoServ, the official information service of The United Methodist Church.

External links

Photo of Bishop Clymer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clymer, Wayne K. 1917 births 2013 deaths American evangelicals American male non-fiction writers American university and college faculty deans Asbury University alumni Methodist writers Ministers of the Evangelical United Brethren Church New York University alumni People from Napoleon, Ohio Presidents of United Methodist seminaries Seminary presidents Union Theological Seminary alumni United Methodist bishops of the North Central Jurisdiction