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Our Man for All Seasons For a few weeks after Phil Muth left us on Palm Sunday, April 7, his voice remained on his answering machine:
“This is the Muth residence. We can’t come to the phone right now, but will call you back as soon as possible. God bless you.”
We know that Phil Muth won’t be calling back this time, but we are reminded of the times he did call back to counsel, to console, to infuse us with his enormous spirituality, or to tell the latest joke. As memories flood in on us, we sense his immortality.
We remember his many talents . . . master of language and languages . . . lover of classical music and literature . . . early mastery of the personal computer (no longer writing sermons in longhand) . . . ham radio operator . . . caring pastor . . . constant companion of pain.
He taught Early American History at the college level. He was a ham radio operator since high school days. He played football. He read Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason” in the original German because it was better stated than in the English translation. He read English language novels in French and German “just to see if he could do it.”
And then there were his many years of leadership in the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches when we struggled to find a vision in a new social world. As Chairman of the Executive Committee, and twice Moderator, his was the steady voice that insisted diverging views be reconciled without rancor.
When he was chairman of the Executive Committee at a point of impasse in the discussion, he interrupted, “I hear what you think. We think we know what the churches need. But not once have you mentioned God and His wishes.” He stopped the meeting to serve communion, limping around the table with his arthritic knees.
I would like to report that the tactic worked, that a great light burst forth. Maybe we didn’t see it. Maybe it’s yet to shine through his influence in our striving for a NEW NACCC.
His friend, the Rev. Karl Schimpf, expresses his view of Phil’s life: “He didn’t blow with the wind. If he didn’t agree with you, he didn’t agree with you, but he didn’t love you less. He was a good friend. He had a big heart, and I’ll miss him.”
At the memorial service, the Rev. John Currier, a former associate under Phil at the First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa, spoke of Phil “as willing to allow people their faith. He was a good and faithful servant of his Lord, and that was clear to those who had eyes to see, as he served us. He was my mentor and my friend, and I miss him.”
We all miss him, the man who didn’t blow in the wind, the man of big heart. Wife Peggy and his four sons and the grandchildren have our deepest sympathy. We thank them and God for the joy that was the life of the Rev. Dr. Philip A. Muth.
—JBP
Harry R. Butman describes him as “the unsung hero in the battle for Congregational freedom.” The Rev. Clayton E. Richard, one of the founders of the NACCC, died April 20 on his beloved Nantucket Island.
Just out of Hartford Seminary, he was dubbed, at the age of 19, the “boy minister.” He served churches in Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts during his long career. From 1951 until 1967, he served the First Congregational Church of Nantucket, where his son Tom was minister at the time of his death.
He had many fruitful years on Nantucket, having been a Boy Scoutmaster for several years. He donated a large parcel of land for a Scout camp, named Camp Richard. He was an Eagle Scout.
The Rev. Richard is survived by 22 children, including the Rev. Dr. Thomas M. Richard, newly elected Executive Secretary of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches.
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