John Houck, Sr., Former Lutheran Council and ALC Leader, Dies

CHICAGO (ELCA) The Rev. John R. Houck, Sr., 76, a retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and longtime leader in the Lutheran church, died June 28 in Chautauqua, N.Y. He once served as general secretary of the Lutheran Council in the U.S.A. and was executive director of the Division for Service and Mission in America of the former American Lutheran Church (ALC).
Funeral services for Houck were set for Saturday, July 3, at St. Michael Lutheran Church, Baltimore (Perry Hall). Houck was born in Baltimore.
He served as visitation pastor at St. Michael Church following his retirement from the Lutheran Council in 1987 until his death.
"Pastor Houck served with distinction during times of great change within the life of the ALC and subsequently in the concluding years of the Lutheran Council in the U.S.A.," said the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, secretary of the ELCA and former editor of "The Lutheran Standard," the magazine of the ALC. "Under his leadership, deeper understandings emerged for the broad dimensions of mission outreach -- both through new and existing congregations' ministries as well as through social ministry agencies."
"His gifts for good order as an administrator and, at the same time, his ability to nurture leadership in members of his staff and others made him a cherished mentor for many people," Almen added.
Houck attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and later completed a bachelor of arts degree in 1947 at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. In 1976, Capital University awarded him an honorary doctor of divinity degree. He received a bachelor of divinity degree from the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, in June 1950. He was ordained June 26, 1950, at St. James Lutheran Church, Baltimore.
Houck served as pastor at St. Michael Church from July 1950 to August 1960. He was regional director of American missions for the former Evangelical Lutheran Church from August 1960 to January 1961 and served in the same capacity for the ALC in Washington, D.C., from January 1961 to February 1967.
From there, Houck served as assistant executive secretary for American Missions, Division of Mission Services, Lutheran Council in the U.S.A., until May 1970. He was executive director of the Board of American Missions in the ALC from May 1970 to November 1973.
From November 1973 to June 1979 Houck was executive director of the ALC Division for Service and Mission in America. In July 1979 he was called as the general secretary of the Lutheran Council in the U.S.A. The Lutheran Council was a cooperative agency that served several Lutheran church bodies in coordinating mission outreach at home and abroad.
Houck was committed to "justice and diversity" in the ALC, said Susan Thompson, who was a service and mission director on Houck's staff while he was executive director for the ALC Division for Service and Mission. Thompson is now executive for maturing congregations, ELCA Division for Outreach, Chicago.
"His love for God and the church were deep and abiding," Thompson said. "He used his life...to help the church share the "good news" in this country and to help people understand that the gospel calls us as institutions and individuals to live justly with one another."
"I was honored to serve on John's staff of the Lutheran Council in the U.S.A.," said Robert E. A. Lee, former executive director, Office of Communication and Interpretation, Lutheran Council. "He was faithful to his own high professional and ethical standards, to Lutheranism and the church catholic, but most importantly to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."
Houck is survived by his wife, Minerva, and four sons: John R. Houck Jr., Edmond, Okla.; James M. Houck, Sterling, Va.; David W. Houck, Malpitas, Calif.; Paul H. Houck, Farmington, Minn.; and six grandchildren.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html