John Charles Wynn
C E N T L Y , at an ecumenical gathering of Christian educators, R EJohn Charles Wynn (known affectionately to his friends as "J. C.") was introduced as " M r . Family Man Himself." It is as such that I would like to introduce our guest co-editor to you. Now associate professor of Christian education at Colgate Rochester Divinity School, J. C. Wynn has 10ng specialized in a family ministry. Both as associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Evanston, Illinois, and as pastor of the Presbyterian Church of E1 Dorado, Kansas, he inaugurated a vigorous program of marital counseling, organization of parents' discussion groups, and work with young adults. From the latter pastorate he was called in 1949 to become director of family program for the Presbyterian (U.S.A.) Board of Christian Education. In his job at the Presbyterian Board, some five years ago, after he had queried numerous pastors about their counseling practice, J. C. Wynn found that fuily three-quarters of their counseling efforts were spent in family problems. As a result, he persuaded his Board of Christian Education to inaugurate a series of Pastoral Seminars in Family Counseling which have been held throughout the nation, bringing together pastors for one or two-day sessions. About this time, he came to the conclusion that his own proficiency as a counselor could be strengthened if he took additional training, and he enrolled in one of the nation's best programs for counseling training, the Marriage Council of Philadelphia, which is affiliated with the division Of psychiatry of the University of Pennsylvania. For this course of
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(Continued from pave 6) counseling under supervision, Wynn was appointed a fellow of the American Association of Marriage Counselors, and completed his work under a fellowship grant from them. From 1956 until last year, Dr. Wynn directed the Board's Office of Family Education Research and, with his associate, Roy W. Fairchild, worked through a three-year research program which unearthed much vital material about Protestant family life in the U.S.A. (These findings are to be published next year.) All in all, nearly one thousand parents were interviewed in groups and one thousand questionnaires were returned by them. Over twenty-five hundred pastors were probed concerning their own home life, their family ministries, churches, and their counseling. The communities in which they lived and worked were also scrutinized. Under Dr. Wynn's leadership, conferences of top-ranking theologians and social scientists put the family under their respective microscopes. The helping professions joined the collaborative effort and explored how church and community agencies can work together in family welfare. It was an extensive project. J. C. Wynn is a man with a restless pen as well as an inquisitive, eager mind. Much of his philosophy about the family ministry has been incorporated into his latest book, Pastoral Ministry to Families. In this volume he levels charges against Protestant churches for their old-fashioned nineteenth century pattern of rural church organization so out of touch with the real needs of today's families in urban and suburban areas. Claiming that today's churches are often inadequate and sometimes shockingly indifferent to the welfare of families in the par-
ish, he has thumped hard for a reorganization of parish life around the family-church as it was first conceived in New Testament times. He was elected chairman of the Department of Family Life of the National Council of Churches, an office he will hold for the triennium of 19571960. lie represents his Board in the American Association of Marriage Counselors, in the Child Study Association, the Academy of Religion and iV[e n t a 1 Health, and the National Council of Family Relations. lie is also a member of the Board of Directors of Kirkridge, a retreat center in northeastern Pennsylvania. In addition to his book for pastors, Dr. Wynn has written How Christian Parents Face Family Problems (Westminster Press, 1955) and edited Sermons on Marriage and Family Life (Abingdon Press, 1956). Besides contributing articles on family life to a score of magazines and journals, until 1959 he wrote a regular column on broadcasting and films for "Presbyterian Life" in which he commented helpfully on these entertainment media from the living room point of view. Married to the former Rachel Linnell, a minister's daughter, Dr. Wynn is also the father of three children: Mark aged fourteen, Martha who is twelve, and Maryan, ten. He was educated in the public schools of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, graduated from the College of Wooster with honors in philosophy in 1941, and from Yale Divinity School, cure laude, in 1944. --ROY W. FAIRCEILD,Chairman
Department of Christian Education San Francisco Theological Seminary San Anselmo, california [Editor's Note. For a biographical statement of our other guest editor, Dr. Roy W. Fairchild, see "Man of the Month," in the December, 19fi9 issue.]
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