William Lacy Malcomson

Feb. 24, 1932 ~ Aug. 10, 2021

William "Bill" Malcomson was born

in Cuba, NY to Rev. Clair E.

Malcomson and Irene T. Lacy. Bill

lived in many areas of the country

in his lifetime; graduating from

Denison University with a BA, from

Colgate Rochester Divinity School

with his Masters of Divinity, and

from Princeton with a Ph.D. in the

History of World Religions.

He was married to Laurie Loomis

in 1955 at Seattle First Baptist

Church and celebrated their 56th

year of marriage prior to her passing

in 2011. He was partnered with

Barbara Bell for 10 years prior to

her death. Bill pastored in churches

in Mansfield, Connecticut; Oakland,

CA; Seattle, WA; and Greenwich

Village, NYC. In 1963, he attended

the March on Washington, where

hearing the speakers including Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr., inspired his

passion for social justice. In his

later years, he spoke in his grandchildren's

classrooms about how the

experience had changed his life. Bill

delivered numerous guest sermons

and contributed to many publications,

including his books The

Preaching Event (1969) and Success

is a Failure Experience: Male

Liberation and the American Myth

of Success (1976).

He was involved in the continuing

education of ministers for many

years and taught mainly preaching

and church administration at

Central Baptist Seminary in Kansas

City, KS, and at the American

Baptist Seminary of the West (now

Berkeley School of Theology

(BST)), where he rose to the role of

Dean. In conversation with pastoral

and seminary leaders, he was able

to facilitate the hiring of more women,

Black, Latinx, and Asian

American faculty at BST and later

at STM. Bill was involved in community

outreach; from human

rights advocacy, LGBTQIA+ rights,

and the support of gay clergy, to efforts

in interfaith dialogue, especially

Buddhism and Christianity. A

notable collaboration was many

years of work with the Council for

Pacific Asian Theology, founded by

Rev. Dr. Paul Nagano - inspired by

Dr. Jitsuo Morikawa. During his retirement,

he worked with a group of

clergy and academics to co-found

the ecumenical side of the School of

Theology & Ministry (STM) at

Seattle University - named the

Institute for Ecumenical Theological

Studies, of which he was the

Interim Director for the first year

earning the infamous salary of

$1.00 a year.

Bill and Laurie loved to travel and

visited over 24 countries in their lifetimes.

He introduced Barbara to

travel and they took a memorable

trip to Turkey together. Bill leaves

behind a daughter, Christi, and

sons, Scott (Becky) and John

(Heidi), his much-beloved grandchildren

(Hannah, Grace, Will, Ben,

and Sarah), and his step-family

through his relationship with

Barbara (Steve and Carolyn and

their children). He also left behind

a community of friends and colleagues,

many of whom he counted

as brothers and sisters and relished

the roles of teacher/advisor/confidant

through regular phone calls,

occasional joyful visits, and his

emails of "Bill's Blog by the Bay",

started in 2016 while he and

Barbara lived in Port Ludlow, continuing

with Christi's assistance until

his death. His youngest, John,

has said "Dad loved to dream, follow

his dreams, and enjoyed encouraging

others to follow theirs."

He was greatly loved and will be

greatly missed.

Bill Malcomson Celebration of Life, Sunday, October 31st (Halloween), 2:00 PM, Seattle First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 206-325-6051 or [email protected] (see church calendar for details- https://www.seattlefirstbaptist.org/calendar/).

https://www.seattlefirstbaptist.org

In lieu of flowers, donations can be

made to:

Seattle University

Center for Ecumenical and

Interreligious Engagement

c/o Advancement Services

901 12th Avenue

PO Box 222000

Seattle, WA 98122-1090

https://connect.seattleu.edu/giving/ceie

And the ACLU:

https://www.aclu.org/action