The Reverend William C. Spong

William C. Spong, well known Austin teacher and counselor died in his sleep February 3, 2004, probably from heart failure. He was 70 years old. He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, the son of the late John Shelby Spong and Doolie Boyce Griffith Spong. He attended the University of North Carolina, Virginia Theological Seminary and Duke University. He was the Chaplain of the Duke University Medical Center and specialized for several years in the care of Leukemic children. He came to Austin in 1972 to become the Pete Coffield Professor of Pastoral Theology at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest. In addition he was the head of the Pastoral Education and Family Counseling Center. He is survived by his wife, Nancy Denton Whitworth; three sons, John William Shelby Spong, Patrick Conwell Spong, and Charles Duell Spong; one step son, Philip Scott Whitworth, and one step daughter, Ann Ashley Whitworth. He is also survived by his beloved parrot, Patchman, who assisted his secretary and receptionist in Will’s counseling office. He is also survived by his first wife, Sharlene Pauley Spong; his brother, John Shelby Spong of New Jersey; and one sister, Betty Spong Marshall of Charlotte, North Carolina. Will Spong was well known not only as a teacher of Pastoral Theology, but also as a wise counselor for many in the Austin area. He was also a musician, lacing his lectures with music from the Broadway theater. He was in demand for his presentation on the prophetic contributions of Oscar Hammerstein II, Stephen Sondheim, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrain, Harry Chapin, and Elton John. He worked extensively in the area of family counseling. Often he helped families deal with the death of children, and was a frequent contributor to For the Love of Christi organization. During his time in Austin, he was the interim rector of Saint Michael’s, Saint Luke’s, Saint James’, and Saint Matthew’s. He served in charge of all of the Chaplain Intern programs at Seton Medical Center, the Travis County Jail, and Saint David’s Medical Center. At the Seminary of the Southwest, he was the founder of the Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry (MAPM) a program he designed primarily for lay persons. He retired from the seminary faculty in 2001, but continued to lecture and counsel until his death. With respect to death, he often quoted the Nikos Kazantzakis character Zorba the Greek, who said “Life is what you do while you’re waiting to die, life is all the time gone by.” and playwright Robert Anderson, who wrote, “Death ends a life but not a relationship, which struggles on in the survivor’s mind towards some final resolution it may never find.” As a theologian, he often grieved the notion that people found it necessary to assign to God all the evils of the world. He would tell his students: God is God, and you are not! Life is to be lived with your eyes open to the evils of the world: racism, sexism, homophobia, poverty, the rejection of the marginalized, and it is our duty to do what we can to eliminate these, knowing that we will never be successful. He believed that our primary obligation as human beings is to live with the ambiguity of being alive, and not to be afraid to tell the truth. Funeral services will be held at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church on Exposition Blvd. at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 7, 2004. His body will be cremated. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to For the Love of Christi, or to the William C. Spong Endowment Fund at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, which was set up several years ago at his retirement to help underwrite the Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry degree program. Arrangements by Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 N. Lamar, Austin, TX 78705 - (512) 452-8811. You may view memorials online at www.wcfish.com