In his foreword to the booklet that was the product of this process, Unity - Why Not Yet? (1980), Morgan reveals something of the heart of his vision and ministry.His fundamental convictions drove Morgan to seek ways of bringing the Churches of Christ into unity with the United Reformed Church (formed in 1972 as a union between the Congregational Church of England and Wales and the Presbyterian Church of England). In this post he played an increasingly significant role in the ecumenical life of Great Britain and in the international fellowship of the Churches of Christ. A tale about one of his international visits, when he got up during the night only to step on to a floor covered with cockroaches, was told with particular relish.He also became involved in the British Council of Churches, as a member of its assembly and executive committee, and in due course became chairman of its division of ecumenical affairs. Subsequent pastoral ministries took him to Avery Hill (1958-62) and Saffron Lane and South Wigston in Leicester (1962-66).In 1967, after a year as Assistant General Secretary of the Association of the Churches of Christ in Great Britain, Morgan was appointed its General Secretary.
Many enduring friendships and perspectives were established, and in 1954 he married Greta Hanson, who was also from a Churches of Christ background. This major transformation had its main inspiration and energy in Morgan's leadership and vision.Philip Morgan was born in 1930 and, following training at Overdale theological college in Birmingham, was ordained in 1953 and began his ministry with the Churches of Christ in the South Wales District, based in the valley communities around Merthyr Tydfil, where he had family roots The next six years were formative. After five years of debate, reflection and prayer, the BCC came to an end on the last day of August 1990 and the new Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland (in which the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, and in Scotland, were full members), was inaugurated the following day in services of celebration and commitment in the Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals of Liverpool. Until the end of his life Morgan did all in his power to pursue and further the implementation of that conviction.As General Secretary from 1980 of the British Council of Churches, Morgan's imaginative leap was to propose that the BCC should end its life, in order to enable a broader and more inclusive ecumenical instrument to take its place.
They practised believers' baptism, weekly Holy Communion as the central act of worship and emphasised the ministry of the laity. Morgan's lifetime's ministry did not at any time waver from the deep conviction expressed more than 150 years ago by Thomas Campbell, one of the founding fathers of the Churches of Christ, that "the Church of God is essentially, intentionally and constitutionally one". The Churches of Christ had their origins in the United States in the 19th century, drawing on elements from congregational and presbyterian polity. Philip Morgan was deeply rooted in the Churches of Christ (or Disciples) tradition and was driven by a deep ecumenical commitment. Philip Morgan, minister of the church: born Maryport, Cumberland 22 June 1930; ordained a minister of the Churches of Christ 1953; General Secretary, Churches of Christ in Great Britain and Ireland 1967-80; General Secretary, British Council of Churches 1980-90; Moderator, United Reformed Church 1984-85; Minister, St Andrew's URC, Frognal, London 1990-95; married 1954 Greta Hanson (one son, one daughter); died London 17 October 2005. When Siles Salinas moved into the presidential palace he was almost completely isolated, as his party had no mass following. It was no surprise when he was pushed aside by Ovando five months later, and bundled off into exile in Chile.He was soon allowed back, however, and he devoted the rest of his life to working, as a lawyer and academic, for human rights and democratic causes. Between 1982 and 1985, when his half-brother Hern?was President, he served as Bolivian ambassador to Spain.A few months before he died, the Bolivian Congress decorated him for his "honest and transparent contribution to the construction of democracy".Colin Harding.
