Disciples Divinity House

Alumnus Ian J. McCrae died this morning at Belton Research Hospital in the greater Kansas City area. A memorial service will be held Monday, May 16, at 3:00 pm at Saint Andrew Christian Church in Olathe, Kansas, Holly McKissick, Senior Minister. He is survived by Cynthia McCrae, his wife of 60 years, and their five children, plus grandchildren, extended family, and many dear friends.

An educator, ethicist, and change agent, Ian James McCrae directed denominational efforts in human rights, economic justice, and global awareness for nearly thirty years, and also served in campus ministry and as a seminary professor. More recently, he was the Volunteer Assisting Minister at Saint Andrew Christian Church, where among other things, he had an important mentoring role with a new generation of Disciples House Scholars.

A native of Canada, he earned his A.B. from the University of Toronto and received his B.D. in 1950 from the University of Chicago as a Disciples Divinity House Scholar. In Chicago he met Cynthia Rice, who was a student at Chicago Theological Seminary. They married in 1950. He received his S.T.M. from Yale Divinity School in 1958; in 2006 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by Christian Theological Seminary. In 2007, he was awarded DDH's Distinguished Alumnus Award. It commended him “for a lifetime of service across the breadth of the church” and specifically for his “keen mind, clear vision, and sharp wit and for vistas of mercy and justice opened because of them; for mentoring persons in ministry, amidst the priesthood of all believers; and for a life of faith that melds and models conviction, integrity, honesty, and humility.”