R.H. Edwin Espy; Headed National Council of Churches of Christ

R. H. Edwin Espy, 84, a former general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ and a longtime leader in the ecumenical movement. Espy joined the council in 1955 as its associate executive secretary and was general secretary from 1963 to 1973, a period when the council provoked great controversy with its support for civil rights. From 1965 to 1975, he represented North America in the Joint Working Group, formed by the World Council of Churches and the Vatican to study religious issues. In Philadelphia on Sunday after heart surgery.