Rev. Timothy Lull, 60; Luther Expert Headed Seminary
The Rev. Timothy Lull, president of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, died Tuesday in that city of complications after surgery. He was 60.
A professor of theology, Lull was an expert speaker and writer on Martin Luther, the 16th century founder of the Lutheran Church, and wrote several books on Luther’s life and teachings.
Born in Freemont, Ohio, Lull was a graduate of Yale Divinity School and an ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He joined the Berkeley seminary in 1989.
In recent years, he had taken the lead on several issues concerning his church.
Lull advocated a more open policy toward gay and lesbian members, calling for discussions about whether to support committed gay relationships. He also extended an apology to the Jewish community in San Francisco, in 1995, for Luther’s anti-Semitism.
Most recently, Lull had encouraged Lutherans to take part in “full communion” with other Protestant denominations in an effort to repair the historic rifts that divide them.
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