I met Gary at the First Presbyterian Church of New Canann, in Connecticut, where he had been the pastor for over 12 years. I was there at Gary's invitation as the keynote speaker for a TCPC Regional event. We had become friends over the telephone months before we ever met. I knew I was going to like this guy the first time I heard him laugh on the phone. His laugh was natural, easy and free. When we finally met in person, I noticed that his beautiful smile was just an extension of that laugh and I realized quickly it came from a big heart. It was clear to me that this man exuded love. We talked at some length about ways that Gary could become more active with The Center for Progressive Christianity, after his upcoming retirement, and I was very excited about having him on the team.
 
It was only a few weeks after my visit that I received an email from Gary explaining that he had ALS and that was the main reason for his early retirement. He was adamant that he was going to find a way to at least slow the progression down because he had a couple more books to write. And most of all he wanted to do whatever he could do to help TCPC get our message out. "I don't want to let you down," he said. And he never did. He called, wrote and once flew a long distance to attend a planning meeting.  He would have come to every one but he became too weak to travel. But he never stopped writing. I had no idea what a deep thinker and scholar he was until I started reading his books. He left us three amazing books- The God I No Longer Believe In, Lots of Love, and Lots of Hope- and one on the way- Faith, Love, and Hope: the Pillars of Progressive Christianity.
 
I had the opportunity to talk to Gary several times before if became too difficult for him to breathe and talk as his lungs slowly closed down. However, in one of the last conversations that I had with him, he gave me a beautiful, poetic description of the setting sun, the rolling waves, and the warm sand that he was enjoying at that moment as he stood in front of his little house in Baja, Mexico where he and his lovely wife, Bev lived after his retirement.  Even though he was struggling to breathe, he cheerily said "God Fred, I am in one of the most beautiful places in the world right now. I am one lucky S.O.B."  
 
Gary was truly a lover of people and of life and he lived that way right up to the end. His books continue to be some of our best sellers and we still receive wonderful emails from folks thanking us for introducing them to his work. Bev told me that he never stopped talking about TCPC and the important work we were doing, right up to his last days. He promised that his spirit would continue to be with us. He did not need to make that promise. His spirit will always be with us and his example will lead us. 
 
Thanks dear friend.  You will be missed.
 
Yours in the Spirit and in Hope,
Fred  

    "My experience over the years - not as a preacher, but as a person who gets up each day and tries his best to make some sense of it, and some difference in it-
is that...
    No suffering is too great to comforted.
    No sorrow is too great to be consoled.
    No slight is too personal to be forgiven.
    No structure of a selfish society is too great to be converted.
    No scourge of war, nor violation of human rights, nor destruction of the earth is too devastating to be reversed by good people and the solidarity of civilized nations banding together to work for justice in order to live in peace."
~Gary A. Wilburn