The Rev. Howard B. Warren, Jr., affectionately known as "God's Glorious
Gadfly," was born September 7, 1934, in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a graduate
of McCormick Theological Seminary; and he held degrees from Missouri
Valley College and Union Theological Seminary (New York). He also held a
masters degree from the School of Social Work at Hunter College. Ordained by the
Presbytery of Kansas City in 1965, Warren served Presbyterian churches for 25
years. His pastorates were in Milford, Penn.; Vernon, Fayetteville and
Huntington, New York; Pontiac, Michigan; and Orchard Park, Indiana.
In 1987, Howard came out to the Presbytery of Detroit as a person with AIDS
and a gay man. Active in Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns (now More
Light Presbyterians), he was a founder of Presbyterians Act Up, was active with
the Presbyterian AIDS Network and was a founding supporter of That All May
Freely Serve.
From the time of his diagnosis with HIV/AIDS in 1987, until he required
hospital and nursing home care in 2001, he was an advocate and caregiver for
persons with HIV/AIDS and their families, friends and partners. He served as the
director of pastoral care at the Damien Center in Indianapolis from 1989 to
1999, a care site for HIV/AIDS patients that was established by the Episcopal
Diocese of Indianapolis and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of
Indianapolis.
His position at the Damien Center--a validated
ministry in the Presbytery of Whitewater Valley--was funded by the Orchard
Park Presbyterian Church (where he had served as an associate pastor), the
presbytery, the Synod of Lincoln Trails and the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church USA.
Warren was the author of many articles in such journals as: Open
Hands, National Catholic Reporter, Monday Morning, More Light Update, Pandemic:
Presbyterian AIDS Network Newsletter.
He was the recipient of
numerous awards. He received the Justice, Inc. Human Dignity Award in 1991; an
American Civil Liberties Union Lifetime Membership in 1992; the AIDS National
Interfaith Ministry Award in 1994; the Unity Award for Excellence of the Marian
County Board of Health, 1994; the Lifetime Member of Diversity, Inc., Award in
1994; the Presbyterian More Light Churches Award in 1996; the Lazarus Award from
the West Hollywood Presbyterian Church in 1997; the AIDServe Indiana Superstar
Award in 1998; and a production at the Theatre on the Square in Indianapolis was
dedicated to him in 2001, as another was at the Phoenix Theatre. He received the
Indiana Lambda Legal Leadership Award in 2002.
Howard Warren
died on March 14, 2003, at a healthcare center in
Indianapolis.
Describing a man who "exploded out of the closet,"
the Rev. Jane Spahr, director of That All May Freely Serve, described Warren's
activism in the Presbyterian Church as done "with a passion for justice and for
truth-telling, but always with a compassionate heart." Remembering his
purple-sequined hats, his placards as he stood for years before the General
Assembly and his rainbow-colored banners and clothes, Spahr credits Warren with
making the gay and lesbian movement in the PCUSA move. "He was a real person
with HIV, and gay, and he came to realize how much he was loved by God. And he
had to shout that out," said Spahr. "He was living Gospel. And the Gospel is
outrageous. He took us out to a new place. Now, it is up to us to continue."
(Information for this biography was taken from stories by Lisa Larges and the
Presbyterian News Service as published in the More Light Update,
Spring and Summer 2003.)