WCC NEWS: WCC mourns loss of linguist and United Reformed Church minister Rev. Tony Coates

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the loss of Rev. Anthony J. (Tony) Coates, a linguist, ecumenist, and minister with the United Reformed Church (URC) in the UK.  Rev. Anthony J. (Tony) Coates. Photo: Marcelo Schneider/WCC 19 July 20240   At its General Assembly last week, the URC marked the 60th jubilee of his ordination. He was 87 when he died. He served in local pastorates—in lively city centres and local ecumenical projects, often attached to student chaplaincies. From 1982 to1985 he served as a member of staff in the WCC Language Service where he translated key texts from French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese into English. After returning to Britain, he served as executive secretary of the URC’s World Church and Mission Department. He continued as a freelance translator and interpreter after his period of service with the WCC, and served as minute taker for the WCC central committee from 2003 to 2009. Coates’ translations included the books Ecumenism in Transition by Konrad Raiser, shortly before Raiser became WCC general secretary, and Learning to Question: A Pedagogy of Liberation by the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire and Antonio Faundez. Coates was also a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists in London and of the United Reformed Church History Society. “He was an energetic, charismatic person who possessed immense kindness and enthusiasm,” said Rev. Dr Susan Durber, WCC president from Europe. “He was a skilled linguist and worked as a translator to bring the theological imagination of Latin America, for example, to the English-speaking world.” Durber reflected that some thought it odd to move from active ministry to become a translator. “For him, it was about using God-given skills to make it possible for Christians around the household of God really to hear each other and to enter into deeper communion,” she said. “He was generous and helpful to those new to the ecumenical scene and even in his twilight years was always passionate about ecumenism and the world church.” Rev. Jane Stranz, coordinator of the WCC Language Service from 2002 to 2011, said: “Tony applied the same high standards to translating the fire regulations as to tackling tricky theological texts. He was a brilliant linguist and completely trustworthy. In the early 1980s he translated confidential witness statements being sent to the WCC by human rights lawyers working for justice in Latin American dictatorships. We came from the same church, and at a more personal level I owe him a real debt of gratitude; he negotiated the agreement that allowed me to serve as a pastor in the French Reformed Church.” Dr Stephen Brown, editor of the WCC journal The Ecumenical Review, said: “I have known Tony Coates almost all my adult life since arriving in Cambridge in 1980 where he was minister at Emmanuel URC, the church I attended. I remember his farewell as he left Cambridge to start work at the WCC. Since then our paths frequently crossed and I will miss him as a pastor, colleague, and friend.” "A Theologian Turns Translator": Article by Tony Coates published in The Ecumenical Review (2008) See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland