Title: Renowned Disciples historian and scholar
Anthony Dunnavant dies
Date: February 9, 2001
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Contact:
Contact: news@cm.disciples.org
01b-13
by Walter A.
Johnson, Jr.
Director of Information Services
Lexington (Ky.) Theological Seminary
LEXINGTON, Ky. (DNS) -- Lexington Theological Seminary is
mourning the loss of a colleague and good friend. Dean Anthony L. Dunnavant died Thursday
evening (Feb. 8). He was 46. 
Reflecting on Dunnavant's life and ministry, LTS President Richard L. Harrison, Jr., said, "Anthony Dunnavant was an outstanding teacher and historian of Christianity. He was a lover of the church and was profoundly committed to ministry. His leadership as a scholar and as an advocate of Christian unity has been appreciated world wide.
"This is a terrible loss to Lexington Theological Seminary as well as to the church at large and higher education. Rarely have I encountered a person so universally beloved."
The Rev. Anthony L. Dunnavant is survived by his wife, Jan, rector of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Lexington; four daughters, Erin, Bridget, Caitlin, and Tara; two stepchildren, Sarah and Patrick; parents, Ezra and Edith Dunnavant of Blackstone, Va.; brother, Terry Dunnavant of Prairie Village, Kan.; and sisters, Nell Durham of Fairfax, Va., and Kay Slonaker of Bowie, Md.
Dunnavant joined the seminary faculty in 1987 and was named dean in March 1998.
A noted church historian, Professor Dunnavant's research and writing centered on theology and church life of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He was the author of Central Christian Church: 175 Years in Lexington, Kentucky (1991), Restructure (1993), and Backgrounds for Congregational Portraits (1994). He was the editor of Cane Ridge in Context (1992) and Poverty and Ecclesiology (1992) and co-editor with President Harrison of Explorations in the Stone-Campbell Tradition and (with James O. Duke, 1997) Christian Faith Seeking Historical Understanding.
Dunnavant was an active member of Central Christian Church, Lexington.
He was a member of the American Academy of Religion, the American Society of Church History, the Association for the Sociology of Religion and the Disciples of Christ Historical Society. He was a member of the board of trustees of Cane Ridge Preservation Project.
A native of Maryland, Dunnavant grew up in Washington, D.C., and Fairmont, W. Va. He held degrees from Fairmont (W.Va.) State College, West Virginia University, and three degrees from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. He was an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time.
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