An article from Christianity Today.

The Internet Monk blogs about Bob’s passing, linking a tribute and an article:

The tireless reclaimer of the Great Tradition and the man who gave post-evangelicalism meaning for thousands of us, is gone to be with the Lord. He passed Friday after a recent serious illness. His book The Majestic Tapestry, saved my faith and gave me gifts I will never be able to express sufficient gratitude for. A prince of a scholar and a great lover of Jesus and his bride.

God give his rest to the soul of Professor Robert Webber, now with the gathered children of light.

I’ll link the tribute directly here.

Update: Here’s another short tribute from Dr. Reggie Kidd, RTS Orlando and IWS.

Noted theologian and author Dr. Robert E. Webber died yesterday in his home in Sawyer, Michigan, after an eight-month struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was 73 years old.

Dr. Webber was born in Congo of missionary parents, and was raised in the Philadelphia area. He earned the Th.D. from Concordia Theological Seminary. From 1968 to 2000 he served as Professor of Theology at Wheaton College, and was named Professor Emeritus upon his retirement in 2000. He was appointed William R. and Geraldine D. Myers Professor of Ministry and Director of the M.A. in Worship and Spirituality at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in the fall of 2000.

Bob Webber founded The Institute for Worship Studies (now the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies) in 1998. The Institute for Worship Studies is a Masters and Doctorate level graduate school focused on the study of the theological, Biblical, historical, sociological and missiological foundations of Christian worship. The school is hosted by Grace Episcopal Church of Orange Park, Florida and combines distance learning with one-week on-campus intensive courses involving students, faculty and alumni from around the globe.

IWS Provost and President-Elect Dr. James R. Hart commented, “Bob Webber significantly influenced many in our generation with the understanding that worship is the key to the renewal of the church. We mourn the loss of our friend and mentor, but rejoice with him in
worshiping the risen Christ.”

Webber was noted for his numerous writings and workshops in worship and worship renewal. His books include such titles as Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail, Worship Is a Verb, Worship Old and New, Ancient-Future Faith, Ancient-Future Time, Ancient-Future Evangelism, Journey to Jesus, The Younger Evangelicals, and The Divine Embrace. He served as editor of he seven-volume The Complete Library of Christian Worship (Hendrickson, 1993) and was a regular columnist in Worship Leader magazine.

Webber leaves behind a wife, Joanne, four children, John (Isabel), Alexandra (Jack), Stefany (Tom), and Jeremy (Susie), seven grandchildren, and a rich legacy of friends, colleagues and students.

Memorial services will be held at Northern Seminary (please visit www.seminary.edu for date, time and location) and at Grace Episcopal Church in Orange
Park, FL on Friday, June 15 at 7 PM, during the June session of the Institute for Worship Studies. In lieu of flowers the family has requested that donations be made to the Robert E. Webber Endowment Fund at the Institute for Worship Studies, 151 Kingsley Ave., Orange Park, FL 32073, or the Robert E. Webber Center for an Ancient Evangelical Future, c/o Northern Seminary, 660 E. Butterfield Rd., Lombard, IL 60148.

Bob Webber died today at 6:10 PM in his wife Joanne’s arms. I am both saddened by this news and rejoicing that he is now in the arms of Jesus.

“Depart, O Christian soul, out of this world; in the name of God the Father Almighty who created you; in the name of Jesus Christ who redeemed you; in the name of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you. May your rest be this day in peace, and your dwelling place in the Paradise of God. Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Bob. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.”

Update: I find it a bit spooky how sometimes you know something is happening to someone very far away. I was telling Rachel this afternoon that I had been checking my email all last night and this morning, just waiting to hear that Bob had died. Here is the email I got just a few hours after telling Rachel that:

I just spoke with Joanne Webber. Bob had a particularly bad night last night and has experienced an increase in pain and other associated symptoms. These are additional signs of the approaching end. Joanne and Bob have asked for prayer, that his death may come in the Lord’s time with minimal lingering and a sense of God’s peace and joy.

When I met Bob, he was strong. He looked like he could pull a wagon on his back. He deteriorated so quickly, but then he held on for so long. He lived so much longer than the doctors expected (almost four months longer than the expected four weeks), and yet I am still so shocked.

They finally posted the “Dear sister” SNL digital short that had me cracking up a couple of weeks ago. Do I have a demented sense of humor?

Stephen Colbert did a spoof ad for milk with rBGH added to it, and I just happened to catch it last week. It cracked me up. There’s a short part that could be considered blasphemous, so it probably isn’t wise to post this…

Milk and Cookies…as natural as milk and cookies and hormones.

I’ve come to two conclusions about milk. 1) It’s much better in cartons 2) Organic milk tastes much better. I don’t know if I could go back to the hormone laden stuff.

So as you know, we went to Little Rock for the weekend. We went for the Arkansas Literary Festival, where the special guest was Nikki Giovanni, a reknowned poet and an English professor at Virginia Tech.

Giovanni had been a teacher of the VT shooter and had sent him to a colleague for private sessions. Small world, huh?

The literary festival happened to be right next to the Earth Day celebration.

We wandered over there and really enjoyed the festivities. We are now armed with BreastMilk frisbees, pencils, and pens too.

Later on that evening, we finally met Courtney, my friend Nathan’s fiancee.

We talked til late, and she passed all the tests, so it’s all good to go.

On Sunday, we had another wonderful worship service at St. Andrew’s. It’s always a blessing to go there. We had lunch with the Mattson’s before driving home. When we got home we, of course, had to have a night cap with the Amoses, so we broke open a bottle of mead. Not a bad weekend.

Kyrie being cute at the pizza place in Little Rock.

So I’m in Little Rock with a group of students for the Arkansas Literary Festival. We’re staying in a penthouse room at The Peabody, and Rachel is staying in bed as she gets served food on silver platters. Corny, huh?

If it weren’t for our desire to take Kyrie downstairs for the Duck March through the lobby, I think she’d stay in the room all day! We’re hoping to get some cute pictures with the ducks.

My students are still asleep though the festival starts in 40 minutes. I think they might end up skipping part of it. They may have gone out last night. When we arrived in last night at 12:30 am, there were hundreds of people in the lobby area, walking out to some big music festival a few blocks down. I guess this place has a bigger night life than I expected.

My only complaint is the other side of the hotel has a MUCH better view of the river.