Bauman, Kenneth G. (1926-1986)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1986 Dec 25 p. 1

Birth date: 1926

text of obituary:

General Conf. President Dies Following Surgery

Was Serving as Berne Pastor

By General Conf. News Service

BERNE, IND.—Kenneth G. Bauman, 60, newly elected president of the General Conference Mennonite Church, died at a Ft. Wayne, Ind., hospital Sunday, Dec. 21, of complications following surgery for cancer.

Services will take place at 10:30 a. m., Dec. 27, at the First Mennonite Church of Berne. An additional memorial service is planned at the Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, Kan., at 5 p. m. on Dec. 29.

Diagnosis of stomach cancer in mid-December prompted the surgery, which took place on Thursday, Dec. 18. Doctors found that the disease had metastasized, necessitating a much longer surgery than was expected.

AT THE TIME of his death, Bauman was senior pastor at First Mennonite Church of Berne, with 1,135 members the largest U. S. congregation in the conference. He had held this position since 1973, during which time he also served 12 years on the General Board of the General Conference Mennonite Church. He was elected president of the conference at triennial sessions in Saskatoon, Sask., in July 1986.

Bauman's years as pastor were preceded by 18 years as a missionary in India, also for the General Conference Mennonite Church. He and his wife returned to India from June to November 1985 to teach at Union Biblical Seminary in Pune.

He was a graduate of Bluffton (Ohio) College and Mennonite Biblical Seminary.

Bauman is survived by his wife, Mary Gallagher Bauman; five children, Timothy, Ruth, David, Daniel and Stephen; his mother, Ella Garber Bauman, retired missionary to India; and his brother and sisters, Clara Stauffer, Albert, Harvella Stutzman and Elizabeth Shelly. He was preceded in death by his father, Harvey Bauman.

"KEN'S COMMITMENT to Jesus Christ," says conference general secretary Vern Preheim, "will inspire me as long as I live."

The conference's vice president, Florence Driedger, Regina, Sask., assumed the responsibilities of the president since Bauman's death.

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The Mennonite obituary: 1987 Jan 27 p. 44

text of obituary:

Celebrating Kenneth G. Bauman

He was a man of prayer

Mary G. Bauman

Kenneth's death has been a shock to us as a family. We did not know how sick he was. He had no pain, only the discomfort of not being able to eat as much as he wanted. The hundreds of people at his funeral from all over the country reminded us of the many lives he had affected and his broad ministry locally and worldwide.

After much prayer and heart searching, Kenneth permitted his name to stand on the Saskatoon '86 ballot for president of the General Conference Mennonite Church because he believed his convictions and those of the larger constituency were represented in the development plan and the goals for the next three years. He was elected and wholeheartedly gave himself to the work blocked out for him.

Then suddenly on Dec. 21, 1986, those plans were changed and he stepped into the presence of his God. Across the threshold of our home have come hundreds of cards and letters of condolence. They have brought comfort to our family. Not only is our family sensing a loss, but our local church and the wider conference is admitting the sovereign ways of God with awe and wonder.

Baptism Sunday, Jan. 2, 1938, Champa, India. First two rows, left to right: Nathanael Benji, Joseph J. Duerksen, Donald Isaac, Clara Bauman, Kenneth Bauman, Eleanor Thiessen. In the back are P. W. Penner and P. A. Penner, who officiated at the service.

Many of us are asking why. But who has an answer? The apostle Paul explains that God shocked his disciples by permitting his Son to suffer and die. The plan God had laid before the foundation of the world was being worked out. Because of that plan we are declared righteous in God's sight and have the promised assurance of eternal life. We praise God's name for this. The early disciples in their limited human knowledge no doubt asked why, concerning their divine friend.

Mary Gallagher and Kenneth Bauman, Sept. 9, 1950, married in Lansdale, Pa.

I do not know the answer to my husband's going home, but I reverently admit that Kenneth was a man of prayer. He consistently spent an hour or more each morning in prayer for our family, the local family of believers and the wider conference. I received a letter from a friend in New York who had heard of Kenneth's health problem. She wrote, "Our church has a daily prayer meeting, 6-7 a. m., and you will be lifted up by some beautiful prayer warriors there."

Do some of our churches have daily prayer meetings? The challenge comes to those of you who believe in the power of prayer to form prayer cells in our churches across the country, to ask God for a deep cleansing revival to our conference, to intercede for the members of the General Board and all our conference leaders, claiming the power and wisdom of God to be granted to them as they make decisions and appoint new leaders to various posts. Implied in the commitment to pray is the assurance that our prayers will make a difference, that our prayers can move and influence people and the course of events. ". . . Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24).

Mary Bauman, former missionary to India, lives at 366 W. Van Buren, Berne, IN 46711.

A man sent from God

Jake Harms

"Kenneth Bauman died yesterday." I did not want to believe it. It settled upon me like a heavy weight that made thinking about other matters impossible. Only one month ago I had spent three days and four nights at the Bauman home in Berne, Ind. It was the week of their church's annual mission rally, Ken had invited me to give the opening sermon.

Mary and Ken Bauman (back, center) gathered their children (Tim, Ruth, Dave, Dan and Steve), in-laws and grandchildren with Grandmother Bauman (front, center) in August 1986.

I observed Ken in his home, his parish and in the community. His love for the church and his commitment to the pulpit ministry were obvious. What was even more obvious was his commitment to the General Conference Mennonite Church. He was concerned about the development plan. He was concerned about the spiritual life of our conference. He deeply loved his people.

In the pulpit at First Mennonite Church, Berne, Ind.

Ken introduced me to various parts of the Berne community. While driving we discovered we had many things in common. We both had difficulty out-wearing suits and were reluctant to replace them. Both of us were prone to accept speaking invitations in spite of a crowded schedule. We were almost the same age. We still had our mothers. We shared our views and feelings about conference issues, about the importance of Christian ethics, about how we might stimulate greater support for conference programs. We experienced growing appreciation for one another. There was a lot of mutual respect. I had learned to love the man; he had come to live within my heart. Now he is gone and in my heart I am sad. Ken was a men sent from God.

I, with thousands of others, will miss Kenneth Bauman. We will miss the leadership we had come to expect from him and that he was prepared to give our conference as its president for the next three years. Mixed with my sadness are the pleasant memories of friendship, of time spent together, of a common faith in our Lord. Thank you, God, for sending this man we knew and will always remember.

Jake Harms is Canadian coordinator for the Commission on Overseas Mission.