Charles A. Kimball

By George F. Smalley

The Rev. Charles Kimball had an interest in world religions long before 1975, the year in which he decided to study Islam, first at Harvard and then at the American University in Cairo. In 1978, after spending a formative year in Cairo, he came back to the U.S. with the customary souvenirs for family and friends—but, more importantly, he carried within himself a determination to work for peace and reconciliation for all peoples in the Middle East and to do this on a practical, hands-on level. It wasn't long before Rev. Kimball was offered an historic opportunity to play exactly that kind of role.

Several weeks after Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in November, 1979, Charles Kimball and six other Americans flew to Iran and became, in effect, unofficial mediators. In addition to the students, Rev. Kimball met with the Ayatollah Khomeini, Hashemi Rafsanjani and other Iranian leaders and later transmitted their views to U.S. officials. Rev. Kimball says it's difficult to judge the impact of this and two subsequent visits he took to Iran. But he does think that in some ways he played a "helpful" role in the nonviolent resolution of the conflict.

A Wide Range of Responsibilities

While the publicity he attracted in those days faded quickly, his determination to have a practical impact on Middle East problems has not. Today, on behalf of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.—or the NCCC, as it is called—Rev. Kimball's responsibilities range from overseeing relief projects in Lebanon to testifying before members of Congress.

As Director of the Middle East Office within the Division of Overseas Ministries, he works closely with the 15 churches in the Mideast that make up the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). About half of his time, Rev. Kimball says, is devoted to developing and overseeing projects in the Mideast that are undertaken in conjunction with the MECC. In Lebanon, for example, the MECC helped disseminate to Christians and Muslims alike some $21 million dollars in emergency relief that was raised by the NCCC after Israel's invasion. Rev. Kimball, who last year was away from his New York office for about two months while traveling in the Mideast, also coordinates the NCCC's assistance to the Department on Service to Palestinian Refugees, a MECC-sponsored program that provides vocational training to Palestinians in the West Bank, Jordan and Syria.

During the other half of his time, Rev. Kimball says, he works closely with staff of the 31 churches that make up the NCCC—whose members total some 41 million Americans—on what he calls "constituency education." Rev. Kimball explains that while the educational needs will vary, there is often a basic need "to help Americans understand the religious diversity in the Middle East; that the Middle East is home not only to Muslims and Jews but also to Christians, as well as others."

Rev. Kimball seeks to inform church leaders in the U.S. about the concerns of Christians in the Middle East, including their views on U. S. policies toward the region. When asked by church leaders about the NCCC's position on a specific Mideast issue, Rev. Kimball refers to his "marching orders"—an 18-page policy statement adopted unanimously by the NCCC's governing board in November, 1980. Contained in this statement is a call for the Arabs to recognize the state of Israel "within secure, defined and recognized borders," and for the Israelis to recognize "the right of national self-determination for the Palestinian Arabs and their right to select their own representatives and to establish a Palestinian entity, including a sovereign state." Rev. Kimball cited this document last year on Capitol Hill, where he told members of both the House and Senate that the NCCC opposed the attempt to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Pre-NCCC Days

Before joining the NCCC in January of 1984, Rev. Kimball was Interfaith Director at the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyack, New York. From 1978 to 1982 he taught comparative religion, first as a teaching fellow at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge and then as a lecturer at Suffolk University in Boston. Rev. Kimball received his B.S. from Oklahoma State University in 1972, and in 1975—after spending two years as minister of the McHenry Baptist Church in McHenry, Kentucky—he was awarded a Masters of Divinity from the Baptist seminary in Louisville.

Someday Rev. Kimball hopes to write a book on his experiences during the hostage crisis, but before he gets to that he wants to complete his doctorate at Harvard in the area of Christian-Muslim relations. Intellectual satisfaction is only part of what Rev. Kimball expects from his research: "My conviction is that academic study of world religions can have very practical applications in our world today... For understanding the diversity of the human family, but also for finding ways to cooperate on the very pressing world problems that we face—such as war and peace, poverty, and human rights."

Charles Kimball, his wife Nancy, and their three-year-old daughter Sarah live in New York.

George F. Smalley is managing editor of The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.