honorific_prefix movement death_date death_place children birth_place nationality birth_date notable_works language article_title name occupation
doctor ecumenism 17 december 2006 canandaigua , new york robert bilheimer denver , colorado american 28 september 1917 '' a spirituality for the long haul '' '' breakthrough '' what must the church do ? '' '' english robert s. bilheimer
 robert s. bilheimer theologian
robert s. bilheimer

dr. robert s. bilheimer -lrb- september 28 , 1917 -- december 17 , 2006 -rrb- was an american presbyterian theologian .
in his 1947 book `` what must the church do ? ''
, he used the phrase `` new reformation '' to refer to the ecumenical movement that resulted from the 1910 world missionary conference , and this usage became commonplace thereafter .
he was one of the co-founders of the world council of churches -lrb- wcc -rrb- .
he later gave credit for the most of the founding of the organization to laity and young people .
from 1955-1958 , he co-chaired a wcc international commission to prepare a document addressing the threat of nuclear warfare during the cold war .
as a wcc delegate , he prepared the cottesloe consultation , which took place in december 1960 and saw the wcc meet with representatives from the eight main christian denominations in south africa in order to address the issue of apartheid .
he served as associate general secretary and director of the division of studies of the wcc , executive director of the institute for ecumenical and cultural research , and director of the international affairs program of the national council of churches .
he wrote the 1984 book `` a spirituality for the long haul : biblical risk and moral stand '' , in which he provides a biblical basis for resisting oppression .
he also wrote the 1989 book `` breakthrough : the emergence of the ecumenical tradition '' , which was one of several books about ecumenism that were published by william b. eerdmans publishing company in the late 20th century .
