In Remembrance of Gordon Cosby

Last Wednesday morning, the Sojourners community lost an extraordinary friend with the passing of Gordon Cosby. In his tribute, Jim Wallis offers a beautiful remembrance of this man whose vision and faithfulness touched so many lives:

"Gordon Cosby never needed or wanted to be out front or become a famous public figure. He could have spoken across the country, and was often invited to do so. But he instead decided that his own vocation was to stay with a relatively small group of people trying to “be the church” in Washington, D.C.: the Church of the Savior, which has produced more missions and ministries, especially with the poor, than any church I know of anywhere in the country—even the huge megachurches who capture all the fame. He never wrote a book, went on television, talked to presidents, planted churches, built national movements, or traveled around the world. He just inspired everybody else to do all those things and much more. And the world came to him.''

In honor of the life and witness of this beloved brother of Christ, we offer this roundup of stories written by and about Gordon Cosby and his wife Mary.

• Mission: Possible, by Jim Wallis
  An interview about the inward-outward journey of Mary and Gordon Cosby.
   
• A Sermon on Power and Servanthood, by Gordon Cosby
  A personal look at the radical ways God calls each of us to embody servant leadership.
   
• On the Potter’s Wheel, by Gordon Cosby
  What's it like to be almost human? Reflections on Jeremiah 18.
   
• A Tradition of Resistance, by Gordon Cosby
  The great deliverer of the Hebrew people was Moses.
   
• The Call to Community, by Jim Wallis
  An interview with Gordon Cosby about what it means to depend on grace.
   
• Just Forgive, by Rose Marie Berger
  An interview with Mary Cosby on how we must fake forgiveness until we can make it.
   
• Strength from Inside Out, by Carey Burkett
  A 1991 interview with Gordon Cosby about the future of the Sojourners community.
   
• Gordon Cosby: My Mentor, by Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
  Remembering Gordon Cosby, a ‘spiritual father’ who knitted together a community of grace.
   
• Gordon Cosby: Teaching Us How to Live and How to Die, by Jim Wallis
  Until the very end, Gordon Cosby taught us how to live by the gospel.

Elaina Ramsey is assistant editor of Sojourners magazine.