Disciples leader Kenneth Teegarden dies at 80

FORT WORTH, Texas — Kenneth L. Teegarden, who helped reshape and centralize the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), died Sept. 22 in Fort Worth, Texas, four months after suffering an aneurysm. He was 80.

Teegarden served as president and general minister of the Indianapolis-based denomination from 1973 to 1985. He oversaw a series of reforms beginning in 1968 that brought the church closer together. In 1957, he rallied support in Little Rock, Ark., for the federally enforced integration of the public schools. Among Teegarden’s reforms was introducing a biennial General Assembly meeting and bringing together previously independent agencies and offices.