Dear Stan,

I feel deeply the privilege of speaking to you on behalf of the Alliance. I represent not only all of us here but also the many who wanted to be present, and those departed Alliance friends whose spirits surround us as a great cloud of witnesses. I have been asked to put some words to our appreciation. This I will do, drawing from the contribution of others.

Stan, thank you for the gift of you, Stan, your humanity. You have allowed us to experience your intelligence, your creativity, your disappointment, your joys, your pain, your playfulness, your sense of grace, your passion for God’s justice love, and your devotion to the Alliance and our vision. As a colleague of yours put it, “When Stan participates in a conversation his thoughtful listening is marked by a profound graciousness matched only by the humility he embodies in his reflections.”

Never have you seen yourself as the center piece of the Alliance. Yet, I don’t believe we would be here tonight if it were not for you, Stan. You, and I add Jeanette, joined us in a time when our ship was becoming directionless. From that time you have provided the continuity, the keel beneath our ship, a face and voice that was consistent, clear and courageous.  

Thank you for including us in the trajectory of your life. The theme of your vocation is easy to trace: a child of Southern Baptist missionaries, student of church history, staff reporter at the Baptist Joint Committee, executive director and lately Minister of Mission and Ecumenism of the Alliance of Baptists. And when you leave us, you plan to write the completion of the history of the Baptist Joint Committee and the history of the Alliance of Baptists. The three words: Baptist, historian, missionary tell your tale. You led us to redefine and expand what it means for us to be Baptist in our day. You made history with us through risks, at times costly, in gender equity, in inter-racial, inter-denominational, and inter-faith relations, in welcoming and affirming all regardless of sexual orientation. And you delight in naming the history-making. The “heart for missions,” right out of your past, you reframed as mutual, shared power in mission partnerships. The trajectory of your life and the trajectory of the life of the Alliance have felt like synergy to many of us. We are grateful.

Stan, we have watched and marveled at your capacity to fulfill so many demanding roles at the same time. Along with overseeing the Alliance, you have given such faithful care as husband, father, brother, child, pastor, friend. Many of us have whispered in challenging times: “If Stan can manage so much, maybe I can to.” Thank you for that inspiration.

As leader, you have been a clear, compelling voice of the Alliance. When you have represented us to other religious and political gatherings in our nation’s capital, in other countries, in Alliance churches, we have felt pride in your use of our name. When we pick up some quote from you in an article or news release, we have said to ourselves, “Stan, did it again, just the right words. Succinct. Provocative. Truthful.” Thank you.

Also as leader, you have been a clear, compelling voice to the Alliance. Each year at your State of the Alliance address and through your many columns in the Connections you mirrored back to us who we are and challenged us to be more than we are. Your prophetic edge was always in evidence. You have fueled the flames of another way that birthed us some twenty two years ago. As one Alliance member from the beginning summarized his appreciation: “Leadership rooted in courage and filtered with graciousness, wisdom and humility. Writing rooted in truth-telling filtered with intelligence and clarity of thought.” Thank you for your leadership to us, for us and from us.

Stan, for these “roots” we most give thanks, the being beneath your doing, the character behind your behavior, the Spirit you have incarnated. The words that I most heard from others named more your being than doing: integrity, humility, courageous, faithful, authentic. In this letter we have come full circle: we thank you for being you among us, a gift we hope keeps giving in our midst. 

And so, as you have blessed us, we --- all of us --- bless you and Betty, for Betty’s life and support are a part of our gratitude. 

        May the Lord bless you and Betty and keep you,
        May the face of the Lord shine upon you both
            and be gracious to you.
        May the Lord’s countenance be upon you both
            and give you shalom.

Mahan Siler