Honorary Chair John Buchanan Passes Away at 87

The fundraising steering committee of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation’s A New Story campaign lost a champion this winter when Rev. John Buchanan passed away. John was an honorary chair of the campaign and was very active in that role. He died on February 3, 2025 at age 87.

“John Buchanan loved books and reading and writing,” said Cynthia Campbell, co-chair of the fundraising committee and president emeritus of McCormick Theological Seminary. “For all those reasons, he loved working with WJK and the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. As a pastor, John believed that study was critical to the craft of preaching. As the editor of the Christian Century magazine, he believed that church members and leaders should think deeply and critically about faith and the world. As a leader in the Presbyterian Church, he was deeply committed to the importance of the study of Scripture and learning in general to the life of faith. All of this came together for John in his service as Chair of the Board of PPC and his advocacy for its fundraising campaign. Ensuring the current vitality and future health of PPC was a mission he promoted enthusiastically until the end of his life. His leadership through the years has been vital to the success of PPC and its mission. John was most known for his role as senior pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, a role he held from 1985 to 2012. During those years he served as moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and worked for the inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons in the life of the church at a time when they were excluded from ministry and marriage.”

John was born Jan. 30, 1938, in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he met his wife, Carolyn Sue Buchanan. He earned a Masters in Divinity from the University of Chicago. Before coming to Fourth Church he pastored congregations in Dyer, Indiana; Lafayette, Indiana; and Columbus, Ohio.

Fourth Church parishioner Jeanne Bishop told the Chicago Sun-Times that she joined Fourth Church after moving to Chicago from Oklahoma City. “I just lucked out when, not only was there this beautiful church and this glorious music, but this amazing pastor who brought such intelligence and empathy, insights, poetry, really, to his preaching,” Bishop said.

“He really saw and insisted on the connection between the stories that are in the Bible and the mission of Jesus, but that that be applied to what is going on in your world around you today,” his son, Andy Buchanan, told the Sun-Times.

Rev. Buchanan is survived by his brother, Bill, five children, 13 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. His wife preceded him in death.