Jack L. Willcuts
Jack L. Willcuts (1922-1989) served the Friends Church with energy, vision, and persistence. His ministry includes 26 years as a pastor, 8 years as a missionary in Bolivia, and 12 years as general superintendent of Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends.
Whatever he was doing, Jack always wrote. He was managing editor of the Northwest Friend magazine, 1958 to 1967, and was executive editor and then editor-in-chief of Evangelical Friend magazine from 1967 to 1985. His editorial columns served the Friends Church as a prophetic voice, calling God’s people to live out their faith in the meetinghouses, factories, living rooms, and government halls of their lives. Some of his best editorial writings were compiled by his daughter, Susan Kendall, and published as The Sense of the Meeting.
Jack’s other writing that remain in print are A Family of Friends and Why Friends Are Friends. Books he coauthored were Church Growth in the Soaring Seventies (with Myron Goldsmith) and Team Ministry (with David Kingrey).
Jack was born in Burr Oak, Kansas—a sixth-generation Quaker. He was a graduate of Friends Bible College (now Barclay College) in Haviland, Kansas, and George Fox College (now University) in Newberg, Oregon. He also studied journalism at Portland State University. Jack and his wife, Geraldine, raised three children, Stuart Willcuts, Susan Willcuts Kendall, and Jannelle Willcuts Loewen.
A strong flow of friendship, respect, and trust connected Arthur O. Roberts and Jack L. Willcuts. Arthur knew well Jack’s rare combination of wit and wisdom. Using Jack’s letters, Arthur created The Wit and Wisdom of Jack Willcuts (published in 2000).