magazine recently named as one of the nation’s 25 most influential evangelicals, has died, BosNewsLife monitored Sunday, April 24. She was 53. Knippers, who battled colon cancer for more than a year, died April 18 in a hospital in Arlington, Va, the organization said. She was known as a vocal proponent of traditional Christian practice
"Diane was a mentor to many, on the IRD staff, and in the broader movement of church renewal. She set an example of faithful Christian witness amidst church and political conflicts," said IRD Vice President Alan Wisdom. "She was firm in her conviction of God’s truth, and that firmness enabled her to show a great serenity and warmth towards others. One of her consistent emphases was the importance of nurturing a new generation of church reformers," Wisdom added in a statement.
"The members of the IRD staff show the results of Diane’s wise influence. We will miss her presence among us. But I am confident that God’s grace has equipped us through Diane, and will continue to equip us to carry her work forward."
Knippers served 12 years as president of the Washington-based organization, which is an alliance of Christians that monitors developments in mainline churches and discourages liberal trends.
SMALL BUDGET
Despite an annual budget of about $1 million and a staff of fewer than a dozen, the 24-year-old IRD has become known for having what The New York Times newspaper last year characterized as "an outsized effect on the dynamics of American politics by counteracting the liberal influence of the mainline Protestant churches."
In naming Knippers one of the country’s most influential evangelicals in February, Time magazine noted that when liberal Rep. Howard Berman, D-Los Angeles, sought Knippers’ counsel last September, it became obvious that her organization had become a major force, the Los Angeles Times newspaper reported Sunday, April 24.
Berman, according to the magazine, "was upset that the Presbyterian Church (USA) had voted to consider divesting from some companies doing business in Israel to protest the country’s treatment of Palestinians." He wanted to talk with Knippers, Time said, "because IRD had issued a report criticizing such decisions, which it saw as singling out Israel while largely ignoring alleged serious human rights abuses by Saudi Arabia and North Korea."
"GRATIFYING" WORK
"It was gratifying that he read and appreciated our work," Knippers told Time, the Los Angeles Times recalled. Her last public appearance was reportedly at an event on Capitol Hill last month to publicize "Toward an Evangelical Public Policy," a book she co-edited. It was reportedly part of a larger project organized by the National Association of Evangelicals.
J. Budziszewski, Chairman, IRD Board of Directors, said she had lived her life as in the tenth chapter of Luke in the Bible. There "we find the story of the two friends of Jesus, Martha, who opened her home and busied herself in serving Him, and her sister Mary, who sat at His feet and hung on his every word. "Martha, Martha," He said, "you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful." Diane was that rare sort of disciple who served with both the diligence and energy shown by Martha," Budziszewski added.
Her "loving attention to her Master’s every word shown by Mary" was "truly the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her," and as she is gathered up to Christ, we lose a dear friend and yokefellow. Our prayers go with her and her husband Ed," he said. (With BosNewsLife Research, Stefan J. Bos and reports from Washington)
