Glendora Paul, a native of India who was co-founder of the World Mission Initiative at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, died Oct. 23 of complications of Alzheimer’s disease. She was 82.
Born to a Christian family in north India, Paul first came to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar. She then returned to India and taught at an international school in South India. She came to the attention of then Pittsburgh Seminary president Donald G. Miller while attending a world mission conference in the early 1960s.
At Miller’s urging, she enrolled at Pittsburgh Seminary in 1965. It was while there that she met her future husband, Prodeep. He preceded her in death in 1995.
Though she earned her M.Div., Paul never sought ordination in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Instead, always wearing her trademark sari, she served in the Pittsburgh regional office of the PCUSA)'s Women's Ministries, where she traveled throughout the eastern U.S. promoting Women's Ministries and its mission causes.
Paul also became a host for a variety of international students and urged seminarians to travel to overseas mission sites and become involved in international mission. This led to the creation of Pittsburgh Seminary’s World Mission Initiative, which she co-founded with Scott Sunquist, then the seminary’s professor of missions. To this day the initiative builds support for world mission in PC(USA) congregations.
Glendora Paul is survived by two sisters, Maggie and Adeline, both in India. A memorial service will be held Dec. 17 at 3:30 p.m. in the John Knox Room of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.