Global Ministries is Saddened to Learn of the Death of Rev. Kenneth Robert Ziebell
The Rev. Kenneth R. Ziebell passed away on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Ken was born on August 18, 1933 in Harvey Illinois, near Chicago. When Ken was 5, he and his parents moved to Indianapolis, Indiana. His father Harry served as accountant for Public Service Indiana and Ken’s mother Viola was a home maker along with extensive volunteer church work.
Ken graduated from Short Ridge High School as class valedictorian in 1950 at age 17, having skipped a grade in primary school. While in high school, Ken considered a career in journalism but felt that God had other plans for him. He embarked on what was known at the time as “the three E’s”: Elmhurst, Eden, and Eternity.
Ken graduated from Elmhurst College in 1954 and that summer took a life-changing trip to Europe and the Middle East which would impact how and where he would carry out his ministry. That fall, Ken entered Eden Seminary and graduated in 1957. He was ordained that September in his home church, Zion UCC in Indianapolis.
Perhaps due to eye-opening experiences overseas, Ken realized he did not want to become a church pastor at that time so instead he and his wife Marian returned to Elmhurst College where he taught Greek and theology for 3 years. In 1960, he received a call to be the pastor of the Vienna Community Church in Austria where he served from 1960 to 1965. Members of his congregation included English-speaking expatriates and students. It was during this time that Ken and Marian adopted Martin and Joan. Living in Vienna left an imprint on Ken and Marian through the close friends, language and culture (and skiing!) they took with them throughout their subsequent lives.
To broaden connections to the Orthodox Church, the UCC offered scholarships to clergy to study at an Orthodox School of Theology. Ken was accepted into this program and moved to Belgrade with his family where Ken enrolled in the Theology Faculty of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1965. Ken wrote his doctoral dissertation in Serbian, a language he learned to complete his degree. However, in his oral examination, one thesis committee member rejected his work to receive a degree because apparently he had not sufficiently learned old Serbian, the language of the Serbian Bible.
In addition to his studies, he served as pastor within a group of Reformed, Lutheran, Methodist churches. He also assumed leadership in the Church World Service/ Lutheran Relief group and toward the end of his tenure, helped form the Ecumenical Council of Churches of Yugoslavia.
In 1968, Ken and his family, now with infant, Michael, moved to East Jerusalem where he took the position of Special Representative for Service with the World Council of Churches’ Division Inter-Aid for Refugees. Ken oversaw the educational and vocational programs offered to the refugees in Palestine, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. In 1970 the family moved to Nicosia, Cyprus because Ken found it difficult to travel outside of Israel to visit the various Palestinian refugee camps. In 1974 -75 Ken found his work expanded after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus caused the fleeing of Greek nationals to the southern part of the island. As Executive Secretary of the Service Department of the Middle East Council of Churches he expanded the program to include service to some 20,000 Greek Cypriots.
In 1977, Ken became the Director of the Ayia Napa Conference Center in Cyprus. The ecumenical community of Orthodox and Protestant churches were seeking a place where the clergy of the Middle East could gather for conferences and meetings. A medieval convent/monastery in the village of Ayia Napa, situated on the southeast coast of Cyprus, was available and Ken served as Director until 1982. During that time, he oversaw the restoration of the buildings and the building of a residence with rooms that had porches that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea.
In 1982, Ken returned to the United States and began the position with the Board of World Ministries (now Global Ministries) as Area Executive for the Churches in Europe and the Middle East. Ken was a great believer that if people got to know one another, then the misunderstanding and animosities would resolve. From 1983 to 1992 Ken conducted Study/Dialogue Tours almost yearly. Participants included youth groups, lay and clergy groups. They would travel to Eastern Europe, – East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia including Russia and meet with area clergy, church leaders and laity. With the last 2 tours, Ken used a wheelchair. He had done a previous tour with a walker after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Ken retired from his position with the Board of Global Ministries in 1997 and served as a consultant to the Board until 2001. In 1998, Ken received an honorary Doctorate in Divinity from Elmhurst University.
In 2001, Ken moved to Boston, Massachusetts to live with his son, Michael. In 2003, Ken met Linda Jennings and they were married in 2005. Ken attended First Church, Cambridge where he served as editor of their monthly newsletter and on the Discernment and Formation Committee which mentored those seeking ordination. Ken is survived by his beloved wife, Linda, two sons, Michael and Martin, and predeceased daughter, Joan, two stepchildren, Laura and Luke, seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
Donations may be made in Ken’s honor to one of these organizations: