We have received word from the Cathedral of St. James in South Bend, IN that the Rev. Canon Leonel L. Mitchell, Professor Emeritus of Seabury Western, died Wednesday afternoon in South Bend. He was a Professor Church History and Liturgy at Seabury Western from 1978 to 2005. He was well known as the author of Praying Shapes Believing, published by Morehouse Publishing in 1991. Dean Brian Grantz, St. James' Cathedral Rector, wrote:
Greetings, Sisters and Brothers in Christ.
The Rev. Canon Leonel Mitchell, theologian, teacher, pastor, and friend, died this afternoon following a brief illness. Canon Mitchell was known to many from his days teaching liturgy at Seabury Western and the University of Notre Dame, to many more whose liturgical education required "Praying Shapes Believing," and to all of us, knowingly or not, through his work on the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. It has been my great honor to serve with him at the Cathedral of Saint James in South Bend these past four years.
Please keep his wife, Beverly, in your prayers, as well as his children, David and Anne, and their families.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
