Douglas Coe

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Douglas Evans Coe (born October 20, 1928) is the reclusive leader and "first brother" of The Fellowship also known as The Family,^[1] Coe also has been referred to as the "stealth Billy Graham."^[2] In 2005, Coe was named one of the 25 most influential Evangelicals in the United States by Time magazine.^[3] Although Coe is not an ordained minister,^[4] D. Michael Lindsay, a sociologist at Rice University, surveyed more than 300 top evangelical politicians in Washington and one in three said The Fellowship was one of the most influential Christian groups in the nation's capital. According to Lindsay, "there is no other organization like the Fellowship, especially among religious groups, in terms of its access or clout among the country's leadership."^[5]

[edit] Life

Very little is known about Coe's life and he routinely denies requests for interviews.^[6] He was born and raised in Oregon. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Willamette University.^[7] While enrolled as a college student, Coe met Dean of Men and future Fellowship associate and Senator Mark O. Hatfield. A former banker, Coe became involved with Young Life, a campus youth ministry, in Salem, Oregon, and went on to start a chapter of "Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship" with Roy Cook while enrolled at Willamette University.^[8] Coe and Cook became involved in laymen’s groups of various kinds and helped establish a “fellowship house” in Salem.^[9] They met Dr. Abraham Vereide when he visited Salem and his vision of a "leadership led by God."^[10]

After working with the Navigators, Coe, at the age of 30, joined Vereide at Fellowship House in Washington, D.C. as assistant executive director of the Fellowship, and, in 1969, assumed the role of executive director and "first brother" upon the death of the prayer breakfast movement's leader.^[11][12] As Rev. Richard C. Halverson, the United States Senate Chaplain and one-time executive director of the Fellowship put it, Coe "became the godfather . . . but for good, not for bad."^[6]

Coe is a member of the Planning Committee for the National Student Leadership Forum on Faith and Values.^[13]

[edit] Political influence and private diplomacy

The extent of Coe's influence in American politics is a subject of debate. Nevertheless important figures have acknowledged his role on the national and international stage. For instance, speaking at the 1990 National Prayer Breakfast, President George H.W. Bush praised Coe for his "quiet diplomacy, I wouldn't say secret diplomacy".^[14]

Coe was a behind-the-scenes player at the Camp David Accords in 1978, working with President Jimmy Carter to issue a worldwide call to prayer with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. In 2000, Coe met with top economic officials of Pakistan as a "special envoy" of Fellowship associate Representative Joe Pitts. Coe and President George H.W. Bush hosted luncheon with Iraq's ambassador to the United States in the mid-1980s. In 2001, the Fellowship helped arrange a secret meeting at Cedars between two warring leaders, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, one of the first of a series of discreet meetings between the two African leaders that eventually led to the signing of a peace accord.^[15] Coe was a member of the United States delegation which accompanied then First Lady Hillary Clinton to the 1997 funeral of Mother Theresa.^[16] He is mentioned by John Ortberg in his book "If you want to walk on water you have to get out of the boat" as the pastor of a man, named only as 'Bob', who had great influence on bringing medicine and releasing political prisoners in Kenya.^[17] Coe arranged a meeting between Bob Mitchell, the President of Young Life, and Jay Kesler, the President of Youth for Christ, to a meeting at Fellowship House in Washington, D.C. on July 29, 1980, which led to the formation of Military Community Youth Ministries (MCYM).^[18]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Coe on many occasions as First Lady of the United States. According to NBC News, she participated in a prayer luncheon at The Cedars, the Fellowship's mansion in Arlington, Virginia in February 1993 and met privately with Coe in her West Wing office on December 19, 1997, and a “Meet & Greet with Business Leaders” on Feb. 4, 1998.^[4] Clinton has written that Doug Coe is "a unique presence in Washington: a genuinely loving spiritual mentor and guide to anyone, regardless of party or faith, who wants to deepen his or her relationship with God."^[19] Doug Coe has been referred to as a friend and hero by former Senator and Vice President Al Gore.^[20][21]

In March 2009, Coe was a featured speaker at the Idaho State Prayer Breakfast.^[22][23]

Speakers at the 48th annual Idaho State Prayer Breakfast challenged an audience of more than 600 Saturday to discover Jesus Christ through individual attention, small group fellowships and statewide prayer for leaders.

[Former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus introduced Doug Coe. Andrus said the Camp David accords would not have been accomplished without Coe.]

Doug Coe, the featured speaker, told of how people of all cultures and religious backgrounds can be joined by Jesus' teachings. Coe said small group fellowships have taken place all over the world with communists, atheists, Hindus and Muslims agreeing on the teachings of Jesus.

[For example, at one small group fellowship meeting, Cecil Andrus asked Arthur Burns, a Jew, to speak. Burns prayed,] "Dear God, I pray that all the Jewish people in the world will come to know Jesus. Dear God, I pray that all the Muslims in the world will come to know Jesus. Dear God, I pray that all the Christians in the world will come to know Jesus. Dear God, I pray that everyone in the world will come to know Jesus."

Doug Coe told Saturday's audience: "That's the message for our kids, for our country. Jesus is the answer."

^[24]

[edit] The Coe family

Doug Coe is a descendant of early colonist Robert Coe (1596-1689).^[25][26][27] Coe, the son of Milton Evans and Loda Helene (Davis) Coe, was born October 20, 1928, in Medford, Oregon.^[26] His father, a public schoolteacher, and mother were married December 26, 1923, at Yamhill, Oregon.^[26] His paternal grandfather, Rev. Curtis Pearre Coe, was a Baptist minister and missionary.

When he is not traveling, Coe resides in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife, Janice, in a house located on the grounds of the former Doubleday Mansion, renamed the Cedars. Doug and Janice Coe are the parents of six children,^[7] including David Mark Evans Coe of Edgewater, Maryland; Timothy Stewart Coe of Edgewater, Maryland; Jonathan Coe of Washington, D.C. (died 1985), and Pamela Kay Corder of Leesburg, Virginia. They have 21 grandchildren.^[7] David, Tim, and Paula are all employed by the Fellowship Foundation and/or Wilberforce Foundation, Inc., a sister corporation.

David Coe is a graduate of Ohio Northern University. His wife, Alden, sits on the Global Advisory Council of PlayPumps International, together with Family associates J. Douglas Holladay and Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Claude (Mick) Kicklighter.^[28]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• House of Worship by Lisa Miller, Newsweek, Sep 8, 2009