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ELFAN REES 1906-1978

a.k.a. Elvan and Elfan ap Rees

'''B.A.. M.A. Oxford, D.D.'''

SEE SCILLA ELWORTHY FOR MODEL

Elfan Rees, a minister of the Welsh Congregational Church, devoted most of his life to the ecumenical movement and cause of refugees, migrants and displaced people as a staff member of the World Council of Churches. He was a leading figure among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) associated with the newly-formed United Nations from 1947. From the shortly after the formation of the in promoting the creation of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He was appointed Director of the Refugee Division of the Department of Relief and Reconstruction of the World Council of Churches (in process of formation) (WCC) in early 1947, and served as representative in Europe of its Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) for 27 years at WCC headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. In that capacity he was instrumental in the early efforts to organize NGOs in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). They chose him to chair their International Committee for World Refugee Year (ICWRY) 1959-1960. His passionate and eloquent sermons, speeches, books and articles on the plight of refugees were described by many as unforgettable. They mobilized not only international public opinion but also critical financial resources for the UNHCR’s programs to aid displaced and uprooted victims of war and armed conflicts. The 1963 UNHCR award to the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) of the prestigious Nansen Medal for service to refugees was seen by many (including the High Commissioner himself) to be the fruit of Rees’s tireless devotion and leadership. With his flowing moustache and ever-present pipe he was an inimitable, unmistakable and unavoidable figure present at the UN General Assembly in New York, at diplomatic meetings in the Palais des Nations in Geneva, and at summit meetings there and in Paris and Berlin, as well as at ecumenical ane UN conferences around the world – from Vienna to Beirut to New Delhi, Naples, Stockholm and points in between – for three decades.

'''Childhood

University Years

Family

Ministry and Social Service in Wales

Engagement with IRO in the Balkans and Czechoslovakia

Beginnings at the World Council of Churches in Geneva

Organizing an effective NGO relationship with the United Nations

The Commission of the Churches on International Affairs

Palestine

Korean Relief and Reconstruction

World Refugee Year

The changing of the guard at the WCC

The Stockholm Conference on the Environment

Visiting Fellow at UNITAR ''' Childhood Elfan Rees was born in Brecon (Wales) U.K, on 26 February 1906, the second of six children (four sons and one daughter) of Thomas Rees, who had worked his way up from humble beginnings amidst poor Welsh farmers and coal miners to become a highly admired Welsh theologian and academic, and Charlotte Davies, the daughter of respected Welsh auctioneer, Michael Davies. Father Thomas was an accomplished scholar (B.A., Oxford; M.A., Ph.D. London), Principal of the Bala-Bangor Congregational Theological College in Bangor, Wales and Dean of the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Wales, and a notable pacifist and conscientious objector. A kind but forbidding man, his children had a very minimal experience of him and of family life. They were raised by a beloved nanny and sent off to boarding schools at a young age, Elfan to the Friars School, in Bangor, North Wales.

University Years It was a foregone conclusion that Elfan would follow his father to Oxford where he was admitted by Jesus College and matriculated on 10 October 1925 as a promising young academic following in his father’s footsteps. He admired greatly and respected his famous father, but did not have his single-minded scholarly inclinations. Elfan had diverse interests. His academic aims soon gave way to more active social and physical pursuits. He became president of the Oxford Cambrian Union. He joined the Oxford University Mountaineering Club and was apparently considered for a British Everest climbing mission. He was made Captain of the Boats of Jesus College and Bowman of the Oxford B Trial Eight rowing crew. He did, however, manage to fulfill the basic academic requirements of Jesus College before passing on to Mansfield College at Oxford were prospective ministers of “non-conformist” churches, including the Congregational Church provided theological training leading to ordination. There he established a reputation as a gifted preacher but somewhat middling scholar. Eager to “get on with things,” he had located a parish prepared to accept him on his graduation and though he had not managed to complete the required examinations he was allowed to accept the call in 1929from Zion Congregational Church, Frome, Somerset (U.K.) to serve as its Pastor. His first sermons were quoted extensively in the local paper including one entitled, “Frome Minister’s Plain Speaking.” .