Former Candler faculty member Richard Bondi died on August 24. Bondi served as Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics at Candler from 1984 to 1997. Professor Emeritus in the Practice of Historical Theology and Wesleyan Studies Rex D. Matthews shares this tribute.
Dr. Richard John Bondi, age 72, passed away on Saturday, August 24, 2024, at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Richard was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 26, 1951, and raised by August and Catherine Bondi, his adoptive parents, from the age of six months. He attended St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, graduating in 1969. A classmate, recalling those years, said: “I always thought of Richard as a thinker. For some reason, I have an image in my mind of William Buckley, not because of any political leaning but the way Richard would tilt his head while listening in class and the thoughtful comments he’d make.”
Richard received his BA degree from Oberlin College in 1973 and his MA degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1977. From 1977 to 1979 he served as an Instructor in Theology at Marquette University while engaged in doctoral studies at Notre Dame, where his advisor was Stanley Hauerwas. As anyone who knows both of them will understand, there must have been something of an “odd couple” dynamic in their relationship. Richard shared his mentor’s interest in character and virtue ethics but not his proclivity for the use of “colorful language.”
Richard joined his wife, Roberta Bondi, in Atlanta after their marriage in April 1979. Roberta had been appointed to a tenure-track faculty position at Candler in 1978—the first woman ever to hold such an appointment. In the fall of 1979, Candler had the good sense to take advantage of Richard’s abilities—and his availability—by appointing him to the faculty as Visiting Professor of Christian Ethics. Richard finished his dissertation and received his PhD degree from Notre Dame in 1981, and in 1984 Candler named him Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics.
My wife, Carol Newsom, was the second woman to be appointed to a tenure-track faculty position at Candler. When Carol and I arrived in Atlanta in early 1980, Richard and Roberta welcomed us into their home and their circle of friends with their characteristic graciousness and generosity. It’s difficult to believe that our friendship has spanned more than four decades.
I became the first manager of Candler’s Cokesbury Bookstore when it opened in the fall of 1980. Candler created a hybrid position for me with a portfolio of part-time teaching and part-time bookstore management. In 1985 I was invited to swap the bookstore management part of my position for editorial work in the academic publishing program of Abingdon Press. That meant finding another manager for the bookstore.
Fortunately for everyone, Richard was willing to step into that role, so he became Candler’s second bookstore manager, a position that he held until 1991, in addition to his continuing service as a faculty member. During those years Richard developed what became his signature classes at Candler, titled “Character, Story and Christian Ethics” and “The Ministry as Moral Leader.” The latter formed the basis for his still valuable book, Leading God’s People: Ethics for the Practice of Ministry (Abingdon Press,1989). All this contributed to charting the course of his career change to pastoral counseling beginning in 1991.
Richard became a Fellow of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC) in 1997 and spent the rest of his professional career as director of the Emmanuel Center for Pastoral Counseling at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta. His many gifts as a counselor and therapist included his curiosity, his wit, his intelligence, his empathy, and his ability to engage with a wide variety of people. He could hold so much in awareness. He loved being with people as they shared their stories in the safe space that he provided and supporting them as they worked to manage or resolve challenging situations. Hundreds of people benefited from his wisdom and insight over the almost three decades he was there.
My life intersected with Richard’s in many ways through the years, both at work and at play. We also shared the medical adventure of prostate cancer surgery, in which Richard helped to guide me based on his own prior experience. There are so many good stories and precious memories! One small story will have to suffice here.
In the early 1980s, Richard and Roberta acquired a two-person canoe and took up fishing. One day when Roberta was otherwise occupied, Richard invited me to join him on a trip to Stone Mountain Lake. Richard had ultra-light spinning gear which was more suited to the conditions of the day than mine, and during the morning he caught three or four fish to my one. After lunch the wind died down and I was able to get out my fly rod, and the catch ratio between us quickly reversed. Richard had never touched a fly rod before, and asked if he could give mine a try. He very quickly figured out how to cast it, clearly enjoyed using it, and caught fish with it. Just a few months later, he had finished building his own bamboo fly rod by hand and was tying his own flies.
That was so Richard! He never did anything by half-measure. When he took to something, like photography in his later years, it was with full commitment. As his obituary notice said,
Richard was a man of immense curiosity. He pursued all of his myriad interests, such as fly fishing, camping, cooking, pocket knives, and photography, with pure passion and enthusiasm. His passions led him to be an avid reader on all of his favorite subjects, leading to mastery of many of them.
When word of Richard’s sudden and unexpected death began to spread, reactions poured in from all sides. Beth Corrie, a former student of Richard’s who is now herself a member of the Candler faculty, wrote this:
I am deeply saddened to hear of Richard’s passing. I was one of the lucky ones who got to take a class with him while he was teaching at Candler. Richard introduced me to two things: (1) the Enneagram (before it was cool), and (2) the music of Leonard Cohen (which was never not cool). In sharing the former, he introduced me to a lifelong tool for spiritual and personal growth, and in sharing the latter, he modeled for me what it means to be a creative teacher willing to be oneself in the classroom. Both were immeasurable gifts for which I am grateful.
Another former student recalled that Richard’s office door at Candler held a quotation from the lyrics of Leonard Cohen’s Anthem:
Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.
Because of this, she said, “I always knew he was a safe harbor and am grateful for his living and loving so beautifully.” And another former student said this:
There was always something about Richard Bondi’s presence and spirit that provided brave space for me to explore and question what was previously unquestionable. I am forever grateful for his impact on me. His “Character, Story and Christian Ethics” class was foundational. Thank you, Richard, for guiding me into a deeper understanding of being love in this world.
Candler’s Don Saliers wrote this:
Richard was one of a kind: wonderfully intelligent in several ways, generous in his friendship, always interesting, a fine teacher, and a beautiful counterpoint in marriage to Roberta. And he knew both books and the ways of humanity! . . . I am very grateful to have known him.
Ah, Richard! How I, and so many others, will miss you—your wit and humor, your kindness and courtesy, your knowledge about so many things, your compassion, your courage, your gentle strength. Farewell, old friend, until a hoped-for reunion “upon another shore and in a greater light.”
Photos courtesy of the Candler Archives and Rex D. Matthews