Revs. Alan and Sally McCain ‘68

Alan McCain and Sally Bliss met as students at Andover Newton in 1964 and after graduation went to Tarsus American College in Tarsus, Turkey, as missionaries of the United Church Board for World Ministries. After ten years, they returned to the US and served churches in VT, NH and MN.

In 1988 they returned to Turkey where Mick became the Mission Secretary. Many ecumenical endeavors marked their time there: the Board of the Near East School of Theology, the Middle East Council of Churches, activities involving Eastern, Armenian, and Syrian Orthodox and Roman Catholic clergy and lay persons. They also ran a hospitality facility called “The Upper Room” which attracted many to the shores of the Bosphorus.

After an earthquake in 1999 Mick was named administrative coordinator of the relief effort through T.A.C.T. (Turkish Action of Churches Together). Sally helped women organize a cooperative to decorate colorful scarves trimmed with distinctive edging called “oya.” The Turkish Scarf Project provided income for the crafters and education courses. They built a women’s center with a library, classroom, kitchen, and playroom.

Mick was coordinator of an ecumenical service of remembrance after the attacks of September 11, 2001. He wrote: “The church was full. For the first time in Istanbul, Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergymen prayed together, took comfort from the holy writings, and gave support to those bereaved…many tongues in that place affirmed the presence of the transcendent God.” He retired as Mission Secretary at the end of 2002.