Walter Cronkite, who died Friday at age 92, was an American anchor in more ways than one. But in 1994, the Episcopalian gave a wide-ranging interview to The Christian Century on the faith that anchored him.
It seems the man who pioneered broadcast news once pondered the Episcopal priesthood, while working as a newspaper church editor.
“For a short while, I thought about entering the ministry,” said Cronkite. “But that was a short while. Journalism prevailed.”
Cronkite also spoke of his Lutheran turned Presbyterian roots in Kansas City, and his father’s later involvement with the Unitarian Church in Houston.
“I attended that for a couple years until I got into a Boy Scout troop that met in an Episcopal church,” he said. “The church had a wonderful minister who was also the scoutmaster. And I suppose you can say he proselytized me. At any rate, I was much involved with the church, and became an Episcopalian–and an acolyte.”
While the nation mourns the icon, his family is planning a private service at St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City, where he was a member.
Billy Graham issued a statement on Friday, calling Cronkite “one of the closet friends I had in journalism.”