KELLER, JAMES G.

Founder of The christophers; b. Oakland, California, June 27, 1900; d. New York City, Feb. 7, 1977. Educated in public schools and for seven years at St. Patrick's Seminary, Menlo Park, California he joined Maryknoll in September of 1921. Most of his studies during the major seminary years were at The Catholic University of America (bachelor of sacred theology, 1924, and master of arts, 1925). He was a member of the Maryknoll class of 1925 and was ordained on Aug. 15, 1925 at his parish church, St. Francis de Sales in Oakland. He founded The Christophers in 1945 out of the conviction that each person can do something, with God's help, to change the world for the better. The name "Christopher" taken from the Greek meaning "Christ-bearer," sums up the missionary character of the movement.

Tirelessly Keller proclaimed the Christopher ideal that "everyone can change the world" by stimulating others to show personal responsibility and individual initiative in raising the standards of all phases of human endeavor. He stressed in particular those fields of influence that affect the common good of all—government, education, labor-management relations, literature and entertainment. His book, You Can Change the World, published in 1948, was a best seller. To bring the message of positive, constructive action to the widest audience possible, he launched Christopher News Notes — published seven times a year, sent gratis to 750,000 persons; weekly radio and television programs; a one-minute inspirational radio spot broadcast daily; a yearly Christopher book; a daily newspaper column called "Three Minutes a Day"; and the Christopher Awards—in recognition of writers, producers, and directors in literature, motion pictures, and television whose works attest to the highest values of the human spirit. To accentuate the positive as the Christopher objective, he adopted as the Christopher motto the Chinese proverb, "Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness"; the Prayer of St. Francis as the Christopher Prayer; and stressed the biblical injunction from St. Paul, "Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12.21). A man of prayer, great hope and vision, he was consumed with the idea of reaching as many people as he could in his lifetime with the love and truth of Christ. A victim of Parkinson's Disease, he retired as director of The Christophers in 1969, but remained as consultant up until the last year of his life.

Bibliography: j. g. keller, To Light a Candle; The Autobiography of James Keller, Founder of the Christophers (New York, 1963).

[the christophers/eds.]