A TRIBUTE IN MEMORY OF DR. NICHOLAS J. TAVANI

FROM: BOB PANDOLFI, KANSAS CITY, MO.

A FEW EARLIEST MEMORIES THAT I HAVE OF DR. TAVANI ARE AS FOLLOWS:

We both grew up in the “worn – out” city of Camden, New Jersey

When I was about 13 years of age and Dr. Nick was about 18 (a 5-year difference in age to a 13 year old is a lot) Anyway as a 13 year old kid, I looked up to this high school senior for several reasons:

(a) He was on the 1st string squad of Camden High School football team. (that was to be envied)

(b) Nick had a chemistry lab in the basement of his house. He loved chemistry. (and us kids used to call him the “mad chemist.”

(c) Dr. Nick was our Youth Leader at the Italian Christian Church in those early teen-age years.

We looked up to him. He had charisma!!

Then that awful day during World War II, he was inducted into the army. Our young people of the church prayed for him and all the others of our church who were away in the military. Miraculously, they all returned home safely.

If there is any one thing that stands out in my mind about Nick Tavani, it is that he truly had a servant’s heart.
1. He served God faithfully. (He gave it his best)
2. He was loyal to his family.
3. He served his country.
4. He served in many ways the communities wherever he lived.
5. He served the Teen Challenge organization of the Assemblies of God.
6. He served the churches wherever he lived.
7. He served the institutions of higher learning.

I SALUTE MY FRIEND AND FELLOW BROTHER IN CHRIST OF MANY YEARS, DR. N.J. TAVANI

FROM: BOB PANDOLFI, KANSAS CITY, MO.

Regarding My Father and What He Called “The Imbroglio at Green Lane …”

The Pine Crest debacle may never get a proper hearing. What forum would ever be the appropriate one? My father sent a lot a material to the A/G archives, but I doubt that stuff will appear in public in my lifetime if I wait for someone there to do something. However, I have a copy of what my Dad sent them, so I decided to take action myself. I was for a while trying to gather as much material as I could for research into the history of Pentecostal higher education in the Northeast; I had hoped to publish at least a partial overview.

Having discovered some recent correspondence between my father and a couple of former students. I am again motivated to pursue this project. I am trying to take care not to turn this into a personal vendetta, although I have my own personal history with Valley Forge Christian College that complicates such effort.

Bottom line is this - my father managed not to become cynical about the A/G and his faith remained intact. That perseverance on his part has been a major influence on my own manner of coping with the institutional follies which [others] have experienced. I may not have been able to keep the bitterness and anger at bay as well as my father, but my faith in God remains fairly firm.

I was a student at Evangel College (now University, following the recent headlong rush of Pentecostal institutions of higher education to distinguish themselves academically in order to shed the anti-intellectual heritage still clinging odoriferously to the whole movement) when I first heard my father speak about "The Making of a Cynic." He was there at the school to present a series of lectures as a Staley Scholar and I remember trying to attend as many of his appearances as my schedule allowed.

The phrase I most clearly recall is that "faith begins in one's imagination." My father emphasized that the imagination was also the beginning place for cynicism. He compared and contrasted two disciples of Jesus - Judas and Thomas. Both had followed Jesus throughout his entire ministry on earth and were especially chosen to be included in the Twelve. Both saw and heard all Jesus did and taught. Both were given, with the Twelve, authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Both were sent with the others to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. Both were among those whose feet Jesus washed and to whom Jesus gave bread and wine symbolizing his death. Yet one betrayed Jesus while the other proclaimed him Lord and God. Why?

My father, after considering the biblical evidence, concluded that it was a function of faith as filtered through each one's imagination. I will not try to reconstruct the whole of what my father said. My point is to say that I can see in my father's life this same process of faithful imagination guarding him against becoming cynical himself. God knows he had plenty of opportunity to have done otherwise.

I want to speak the truth about how my father remained faithful in the face of institutional perfidy, but I want to speak the truth in love, else my words will just be clanging the cymbals hanging about the hallowed heads of those representing institutional hierarchy. Remembrance requires respect, so I am reconsidering all I know about my father's life and doing so in the context of his steadfastly faithful witness to the wise and loving Lordship of Jesus Christ.

- Craig R. Tavani, August 2006

St. Augustine Sermon 172,1

Of necessity we must be sorrowful
when those whom we love leave us in death.
Although we know that
they have not left us behind forever
but only gone ahead of us,
still
when death seizes our loved one,
our loving hearts are saddened by death itself.
Thus the apostle Paul does not tell us not to grieve
but
“not to give like those who are without hope.”

Let us grieve, therefore,
over the necessity of losing our loved ones in death
but with the hope of being reunited with them.
If we are afflicted,
we still find consolation.
Our weakness weights us down,
but faith bears us up.
We sorrow over the human condition,
but find our healing in the divine promise.

EULOGY Guy BonGiovanni, D. Min.

In the summer of 1947 an enthusiastic young man visited the Italian Christian Church in Niagara Falls, NY. He preached the Word with excellence from the tiniest Bible I had ever seen. He also attempted a solo of “Jesus Rose of Sharon” with a considerably lesser degree of excellence than his preaching. And with his down-to-earth amiable spirit, captured the hearts of all who were present. I was a high school teenager among them. From that time Dr. N. J. Tavani has remained one of my closest friends, my mentor and accountability proctor. As a faithful friend and counselor, he examined every book manuscript I have written, and reviewed for accuracy and kindness every significant letter I wrote during my pastoral and denominational ministry.

Dr. Tavani united me and Esther in marriage in Glad Tidings Tabernacle in NYC in January of 1955. Over the years we spent considerable time in each other’s homes and he is still affectionately regarded as “Uncle Nick” by my children. In fact, just 6 years ago, my wife and children selected him, with Naomi, as the surprise guest speaker at a celebration of my 70th birthday and 50th year of ministry.

If I had an internship at all in ministry, it was during the summer of ’49 while living completely without cost with Dr. Tavani and his Dad in Camden, N.J. At the time, Dr. Tavani was interim Pastor of Broadway Tabernacle, now Cherry Hill Assembly of God. In company with John Albanese and Joe Giunta we broadened our experiences and deepened our maturity with activities both silly and serious, ranging from raiding the swings in the community park at 2 AM to meeting the editorial and production deadlines of the “Light Bearer” magazine of which Dr. Tavani was editor.

The journey of life frequently brought us together in ministry at the Farrell Christian Assembly which I pastored, now Hermitage Assembly of God; at Pine Crest Bible Institute which he served as founding President, in the Italian Branch of the Assemblies of God of which he was the closing General Superintendent; and at the Quarterly Board of Directors’ Meetings at Elim Bible Institute.

My memories of Dr. Tavani are a continuing ministry that prods me “in pursuit of excellence:” Among those who knew him, there seems to be a common consensus that….

· He was brilliant in thought as the accolades of both secular and theological academia attest. His ability was amazing in easily speaking with eloquent simplicity; then just as easily transitioning to more complex “scholoreze” - for example, defining evil as” the tertium quid of two autonomous minds.”

· He was gracious in demeanor. Whether facing domestic or professional challenges, he was consistently unflappable; always responding with patience, grace and an endearing touch of humor. In all the personal dealings, small group dialogue, disciplinary discussions or more sophisticated conference table deliberations in which we participated together -- never did I hear Dr. Tavani express of anyone a demeaning word or an angry spirit. Grace and Truth were his constant companions.

· He was exemplary in friendship. Dr. Tavani knew no strangers. Everyone was a friend. He had no “airs” and demanded no perfection. Often he went out of his way to make sure a stranger in a group was included in its activities. No one was unimportant to him; everyone was valued. Although he mounted the highest pinnacles of academia, and felt comfortable interacting with people in high places, Dr. Tavani never forgot his roots in the row houses of Camden, NJ.

· Profound in his walk with God. No trumpets announced his piety; no pseudo-halos adorned his brow. With Dr. Tavani, “what you saw is what you got.” No masks, make-up or mannerisms of religiosity for him! He just lived the Jesus life without fanfare in the sacred and secular arenas.

Each day, by presence and proclamation, for example, he quietly soothed the suffering of one of our own VFCC alumni, dying in a hospital with intolerable pain. His unbelievable insight released from the prison-house of grief,a denominational official who suffered the loss of his beautiful young daughter. And when suffering knocked on the door of his own family, he knew how to walk the “Calvary Road” with strong confidence. With him real faith must work in real life.
He once remarked that our Faith sometimes is like “a one-sided dollar bill” – strong in the verbal manifestations but weak in touching lives. He concluded by saying what I’m sure will resonate in all of us, “Guy, we need a new Pentecost.”

Today we have gathered to pay tribute to one who was
♦ Brilliant in Thought;
♦ Gracious in Demeanor;
♦ Exemplary in Friendship, and
♦ Profound in his walk with God.

We are grateful for his ministry, indebted for his manhood, and salute his memory.
He was, indeed, a man.
But more importantly,
he was a special man of God.

Thank you, dear friend, for a legacy of Brilliance, Grace, Friendship & Devotion. Our paths have crossed; and we are better for it. We will miss you!

- Guy BonGiovanni, D. Min., 9/2/06

My Father Fell Asleep

July 15, 2006

My brother called and told me he was deep in a study of the Thessalonian epistles. He emphasized how Paul wrote to comfort the church regarding those who had died. “… we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.”

My father fell asleep today. My mother was with him, the two of them having just arrived home together.

I am content concerning these circumstances – I’ve been waiting for this call for some while. Christine and I were on the way to see a movie when the call came; we continued on to see it. Vincent called me after Nick informed him and told me that he, too, was content. Marcus, with Stephen when they heard the news, sounded like he was coping well. Sonia will have to wait until the morning before we can tell her about Grandpop. Joey Pandolfi called me, because he already knew! Mom has people with her and Stephen will soon be there as well.

Plans are in place for cremation – that is according to my father’s stated wish. Then we’ll have to figure out the other things to do.

I am the third son of Nicholas John Tavani, Sr. He has departed to be with Christ. I remain. To live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Regarding the Passing From Death to Life Eternal of Nicholas John Tavani, 1925-2006

The Reverend Doctor Nicholas John Tavani, Sr., 81, died peacefully at home in Altadena, California, on July 15, 2006. With him at the time of death was his beloved wife, Naomi J. Tavani (née Spinosi), a retired management consultant who pioneered specialization in consulting medical professionals. This past June 24th they celebrated 55 years of marriage, modeling for many the meaning of love of husband and wife.

With his wife, Dr. Tavani had three sons.

The oldest, Dr. Nicholas J. Tavani, Jr., is a family physician living in Haymarket, VA, with his wife, Donna, and their six sons – Nicholas, Michael, Stephen, Daniel, Matthew, and Jonathan. Their second son is Stephen D. Tavani, a dynamic urban missionary living in Altadena, CA with his wife, Linda, and their two daughters – Sierra and Nicola. The youngest son, Craig R. Tavani, is a consultant in human services living in Phoenixville, PA with his wife, Tine, and their three children – Vincent, Marcus, and Sonia.

A Clinical Sociologist specializing in Marriage and the Family,

Dr. Tavani lectured and wrote extensively, particularly on the subject of love as a multi-splendored tetra-compound phenomenon. He was associate professor emeritus at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, having taught sociology there from 1969 when he came to develop the school’s sociology program until his retirement in 2000; with Dr. Rutledge M. Dennis, he created the Tau Chapter of Alpha Kappa Delta Sociology Honor Society at George Mason University. Throughout his tenure at George Mason, the primary course taught by Dr. Tavani was “Marriage and the Family;” the class, attracting approximately 200 students per year, was offered every semester, sometimes twice, and was always oversubscribed with a waiting list of from five to fifteen students. Prior to his time at George Mason, he taught at the College Park campus of the University of Maryland while completing his Masters and Doctoral degrees from 1965 to 1969.

During the Second World War, he served in the US Army Chemical Warfare Service from 1943-1946. Following what he considered a distinct call to ministry, he chose, upon completion of military service, to study sociology instead of continuing a career in his childhood passion, chemistry.

Sociology made him keenly aware

of the impact social groups had

upon individuals and their behavior.

Understanding the dynamics of interpersonal relationships

would be essential to comprehend

the practical function of the Body of Christ.

In 1951, following his graduation from Temple University, he entered the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Philadelphia. He then embarked on his academic career teaching at Eastern Bible Institute in Green Lane, Pennsylvania, where he also served as the Dean of Men. There he began his life-long passion for teaching the Gospel and Letters of John.

Dr. Tavani left EBI in 1959

to serve as President of Pine Crest Bible Institute

(duly chartered as

an accredited post-secondary institution of higher learning

with the Italian Branch of the Assemblies of God

in Salisbury Center, NY)

until its merger with EBI in 1962 to become Northeast Bible College,

now Valley Forge Christian College in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania;

in 1971, he chaired the committee that recommended

that the college be authorized to grant degrees in Pennsylvania.

An ordained minister with the Assemblies of God,

he served as the final District Superintendent

in the Italian District of the Assemblies of God

before its merger with the greater fellowship in 1989.

He also served from 1971-73 as coordinator of the Washington Program for Evangel University, Springfield, MO, in which students came to the nation's capital for January-term studies on government decision-making processes. As an adjunct Professor for Trinity Seminary’s distant education program from 1992 until after retirement, Dr. Tavani also advised a number of doctoral students in research methods.

Community and professional activities include Presiding Elder of Clinton Community Church in Maryland, and trusted counselor to many area pastors of various denominations; political activist, participating as a pro-life Republican in predominately Democratic southern Prince Georges County, Maryland, from 1963-2000; organizing new Parent-Teacher Associations in two schools, one newly integrated, 1968-1972; 25 years as President, Board of Directors, Teen Challenge of Washington, D.C., then of Maryland.

Two sisters survive Dr. Tavani: Lucy Perozzi in Cherry Hill, NJ, and Molly Sprechini in Wilkes-Barre, PA; he was preceded in death by his father, Vincenzo, and mother, Maria; by his brother, George, and three other sisters, Louise Natal, Mary Brownell, and Mamie Marinacci.

Immigrating in 1919

from Chieuti, an Arberesh Albanian enclave in Italy,

to settle in Camden, NJ

(where Nick was born on June 22, 1925),

his Roman Catholic family experienced conversion

through Baptist and Pentecostal missions.

This profoundly influenced

his lifelong ministry to the whole Body of Christ.

Other professional activities and memberships include: the Board of Directors, Elim Bible Institute, 1972-89, then Special Counsel to the President 1989-2006; Board of Trustees/Directors, Pine Grove Camp, 1946-55; Board of Directors, Valley Forge Christian College, 1963-1967; The American Scientific Affiliation, full member, 1965-2006; The Christian Sociological Society, charter member, 1992-2006; American Association of Christian Counselors, charter member, 1997-2006; The Howard Center, member; National Council on Family Relations, member. Honors and recognitions include: Bausch and Lomb Honorary Science Award, 1943; Dr. William H. Seip Award in Chemistry, 1943; Pi Gamma Mu – National Social Science Honorary Society, 1949; Seminary Award in New Testament Exegesis, 1953; Alpha Kappa Delta – National Sociology Honor Society, 1965; Dissertation Fellowship, University of Maryland, 1968; Commendation in the Congressional Record, April 22, 1971; Phi Kappa Phi – National Graduate Honor Society, 1969; Order of the Golden Shield (in lieu of an honorary doctorate), Evangel University, 1971; College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award “For Services Beyond Usual Expectations,” George Mason University, May 29, 1990.