Rev. James Arthur "Jim" Stillman

Rev. James Arthur "Jim" Stillman September 20, 1943 – September 11, 2025
Rev. James Arthur "Jim" Stillman, 81, a devoted husband, father, minister, teacher, and advocate for peace and justice, passed away peacefully at his home in Jamaica Plain on September 11, 2025, after an eight-year journey with Alzheimer's disease.
Born on September 20, 1943, in Ord, Nebraska, Jim was the second son of Edgar Eugene Stillman (farmer) and Eveleen Duryea Stillman (farm wife, cafe owner). He grew up on the family farm near Scotia, Nebraska, where his love for community, nature, and storytelling first took root. Jim often reflected on those formative years in poems that evoked the sounds of farm life and the enduring warmth of a family home.
A graduate of North Loup-Scotia High School, Jim went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1966. He began his Master of Theology at Boston University in 1967, where he met his life partner, Ann Bently Colcock. They were married in September 1968 and shared 57 years of love and partnership.
Together, Jim and Ann lived a life of activism and purpose that took them from Boston to Germany, where Jim studied theology with a focus on Christian-Marxist dialogue and holocaust studies. While in Germany Jim counseled U.S. service personnel and conscientious objectors during the Vietnam War, drawing the attention and ire of US Army intelligence. Jim would go on to be very active in the antiwar, nuclear disarmament, and anti-death penalty movements for the rest of his life. He was a founding member for Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty (https://www.nadp.net/)and the nuclear non-proliferation group Nebraskans for Peace (https://www.nebraskansforpeace.org/).
Their first child was born in Mainz Germany in 1971, and after returning to the U.S. in 1972, Jim completed his theological studies at Boston University. Jim, Ann, and their infant son Christopher moved to Tilden Nebraska in 1972, and in 1974 they adopted their 3-month daughter Annick. He was ordained into the United Methodist ministry in 1974.
Jim served congregations in Nebraska, beginning at Faith United Methodist Church in Tilden and later Oakdale. He went on to serve as Chaplain at Nebraska Wesleyan University and later at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and pastor at First United Methodist Church in Lincoln and Kearney. In his ministry, Jim expanded the chaplaincy role to embrace all students, pioneering the first LGBTQ support group on campus, organizing trips abroad, and guiding countless young people through their journeys of faith, justice, and personal discovery. This often brought him at odds to more conservative elements of the campus and church administrations.
In 1993, Jim and Ann moved to the Boston area, where he continued to serve as an interim minister in several congregations. Always curious and engaged, he attended lectures, joined social action demonstrations, and even drove a Boston taxi on the night shift "for the fun of it and for the love of people."
Throughout his life, Jim was guided by his principals and by the examples of leaders he deeply admired, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Congressman John Lewis, Nelsen Mendela, Elie Wiesel, and James Luther Adams just to name a few. He believed in "getting into good trouble, necessary trouble" in the pursuit of peace and justice.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Gregory Eugene Stillman. He is survived by his wife Ann; his children Christopher and Annick, their spouses Erin and Robert, and his grandchildren- Benjamin Robert and Owen James, as well as a legacy of countless students, parishioners, and friends whose lives he touched with compassion, wisdom, and humor.
Jim was never a conventional person of faith, in fact, throughout a lot of his life he was known to push back on the direction the church or organized religion in general was trending. Jim was constantly questioning his faith, poking it, prodding it; he saw it more as a guide than a rule to the moral dilemmas of our modern age. It could change, sometimes he was a force for that change. We, his family, will love his memory and miss his presence in our lives, forever.
A service celebrating Jim's life will be held at First Parish Dorchester in Dorchester, MA on the 25th of October, 2025 from 1-3pm. Email familiastillman@gmail.com for links to join the service page via video. In lieu of flowers, the family invites donations to organizations supporting Alzheimer's research or social justice (https://www.aclu.org/) causes that honor Jim's lifelong commitments.
"Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble" -John Lewis