September 16, 2024

Science, Skepticism, and Wisdom

Science should be a quest to discover truth. Christian faith means following the one who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This pair of facts defines the life…

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My Deconstruction Turned to Deconversion. But God Wasn’t Anxious.

Taste and See If the Show is Good

A Pastor’s Wife Was Murdered. God Had Prepared Him for It.

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November 11, 2024

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“Teach Them to Thrive.” How Local Innovation Fights Poverty.

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Vets in Ministry Won’t Retreat from the Military’s Suicide Crisis

Pastor Josh Holler says his US Marine Corps regiment had a saying: Suffer in silence. Holler, who deployed twice to Iraq, served with men who had the phrase tattooed into…

When Deities Promise Answers to Dating and Money Woes

As a first grader, I had the same daily after-school routine. I had a five-minute walk past bustling skyscrapers and scooters crowding the streets of downtown Taipei, Taiwan, to my…

Space Force Hymn Lifts Prayer to the Heavens

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Power Without Integrity Destroys Us

In 1874, Robert B. Elliott, one of South Carolina’s first Black attorneys and congressmen, left Washington, DC, and took a trip home to Columbia to address some serious concerns. The…

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I was nine years old and sitting exactly four rows from the front, and I felt incredibly small and fragile before such weighty words. They conjured an image of a stern deity, someone impatient with my restless squirming in the stiff wooden pew. This god would tut-tut at my desire to dance down the aisles and disdainfully shake his head at my ink-stained hands, blue-black from drawing on my bulletin.

I spent most of my childhood within Christian fundamentalism, supposing that God was like the preachers who shouted angrily at us each Sunday, with graying hair and ill-fitting suits and trembling voices expressing deep heartbreak over our hell-bound state. At best, the god I’d come to know was distant and disapproving. At worst, he was terrifyingly capricious and violence-prone.

At 15, when I began struggling with a severe eating disorder, I asked hard questions, pushing back on unsatisfying answers about the supposed hope that Christ offered. But questions were not especially welcome in a religious system predicated on having tightly controlled, black-and-white answers to the world’s problems.

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Doubt Is a Ladder, Not a Home

Brad East

My experience launched me down the path of what many would term “deconstruction,” though the word was not yet popular at the time. In my life, deconstruction was a commitment to finding something that could satisfy what I craved: a better word for the suffering and pain in this world.

Like many fellow questioners at that time, I read books like Blue Like Jazz and Velvet Elvis and followed Rachel Held Evans’s blog religiously. During my time in a Methodist campus ministry, I found breathing room in a belief system that did not claim to have all the answers and that allowed me to care about people on the margins of society. But ultimately, this new faith system fell short. It broadened my compassion for humanity, but it did not satisfy my core longing.

My current pastor speaks of God’s non-anxiousness about our journeys, which allows us to be non-anxious with other people in our lives. I mention this as a caution, because the next part of my story is what so many fear for their loved ones who are deconstructing.

The day I started graduate school, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that my belief system no longer included Jesus. I sat in my car in the driveway of my new Nashville home and wept, knowing how many people I was letting down. I wanted so badly to believe, even if solely for their sake, but I couldn’t. My deconstruction had turned to deconversion.

As I processed my grief over a faith renounced, I started attending a synagogue on Friday nights for Shabbat services. I found solace in Hebrew liturgy that I could barely understand as I sought a God I wasn’t entirely sure existed. Over the course of the next year, I studied alongside a rabbi and began to observe Jewish holidays. Before long, I had fully converted to Reform Judaism, where I remained for three full years before Jesus interrupted my life.

My non-anxious and faithfully Christian friend Anne called me on an average Wednesday afternoon. Without realizing it, she broke something open within me around the person of Jesus. There was nothing earth-shattering about our video call in a Starbucks parking lot. Anne did not attempt to convert me, and I did not bring up Jesus. Instead, she respectfully shared her beliefs, which included how Jesus had moved in her journey.

This kind of sharing was nothing unusual. Typically, I would smile politely while maintaining my differences. When I hung up on this occasion, though, I realized I was weeping. As I swiped at the salty tears streaming down my face, I could not rationally explain what was happening. It seemed like my very cells were responding to something so deep it had bypassed my intellectual armor.

I spent the following three days researching and reading about Jesus, trying to figure out why I suddenly could not shake him. I spent countless hours scouring library bookshelves looking for stories like mine, stories of pain and God-seeking and wandering the desert of various belief systems to find some semblance of peace. I kept hoping these books would tell me what to do when Jesus interrupts someone’s life without warning. I hoped this insistent pull was merely a fluke, or a craving that I could satisfy by reading enough books or listening to enough podcasts. But it wouldn’t let up. The resolution I craved was a person, and that person was chasing me down.

Honestly, I was angry. “I think I’m pretty settled on this topic!” I would yell to no one in particular, gesturing to my Star of David necklace. But the pull inexplicably remained.

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Faith Deconstruction Can Be a Search for Answers or a Search for Exits

Travis Dickinson

On a Friday night in December a few years ago, I sat in a small closet in my Alabama apartment, hugging my legs to my chest. There, I encountered the living God. This was not the aggressive blinding light that Paul met on the road to Damascus. Nor was it a heady theological argument to convince me that Jesus is God. Instead, it was a quiet but insistent knowing, a lifting of the veil to see that Jesus was the same God who had been seeking me out over the years. He came tenderheartedly, like a compassionate shepherd scooping up a wounded, battered sheep and holding her close to his heart.

The richness and depths of theological understanding only came after. It was many months before I began to grasp the beauty of the grand story of God’s work to make all things new. But in the moment of encountering Jesus in my closet, I was aware that I needed to embrace him and that my life was wholly bound up with his.

The next six months were lonely. I told no one in my life about meeting Jesus because I knew the response would be mixed. I snuck out of my shared apartment each Sunday morning to attend church services. Most weeks, I ran to the bathroom mid-service, suffering panic attacks when a word or phrase brought back the voices of my childhood pastors.

Encountering the biblical God did not bring my life ease, and it cost me multiple communities and friendships. But the more I beheld the person of Jesus—the Second Person of the Trinity, not a stained-glass caricature—the more I knew he was worth selling everything I owned to follow.

I have always sought a faith of substance, something that could come against the powers of evil in this world and not be shaken or knocked over. I wanted a better story that could truly speak to humanity’s cry for justice with a clear, strong voice. I wanted good news that was good news, not bland moralism or fragile hope.

In Jesus, I have finally found the answer I sought over the years—or rather, I should say that he found me. In him, I’ve learned that God is not a fearful, trigger-happy deity. Nor is he a bland deity with nothing to say to the evil in the world, like the narratives I heard in spaces of deconstruction. Instead, he loves his people so much that he refuses to abandon them to inevitable destruction, giving his very self to bring us back to life.

If God can pursue me over decades, patiently meet me in moments of seeming godlessness, and ultimately resurrect my heart in a cramped closet, then I can trust him to be alive in the spiritual journeys of others who seem far off from him. If God can bring me to see Jesus in a sudden moment of conversion, then maybe my sight and imagination are simply limited when I despair. My story screams of God’s long-game redemptive work that was out of sight for so long.

I hold Jesus to be the answer, and the most beautiful one that exists. But if you cannot yet affirm that beauty, I trust that God is not anxious about you. Therefore, I am not either.

Lindsay Holifield is a writer and artist living in Birmingham.

The post My Deconstruction Turned to Deconversion. But God Wasn’t Anxious. appeared first on Christianity Today.

Yo tenía nueve años y estaba sentada exactamente en la cuarta fila del santuario, y recuerdo haberme sentido increíblemente pequeña y frágil al escuchar unas palabras tan importantes. Evocaban la imagen de una deidad severa, alguien que se mostraría impaciente ante mis inquietos movimientos en el rígido banco de madera. Este dios haría un gesto de desaprobación ante mi deseo de bailar por los pasillos y sacudiría la cabeza con desdén al ver mis manos manchadas de tinta color negro azulado tras haber dibujado en el boletín de la iglesia.

Pasé la mayor parte de mi infancia en el seno del fundamentalismo cristiano, suponiendo que Dios era como los predicadores que gritaban furiosos todos los domingos, con el pelo canoso, trajes que no les ajustaban adecuadamente y voces temblorosas que expresaban un profundo dolor por nuestra situación infernal. En el mejor de los casos, el dios que llegué a conocer ahí era distante y severo. En el peor, era terriblemente caprichoso y propenso a la violencia.

A los 15 años, cuando comencé a enfrentar un trastorno alimenticio grave, tenía dudas profundas y rechazaba las respuestas insatisfactorias que recibía sobre la supuesta esperanza que Cristo ofrecía. No obstante, las preguntas no eran bien recibidas en un sistema religioso que se basaba en respuestas rígidas y absolutas a los problemas del mundo.

Mi experiencia me llevó por el camino de lo que muchos hoy llamarían «deconstrucción», aunque en ese momento la palabra aún no era popular. En mi vida, la deconstrucción consistió en un compromiso con encontrar algo que pudiera satisfacer aquello que ansiaba: una mejor respuesta para el sufrimiento y el dolor de este mundo.

Como tantos otros que también se hacían preguntas en ese tiempo, leí libros como Blue Like Jazz (Tal como el jazz) y Velvet Elvis, y seguí religiosamente el blog de Rachel Held Evans. Durante el tiempo que trabajé en un ministerio universitario metodista, encontré un respiro en un sistema de creencias que no pretendía tener todas las respuestas y que me permitió mostrar interés y cuidado por quienes vivían en los márgenes de la sociedad. Pero, en última instancia, este nuevo sistema de fe no fue suficiente. Amplió mi compasión por la humanidad, pero no satisfizo mis anhelos más profundos.

Mi pastor actual dice que Dios no siente ansiedad al mirar nuestros caminos, lo que nos permite no sentir ansiedad con respecto a quienes nos rodean. Menciono esto a manera de advertencia, porque la siguiente parte de mi historia es lo que muchos temen para sus seres queridos que están pasando por un proceso de deconstrucción de la fe.

El día que empecé la escuela de posgrado, supe sin lugar a duda que mi sistema de creencias ya no incluía a Jesús. Me senté en mi auto en la entrada de mi nuevo hogar en Nashville y lloré, sabiendo a cuántas personas estaba decepcionando. Quería creer, aunque fuera solo por ellos, pero no podía. Mi deconstrucción se había convertido en desconversión.

Fotografía de Lynsey Weatherspoon para Christianity Today

Mientras procesaba el duelo por una fe a la que había renunciado, comencé a asistir a una sinagoga los viernes por la noche y los servicios de sabbat. Encontré consuelo en una liturgia hebrea que apenas podía entender mientras buscaba un Dios de cuya existencia no estaba del todo segura. En el transcurso del año siguiente, estudié con un rabino y comencé a observar las festividades judías. Al poco tiempo, me había convertido por completo al judaísmo reformista, donde permanecí durante tres años completos antes de que Jesús irrumpiera en mi vida.

Mi amiga Anne, una cristiana fiel, tranquila y sin ansiedad, me llamó un miércoles por la tarde cualquiera. Sin darse cuenta, despertó algo dentro de mí en cuanto a la persona de Jesús. No hubo nada trascendental en nuestra videollamada mientras esperaba en el estacionamiento de un Starbucks. Anne no intentó convertirme y yo no mencioné a Jesús. En cambio, compartió respetuosamente sus creencias y habló de cómo Jesús había actuado en su propia vida.

Este tipo de intercambio no era nada inusual. Por lo general, sonreía cortésmente mientras yo me guardaba mis diferencias. Sin embargo, cuando colgué la llamada en esta ocasión, me di cuenta de que estaba llorando. Mientras me secaba las lágrimas saladas que corrían por mi rostro, no podía explicar racionalmente lo que estaba sucediendo. Parecía que mis propias células estaban respondiendo a algo tan profundo que había pasado por alto mi armadura intelectual.

Pasé los siguientes tres días investigando y leyendo sobre Jesús, tratando de entender por qué de repente no podía quitármelo de encima. Pasé incontables horas recorriendo las estanterías de la biblioteca en busca de historias como la mía: historias de dolor y búsqueda de Dios; historias de gente que hubiera vagado por el desierto de diversos sistemas de creencias para encontrar algo parecido a la paz. Seguía esperando que estos libros me dijeran qué hacer cuando Jesús irrumpe en la vida de alguien sin previo aviso. Esperaba que esta insistente atracción fuera simplemente una casualidad, o un anhelo que pudiera satisfacer leyendo suficientes libros o escuchando suficientes pódcasts. Pero no se detenía. La resolución que ansiaba era una persona, y esa persona me perseguía.

Sinceramente, estaba enojada. «¡Creo que ya he resuelto este tema!», gritaba sin dirigirme a nadie en particular, jugando con mi dije de la estrella de David. Pero, inexplicablemente, la atracción seguía ahí.

Hace unos años, un viernes de diciembre por la noche me senté al interior de un pequeño armario de mi apartamento de Alabama, abrazando mis piernas contra el pecho. Y allí, me encontré con el Dios viviente. No fue la luz cegadora y agresiva que Pablo encontró en el camino a Damasco. Tampoco fue un argumento teológico embriagador para convencerme de que Jesús es Dios. En cambio, fue un conocimiento silencioso pero insistente, un levantamiento del velo para ver que Jesús era el mismo Dios que me había estado buscando a lo largo de los años. Vino con ternura, como un pastor compasivo que recoge a una oveja herida y maltratada, y la sostiene cerca de su corazón.

La riqueza y la profundidad de la comprensión teológica llegaron después. Pasaron muchos meses antes de que comenzara a comprender la belleza de la gran historia de la obra de Dios para hacer nuevas todas las cosas. Pero en el momento en que me encontré con Jesús en mi armario, me di cuenta de que necesitaba abrazarlo, y de que mi vida estaba totalmente ligada a la suya.

Los siguientes seis meses fueron muy solitarios. No le conté a nadie que había tenido un encuentro con Jesús porque sabía que la respuesta sería mixta. Me escapaba de mi apartamento compartido todos los domingos por la mañana para asistir a los servicios de la iglesia. La mayoría de las semanas corría al baño en medio de los servicios y sufría ataques de pánico cuando una palabra o frase me recordaba las voces de los pastores de mi infancia.

Encontrarme con el Dios bíblico no hizo mi vida más fácil. De hecho, me costó perder muchas comunidades y amistades. Pero cuanto más contemplaba a la persona de Jesús, la Segunda Persona de la Trinidad y  no una imagen en un vitral, más sabía que valía la pena vender todo lo que poseía para seguirlo.

Siempre he buscado una fe sólida, algo que pudiera enfrentarse a los poderes del mal en este mundo y que no se tambaleara ni se derrumbara. Quería una historia mejor que pudiera realmente responder al clamor de la humanidad por justicia con una voz clara y fuerte. Quería buenas noticias que fueran buenas noticias, no un moralismo insulso ni una esperanza frágil.

En Jesús, finalmente encontré la respuesta que había buscado durante años (más bien, debería decir que Él me encontró a mí). En Él, he aprendido que Dios no es una deidad de reacciones impulsivas ni que causa miedo. Tampoco es una deidad insulsa que no tiene nada que decir sobre el mal en el mundo, como lo reflejaban las narraciones que escuché en los espacios de deconstrucción. En cambio, Él ama tanto a su pueblo que se niega a abandonarlo a una destrucción inevitable, entregándose a Sí mismo para darnos la vida.

Si Dios pudo perseguirme durante décadas, y pudo reunirse conmigo con paciencia en momentos de aparente impiedad y, en última instancia, resucitar mi corazón en un pequeño armario, entonces puedo confiar en que Él estará vivo en los viajes espirituales de otros que parecen estar muy lejos de Él. Si Dios puede hacerme ver a Jesús en un momento repentino de conversión, entonces tal vez mi vista y mi imaginación simplemente están limitadas cuando caigo en la desesperanza. Mi historia grita acerca de la obra de redención de Dios a largo plazo que simplemente estuvo fuera de vista durante tanto tiempo.

Considero que Jesús es la respuesta, y la más hermosa que existe. Pero si tú aún no puedes afirmar esa belleza, confío en que Dios no siente ansiedad por tu situación. Porque si Él no está ansioso, no tengo por qué estarlo yo. 

Lindsay Holifield es una escritora y artista que vive en Birmingham, Alabama.

The post Mi deconstrucción me llevó a perder la fe. Pero Dios nunca perdió la calma appeared first on Christianity Today en español | Cristianismo hoy.

The decline, only two-tenths of one per cent, came as no surprise, however, inasmuch as the post-war church membership boom has been leveling off in recent years.

Total church and synagogue membership for 1961 was reported as 116,109,929, or 63.4 per cent of the total population, as compared to the 1960 percentage of 63.6.

Two of the top ten U. S. Protestant denominations showed net losses for 1961. United Presbyterians reported 3,242,479 members compared with 3,259,011 the previous year, and the Protestant Episcopal Church was down from 3,444,265 to 3,269,325.

Records of church membership since 1850 show that a percentage decrease occurred only once before, in 1870, when the drop (in a 10-year period) was from 23 to 18 per cent.

Another factor which indicates a leveling off is that for the first time since World War II percentage gains in membership have fallen below the estimated population increase. The 1961 membership increase of 1,660,712 amounted to a 1.4 per cent rise as compared to an estimated population gain of 1.6 per cent.

Although both Protestants and Roman Catholics reported an increase in membership, their percentages of the total population showed a decline. Both were reduced by two-tenths of one per cent.

Of the 258 religious bodies supplying membership figures, 228 were Protestant with a total membership of 64,434,966. This was a gain of 766,131 or 1.2 per cent over 1960.

Protestant churches also reported a loss of 3.1 per cent of the total Sunday school enrollment.

Compilers of the yearbook (members of the NCC’s Bureau of Research and Survey) stress that church statistics must be examined with the foreknowledge that not all churches reporting employ the same recording system. Some include infants and all family members while others record only those received into membership by baptism. The new yearbook carries statistics furnished by 258 religious bodies of all faiths, one less than reported in 1960 and three more than in 1959.

NEWS / A fornightly report of developments in religion

PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONAL TOTALS

Catholic membership was given as 42,876,665, an increase of 771,765 or 1.9 per cent over last year’s total.

Membership in Jewish congregations showed a decline for the second time in two years. The 1961 total was 5,365,000 compared with 5,367,000 in 1960, and 5,500,000 in 1959.

Eastern Orthodox Churches reported 2,800,401 members, an increase of 101,738. The Old Catholic Church, Polish National Catholic Church, and the Armenian Church of North America had a combined membership of 572,897, almost 17,000 less than in 1960.

The 31 member communions of the National Council of Churches reported a total membership of 40,318,430, a slight increase over last year’s figure of 40,185,813.

The yearbook listed the total number of ordained persons in 236 reporting bodies as 381,252. The total number of pastors having charges was given as 247,009.

The total number of local churches reported was 319,670, compared with 318,697 for the previous year.

Some 228 religious bodies reported 286,661 Sunday or Sabbath schools in 1961, with 3,715,221 teachers and officers and a total enrollment of 44,434,291.

Meanwhile, figures contained in the newly-released 1962 World Mission Map of the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade show that Catholics throughout the world total some 558,221,000; about 18.2 per cent of the global population.

The total is a numerical increase of nearly eight million over the previous year, but represents a percentage decline of about one-tenth of one per cent.

The students’ map statistics are widely recognized as the most authoritative source of Roman Catholic population figures.

Already somewhat lean statistics covering large areas of Christendom are beginning to prompt concern. At a meeting of denominational leaders in Nashville last month Executive Secretary James L. Sullivan of the Southern Baptist Convention Sunday School Board posed the question:

“We have been emphasizing the functions and planning projects, but where are the people?”

Preliminary statistical reports indicated that Southern Baptists, leaders in Sunday school enrollment totals in the United States, increased only 54,000 in membership during the 1961–62 associational year. This apparently was the lowest numerical increase since the mid-1940s.

Preliminary data was said to indicate that Southern Baptist Training Union enrollment increased during 1961–62, but that it too failed to make an annual increase similar to previous years.

Methodists outnumber members of any other religious affiliation in the 88th Congress, which convenes January 9. A total of 102 lawmakers—78 in the House and 24 in the Senate—list themselves as Methodists.

Roman Catholics, who were the most numerous in the 87th Congress, are second this year with 88 in the House and 11 in the Senate for a total of 99.

Here is the current makeup of Congress according to religious affiliation (Senators are italicized):

Methodist

Abele (R.-Ohio)

Abernethy (D.-Miss.)

Adair (R.-Ind.)

Albert (D.-Okla.)

Arends (R.-Ill.)

Aspinall (D.-Colo.)

Avery (R.-Kan.)

Ayres (R.-Ohio)

Bass (D.-Tenn.)

Bayh (D.-Ind.)

Belcher (R.-Okla.)

Bible (D.-Nev.)

Boggs(R.-Del.)

Brademas (D.-Ind.)

Brooks (D.-Tex.)

Broomfield (R.-Mich.)

Brotzman (R.-Colo.)

Brown (R.-Ohio)

Burkhalter (D.-Calif.)

Cameron (D.-Calif.)

Collier (R.-Ill.)

Colmer (D.-Miss.)

Corman (D.-Calif.)

Cramer (R.-Fla.)

Denton (D.-Ind.)

Devine (R.-Ohio)

Dole (R.-Kan.)

Dowdy (D.-Tex.)

Eastland (D.-Miss.)

Elliott (D.-Ala.)

Engle (D.-Calif.)

Flynt (D.-Ga.)

Foreman (R.-Tex.)

Fulton (D.-Tenn.)

Grant (D.-Ala.)

Haley (D.-Fla.)

Halleck (R.-Ind.)

Hardy (D.-Va.)

Hawkins (D.-Calif.)

Herlong (D.-Fla.)

Hickenlooper (R.-Iowa)

Hill (D.-Ala.)

Holland (D.-Fla.)

Inouye (D.-Hawaii)

Jennings (D.-Va.)

Jonas (R.-N.C.)

Jones (D.-Ala.)

Jordan, B. E. (D.-N.C.)

Jordan, L. B. (R.-Idaho)

Kilburn (R.-N.Y.)

Kilgore (D.-Tex.)

Kornegay (D.-N.C.)

Long (D.-La.)

Mahon (D.-Tex.)

McGovern (D.-S.D.)

McLoskey (R.-Il)

Meader (R.-Mic.)

Mechem (R.-N.M.)

Metcalf (D.-Mont.)

Mills (D.-Ark.)

Moore (R.-W. Va.)

Morgan (D.-i a.)

Mundt (R.-S.D.)

Murray (D.-Tenn.)

Nelson (D.-Wisc.)

Olsen (D.-Mont.)

Pilcher (D.-Ga.)

Pool (D.-Tex.)

Quillen (R.-Tenn.)

Randall (D.-Mo.)

Rhodes (R.-Ariz.)

Rich (R.-Ohio)

Roberts (D.-Tex.)

Robison (R.-N.Y.)

Rogers (D.-Fla.)

Russell (D.-Ga.)

Schenck (R.-Ohio)

Shriver (R.-Kan.)

Sheppard (D.-Calif.)

Sikes (D.-Fla.)

Skubitz (R.-Kan.)

Smathers (D.-Fla.)

Mrs. Smith (R.-Maine)

Smith, H. A. (R.-Calif.)

Smith, N. (D.-Iowa)

Sparkman (D.-Ala.)

Staggers (D.-W. Va.)

Steed (D.-Okla.)

Stubblefield (D.-Ky.)

Talcott (R.-Calif.)

Thomas (D.-Tex.)

Thornberry (D.-Tex.)

Tower (R.-Tex.)

Trimble (D.-Ark.)

Tupper (R.-Maine)

Vinson (D.-Ga.)

Waggonner (D.-La.)

Wallhauser (R.-N.J.)

Wharton (R.-N.Y.)

Whitener (D.-N.C.)

Williams (R.-Del.)

Young (D.-Ohio)

Roman Catholic

Addabbo (D.-N.Y.)

Barrett (D.-Pa.)

Bates (R.-Mass.)

Becker (R.-N.Y.)

Bennett (R.-Mich.)

Blatnik (D.-Minn.)

Boggs (D.-La.)

Boland (D.-Mass.)

Buckley (D.-N.Y.)

Burke (D.-Mass.)

Byrne (D.-Pa.)

Byrnes (R.-Wis.)

Cahill (R.-N.J.)

Carey (D.-N.Y.)

Clancy (R.-Ohio)

Conte (R.-Mass.)

Daddario (D.-Conn.)

Daniels (D.-N.J.)

Delaney (D.-N.Y.)

Dent (D.-Pa.)

Derwinski (R.-Ill.)

Dingell (D.-Mich.)

Dodd (D.-Conn.)

Donohue (D.-Mass.)

Dulski (D.-N.Y.)

Fallon (D.-Md.)

Feighan (D.-Ohio)

Finnegan (D.-Ill.)

Fino (R.-N.Y.)

Flood (D.-Pa.)

Fogarty (D.-R.I.)

Gallagher (D.-N.J.)

Giaimo (D.-Conn.)

Gonzalez (D.-Tex.)

Grabowski (D.-Conn.)

Green (D.-Pa.)

Grover (R.-N.Y.)

Hart (D.-Mich.)

Healey (D.-N.Y.)

Hebert (D.-La.)

Hoffman (R.-Ill.)

Holland (D.-Pa.)

Mrs. Kelly (D.-N.Y.)

Kennedy (D.-Mass.)

Keogh (D.-N.Y.)

King (R.-N.Y.)

Kirwan (D.-Ohio)

Kluczynski (D.-Ill.)

Lausche (D.-Ohio)

Leggett (D.-Calif.)

Lesinski (D.-Mich.)

Libonati (D.-Ill.)

Macdonald (D.-Mass.)

Madden (D.-Ind.)

Mansfield (D.-Mont.)

McCarthy (D.-Minn.)

McCormack (D.-Mass.)

McDade (R.-Pa.)

McIntyre (D.-N.H.)

McNamara (D.-Mich.)

Miller (R.-Iowa)

Miller, G. P. (D.-Calif.)

Miller, W. E. (R.-N.Y.)

Minish (D.-N.J.)

Monagan (D.-Conn.)

Montoya (D.-N.M.)

Murphy, J. M. (D.-N.Y.)

Murphy, W. T. (D.-Ill.)

Muskie (D.-Maine)

Nedzi (D.-Mich.)

O’Brien, L. W. (D.-N.Y.)

O’Brien, T. J. (D.-Ill.)

O’Hara, B. (D.-Ill.)

O’Hara, J.G. (D.-Mich.)

O’Konski (R.-Wis.)

Onge (D.-Conn.)

O’Neill (D.-Mass.)

Pastore (D.-R.I.)

Patten (D.-N.J.)

Philbin (D.-Mass.)

Price (D.-Ill.)

Pucinski (D.-Ill.)

Rodino (D.-N.J.)

Rooney (D.-N.Y.)

Rostenkowski (D.-Ill.)

Roybal (D.-Calif.)

Ryan, H. M. (D.-Mich.)

Ryan, W. F. (D.-N.Y.)

Shelley (D.-Calif.)

Sickles (D.-Md.)

St. Germain (D.-R.I.)

Mrs. Sullivan (D.-Mo.)

Thompson, F. (D.-N.J.)

Thompson, T.A. (D.-La.)

Vanik (D.-Ohio)

White (D.-Idaho)

Willis (D.-La.)

Young (D.-Tex.)

Zablocki (D.-Wis.)

Presbyterian

Anderson (D.-N.M.)

Auchincloss (R.-N.J.)

Baker (R.-Tenn.)

Baldwin (R.-Calif.)

Barry (R.-N.Y.)

Bell (R.-Calif.)

Bolton (R.-Ohio)

Bow (R.-Ohio)

Brock (R.-Tenn.)

Bromwell (R.-Iowa)

Case (R.-N.J.)

Chelf (D.-Ky.)

Church (D.-Idaho)

Clark (D.-Pa.)

Corbett (R.-Pa.)

Curtis (R.-Neb.)

Dague (R.-Pa.)

Davis (D.-Ga.)

Derounian (R.-N.Y.)

Edmondson (D.-Okla.)

Ellender (D.-La.)

Ervin (D.-N.C.)

Fountain (D.-N.C.)

Fulton (R.-Pa.)

Fuqua (D.-Fla.)

Gibbons (D.-Fla.)

Glenn (R.-N.J.)

Gross (R.-Iowa)

Gubser (R.-Calif.)

Harsha (R.-Ohio)

Harvey (R.-Mich.)

Hays (D.-Ohio)

Hemphill (D.-S.C.)

Henderson (D.-N.C.)

Hoeven (R.-Iowa)

Horan (R.-Wash.)

Horton (R.-N.Y.)

Jackson (D.-Wash.)

Jarman (D.-Okla.)

Johnson (D.-Calif.)

Karth (D.-Minn.)

Keating (R.-N.Y.)

Knox (R.-Mich.)

Kyl (R.-Iowa)

Laird (R.-Wis.)

Lindsay (R.-N.Y.)

Long (D.-Md.)

MacGregor (R.-Minn.)

Marsh (D.-Va.)

Martin (R.-Neb.)

Matthews (D.-Fla.)

McCulloch (R.-Ohio)

McDowell (D.-Del.)

McGee (R.-Wyo.)

Milliken (R.-Pa.)

Morris (D.-N.M.)

Norblad (R.-Ore.)

Pearson (R.-Kan.)

Pillion (R.-N.Y.)

Poff (R.-Va.)

Purcell (D.-Tex.)

Reid, O. (R.-N.Y.)

Mrs. Reid, C. (R.-Ill.)

Rumsfeld (R.-Ill.)

Scott (D.-N.C.)

Secrest (D.-Ohio)

Slack (D.-W.Va.)

Springer (R.-Ill.)

Stennis (D.-Miss.)

Stephens (D.-Ga.)

Stinson (R.-Wash.)

Stratton (D.-N.Y.)

Thomson (R.-Wis.)

Ullman (D.-Ore.)

Utt (R.-Calif.)

Weaver (R.-Pa.)

Weltner (D.-Ga.)

Westland (R.-Wash.)

Whalley (R.-Pa.)

Whitten (D.-Miss.)

Wright (D.-Tex.)

Baptist

Abbitt (D.-Va.)

Andrews (D.-Ala.)

Ashbrook (R.-Ohio)

Ashmore (D.-S.C.)

Beckworth (D.-Tex.)

Broyhill (R.-N.C.)

Byrd (D.-W. Va.)

Cannon (D.-Mo.)

Carlson (R.-Kan.)

Chenoweth (R.-Colo.)

Cooley (D.-N.C.)

Cooper (R.-Ky.)

Davis (D.-Tenn.)

Diggs (D.-Mich.)

Dorn (D.-S.C.)

Forrester (D.-Ga.)

Gary (D.-Va.)

Gathings (D.-Ark.)

Gore (D.-Tenn.)

Gray (D.-Ill.)

Hagan (D.-Ga.)

Hall (R.-Mo.)

Harris (D.-Ark.)

Ichord (D.-Mo.)

Johnston (D.-S.C.)

Kefauver (D.-Tenn.)

Kerr (D.-Okla.)

Landrum (D.-Ga.)

Lennon (D.-N.C.)

Lipscomb (R.-Calif.)

Long (D.-La.)

Long (D.-Mo.)

McClellan (D.-Ark.)

McIntire (R.-Maine)

McMillan (D.-S.C.)

Natcher (D.-Ky.)

Nix (D.-Pa.)

Passman (D.-La.)

Patman (D.-Tex.)

Pepper (D.-Fla.)

Perkins (D.-Ky.)

Powell (D.-N.Y.)

Rains (D.-Ala.)

Randolph (D.-W. Va.)

Riehlman (R.-N.Y.)

Roberts (D.-Ala.)

Robertson (D.-Va.)

Rogers (D.-Colo.)

Schwengel (R.-Iowa)

Shipley (D.-Ill.)

Siler (R.-Ky.)

Talmadge (D.-Ga.)

Taylor (D.-N.C.)

Teague, C. M. (R.-Calif.)

Teague, O. E. (D.-Tex.)

Thurmond (D.-S.C.)

Tuck (D.-Va.)

Tuten (D.-Ga.)

Williams (D.-Miss.)

Wilson, B. (R.-Calif.)

Wilson, C. (D.-Calif.)

Wilson, E. (R.-Ind.)

Winstead (D.-Miss.)

Yarborough (D.-Tex.)

Episcopal

Allott (R.-Colo.)

Ashley (D.-Ohio)

Beall (R.-Md.)

Betts (R.-Ohio)

Bolling (D.-Mo.)

Bolton (R.-Ohio)

Bonner (D.-N.C.)

Brewster (D.-Md.)

Brown (D.-Calif.)

Byrd (D.-Va.)

Cohelan (D.-Calif.)

Cunningham (R.-Nebr.)

Curtin (R.-Pa.)

Deerlin (D.-Calif.)

Dominick (R.-Colo.)

Downing (D.-Va.)

Ellsworth (R.-Kan.)

Frelinghuysen (R.-N.J.)

Ford (R.-Mich.)

Gavin (R.-Pa.)

Goldwater (R.-Ariz.)

Goodell (R.-N.Y.)

Hayden (D.-Ariz.)

Karsten (D.-Mo.)

Mrs. Kee (D.-W. Va.)

Hanna (D.-Calif.)

Hechler (D.-W. Va.)

Hosmer (R.-Calif.)

Huddleston (D.-Ala.)

King (D.-Calif.)

Kuchel (R.-Calif.)

Kunkel (R.-Pa.)

Lankford (D.-Md.)

Mailliard (R.-Calif.)

Mathias (R.-Md.)

Matsunaga (D.-Hawaii)

Mrs. May (R.-Wash.)

McFall (D.-Calif.)

Monroney (D.-Okla.)

Moorhead (D.-Pa.)

Morrison (D.-La.)

Morton (R.-Ky.)

Morton (R.-Md.)

Pell (D.-R.I.)

Pelly (R.-Wash.)

Proxmire (D.-Wis.)

Reifel (R.-S.D.)

Reuss (D.-Wis.)

Rivers, L. M. (D.-S.C.)

Rivers, R.J. (D.-Alaska)

Rogers (D.-Tex.)

Roosevelt (D.-Calif.)

Schneebeli (R.-Pa.)

Scott (R.-Pa.)

Selden (D.-Ala.)

Short (R.-N.D.)

Simpson (R.-Wyo.)

Smith (D.-Va.)

Mrs. St. George (R.-N.Y.)

Symington (D.-Mo.)

Thompson, (D.-Tex.)

Widnall (R.-N.J.)

Watson (D.-S.C.)

Wydler (R.-N.Y.)

Congregational Christian

Battin (R.-Mont.)

Berry (R.-S.D.)

Burdick (D.-N.D.)

Cotton (R.-N.H.)

Doyle (D.-Calif.)

Findley (R.-Ill.)

Fong (R.-Hawaii)

Fraser (D.-Minn.)

Griffin (R.-Mich.)

Gurney (R.-Fla.)

Humphrey (D.-Minn.)

Johansen (R.-Mich.)

Keith (R.-Mass.)

Morse (D.-Ore.)

Morse (R.-Mass.)

Mosher (R.-Ohio)

Osmers (R.-N.J.)

Pike (D.-N.Y.)

Prouty (R.-Vt.)

Schadeberg (R.-Wis.)

Sibal (R.-Conn.)

Stafford (R.-Vt.)

Wyman (R.-N.H.)

Younger (R.-Calif.)

‘Protestant’

Aiken (R.-Vt.)

Baring (D.-Nev.)

Bartlett (D.-Alaska)

Casey (D.-Tex.)

Chamberlain (R.-Mich.)

Cleveland (R.-N.H.)

Duncan (D.-Ore.)

Mrs. Dwyer (R.-N.J.)

Fascell (D.-Fla.)

Gill (D.-Hawaii)

Mrs. Griffiths (D.-Mich.)

Hagen (D.-Calif.)

McClory (R.-Ill.)

Minshall (R.-Ohio)

Moss (D.-Calif.)

Ostertag (R.-N.Y.)

Pirnie (R.-N.Y.)

Snyder (R.-Ky.)

Taft (R.-Ohio)

Van Pelt (R.-Wis.)

Lutheran

Beermann (R.-Nebr.)

Broyhill (R.-Va.)

Bruce (R.-Ind.)

Hartke (D.-Ind.)

Jensen (R.-Iowa)

Johnson (D.-Wis.)

Langen (R.-Minn.)

Magnuson (D.-Wash.)

Martin (R.-Calif.)

Nelsen (R.-Minn.)

Nygaard (R.-N.D.)

Olson (D.-Minn.)

Quie (R.-Minn.)

Rhodes (D.-Pa.)

Senner (D.-Ariz.)

Tollefson (R.-Wash.)

Walter (D.-Pa.)

Disciples Of Christ

Alger (R.-Tex.)

Bennett (D.-Fla.)

Fulbright (D.-Ark.)

Mrs. Green (D.-Ore.)

Harvey (R.-Ind.)

Holifield (D.-Calif.)

Hull (D.-Mo.)

Jones (D.-Mo.)

Latta (R.-Ohio)

Roudebush (R.-Ind.)

Watts (D.-Ky.)

Wickersham (D.-Okla.)

Jewish

Celler (D.-N.Y.)

Farbstein (D.-N.Y.);

Firedel (D.-Md.)

Gilbert (D.-N.Y.)

Halpern (R.-N.Y.)

Javits (R.-N.Y.)

Joelson (D.-N.J.)

Multer (D.-N.Y.)

Ribicoff (D.-Conn.)

Rosenthal (D.-N.Y.)

Toll (D.-Pa.)

Unitarian

Clark (D.-Pa.)

Curtis (R.-Mo.)

Edwards (D.-Calif.)

Gruening (D.-Alaska)

Harrison (R.-Wyo.)

Hruska (R.-Neb.)

Neuberger (D.-Ore.)

Saltonstall (R.-Mass.)

Staebler (D.-Mich.)

Williams (D.-N.J.)

Latter Day Saints

Bennett (R.-Utah)

Burton (R.-Utah)

Cannon (D.-Nev.)

Harding (D.-Idaho)

Lloyd (R.-Utah)

Moss (D.-Utah)

Udall (D.-Ariz.)

Young (R.-N.D.)

Others

APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN: Michel (R.-Ill.); BRETHREN IN CHRIST: Roush (D.-Ind.); CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST: Dawson (D.-Ill.), Mrs. Hansen (D.-Wash.), Hutchinson (R.-Mich.); CHURCHES OF CHRIST: Burleson (D.-Tex.), Evins (D.-Tenn.), Fisher (D.-Tex.), Sisk (D.-Calif.); CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN: Everett (D.-Tenn.); EVANGELICAL AND RE-FORMED: Garmatz (D.-Md.), Saylor (R.-Pa.); EVANGELICAL FREE: Anderson (R.-Ill.), Cederberg (R.-Mich.); EVANGELICAL UNITED BRETHREN: Goodling (R.-Pa.); REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA: Dirksen (R.-Ill.); SCHWENKFELDER: Schweiker (R.-Pa.); SOCIETY OF FRIENDS: Bray (R.-Ind.), Douglas (D.-Ill.); UNIVERSALIST: Poage (D.-Tex.); NOT LISTED: Kastenmeier (D.-Wis.); Martin (R.-Mass.).

Governors’ Lineup

Eleven U. S. state governors list a Methodist affiliation or preference as of the beginning of 1963. Nine governors are Roman Catholics, eight are Baptists, seven are Presbyterians, and another seven are Episcopalians. Here is a complete breakdown:

Methodist: Anderson (R.-Kan.), Bryant (D.-Fla.), Clement (D.-Tenn.), Connally (D.-Tex.), Fannin (R.-Ariz.), Hughes (D.-Iowa), Russell (D.-S.C.), Sanford (D.-N.C.), Smylie (R.-Idaho), Tawes (D.-Md.), Wallace (D-Ala.).

Catholics: Brown (D.-Calif.), Burns (D. Hawaii), Campbell (D.-N. M.), Dempsey (D.-Conn.), Egan (D.-Alaska), Hughes (D.-N.J.), King (D.-N.FL), Reynolds (D.-Wis.), Rossellini (D.-Wash.).

Baptist: Barnett (D.-Miss.), Combs (D.-Ky.), Davis (D.-La.), Faubus (D.-Ark.), Hatfield (R.-Ore.), Rockefeller (R.-N.Y.), Sanders (D.-Ga.), Sawyer (D.-Nev.).

Presbyterians: Babcock (D.-Mont.), Barron (D.-W. Va.), Bellmon (R.-Okla.), Dalton (D.-Mo.), Guy (D. N.D.), Rhodes (R.-Ohio), Scranton (R.-Pa.).

Episcopalians: Carvel (D.-Del.), Chafee (R.-R. I.), Hansen (R.-Wyo.), Harrison (D.-Va.), Hoff (D.-Vt.), Morrison (D.-Neb.), Peabody (D.-Mass.).

Congregational Christian: Kerner (D.-Ill.), Reed (R.-Maine).

Latter Day Saints: Clyde (D.-Utah.), Romney (R.-Mich.).

Lutheran: Anderson (R.-Minn.), Gubbrud (R.-S. D.).

Disciples of Christ: Welsh (D.-Ind.).

United Church of Christ: Love (R.-Colo.).

The Battle Begins

With the convening of the 88th Congress, controversy over possible federal aid to religious schools promises to flare up again.

A general aid-to-education bill was defeated in 1961, and a college aid bill was rejected in 1962. In each case, a religious issue was involved.

The Kennedy administration, nonetheless, is still determined to see a bill enacted for aid to education. The strategy is not yet certain, but first reports suggested that one approach being considered would give federal planning grants to states to enable them to determine their own elementary and secondary school needs. In this way the states would have to wrestle with the problems of separation of church and state and would keep the major responsibility for decisions out of Washington.

The Court Rests

The U. S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Kentucky’s Sunday closing law last month. A one-sentence order dismissing the appeal of three store owners cited want of a substantial federal question. Justice William O. Douglas, who takes the most extreme view of church-state separation of any member of the court, filed a dissenting opinion.

In another ruling, the court agreed to hear a South Carolina court opinion that a Seventh-day Adventist properly was denied unemployment benefits for refusing to work on Saturdays.

Still being weighed by the highest court in the land were several all-important cases on the constitutionality of Bible reading and prayers in public schools.

Surplus Favoritism?

Chester B. Lund, supervisor of the federal government’s surplus disposal program, was quoted last month as saying that the transfer of U. S. acreage and buildings to church bodies has not resulted, as charged by some, in favoritism to the Roman Catholic Church.

Lund’s contention was promptly disputed by Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State. A POAU statement referred to the “downright dishonesty of Mr. Lund’s information.”

Lund, in an interview in New York, said disposal of surplus properties to church groups over the past 18 years is tabulated this way:

Roman Catholic: Receipt of real estate with an original value of $11,775,274. The property was appraised at a “fair present value” of $8,849,632. Discounts of up to 100 per cent, Lund said, brought total payments up to $133,227.

Protestant: Receipt of real estate and buildings with an original value of $25,211,632. The property was appraised

at a “fair present value” of $8,375,192. The sum actually paid after discounts were applied amounted to $398,662.

Lund gave the figures to the New York Herald-Tribune. In discussing the amount of property released to church bodies, he said that the Catholics are ahead, with Baptists and Methodists not far behind.

Methodists, it was reported, received the largest single property transfer in the 18-year history of the federal program when the government turned over a General Electric defense plant having an original value of $8,088,143. Actual payment was $11,561.

POAU said the General Electric plant went to Syracuse University, which is Methodist-related somewhat peripherally. “On such a basis,” POAU added, “many of the so-called Protestant donations turn out to be donations to private, nonsectarian colleges which have only a nominal church tie.”

Since 1944, when U. S. surplus disposal began, 527 transactions involving sale or grant of property to religious bodies have been recorded. Lund, a Lutheran and one-time deacon, said Catholics were involved in 209. Seventh-day Adventists were second with 125.

Ncc Housekeeping

Encouraging frigid temperatures in Louisville, Kentucky, last month, the policy-making General Board of the National Council of Churches seemed quite content to remain indoors for housekeeping chores. Lack of a big issue for the two-day meeting doubtless accounted in part for absence of out-of-town secular-press reporters (though regular coverage given these thrice-yearly meetings is generally slight compared to that accorded major denominational conventions), but the sessions highlighted the fact that through the year the Second Vatican Council has siphoned funds from newspaper travel-expense money which ordinarily would have gone to covering Protestant meetings. In the rivalry for the travel dollar, the Protestants should do better in 1963.

Some General Board difference of opinion was sparked by presentation of a preliminary report of a special committee which is restudying the National Council’s structure and function, to which end the Rockefeller Brothers Fund has provided $100,000. One NCC official indicated that greater centralization is envisaged, with more General Board control over the various council units. The hope is that the denominations will thus send the best-equipped sort of delegates to the General Board. A Methodist layman objected to what he termed “this strong move” toward centralization and warned that the NCC could lose members over it, with a consequent “weakening of the ecumenical movement.”

General Board deliberation on this subject is planned for its next meeting, to take place in February at Denver.

NCC General Secretary Roy G. Ross reported that council staff members, at the request of the General Constituent Membership Committee, “have developed personal ties with leaders of a number of those denominations which are not members of the Council but whose boards are members of some of the Council’s divisions. These ties are resulting in a growing interest in full Council membership.”

Dr. Ross also noted embarrassment among leaders of NCC member churches over “wide differences of conviction” on church-state relations as dramatized by the Supreme Court decision on the New York State Regents’ prayer. He pointed to the irony in NCC inability “to be definitive in stating any common position on behalf of our member churches” even though special study has been carried on since 1953. He said the NCC will be poorly prepared to face questions arising from new Supreme Court decisions until the NCC conference on church-state relations to be held in 1964.

Louisville actions of the General Board included:

• Approval of a net budget of $15,329,270 in 1963.

• Allocation of $33,000 toward the development of a Protestant center at the New York World’s Fair of 1964 and 1965.

• Election as head of the Washington, D. C., office of the Council, Dr. Vernon L. Ferwerda, now director of U.N.-U.S. interpretation in NCC’s Department of International Affairs.

Board members also heard plans for a three-week visit to this country in February by some 20 church leaders from the Soviet Union. This will return a visit to Russia last summer by 11 NCC representatives. Plans call for the Russian churchmen to visit the February General Board meeting in Denver. F. F.

Presbyterian Precedent?

When the Gunton-Temple Memorial Presbyterian Church leaves Washington, D. C., for a suburban Maryland location, it will leave behind $50,000 somewhat reluctantly.

The bequest was ordered by the Presbytery of Washington as a condition of its approval of relocation plans. Members of the church argued that the sum of $90,000 originally attached to relocation approval would hamper establishment of the church elsewhere. Others argued that the church had an obligation to its old locale.

The 80-year-old congregation, which currently has a total membership of 291, reportedly will receive $360,000 for its old property, which is being sold to a Negro Baptist group.

There was no debate over the advisability of the move itself. The $50,000 will go toward helping other Presbyterian churches in the area as well as toward interdenominational projects deemed worthy.

Belated Review

Not even a work of “dignified mediocrity,” says writer T. S. Eliot, referring to the language of the New English Bible (New Testament), whose world sales are pushing the five million mark. Eliot declares that from a panel representing the most distinguished modern scholars has come “something which astonishes in its combination of the vulgar, the trivial and the pedantic,” causing us to ask in alarm, “What is happening to the English language?”

The 74-year-old Nobel prizewinner, writing in London’s Sunday Telegraph, went on to give examples. He was especially critical of “Do not feed your pearls to pigs,” which he concluded was not only undignified and gauche, but also made the figure of speech ludicrous. “There is all the difference in the world,” he suggests, “between saying that pigs do not appreciate the value of pearls, and saying, what the youngest and most illiterate among us know, that they cannot be nourished on pearls.” Some passages of the new version he finds lack clarity: it is, for example, small comfort to be told, “How blest are those who know that they are poor.” He deals with a number of other infelicities, and recommends for further reading a leaflet published by the Trinitarian Bible Society which gives “a useful list of specimens of bad taste.”

Turning to the translators’ introduction, Eliot points out that “no attempt is made to substantiate the assertion that the rate of change of English usage has accelerated, or to inform us in what respects English usage is changing.” The writers evidently had not considered that change could sometimes be for the worse, and “it is as much our business to attempt to arrest deterioration and combat corruption of our language, as to accept change.” After discussing the difference between public and private use of the NEB, he suggests that when read in church it will be just as difficult to grasp as, and will not have the verbal beauty of, the King James Version. The conclusion of his article will make the fur and hair fly. While approving the stress on classical scholarship, he nevertheless adds: “It would also be good if those who have authority to translate a dead language could show understanding and appreciation of their own.”

Bells And Smells

Parliament’s relationship with the Church of England came up in the House of Commons last month. A motion introduced by an Irish farmer, John Maginnis, was believed to be pointed toward a recent letter to Parliament dispatched by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, who called for revision of Canon Law and the Prayer Book (see “Uneasiness in the Camp,” CHRISTIANITY TODAY News, November 23, 1962).

The motion read: “That this House is mindful of the fact that the majority of the people of this country adhere to the Christian religion and that the Church of England is by law established; and is concerned that the relationship between Parliament and Church shall, in the interests of both, be effectively maintained.”

There was, of course, more in this than met the eye. Maginnis himself made it clearer: because of the Established Church’s many privileges in England, he thought it right that the supremacy of Parliament should be effectively maintained. “We must get back to the Bible and the teachings of the Holy Scriptures,” he added. “We must get back to the teaching of justification by faith and everything embodied in our great, historic Church of England.”

The Commons debate touched upon widespread deviations from the Book of Common Prayer, and Maginnis suggested that such irregularities have produced serious tensions in the church. Cited was a list of 48 churches in the diocese of London alone where masses were advertised as part of the service. Maginnis also noted that the Bishop of Southwark, Dr. Mervyn Stockwood, had celebrated a “Solemn Pontifical High Mass.” Maginnis charged that the Church of England was in a state of anarchy, and proposed the establishment of a royal commission to investigate.

Mr. Chuter Ede, a former Home Secretary, said he saw no sign that the majority of the people of Britain adhered to the Christian religion, and deplored a system which tied a church for expressions of doctrine to decisions of the House of Commons. Mr. Iain Macleod, Leader of the House, stating that charges of illegality in Church of England services were completely valid, agreed that it was wise to postpone discussion of details until the House discussed an Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure early in 1963. Mr. John Cordle, a prominent evangelical, pointed out that many laymen disliked the way in which the Communion service was “monkeyed around” by some clergy. Parishioners were subjected to “bells and smells”—and there were times when it was impossible to follow the service from the Prayer Book.

This can be regarded as a dry run in anticipation of the future full-scale debate on kindred topics. Although the participants handled a provocative subject in a surprisingly quiet and reasonable manner, the fact that the motion passed unopposed might well set episcopal hearts beating faster at the thought of things to come.

J. D. D.

Word From Rome

How serious was the recent illness of Pope John XXIII?

“Alarmist news” reports in certain journals are “completely unfounded,” Professor Antonio Gasbarrini, the pontiff’s personal physician, declared in a Vatican City interview.

Later, an official of Osservatore Romano, Vatican City newspaper, was quoted as saying that “there is every reason to hope that the Pope does not have cancer, but rather a weakening of the blood vessels of the stomach.”

Meanwhile, Osservatore Romano also disclosed two weeks after the close of the first session of the Second Vatican Council that the council fathers had voted to allow certain changes in the Mass. Bishops with the approval of the Holy See may now change many parts of the Mass from Latin into the language spoken by the people. The council voted to let such bodies as national and regional bishops conferences decide whether the change should be made. Also provided by the action of the council fathers on December 7, the day before they recessed, is adaptation of the Mass to the culture and traditions of some areas.

Anti-Christian Law

Seventeen United Presbyterian and Reformed missionaries from the United States have been ordered by the Sudanese government to leave that Moslem country under its new anti-Christian missionary law. Six already have left the country and the remaining 11 must quit their posts by January 19.

The Sudan law requires that every missionary society or missionary be licensed annually to carry on any activity. Under this law, church schools have been confiscated, resident missionaries expelled or arrested, and contact restricted between Christian clergymen and the people.

Other provisions of the law state that Christian children may not be baptized without permission of police or village chiefs.

The post Losses Dot Latest Church Membership Tally appeared first on Christianity Today.

The Democratic landslide in last month’s election produced a Roman Catholic plurality for the Eighty-ninth Congress. The denominational breakdown on Capitol Hill in recent years has given the lead either to Roman Catholics or to Methodists, and in the previous Congress Methodists had a slight edge. In the new Congress that convenes next month there will be 14 Roman Catholic Senators and 94 Representatives for a total of 108. Methodists will claim 24 Senators and 69 Representatives for a total of 93.

There will be at least three clergymen in the Eighty-Ninth Congress, including Democratic Representative Adam Clayton Powell, who is pastor of the huge Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. The often controversial Powell has been chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Walter H. Moeller, Democrat from Ohio, is a Missouri Synod Lutheran minister who will be returning to Congress after a two-year absence. Moeller lost a bid for re-election in 1962 but won this year.

A Baptist minister from Birmingham, Alabama, John H. Buchanan, won a seat in Congress by defeating the Democratic incumbent by a two-to-one margin. Buchanan, a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, resigned a pastorate in 1962 when he made his first bid for Congress as a Republican. He lost that election. His campaign this year was closely tied to the Goldwater program. Buchanan has also been finance director of the state Republican organization and president of the Alabama Republican Workshop.

An interesting sidelight on the denominational makeup of the new Senate is that five of its members grew up in Methodist parsonages. Walter F. Mondale of Minnesota, B. Everett Jordan of North Carolina, George McGovern of South Dakota, John Tower of Texas, and James B. Pearson of Kansas all are sons of Methodist ministers. Jordan, McGovern, and Tower are still Methodists, and Mondale and Pearson are now Presbyterians.

The denominational identifications shown herewith represent a cooperative effort of religious newsmen in Washington. Senators are shown in italics.

Roman Catholic

Addabbo (D.-N.Y.)

Annunzio (D.-Ill.)

Barrett (D.-Pa.)

Bates (R.-Mass.)

Blatnik (D.-Minn.)

Boggs (D.-La.)

Boland (D.-Mass.)

Burke (D.-Mass.)

Byrne (D.-Pa.)

Byrnes (R.-Wis.)

Cahill (R.-N.J.)

Carey (D.-N.Y.)

Clancy (R.-Ohio)

Conte (R.-Mass.)

Daddario (D.-Conn.)

Daniels (D.-N.J.)

Delaney (D.-N.Y.)

Dent (D.-Pa.)

Derwinski (R.-Ill.)

Dingell (D.-Mich.)

Dodd (D.-Conn.)

Donohue (D.-Mass.)

Dulski (D.-N.Y.)

Erlenborn (R.-Ill.)

Fallon (D.-Md.)

Feighan (D.-Ohio)

Fino (R.-N.Y.)

Flood (D.-Pa.)

Fogarty (D.-R.I.)

Foley (D.-Wash.)

Gallagher (D.-N.J.)

de la Garza (D.-Tex.)

Giaimo (D.-Conn.)

Gilligan (D.-Ohio)

Gonzalez (D.-Tex.)

Grabowski (D.-Conn.)

Green (D.-Pa.)

Grover (R.-N.Y.)

Hanley (D.-N.Y.)

Hart (D.-Mich.)

Hebert (D.-La.)

Helstoski (D.-N.J.)

Holland (D.-Pa.)

Howard (D.-N.J.)

Huot (D.-N.H.)

Irwin (D.-Conn.)

Jacobs (D.-Ind.)

Kelly (D.-N.Y.)

Kennedy (D.-Mass.)

Kennedy (D.-N.Y.)

Keogh (D.-N.Y.)

King (R.-N.Y.)

Kirwan (D.-Ohio)

Kluczynski (D.-Ill.)

Krebs (D.-N.J.)

Lausche (D.-Ohio)

Leggett (D.-Calif.)

Macdonald (D.-Mass.)

Madden (D.-Ind.)

Mansfield (D.-Mont.)

McCarthy (D.-Minn.)

McCarthy (D.-N.Y.)

McCormack (D.-Mass.)

McDade (R.-Pa.)

McGrath (D.-N.J.)

McIntyre (D.-N.H.)

McNamara (D.-Mich.)

Miller (D.-Calif.)

Miller (R.-Iowa)

Minish (D.-N.J.)

Monagan (D.-Conn.)

Montoya (D.-N.M.)

Murphy (R.-Calif.)

Murphy (D.-Ill.)

Murphy (D.-N.Y.)

Muskie (D.-Maine)

Nedzi (D.-Mich.)

O’Brien (D.-N.Y.)

O’Hara (D.-Mich.)

O’Konski (R.-Wis.)

O’Neill (D.-Mass.)

Pastore (D.-R.I.)

Patten (D.-N.J.)

Philbin (D.-Mass.)

Price (D.-Ill.)

Pucinski (D.-Ill.)

Rodino (D.-N.J.)

Ronan (D.-Ill.)

Rooney (D.-N.Y.)

Rooney (D.-Pa.)

Rostenkowski (D.-Ill.)

Roybal (D.-Calif.)

Ryan (D.-N.Y.)

Sickles (D.-Md.)

St Germain (D.-R.I.)

St. Onge (D.-Conn.)

Stanton (R.-Ohio)

Sullivan (D.-Mo.)

Sweeney (D.-Ohio)

Thompson (D.-La.)

Thompson (D.-N.J.)

Tunney (D.-Calif.)

Vanik (D.-Ohio)

Vigorito (D.-Pa.)

White (D.-Idaho)

Willis (D.-La.)

Young (D.-Tex.)

Zablocki (D.-Wis.)

Methodist

Abernethy (D.-Miss.)

Adair (R.-Ind.)

Albert (D.-Okla.)

Arends (R.-Ill.)

Aspinall (D.-Colo.)

Ayres (R.-Ohio)

Bass (D.-Tenn.)

Bayh (D.-Ind.)

Belcher (R.-Okla.)

Bible (D.-Nev.)

Boggs (R.-Del.)

Brademas (D.-Ind.)

Brooks (D.-Tex.)

Brown (R.-Ohio)

Callan (D.-Neb.)

Cameron (D.-Calif.)

Collier (R.-Ill.)

Colmer (D.-Miss.)

Conable (R.-N.Y.)

Corman (D.-Calif.)

Cramer (R.-Fla.)

Denton (D.-Ind.)

Devine (R.-Ohio)

Jordan (D.-N.C.)

Kornegay (D.-N.C.)

Long (D.-La.)

Mackay (D.-Ga.)

Mahon (D.-Tex.)

Martin (R.-Ala.)

McGovern (D.-S.D.)

McVicker (D.-Colo.)

Metcalf (D.-Mont.)

Mills (D.-Ark.)

Moore (R.-W.Va.)

Morgan (D.-Pa.)

Mundt (R.-S.D.)

Murray (D.-Tenn.)

Nelson (D.-Wis.)

Olsen (D.-Mont.)

Pickle (D.-Tex.)

Pool (D.-Tex.)

Quillen (R.-Tenn.)

Randall (D.-Mo.)

Rhodes (R.-Ariz.)

Roberts (D.-Tex.)

Robison (R.-N.Y.)

Rogers (D.-Fla.)

Dickinson (R.-Ala.)

Dole (R.-Kan.)

Dowdy (D.-Tex.)

Duncan (D.-Ore.)

Eastland (D.-Miss.)

Fannin (R.-Ariz.)

Flynt (D.-Ga.)

Fulton (D.-Tenn.)

Grider (D.-Tenn.)

Haley (D.-Fla.)

Halleck (R.-Ind.)

Hamilton (D.-Ind.)

Hardy (D.-Va.)

Hawkins (D.-Calif.)

Herlong (D.-Fla.)

Hickenlooper (R.-Iowa)

Hill (D.-Ala.)

Holland (D.-Fla.)

Inouye (D.-Hawaii)

Jennings (D.-Va.)

Jonas (R.-N.C.)

Jones (D.-Ala.)

Jordan (R.-Idaho)

Russell (D.-Ga.)

Shriver (R.-Kan.)

Sikes (D.-Fla.)

Skubitz (R.-Kan.)

Smathers (D.-Fla.)

Smith (R.-Calif.)

Smith (D.-Iowa)

Smith (R.-Me.)

Sparkman (D.-Ala.)

Staggers (D.-W.Va.)

Steed (D.-Okla.)

Talcott (R.-Calif.)

Thomas (D.-Tex.)

Tower (R.-Tex.)

Trimble (D.-Ark.)

Tupper (R.-Me.)

Waggonner (D.-La.)

Walker (D.-N.M.)

Watkins (R.-Pa.)

White (D.-Tex.)

Whitener (D.-N.C.)

Williams (R.-Del.)

Young (D.-Ohio)

Presbyterian

Anderson (D.-N.M.)

Baldwin (R.-Calif.)

Bell (R.-Calif.)

Bolton (R.-Ohio)

Bow (R.-Ohio)

Brock (R.-Tenn.)

Broomfield (R.-Mich.)

Case (R.-N.J.)

Chelf (D.-Ky.)

Church (D.-Idaho)

Clark (D.-Pa.)

Cooper (R.-Ky.)

Corbett (R.-Pa.)

Culver (D.-Iowa)

Curtis (R.-Neb.)

Dague (R.-Pa.)

Davis (D.-Ga.)

Duncan (R.-Tenn.)

Edmondson (D.-Okla.)

Edwards (R.-Ala.)

Ellender (D.-La.)

Ervin (D.-N.C.)

Evans (D.-Colo.)

Everett (D.-Tenn.)

Fountain (D.-N.C.)

Fulton (R.-Pa.)

Fuqua (D.-Fla.)

Gettys (D.-S.C.)

Gibbons (D.-Fla.)

Gross (R.-Iowa)

Gubser (R.-Calif.)

Hansen (D.-Iowa)

Harsha (R.-Ohio)

Harvey (R.-Mich.)

Hays (D.-Ohio)

Henderson (D.-N.C.)

Horton (R.-N.Y.)

Jackson (D.-Wash.)

Jarman (D.-Okla.)

Johnson (D.-Calif.)

Karth (D.-Minn.)

Laird (R.-Wis.)

Lindsay (R.-N.Y.)

Long (D.-Md.)

Love (D.-Ohio)

MacGregor (R.-Minn.)

Marsh (D.-Va.)

Martin (R.-Neb.)

Matthews (D.-Fla.)

McCulloch (R.-Ohio)

McDowell (D.-Del.)

McEwen (R.-N.Y.)

McGee (D.-Wyo.)

Mondale (D.-Minn.)

Morris (D.-N.M.)

Morton (R.-Ky.)

O’Neal (D.-Ga.)

Pearson (R.-Kan.)

Poff (R.-Va.)

Purcell (D.-Tex.)

Reid (R.-Ill.)

Reid (R.-N.Y.)

Rumsfeld (R.-Ill.)

Scott (D.-N.C.)

Secrest (D.-Ohio)

Slack (D.-W.Va.)

Smith (R.-N.Y.)

Springer (R.-Ill.)

Stennis (D.-Miss.)

Stephens (D.-Ga.)

Stratton (D.-N.Y.)

Stubblefield (D.-Ky.)

Thomson (R.-Wis.)

Ullman (D.-Ore.)

Utt (R.-Calif.)

Weltner (D.-Ga.)

Whalley (R.-Pa.)

Whitten (D.-Miss.)

Wright (D.-Tex.)

Congregational Christian

Battin (R.-Mont.)

Berry (R.-S.Dak.)

Bingham (D.-N.Y.)

Burdick (D.-N.D.)

Cotton (R.-N.H.)

Davis (R.-Wis.)

Farnum (D.-Mich.)

Findley (R.-Ill.)

Fong (R.-Hawaii)

Fraser (D.-Minn.)

Griffin (R.-Mich.)

Gurney (R.-Fla.)

Keith (R.-Mass.)

Mink (D.-Hawaii)

Morse (R.-Mass.)

Morse (D.-Ore.)

Mosher (R.-Ohio)

Pike (D.-N.Y.)

Prouty (R.-Vt.)

Stafford (R.-Vt.)

Younger (R.-Calif.)

Episcopal

Adams (D.-Wash.)

Allott (R.-Colo.)

Andrews (R.-Ala.)

Andrews (R.-N.D.)

Ashley (D.-Ohio)

Betts (R.-Ohio)

Bolling (D.-Mo.)

Bonner (D.-N.C.)

Brewster (D.-Md.)

Brown (D.-Calif.)

Byrd (D.-Va.)

Cabell (D.-Tex.)

Callaway (R.-Ga.)

Cohelan (D.-Calif.)

Cunningham (R.-Neb.)

Curtin (R.-Pa.)

Dominick (R.-Colo.)

Dow (D.-N.Y.)

Downing (D.-Va.)

Ellsworth (R.-Kan.)

Farnsley (D.-Ky.)

Ford (R.-Mich.)

Frelinghuysen (R.-N.J.)

Goodell (R.-N.Y.)

Hanna (D.-Calif.)

Hathaway (D.-Me.)

Hayden (D.-Ariz.)

Hechler (D.-W.Va.)

Hosmer (R.-Calif.)

Karsten (D.-Mo.)

Kee (D.-W.Va.)

King (D.-Calif.)

Kuchel (R.-Calif.)

Kunkel (R.-Pa.)

Machen (D.-Md.)

Mailliard (R.-Calif.)

Mathias (R.-Md.)

Matsunaga (D.-Hawaii)

May (R.-Wash.)

McFall (D.-Calif.)

Mize (R.-Kan.)

Monroney (D.-Okla.)

Moorhead (D.-Pa.)

Morrison (D.-La.)

Morton (R.-Md.)

Pell (D.-R.I.)

Pelly (R.-Wash.)

Proxmire (D.-Wis.)

Reifel (R.-S.D.)

Reuss (D.-Wis.)

Rivers (D.-Alaska)

Rivers (D.-S.C.)

Rogers (D.-Tex.)

Roosevelt (D.-Calif.)

Satterfield (D.-Va.)

Schneebeli (R.-Pa.)

Frelinghuysen (R.-N.J.)

Selden (D.-Ala.)

Simpson (R.-Wyo.)

Smith (D.-Va.)

Symington (D.-Mo.)

Thompson (D.-Tex.)

Tydings (D.-Md.)

Van Deerlin (D.-Calif.)

Widnall (R.-N.J.)

Wyatt (R.-Ore.)

Wydler (R.-N.Y.)

Baptist

Abbitt (D.-Va.)

Andrews (D.-Ala.)

Ashbrook (R.-Ohio)

Ashmore (D.-S.C.)

Beckworth (D.-Tex.)

Broyhill (R.-N.C.)

Buchanan (R.-Ala.)

Byrd (D.-W.Va.)

Carlson (R.-Kan.)

Carter (R.-Ky.)

Conyers (D.-Mich.)

Cooley (D.-N.C.)

Diggs (D.-Mich.)

Dorn (D.-S.C.)

Gathings (D.-Ark.)

Gore (D.-Tenn.)

Gray (D.-Ill.)

Hagan (D.-Ga.)

Hall (R.-Mo.)

Harris (D.-Ark.)

Harris (D.-Okla.)

Ichord (D.-Mo.)

Johnson (D.-Okla.)

Johnston (D.-S.C.)

Landrum (D.-Ga.)

Lennon (D.-N.C.)

Lipscomb (R.-Calif.)

Long (D.-La.)

Long (D.-Mo.)

Natcher (D.-Ky.)

McClellan (D.-Ark.)

McMillan (D.-S.C.)

Nix (D.-Pa.)

Passman (D.-La.)

Patman (D.-Tex.)

Pepper (D.-Fla.)

Perkins (D.-Ky.)

Powell (D.-N.Y.)

Randolph (D.-W.Va.)

Robertson (D.-Va.)

Rogers (D.-Colo.)

Shipley (D.-Ill.)

Talmadge (D.-Ga.)

Taylor (D.-N.C.)

Teague (D.-Tex.)

Thurmond (R.-S.C.)

Tuck (D.-Va.)

Tuten (D.-Ga.)

Walker (R.-Miss.)

Watson (D.-S.C.)

Williams (D.-Miss.)

Wilson (R.-Calif.)

Wilson (D.-Calif.)

Yarborough (D.-Tex.)

Lutheran

Broyhill (R.-Va.)

Clausen (R.-Calif.)

Craley (D.-Pa.)

Greigg (D.-Iowa)

Hartke (D.-Ind.)

Langen (R.-Minn.)

Magnuson (D.-Wash.)

Moeller (D.-Ohio)

Nelsen (R.-Minn.)

Olson (D.-Minn.)

Quie (R.-Minn.)

Race (D.-Wis.)

Redlin (D.-N.D.)

Reinecke (R.-Calif.)

Rhodes (D.-Pa.)

Senner (D.-Ariz.)

Stalbaum (D.-Wis.)

Jewish

Celler (D.-N.Y.)

Farbstein (D.-N.Y.)

Friedel (D.-Md.)

Gilbert (D.-N.Y.)

Halpern (R.-N.Y.)

Javits (R.-N.Y.)

Joelson (D.-N.J.)

Multer (D.-N.Y.)

Ottinger (D.-N.Y.)

Reznick (D.-N.Y.)

Ribicoff (D.-Conn.)

Rosenthal (D.-N.Y.)

Scheuer (D.-N.Y.)

Tenzer (D.-N.Y.)

Toll (D.-Pa.)

Wolff (D.-N.Y.)

Yates (D.-Ill.)

Churches of Christ

Anderson (D.-Tenn.)

Burleson (D.-Tex.)

Evins (D.-Tenn.)

Fisher (D.-Tex.)

Sisk (D.-Calif.)

Unitarian

Burton (D.-Calif.)

Clark (D.-Pa.)

Clevenger (D.-Mich.)

Curtis (R.-Mo.)

Edwards (D.-Calif.)

Hruska (R.-Neb.)

Mackie (D.-Mich.)

Neuberger (D.-Ore.)

Saltonstall (R.-Mass.)

Schmidhauser (D.-Iowa)

Vivian (D.-Mich.)

Williams (D.-N.J.)

Latter Day Saints

Bennett (R.-Utah)

Burton (R.-Utah)

Cannon (D.-Nev.)

Clawson (R.-Calif.)

Dyal (D.-Calif.)

Hansen (R.-Idaho)

King (D.-Utah)

Moss (D.-Utah)

Udall (D.-Ariz.)

Young (R.-N.D.)

Disciples of Christ

Bennett (D.-Fla.)

Fulbright (D.-Ark.)

Green (D.-Ore.)

Harvey (R.-Ind.)

Holifield (D.-Calif.)

Hull (D.-Mo.)

Hungate (D.-Mo.)

Jones (D.-Mo.)

Latta (R.-Ohio)

Roudebush (R.-Ind.)

Watts (D.-Ky.)

Protestant

Aiken (R.-Vt.)

Baring (D.-Nev.)

Bartlett (D.-Alaska)

Casey (D.-Tex.)

Chamberlain (R.-Mich.)

Cleveland (R.-N.H.)

Dwyer (R.-N.J.)

Fascell (D.-Fla.)

Griffiths (D.-Mich.)

Hagen (D.-Calif.)

McClory (R.-Ill.)

Meeds (D.-Wash.)

Minshall (R.-Ohio)

Moss (D.-Calif.)

Pirnie (R.-N.Y.)

Schisler (D.-Ill.)

Teague (R.-Calif.)

Apostolic Christian

Michel (R.-Ill.)

Brethren in Christ

Roush (D.-Ind.)

Christian Scientist

Dawson (D.-Ill.)

Hansen (D.-Wash.)

Hutchinson (R.-Mich.)

Evangelical and Reformed

Garmatz (D.-Md.)

Saylor (R.-Pa.)

Evangelical Free Church

Anderson (R.-Ill.)

Cederberg (R.-Mich.)

Mission Covenant

Johnson (R.-Pa.)

Reformed Church of America

Bandstra (D.-Iowa)

Dirksen (R.-Ill.)

Schwenkfelder

Schweiker (R.-Pa.)

Society of Friends

Bray (R.-Ind.)

Douglas (D.-lll.) (also a Unitarian)

Universalist

Poage (D.-Tex.)

United Church of Christ

Ford (D.-Mich.)

Not Listed

Gruening (D.-Alaska)

Hicks (D.-Wash.)

Kastenmeier (D.-Wis.)

Martin (R.-Mass.)

O’Hara (D.-Ill.)

Roncalio (D.-Wyo.)

Todd (D.-Mich.)

The Governors

A denominational census of governors in the United States shows 13 Methodists, 8 Roman Catholics, 7 Baptists, 6 Presbyterians, and 6 Episcopalians for the new year. Here is a complete list:

Methodist: Avery (R.-Kan.), Breathitt (D.-Ky.), Burns (D.-Fla.), Clement (D.-Tenn.), Connally (D.-Tex.), Hughes (D.-Iowa), Johnson (D.-Miss.), McKeithen (D.-La.), Moore (D.-N.C.), Russell (D.-S.C.), Smylie (R.-Idaho), Tawes (D.-Md.), Wallace (D.-Ala.).

Roman Catholic: Brown (D.-Calif.), Burns (D.-Hawaii), Campbell (D.-N.M.), Dempsey (D.-Conn.), Egan (D.-Alaska), Hughes (D.-N.J.), King (D.-N.H.), Volpe (R.-Mass.).

Baptist: Branigin (D.-lnd.), Faubus (D.-Ark.), Hatfield (R.-Ore.), Hearnes (D.-Mo.), Rockefeller (R.-N.Y.), Sanders (D.-Ga.), Sawyer (D.-Nev.).

Presbyterian: Babcock (R.-Mont.), Bellmon (R.-Okla.), Guy (D.-N.D.), Rhodes (R.-Ohio), Scranton (R.-Pa.), Smith (D.-W.Va.).

Episcopalian: Chafee (R.-R.I.), Hansen (R.-Wyo.), Harrison (D.-Va.), Hoff (D.-Vt.), Morrison (D.-Neb.), Terry (D.-Del.).

Congregational Christian: Evans (R.-Wash.), Kerner (D.-Ill.), Knowles (R.-Wis.), Reed (R.-Me.).

Latter Day Saints: Rampton (R.-Utah), Romney (R.-Mich.).

Lutheran: Boe (R.-S.D.), Rolvaag (D.-Minn.).

Unitarian: Goddard (D.-Ariz.).

United Church of Christ: Love (R.-Colo.).

Spanish Delay

The long-awaited bill defining the status and rights of Spain’s Protestant minority apparently will not become law before a final vote is taken on religious liberty at the Second Vatican Council’s next session.

Religious News Service reported that such a postponement was indicated by Archbishop Vicente Enrique Y Tarancon of Oviedo when interviewed by Ya, a Roman Catholic daily in Madrid.

It had been expected that the bill would be submitted to the Cortes (Parliament) at its last session this year, just before Christmas, despite reports that opposition to it had been hardening slightly in government circles.

Archbishop Enrique expressed regret over the “resultant delay” in approving the bill caused, he said, by the fact that there was no final vote on the religious liberty declaration by the Council Fathers. He noted that “among those supporting the idea of a rapid vote on the declaration were American prelates, for whom the matter if of the highest possible importance both from the pastoral and political point of view.”

At the same time, he defended the Spanish bishops against any charge that they were responsible for the postponement of the vote. “Only 25 of Spain’s 80-strong hierarchy attending the council did, in fact, sign the petition for postponement, and one of the Spanish cardinals in Rome did not sign the petition,” he said.

The post The Eighty-Ninth Congress: A Denominational Census appeared first on Christianity Today.

Roman Catholics again are the most numerous in some two dozen religious affiliations represented in the Senate and House, but not by much. In both houses, Protestants as a group still outnumber those of other faiths.

In the 86th Congress, there was an initial total of 103 Roman Catholics, 91 in the House and 12 in the Senate.

In the 87th Congress, there are 98 Roman Catholics, including 86 in the House and 12 in the Senate. Here is the makeup of the House according to religious affiliation (for similar details on the Senate, see CHRISTIANITY TODAY, December 5, 1960 issue):

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Addabbo (D.-N.Y.)

Addonizio (D.-N.J.)

Anfuso (D-N.Y.)

Barrett (D.-Pa.)

Bates (R.-Mass.)

Becker (R.-N.Y.)

Bennett (R.-Mich.)

Blatnik (D.-Minn.)

Boggs (D.-La.)

Boland (D.-Mass.)

Buckley (D.-N.Y.)

Burke (D.-Ky.)

Burke (D.-Mass.)

Byrne (D.-Pa.)

Byrnes (R.-Wisc.)

Cahill (R.-N.J.)

Carey (D.-N.Y.)

Clancy (R.-O.)

Conte (R.-Mass.)

Cook (D.-O.)

Daddario (D.-Conn.)

Daniels (D.-N.J.)

Delaney (D.-N.Y.)

Dent (D.-Pa.)

Derwinski (R.-Ill.)

Dingell (D.-Mich.)

Donohue (D.-Mass.)

Dooley (R.-N.Y.)

Dulski (D.-N.Y.)

Fallon (D.-Md.)

Feighan (D.-O.)

Finnegan (D.-Ill.)

Fino (R.-N.Y.)

Flood (D.-Pa.)

Fogarty (D.-R.I.)

Gallagher (D.-N.J.)

Giaimo (D.-Conn.)

Mrs. Granahan (D.-Pa.)

Green (D.-Pa.)

Healey (D.-N.Y.)

Hebert (D.-La.)

Hoffman (R.-Ill.)

Holland (D.-Pa.)

Mrs. Kelly (D.-N.Y.)

Keogh (D.-N.Y.)

Kilday (D.-Tex.)

King (R.-N.Y.)

Kirwan (D.-O.)

Kluczynski (D.-Ill.)

Kowalski (D.-Conn.)

Lane (D.-Mass.)

Lesinski (D.-Mich.)

Libonati (D.-Ill.)

McCormack (D.-Mass.)

McDonough (R.-Calif.)

Macdonald (D.-Mass.)

Machrowicz (D.-Mich.)

Mack (D.-Ill.)

Madden (D.-Ind.)

G. P. Miller (R.-Calif.)

Monagan (D.-Conn.)

Montoya (D-N. Mex.)

Murphy (D.-Ill.)

O’Brien (D.-N.Y.)

O’Brien (D.-Ill.)

O’Hara (D.-Ill.)

O’Hara (D.-Mich.)

O’Konski (R.-Wisc.)

O’Neill (D.-Mass.)

Philbin (D.-Mass.)

Price (D.-Ill.)

Pucinski (D.-Ill)

Rabaut (D.-Mich.)

Rodino (D.-N.J.)

Rooney (D.-N.Y.)

Rostenkowski (D.-Ill.)

St. Germain (D.-R.I.)

Santangelo (D.-N.Y.)

Shelley (D.-Calif.)

Mrs. Sullivan (D.-Mo.)

Thompson (D.-N.J.)

Thompson (D.-La.)

Vanik (D.-O.)

Willis (D.-La.)

Young (D.-Tex.)

Zablocki (D.-Wisc.)

METHODIST

Abemethy (D.-Miss.)

Adair (R.-Ind.)

Albert (D.-Okla.)

Arends (R.-Ill.)

Aspinall (D.-Colo.)

Avery (R.-Kan.)

Ayres (R.-O.)

Bass (D.-Tenn.)

Belcher (R.-Okla.)

Mrs. Blitch (D.-Ga.)

Boykin (D.-Ala.)

Brademas (D.-Ind.)

Brooks (D.-Tex.)

Broomfield (R.-Mich.)

Brown (R.-O.)

Mrs. Church (R.-Ill.)

Collier (R.-Ill.)

Colmer (D.-Miss.)

Corman (D.-Calif.)

Cramer (R.-Fla.)

J. C. Davis (D.-Ga.)

Denton (D.-Ind.)

Devine (R.-O.)

Dole (R.-Kan.)

Dowdy (D.-Tex.)

Elliott (D.-Ala.)

Flynt (D.-Ga.)

Frazier (D.-Tenn.)

Grant (D.-Ala.)

Haley (D.-Fla.)

Halleck (R.-Ind.)

Hardy (D.-Va.)

Herlong (D.-Fla.)

Inouye (D.-Hawaii)

Jennings (D.-Va.)

Jonas (R.-N.C.)

Jones (D.-Ala.)

Kilbum (R.-N.Y.)

Kilgore (D.-Tex.)

Komegay (D.-N.C.)

McSween (D.-La.)

McVey (R.-Kan.)

D. Magnuson (D.-Wash.)

Mahon (D.-Tex.)

Meader (R.-Mich.)

Merrow (R.-N.H.)

Mills (D.-Ark.)

Moore (R.-W.Va.)

Morgan (D.-Pa.)

Murray (D.-Tenn.)

Olsen (D.-Mont.)

Mrs. Pfost (D.-Ida.)

Pilcher (D.-Ga.)

Randall (D.-Mo.)

Rhodes (R.-Ariz.)

Riley (D.-S.C.)

Robison (R.-N.Y.)

Rogers (D.-Fla.)

Schenck (R.-O.)

Sheppard (D.-Calif.)

Shriver (R.-Ken.)

Sikes (D.-Fla.)

Smith (D.-Miss.)

Smith (R.-Calif.)

Smith (D.-Ia.)

Staggers (D.-W.Va.)

Steed (D.-Okla.)

Stubblefield (D.-Ky.)

Thomas (D.-Tex.)

Thornberry (D.-Tex.)

Trimble (D.-Ark.)

Tupper (R.-Me.)

Vinson (D.-Ga.)

Wallhauser (R.-N.J.)

Wharton (R.-N.Y.)

Whitener (D.-N.C.)

PRESBYTERIAN

Alexander (D.-N.C.)

Auchincloss (R.-N.J.)

Baker (R.-Tenn.)

Baldwin (R.-Calif.)

Barry (R.-N.Y.)

Bell (R.-Calif.)

Mrs. Bolton (R.-O.)

Bow (R.-O.)

Bromwell (R.-Ia.)

Chelf (D.-Ky.)

Clark (D.-Pa.)

Corbett (R.-Pa.)

Dague (R.-Pa.)

J. W. Davis (D.-Ga.)

Derounian (R.-N.Y.)

Edmondson (D.-Okla.)

Fountain (D.-N.C.)

Fulton (R.-Pa.)

Glenn (R.-N.J.)

Gross (R.-Ia.)

Gubser (R.-Calif.)

Harsha (R.-O.)

Harvey (R.-Mich.)

Hays (D.-O.)

Hemphill (D.-S.C.)

Henderson (D.-N.C.)

Hoeven (R.-Ia.)

Horan (R.-Wash.)

Jarman (D.-Okla.)

Johnson (D.-Calif.)

Karth (D.-Minn.)

Knox (R.-Mich.)

Kyl (R.-Ia.)

Laird (R.-Wis.)

Lindsay (R.-N.Y.)

MacGregor (R.-Minn.)

McCulloch (R.-O.)

McDowell (D.-Del.)

Martin (R.-Neb.)

Matthews (D.-Fla.)

C. W. Miller (D.-Calif.)

Milliken (R.-Pa.)

Moorehead (R.-O.)

Morris (D.-N.Mex.)

Norblad (R.-Ore.)

Pillion (R.-N.Y.)

Poff (R.-Va.)

Scott (D.-N.C.)

Scranton (R.-Pa.)

Slack (D.-W.Va.)

Springer (R.-Ill.)

Stephens (D.-Ga.)

Stratton (D.-N.Y.)

Thomson (R.-Wis.)

Ullman (D.-Ore.)

Utt (R.-Calif.)

Weaver (R.-Neb.)

Westland (R.-Wash.)

Whaley (R.-Pa.)

Whitten (D.-Miss.)

Wright (D.-Tex.)

BAPTIST

Abbitt (D.-Va.)

Andrews (D.-Ala.)

Ashbrook (R.-O.)

Ashmore (D.-S.C.)

Bailey (D.-W.Va.)

Beckworth (D.-Tex.)

Cannon (D.-Mo.)

Chenoweth (R.-Colo.)

Cooley (D.-N.C.)

Davis (D.-Tenn.)

Diggs (D.-Mich.)

Dorn (D.-S.C.)

Forrester (D.-Ga.)

Gary (D.-Va.)

Gathings (D.-Ark.)

Gray (D.-Ill.)

Hagan (D.-Ga.)

Hall (R.-Mo.)

Harris (D.-Ark.)

Ichord (D.-Mo.)

Kitchin (D.-N.C.)

Landrum (D.-Ga.)

Lennon (D.-N.C.)

Lipscomb (R.-Calif.)

Loser (D.-Tenn.)

McIntire (R.-Me.)

McMillan (D.-S.C.)

Natcher (D.-Ky.)

Nix (D.-Pa.)

Norrell (D.-Ark.)

Passman (D.-La.)

Patman (D.-Tex.)

Perkins (D.-Ky.)

Powell (D.-N.Y.)

Rains (D.-Ala.)

Rayburn (D.-Tex.)

Reece (R.-Tenn.)

Riehlman (R.-N.Y.)

Roberts (D.-Ala.)

Rogers (D.-Colo.)

Rutherford (D.-Tex.)

Ryan (D.-N.Y.)

Schwengel (R.-Ia.)

Shipley (D.-Ill.)

Siler (R.-Ky.)

Taylor (D.-N.C.)

Teague (D.-Tex.)

Tuck (D.-Va.)

Williams (D.-Miss.)

Wilson (R.-Calif.)

Wilson (R.-Ind.)

Winstead (D.-Miss.)

EPISCOPAL

Alford (D.-Ark.)

Ashley (D.-O.)

Bass (R.-N.H.)

Betts (R.-O.)

Bolling (D.-Mo.)

Bonner (D.-N.C.)

Brewster (D.-Md.)

Brooks (D.-La.)

Cohelan (D.-Calif.)

Cunningham (R.-Nebr.)

Curtin (R.-Pa.)

Curtis (R.-Mass.)

Dominick (R.-Col.)

Downing (D.-Va.)

Ellsworth (R.-Kan.)

Ford (R.-Mich.)

Frelinghuysen (R.-N.J.)

Garland (R.-Me.)

Gavin (R.-Pa.)

Goodell (R.-N.Y.)

Harrison (D.-Va.)

Hechler (D.-W.Va.)

Hosmer (R.-Calif.)

Huddleston (D.-Ala.)

Ikard (D.-Tex.)

Johnson (D.-Md.)

Karsten (D.-Mo.)

Mrs. Kee (D.-W.Va.)

King (D.-Calif.)

Lankford (D.-Md.)

McFall (D.-Calif.)

Mathias (R.-Md.)

Mailliard (R.-Calif.)

Mrs. May (R.-Wash.)

Moorehead (D.-Pa.)

Morrison (D.-La.)

Pelly (R.-Wash.)

Reifel (R.-S.Dak.)

Reuss (D.-Wis.)

Rivers (D.-S.C.)

Rogers (D.-Tex.)

Roosevelt (D.-Calif.)

Mrs. St. George (R.-N.Y.)

Schneebeli (R.-Pa.)

Seely-Brown (R.-Conn.)

Selden (D.-Ala.)

Short (R.-N.D.)

Smith (D.-Va.)

Spence (D.-Ky.)

Taber (R.-N.Y.)

Thompson (D.-Tex.)

Mrs. Weis (R.-N.Y.)

Widnall (R.-N.Y.)

CONGREGATIONAL CHRISTIAN

Battin (R.-Mont.)

Berry (R.-S.D.)

Chiperfield (R.-Ill.)

Doyle (D.-Calif.)

Fenton (R.-Pa.)

Findley (R.-Ill.)

Griffin (R.-Mich.)

Hiestand (R.-Calif.)

Johansen (R.-Mich.)

Judd (R.-Minn.)

Keith (R.-Mass.)

Morse (R.-Mass.)

Mosher (R.-Ohio)

Osmers (R.-N.J.)

Pike (D.-N.Y.)

Schadeberg (R.-Wis.)

Sibal (R.-Conn.)

Stafford (R.-Vt.)

Younger (R.-Calif.)

“PROTESTANT”

Baring (D.-Nev.)

Breeding (D.-Kans.)

Casey (D.-Tex.)

Chamberlin (R.-Mich.)

Durno (R.-Ore.)

Mrs. Dwyer (R.-N.J.)

Fascell (D.-Fla.)

Mrs. Griffiths (D.-Mich.)

Hagen (D.-Calif.)

Latta (R.-O.)

Mason (R.-Ill.)

Marshall (D.-Minn.)

Minshall (R.-O.)

Moss (D.-Calif.)

Ostertag (R.-N.Y.)

Pirnie (R.-N.Y.)

Rivers (D.-Alaska)

Teague (R.-Calif.)

Van Pelt (R.-Wis.)

LUTHERAN

Andersen (R.-Minn.)

Beerman (R.-Neb.)

Broyhill (R.-Va.)

Bruce (R.-Ind.)

Hoffman (R.-Mich.)

Jensen (R.-Ia.)

Johnson (D.-Wis.)

Kearns (R.-Pa.)

Langen (R.-Minn.)

Moeller (D.-O.)

Mumma (R.-Pa.)

Nelsen (R.-Minn.)

Nygaard (R.-N.D.)

Quie (R.-Minn.)

Rhodes (D.-Pa.)

Tollefson (R.-Wash.)

Van Zandt (R.-Pa.)

Walter (D.-Pa.)

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

Alger (R.-Tex.)

Bennett (D.-Fla.)

Coad (D.-Ia.)

Mrs. Green (D.-Ore.)

Harvey (R.-Ind.)

Holifield (D.-Calif.)

Hull (D.-Mo.)

Jones (D.-Mo.)

Roundebush (R.-Ind.)

Watts (D.-Ky.)

Wickersham (D.-Okla.)

JEWISH

Celler (D.-N.Y.)

Farbstein (D.-N.Y.)

Friedel (D.-Md.)

Gilbert (D.-N.Y.)

Halpern (R.-N.Y.)

Holtzman (D.-N.Y.)

Joelson (D.-N.J.)

Multer (D.-N.Y.)

Toll (D.-Pa.)

Yates (D.-Ill.)

Zelenko (D.-N.Y.)

LATTER DAY SAINTS (Mormon)

Harding (D.-Id.)

King (D.-Utah)

Peterson (D.-Utah)

Udall (D.-Ariz.)

CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST

Dawson (D.-Ill.)

Hansen (D.-Wash.)

Rousselot (R.-Calif.)

Scherer (R.-O.)

CHURCHES OF CHRIST

Burleson (D.-Tex.)

Evins (D.-Tenn.)

Fisher (D.-Tex.)

Sisk (D.-Calif.)

UNITARIAN

Curtis (R.-Mo.)

Harrison (R.-Wyo.)

EVANGELICAL AND REFORMED

Garmatz (D.-Md.)

Saylor (R.-Pa.)

EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH

Anderson (R.-Ill.)

Cederberg (R.-Mich.)

UNIVERSALIST

Poage (D.-Tex.)

Ray (R.-N.Y.)

APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN

Michel (R.-Ill.)

BRETHREN IN CHRIST

Roush (D.-Ind.)

Contested race, outcome uncertain.

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN

Everett (D.-Tenn.)

EVANGELICAL UNITED BRETHREN

Goodling (R.-Pa.)

SCHWENKFELDER

Schweiker (R.-Pa.)

SIKH

Saund (D.-Calif.)

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

Bray (R.-Ind.)

“NOT LISTED”

Kastenmeier (D.-Wis.)

Martin (R.-Mass.)

Moulder (D.-Mo.)

Wholesale Resignations

Resignations by the general secretary and the entire office staff of the National Council of Churches in Korea last month left the country’s only agency of Protestant church cooperation with an unprecedented emergency.

No known candidates for the secretary-ship were in sight as delegates to a council session accepted the resignation of the Rev. Simeon Kang, former pastor of Seoul’s oldest Protestant church, Seimoonan Presbyterian, known as the Mother Church of Protestantism south of the 38th parallel. Apparently “irresistible pressures” from the church led him to return to the pastorate, according to observers.

Mr. Kang had served as council secretary since last April when former secretary Ho Joon Yun was ousted.

Churches and Apartheid

The World Council of Churches held a week-long conference on the race question in South Africa last month. It had been called following heated exchanges and a building-up of tensions between Anglican and Dutch Reformed churchmen. The outcome made it evident that sharp differences of opinion still exist in the churches toward the government’s apartheid policies.

A lengthy anti-apartheid statement was issued following the conference, held in Johannesburg and attended by 87 delegates, 24 of whom were Negroes. All eight WCC member churches in South Africa were represented. Deliberations were held behind closed doors; the press was barred.

WCC spokesmen said that 80 per cent of the delegates voted in favor of a series of resolutions condemning apartheid. Dutch Reformed churches which participated in the conference subsequently issued dissenting statements.

The majority statement was divided into three parts, the first of which rejected “all unjust discrimination on racial grounds.” The second part listed 17 resolutions on specific aspects of the race question, and the third gave views on recent incidents.

One resolution took sharp issue with the South African ban on Negroes worshipping in white churches. Another asserted that there are no Scriptural grounds for prohibiting racially-mixed marriages, but added that the well-being of the community and pastoral responsibility require that due consideration be given to certain factors which may make such marriages undesirable. Still other resolutions contended that the present system of job reservation in South Africa must give way to a more equitable system and that non-whites’ wages must be raised by concerted action.

The dissent from the Dutch Reformed Church stated that integration was unjust and that apartheid was the “only just solution to our racial problems.”

Some observers felt that despite the dissenting statements a major concession by Dutch Reformed elements was apparent. While supporting the idea of “differentiation” in the races, the Dutch Reformed Churches of Cape and Transvaal voted for a resolution which said:

“It is our conviction that the right to own land wherever he is domiciled and to participate in the government of his country is part of the dignity of adult man, and for this reason a policy which permanently denies to non-white people the right of collaboration in the government of the country of which they are citizens cannot be justified.”

Disaster Damage

The 500-seat Pillar of Fire Church in Brooklyn was among 10 buildings set on fire last month by the crash of a falling jetliner which had collided with another aircraft over New York City.

The church belongs to the Pillar of Fire society which has an inclusive membership of about 5100 in the United States. It is a holiness, Methodistic group initially organized by Mrs. Alma White as the Pentecostal Union in 1917.

Religious Respectability

The president of the University of Minnesota, Dr. Owen M. Wilson, is studying a proposal to establish a school of religion at the Minneapolis campus.

A committee from the university’s Council of Religious Advisers and a faculty committee of the College of Science, Literature and Arts are preparing a statement of definition and purpose for such a school.

Mrs. Keith Heller, council president, has proposed that the university finance the administrative costs of a school of religion and that religious bodies endow chairs of learning.

Mrs. Heller, a Presbyterian, says a school of religion would help make “religious knowledge academically respectable.”

Decalogue For Church News Pages

Hiley H. Ward, religion writer for the Detroit Free Press, has come up with a “Decalogue for Church News Pages” aimed at ministers:

1. Thou shalt have no other newspapers before me—that is, newspapers like to have the same release date, and, too, a date that favors that particular paper.

2. Thou shalt not make unto you any images as to how you think your story should look in the paper. Then you won’t be disappointed if it doesn’t come out the way you expected.

3. Do not take God’s name in vain. Do not expect every club meeting and social tea in God’s name to get on the religion page.

4. Remember your deadlines, and keep them holy.

5. Honor your father and mother, your senior pastors and retired deaconesses and missionaries, but remember, too, the children and the young adults whose faith in action makes very fresh reading.

6. Thou shalt not kill anything. Send us a calendar—let us know what you are doing—briefly, of course, and leave the slaughter to the religion editor and the copy desk.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. This could mean for the minister with news ambitions to stay with his own business of the Gospel and he will be much better off newswise. It can mean literally, too, don’t run away with the choir director.

8. Thou shalt not steal or borrow the ideas of somebody else and expect good coverage.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Be positive. Don’t try to expose other religions.

10. Thou shalt not covet your fellow ministers’ publicity. If one man is getting all of the publicity, maybe he deserves it, maybe he doesn’t.

Cardinal Appointments

Four more Roman Catholic prelates—an American, an Italian, and two Latin Americans—will be elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals by Pope John XXIII in Rome this month.

The American cardinal-designate is Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter of St. Louis, 68, whose appointment raises the U. S. membership in the college to six.

The new Italian member is 61-year-old titular Archbishop Giuseppe Ferretto, a prominent prelate of the Roman Curia, who was in the United States last September on his way to a Roman Catholic congress being held in Ottawa.

The Latin American appointees are titular Archbishop Jose Humberto Quintero of Caracas, Venezuela, who is 58; and Archbishop Luis Concha Cordoba of Bogotá, Colombia, 69.

This marks the third series of cardinal appointments by Pope John in little more than two years. In all, excluding the cardinals “in pectore,” he has created 42 new cardinals.

As now constituted, the college has 31 Italian and 51 non-Italian members.

Offending A State

An Italian weekly newspaper editor was given a five-month suspended sentence by a Rome court last month for asserting in an article that the Vatican had interfered in Italian civil politics.

Arrigo Benedetti, editor of the weekly Expresso, was convicted under Article 297 of the Italian Penal Code which provides sentences of up to three years for “whoever on Italian territory offends the honor and prestige of the head of a foreign state.”

Benedetti made the assertions May 22 while commenting on the widely-discussed statement in the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano of four days earlier which upheld the right of the church to “guide the faithful.”

The editor charged that the Pope and the Roman Catholic hierarchy were limiting the freedom of the Italian citizen and were behaving unconstitutionally by interfering in Italian civil affairs and demanding the obedience of Catholic citizens to ecclesiastical directives in political decisions.

Reversal at Yonsei

Dr. Bung-kan Koh, former president of Kyungbuk National University in Taegu, Korea, last month was elected president of Yonsei University, an interdenominational, mission-supported institution in Seoul that has been rocked by insurrection of students and professors.

A Presbyterian elder, Koh takes over the Yonsei helm from Professor Horace Underwood, who was named acting president after Dr. George L. Paik, former head, resigned last July to run successfully for Korea’s House of Councillors (Senate).

Koh, 60, was nominated for the presidency by the same striking faculty members who blocked his election by the university board six months before.

A native of North Korea, Koh has spent many years in educational and administrative work south of the 38th parallel and is considered one of the outstanding Christian educators in the Republic of Korea. He served as dean of the medical faculty of the second largest government medical school in Korea (Kyungbuk) before becoming president of the Kyungbuk university proper. Unseated from the post in the wave of nationwide faculty turnover following Korea’s April Revolution, Koh has been living quietly as a private citizen.

Meanwhile, the Yonsei campus is still under well-organized influence by dissident faculty and student body leaders, whose current program allows no student to attend class or to study except in shirtsleeves, despite winter cold, out of sympathy for 10 student rioters still held by police as the “hard core” of the mob which ransacked the homes of Professor Underwood and Dr. Charles A. Sauer, acting board chairman. Both men are veteran U. S. missionaries, Presbyterian and Methodist, respectively.

A Christian Testimony

The Christian testimony of Eastern Nigeria’s first African governor appeared in the Daily Times, the nation’s largest daily newspaper, last month.

Sir Francis A. Ibiam is a dedicated Christian believer who makes no secret of his faith in predominantly Muslim Nigeria. His confession of faith was reprinted from the African Challenge, a Christian monthly, on the occasion of his installation December 15.

Splashed across three columns by the Daily Times’ Muslim editor were these words: “I accept as the absolute truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, and that for my sake he died … so that if I believed in Him—I do believe in Him—I should not go to damnation but live with Him for evermore.”

Contributing Editor

Dr. A. Skevington Wood, minister of Southlands Methodist Church in York, England, has been named a Contributing Editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

Wood succeeds Dr. W. E. Sangster, who died recently.

L. F. E. Wilkinson

The Rev. Leslie Francis Edward Wilkinson, principal of Oak Hill Theological College, London, England, died last month at the age of 55.

Wilkinson was a highly-respected evangelical leader in the Church of England. He became principal at Oak Hill in 1945.

Ncc Picks A Layman President

The new president of the National Council of Churches is a wealthy 51-year-old banker-industrialist from Columbus, Indiana, who has long been active in ecumenical activities. J. Irwin Miller, first layman president in NCC history, moves up from the council’s Division of Christian Life and Work, for which he has been vice chairman during the past three years.

Miller is board chairman of the Cummins Engine Company and the Irwin Bank and Trust Company in Columbus, and the Union Starch and Refining Company of Granite City, Illinois. He also serves on the boards of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, the Indiana National Bank of Indianapolis, and of Purity Stores, a 105-store chain of supermarkets in California.

Time magazine characterized Miller as “sole angel” of The Christian Century for years. He “still meets most of the magazine’s deficit,” the report said.

Miller is active in the Disciples denomination and comes from a distinguished line of Christian Church leaders and philanthropists. He recently gave the campus site for the relocation of the Christian Theological Seminary adjacent to Butler University.

A few years ago Miller led some 200 members of the 2000-member First Christian Church, Columbus, in a revolt against its long-standing conservative theological and strongly independent congregational policy. Overwhelmingly defeated in his move, he effected the organization of the North Christian Church in Columbus, where he now holds his membership.

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