NCC Sidesteps Action on Cleveland Report

NEWS

CHRISTIANITY TODAY

By focussing attention on the principle of freedom of speech, the General Board of the National Council of Churches endeavored to divert the storm of protest directed at political pronouncements of the Cleveland Conference on World Order. At the regular board meeting, held last month in Hartford, Connecticut, the 91 delegates took no action on the Red China issue.

It had been a foregone conclusion that the board would follow the recommendation of its Executive Committee that the report of the Cleveland Study Conference be received and transmitted to the Department of International Affairs for action. The report may or may not be brought before the board at its next meeting in Seattle, Washington.

During the brief and informal discussion on the portion of the Cleveland report recommending United States recognition of Red China and its admission to the United Nations, the board expressed its mind in “The Hartford Appeal.” This document stated, “The issue is the right of the citizen of whatever race or creed, and of any peaceable organizations he chooses to form or join, to discuss freely and to express judgments, without exposure to attacks upon motive or integrity for daring to exercise the right to do so.” A portion deleted from the original draft revealed what to many critics were the issues: “Red China is not the issue. Pacifism is not the issue. Whether the recent Cleveland Conference spoke for itself, or whether the National Council properly speaks for its 38,000,000 constituents is not the issue.” These, however, were the issues that had been raised by thousands of ministers and laymen of constituent churches. The board was but following the example of left-wing organizations who raise the question of freedom of speech whenever the content of their pronouncements is questioned or criticized.

Reasons for supporting recognition of Red China and inclusion into the United Nations were given by Dr. Ray Gibbons who stated that he represented the 2,000,000 members of the United Church of Christ. When challenged by a minister of his own denomination, he acknowledged that he spoke only for the 24 members of the Council of Social Action. The Rev. Gabor Csordas of New York, representing the Hungarian Reformed Church in America, spoke against recognition of Red China. Dr. O. W. Wagner of the Evangelical and Reformed Church also disapproved recognition of Red China but deplored the type of criticism levelled at those who framed the Cleveland report.

With only Dr. Franklin Clark Fry abstaining, the board voted to adopt the Hartford Appeal. Dr. Fry explained that he was not against freedom of speech per se but held that the Church should speak only in that area authorized by Christ. This was the only recognition of the basic criticism levelled at the Cleveland report—that the politico-economic pronouncements were outside of the proper sphere of the Church. The Lordship of Christ is over both church and state and in his revelation Christ has delineated their proper and distinct responsibilities. The Cleveland report and the NCC board ignored the authorized areas of responsibility.

The right and duty of the church to speak fearlessly on controversial public issues were voiced by Dr. Edwin T. Dahlberg, president of the National Council of Churches. At a luncheon session he maintained that the Church “has a clear biblical mandate to teach and enlighten the conscience of our own generation on the life and death issues of our time, which are those pertaining to economics, race relations, bomb tests, disarmament, peace and war, and the separation of church and state.”

Dr. Dahlberg drew this mandate from the example of the Old Testament prophets who made mighty pronouncements on the affairs of State. [With one voice the prophets protested against alliances with pagan nations!] He cited the example of Jesus. He said, “The big public questions of his day were those pertaining to the Samaritan segregation issue, the Sabbath laws, the relations of Jews and Gentiles, the payment of the temple tax, tribute to Caesar, and the distance civilians were compelled to carry the baggage of the Roman military. It was the vigorous pronouncements Jesus made on these controversial matters that sent him to the cross. If he had confined himself to little Mickey Mouse morals, he would never have been heard of.”

While certain pronouncements of Christ caused enmity from ecclesiastical leaders of his day, the Gospels clearly reveal that Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah, the Son of God, brought the sentence of death upon him. One can hardly credit the statement that Christ would have remained unknown except that he had made pronouncements on “the big public questions” enumerated by Dr. Dahlberg.

In his address the National Council president deplored the Protestant situation which he found exists in Spain. He compared the “ruthless Franco dictatorship” to the “same kind of ruthless dictatorship in the Communist countries.” He condemned the closing of churches by the Franco government and asked, “How can a democratic country cooperate with Franco Spain?” The critics of the Cleveland report have asked a similar question. “How can a conference sponsored by the NCC urge Christian churches to influence the United States government to recognize and cooperate with Red China which, according to a NCC news release, has closed 188 churches in Shanghai and 61 in Peking?” One observer noted that hardness towards Spain and softness to Red China may be due to the fact that United States has military bases in Spain—a fact that grieves pacifists.

Resolutions Adopted

The board adopted a resolution urging Congress to repeal the provision of the National Defense Education Act requiring students to affirm that they are not subversive or members of subversive organizations in qualifying for financial assistance. The resolution noted “that the American political system rests firmly on trust in the integrity and loyalty of its free uncoerced citizens—a trust fully justified.” The board made clear that its chief objection springs from a religious standpoint, “our commitment to the God whose service is perfect freedom, a commitment solemnly expressed in the Declaration of Independence.” Evidently the board feels that students supported by public funds should have perfect freedom to belong even to a subversive organization if they so choose.

Also adopted was an eight-point resolution to work vigorously for adequate housing for all without regard to race. Churches were urged to encourage their members to “sign and make public covenants which commit them to support open occupancy housing in their neighborhoods.”

Authorization was given to representatives of the board to testify at legislative hearings in support of the extension of minimum wage legislation to economic groups not now covered.

The board voted that the proposed pronouncement on union membership as a condition of employment be sent back to the Division of Christian Life and Work for withdrawal.

Failure To Dispel Protests

By forthright action the board could have dispelled criticism of the Cleveland report. The call to the constituent churches said explicitly that the conference “will present its findings to the General Board, NCC, for further consideration.” The conference by-passed the board and delivered a message to the churches. And the only consideration given by the board was to return it to the very department under whose sponsorship and guidance the Cleveland report was prepared.

J. M. K.

Protestant Panorama

• Contemporary lines with Gothic undertones will characterize the Idlewild Airport Protestant chapel planned by the Protestant Council of the City of New York.

• Concordia Seminary of St. Louis plans an $870,000 library designed to eventually house 250,000 volumes … Milligan (Tennessee) College will get a new library in memory of Dr. P. H. Welshimer, for nearly 50 years the pastor of the First Christian Church of Canton, Ohio, whose congregation of 7,000 members is the communion’s largest in America.

• The West Indies Bible Institute of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, dedicated a new chapel last month. The institute was established by the Church of God.

• World Challenge, monthly missionary publication of the Assemblies of God, merges with the weekly Pentecostal Evangel, April 1.

• A group of new hymns, “suitable for use in gatherings related to Christian education,” is being sought by the Hymn Society of America (297 Fourth Avenue, New York 10, N. Y.), which wants to publish a new compilation later this year in cooperation with the International Journal of Religious Education.

• Christian Life magazine’s ninth annual Sunday School attendance contest was won by the Oliver Presbyterian Church of Minneapolis, which saw a 74 per cent increase in Sunday School attendance with the aid of Charles Schulz’ “Peanuts” comic strip, used in most of the 8,400 pieces of prospect mailing.

• Religious enterprises received the majority of philanthropic gifts in the United States last year, according to the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel. Religious contributions made up 51 per cent of the $7,100,000,000 1958 total, the agency said.

• Theodore Schaefer, for 20 years the organist and choirmaster of National Presbyterian Church, was found dead in his Washington apartment last month, his hand still clutching a telephone receiver through which he had been talking to a friend in New York. An autopsy failed to disclose the cause of death. The District of Columbia coroner withheld a certificate of death pending further investigation.

• The first Protestant parade in the history of Nicaragua was conducted through the streets of Managua last month as part of the fifth biennial congress of the Central American Mission. Some 12,000 to 15,000 persons witnessed the parade.

• Investment in downtown housing developments by Protestant bodies is being urged by an urban specialist of the National Council of Churches as a means of building up congregations in these areas. Dr. Meryl Ruoss, who directs urban church study for the NCC, said at a convocation in Dayton, Ohio, last month that “federal legislation makes it possible for churches and other nonprofit organizations to invest in housing with little risk.”

• The Methodist church in Finland, which numbers about 3,200 out of a national population of 4,333,000, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Methodism began in Finland in 1859 when Gustaf Lervik, a sailor, returned to preach in his homeland after being converted in America.

• Rome Betts, outgoing chairman, urged before a meeting of the National Council of Churches’ Broadcasting and Film Commission last month that five to ten million dollars be raised over a 15–20 year period among individuals and foundations to improve Protestant radio and TV programs.

• The Berean Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, issued a leaflet last month pointing out the number of Catholics who were candidates in a primary election campaign. The leaflet brought the church an official rebuke from the state Fair Election Practices Commission, which charged that religious bias had thus been injected into the contests. The Evangelical Ministerial Union of Grand Rapids rallied to the support of the Baptist congregation.

Australia And Asia

A Tall American

The meetings in Melbourne were still pressing toward a climax when it became evident that the biblical message had proven a great evangelistic rallying point for another continent. This time the locale was Australasia and the messenger was a tall American named Billy Graham who had a difficult time seeing out of his left eye.

Graham’s scheduled month-long crusade in Melbourne began at an indoor stadium seating 10,000, then moved to the Myer Music Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater which drew more than 65,000 on Sunday afternoon, February 22. The next shift was to another outdoor arena which promised unlimited accommodations. Still another move had been scheduled to the world-famous Olympic Stadium for a climactic March 15 rally.

This week Graham and his team were to visit the island state of Tasmania for two meetings, one in Launceston and the other in Hobart.

North Americans had the opportunity of getting in on the crusades via network television films and radio tapes which were beamed weekly.

The first 18 days of the Melbourne crusade drew an aggregate attendance of 420,000 with 14,838 recorded decisions for Christ. Both these figures represented all-time highs for a Graham crusade, according to one of his aides. The records were set despite the fact that rain proved a deterrent to attendance for several of the meetings.

After the first week of the crusade, Graham reported that his left eye was bothering him to a greater degree, that “it felt tired all the time.” After a sermon the evangelist said his vision in that eye was considerably blurred. Several specialists in the United States were consulted by telephone. They directed him to a Melbourne ophthalmologist who prescribed daily treatments. Special medicine was flown to Graham from the United States.

Graham was suffering from angio-spastic edema of the macula, a rare ailment (as reported in the February 2 issue of CHRISTIANITY TODAY). He limited his speaking engagements to nightly public meetings. He was to preach no longer than 35 minutes.

How was Australia in general reacting to Graham?

CHRISTIANITY TODAY Correspondent Dr. Leon Morris reported that “people all over Melbourne were beginning to discover that religion is a topic that men may discuss without a sense of embarrassment.”

“Protestant Christianity is united as never before,” he added.

“In opening addresses Graham strongly emphasized the place of God’s law, and the serious consequences of disobeying it. He made plain the accountability of man, and referred often to the Ten Commandments as the basis of all moral law.”

Morris said that in some respects the most impressive Melbourne meeting was a ministers’ assembly on Monday morning, February 16. He describes it thus:

“A thousand ministers of all denominations poured into the Town Hall of suburban St. Kilda to hear Mr. Graham explain his methods and his aims. He did not mention the criticisms that are sometimes given of the crusades, but his thoughtful, humble and careful outline of what he and his team proposed to do left the group of pastors in no doubt that this crusade was to be Christ-centered and very definitely church-related. ‘That was masterly,’ said one Anglican clergyman at the close of the meeting. ‘If that is what Billy Graham does, then nobody should feel the least disquiet.’ ”

Another appraisal of the evangelist came from the Right Rev. N. Faichney, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, who was quoted as saying:

“Not only does his vivid personality commend him, his quiet sincerity, his real humility and his dependence on the Holy Spirit speak of the manner in which he has placed himself in the hands of God.”

The first highly-placed criticisms came from Anglican Bishop Ernest H. Burgmann of Canberra, where Graham scheduled a meeting for April 27.

Burgmann challenged the evangelist’s campaign methods and charged that his use of the Bible in preaching was “idolatrous.” Criticizing the great crowds that attend the crusade meetings, Burgmann asserted that they “do not provide the atmosphere for decision involving truth vital for the strain of daily living.” He declared that in the course of studying the Scriptures he had ceased to hold the Bible “infallible.” He said he found “some things in it hard to believe and many others quite unintelligible.”

Graham found Burgmann’s attack “interesting” since he had been personally invited to preach in Australia by the late Archbishop H. W. K. Mowll, Anglican Primate of Australia.

Morris commented: “Increasing numbers of clergymen seem to be recognizing that the crusade can be made an effective means for extending the work of the church, even where men differ widely from the evangelist.”

Methodists Unite

Korean Methodists ended a five-year-old church split last month when nine delegates representing two Methodist groups affixed seals to an “unconditional merger” agreement.

The accord, which was to be ratified this month at a joint annual conference, heals a small division in which about twenty churches separated from the Methodist Church, second largest Protestant body in Korea, in a dispute over constitutional procedures in the election of a bishop. They formed the Constitutional Methodist Church. The united Methodist Church will number some 1200 churches with a total constituency of 250,000.

Observers welcome the event as a turn for the better in Korea’s schism-marred Protestant circles. But the problem of Korea’s major church schisms, which have fractured the country’s 800,000 Presbyterians, remains unsolved.

The Presbyterian. Church in Korea with 550,000 adherents remains the largest denomination. But in 1951 a group now numbering 150,000 and affiliated with the International Council of Christian Churches withdrew to form the Koryu Presbyterian Church, charging that the parent body was too liberal and too ecumenical. In 1954 a group connected with the United Church of Canada withdrew to form the Presbyterian Church, R.O.K., with 170,000 adherents, charging that the parent body was too conservative.

S. H. M.

Evangelical Alliance

Distressed by theological deviations of its church leaders, a conservative element within the Mar Thoma communion of India is pressing evangelistic efforts through the newly-formed Bharat Evangelical Alliance.

The evangelical group had brought suit against Metropolitan Juhanon Mar Thoma, charging deviation from beliefs of reformers who broke with the Jacobite Syrian Church more than 100 years ago to form the Mar Thoma church.

Having failed in court, it was reported, evangelicals then formed the alliance to avert loss of the evangelistic vision which the reformers sought to recapture.

Some observers saw in the alliance the makings of a Mar Thoma church split, but officials denied any such move.

Mission To Calcutta

An unusual measure of revival among Christians in India was the fruit of World Vision’s “Mission to Calcutta,” conducted by Dr. Paul Rees during the 150th anniversary of Carey Church.

Rees, vice-president-at-large of World Vision, Inc., said God was present “in power” for the 14-day mission in which Christian leaders of many Calcutta churches took an active part.

Rees said the breakthrough by God’s Holy Spirit was a vital answer to prayer in view of a “resurgence of Buddhism, Mohammedanism and Hinduism.”

After the Calcutta services, Rees and World Vision President Bob Pierce spoke before 40,000 delegates at a Mar Thoma church convention in South India.

World Of Judaism

Who Is A Jew?

For months, Israel has been divided on how to categorize children of mixed marriages. Orthodox rabbis insisted that the children be considered Jewish only if their mothers were Jewish or if they had undergone proper ritual. Government leaders contended that a person should be listed as Jewish on his word.

Last month, a compromise was reported whereby identity cards of children of mixed marriages would list only the separate religions of the parents. No decision on the child would be made until the child is 16 years old.

Meanwhile, the influx of European Jews which originally brought on the crisis (see March 2 issue) continued. The United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York announced last month that it had arranged for bank loans totalling $30,000,000 to help speed resettlement in Israel of 100,000 or more immigrants from Eastern Europe. An airlift was instituted to transport several hundred Jews daily from Communist Romania.

Arabs have charged that the new influx will lead to Israeli expansionist moves. The U. S. State Department reportedly views release of Romanian Jews as a Soviet move to stir trouble in the Near East.

Europe And Africa

Church And Politics

“The part the Church should play in an independent nation is to keep out of politics and actively preach the Gospel,” Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, prime minister of Ghana, said during a state visit to Nigeria a few weeks ago.

On the second anniversary of Ghana’s independence, March 6, Christian missionaries enjoyed continuing liberties. Some have even expanded their work. Nkrumah seemed happy with missionaries who help to develop his country, as long as they stay clear of politics.

Raised a Roman Catholic, the prime minister now belongs to a Protestant church. “I’m an undenominational Christian and a Marxist socialist,” he wrote in his autobiography.

Fixing Easter

The ecumenical council to convene in Rome in 1961 may discuss a change in the pattern which determines when Easter Sunday is celebrated.

The present system, which provides that Easter be celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon following the first day of spring, was established by the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D.

There have been many proposals in years past urging a more fixed date for Easter. As it is now determined, the date for Easter can vary as much as 35 days.

If the 1961 council makes a change, the issue will be raised as to whether Protestants should follow suit.

Easter was not generally observed in the United States until about the time of the Civil War. Puritans in England had refused to celebrate Easter because of their distaste for Catholic ritual which often accompanied religious festivals. Early U.S. settlers felt similarly.

Shift In Emphasis

The death last month of Dr. Daniel F. Malan, a chief architect in years past of South African race policies, came at a time when church attitudes toward apartheid were undergoing a major shift in emphasis.

Malan, 84, served as prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. A member of the Dutch Reformed clergy, he defied world-wide condemnation to enforce apartheid and he was generally considered the dominating voice for Afrikaner nationalism.

In recent months, separate South African assemblies of Anglican and Reformed churches have spoken out strongly against racial discrimination.CHRISTIANITY TODAYCorrespondent Ben J. Marais reports on the significance of resolutions passed last August by the Reformed Ecumenical Synod:

The race resolution, if compared with the general theological approach of the Dutch Reformed churches of even three years ago constitutes a major shift of emphasis, far removed from former statements like “segregation in state and church is not only permissible—it is obligatory according to Scripture.”

Two years ago, however, the four branches of the Dutch Reformed church (the major South African church) accepted a new basis. This major progress made in the Dutch Reformed church itself is well reflected in this latest statement of the Reformed Ecumenical Synod. The latest statement goes further, however, in its pronouncements on mixed marriages.

That even the new policy does not mean quite the same thing to different churches within the synod, was very obvious in discussions, which centered on use of the term “associate with” in the original draft. Some churches objected violently to the term, and after more than two hours of debate, a change was made. The final statement read, “The church should, through its teaching and example, educate and prepare its members for the exercising of Christian communion with believers of the other races, while at all times exercising the greatest care, love and responsibility towards its own members.”

Late in 1958, the Synod of the Anglican Church of the Province of Cape Town took steps to apply anti-segregation principles. A motion was adopted calling for establishment of a church school which would be integrated from the start, “if such a school is feasible.” Correspondent Marais, a professor of Christian history at the University of Pretoria, gives this reaction:

The Anglican church and the present government have been at loggerheads about the problem of apartheid ever since the Nationalist Party took over the government in 1949.

In general, the Anglican church has taken a stand for integration, over against the government’s policy of apartheid or stringent segregation.

During the past decade many broadsides were fired either by Anglican bishops or nationalist ministers of state.

Whenever the Anglican church or an Anglican bishop attacked apartheid or labelled it anti-Christian, the government was sure to point out that the stand of the Anglicans seemed hypocritical in the light of the historical fact that the church schools of the Anglicans admitted white students exclusively.

Time and again the Anglican church was told by nationalist politicians that the government would not seriously consider the objections of the Anglicans while they refused to admit colored children into their fashionable schools.

Now the Anglican church has decided to start a mixed school if the necessary permission is granted. This amounts to a bold decision. It remains to be seen, however, whether it can be realized.

Everyone who knows the racial situation in South Africa is aware of the fact that great difficulties face the Anglicans in the implementation of this decision.

The implication of this challenge is the clear question: Will white Anglican church members allow integration or will there be a revolt within the Anglican church itself on this issue?

Appeal For Indians

An appeal to “every responsible Christian” in South Africa to investigate “injustices” to the country’s Indian community threatened by proposed amendments to the Group Areas Act is being made by Professor Ben J. Marais in his role as a highly-respected Dutch Reformed scholar.

One of several amendments to the nine-year-old act, which provides for “exclusive racial areas,” would oust Indian businessmen from commercial premises in non-Indian quarters.

Writing in Die Kerkbode, official Dutch Reformed organ in South Africa, CHRISTIANITY TODAY Correspondent Marais said the proposals are “totally unacceptable on the grounds of common humanity, without even talking of Christian ethics based on the love of God and our fellow men.”

He described as “dangerous” the attitude he said was expressed by a well-known Dutch Reformed clergyman who, when approached on the problems of Indians in South Africa, remarked “I am not interested. I will support any of the government’s legislation to force them back to India in stream.”

“I am not influenced,” Religious News Service quoted Marais as saying, “by the sense of satisfaction some English-speaking as well as Afrikaans-speaking businessmen derive from the proposed removal of Indian businessmen.”

The eviction plan, he noted, “embraces old established trading rights and sites involving millions of pounds sterling which the Indian group has built up, in many instances, over 60 years.”

A popular argument often heard, Marais observed, is that there are too many Indians in trade.

“Could it then be argued there are too many Jews in trade and too many Englishmen in industry?” he asked.

Calling on Christians to put themselves in the place of the Indian group, Marais said he had “sufficient faith in the Dutch Reformed church to believe we will not sit still while injustice is taking place.”

Dominion Of Canada

Advice From The East

In Toronto, a conference of 27 Anglican bishops and 17 priests and laymen recommended last month that the advice of Ceylonese and North India church leaders be sought on the proposed merger of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada.

At a three-day conference, the Anglicans also suggested that representatives of United Church mission areas in india should be invited to come to Canada to consult with leaders of both Canadian denominations.

Also proposed was cooperation by Anglican and United theological colleges in programs of social action, and the setting up of a “League of Prayer for Church Unity” to encourage daily prayer for union of the two denominations.

United States

Atheism At Smu?

Four east Texas legislators charge that atheism is being taught at some prominent colleges of their state, including Southern Methodist University.

The lawmakers seek passage of a bill requiring “belief affidavits” of faculty members in state-supported colleges.

Freedoms Awards

For the second consecutive year, Dr. L. Nelson Bell, Executive Editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY, is among winners of Freedoms Foundation awards. The foundation announced last month that Bell was to receive a second prize of $100 and a special medal for an editorial entitled, “What Shall It Profit?” which appeared in the Southern Presbyterian Journal. Another Journal editorial, “What of Tomorrow?” won for him a top Freedoms Foundation award last year. “What of Tomorrow?” was reprinted in the March 3, 1958, issue of CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

In this year’s competition, two Protestant clergymen won top awards of $1,000 in cash. They are the Rev. Harry B. Schultheis of the Freedom Memorial Church (undenominational), Sacramento, California, for a sermon entitled “Our Beloved America—Will She Survive?”; and the Rev. Feltham S. James of Bethel Methodist Church, Charleston, South Carolina, for a public address, “For God and Country.”

Also announced by the foundation last month were the names of more than 700 individuals, groups and schools who won cash or medal prizes in some 20 categories for outstanding contributions to freedom during 1958. The total awards were valued at about $100,000.

The foundation’s top honor—the $5,000 George Washington Award—went to Dr. Arthur A. Schuck, chief executive of the Boy Scouts of America for “forthright patriotism, skilled administrative works and leadership by example in character building.”

The top award in radio was given the Jewish Theological Seminary of America for “The Case of the Glastonbury Cows,” a program on “The Eternal Light” series produced by the seminary and aired by the National Broadcasting Company.

A second place winner with Bell was Dr. Frederick Brown Harris, chaplain of the Senate, who was cited for a syndicated column, “A Street to Shun.”

Social Security

April 15 is the deadline for a number of clergymen who may want to file for Social Security benefits. Ministers desiring coverage should file a “Form 2031” with the Social Security Administration.

April 15 is the final day for filing this form, which is actually a waiver certificate, for clergymen who received net earnings from self-employment of $400 or more (some part of which was from the exercise of his ministry or the performance of duties required by a religious order) during any two years of 1955, 1956, 1957, or 1958.

After April 15, 1959, waiver certificates may be filed by new clergymen and by any clergyman who, as of the close of his second taxable year after 1956, has less than two taxable years (ending in 1954) in which he has net earnings of $400 or more from self-employment.

Further information about social security taxes and waiver certificates can be sought from local district directors of the Internal Revenue Service. Also, a booklet entitled “Social Security for Clergymen,” is available from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C., for five cents.

People: Words And Events

Deaths: Dr. John Wood Hatch, 94, retired Methodist president of Montpelier, Vermont, Seminary, at St. Petersburg, Florida … the Rev. Walter D. Knight, 67, director of the student field service of the San Francisco Theological Seminary, at San Anselmo, California … Dr. W. F. Marshall, 70, Presbyterian clergyman and noted authority on the Ulster speech, at Castlerock, County Derry, in Northern Ireland … Captain Charles V. Ellis, Navy chaplain for 32 years, in Alexandria, Virginia … Dr. H. H. McMillan, 73, Southern Baptist emeritus missionary to China … Dr. John D. Bigger, 78, retired Presbyterian medical missionary in Korea, in Bradenton, Florida … Miss Adelaide Browne, 101, retired Presbyterian missionary in India, at Columbus, Ohio … Mrs. Robert Wellwood, 95, retired missionary to China, at Penny Farms, Florida … Mrs. Edward J. Parker, 89, wife of a former national commander of the Salvation Army in the United States.

Appointments: As Greek Orthodox Archbishop of North and South America, Metropolitan James of Melita … as moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Rev. Thomas Smyth … as executive director of the

Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod Foundation, Dr. Eugene R. Bertermann … as dean of the faculty at Moody Bible Institute, Dr. Alfred Martin.

Elections: As acting president of Owosso College, Dr. Paid F. Elliot … as executive vice president of the American Unitarian Association, the Rev. Malcolm R. Sutherland … as president of the Southern Baptist Public Relations Association, J. Marse Grant, editor of Charity and Children, Baptist weekly.

Resignations: As secretary of the Church of England Council on Foreign Relations, Canon Herbert Montague Waddams, to accept an appointment to the parish of Manotick in the Diocese of Ottawa, Canada … as Dean of Westminster, the Very Rev. A. C. Don.

Retirement: As pastor of Trinity Augustana Lutheran Church in Moline, Illinois, the Rev. Walter A. Tillberg, after serving the congregation, the only one he ever had, for 43 years.

Inauguration: As president of Honolulu Christian College, Dr. Robert C. Loveless.

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