Pastorate of the Press

When Adon Taft goes to church, someone is forever mistaking him for the minister. The error is understandable because Taft looks and acts like one. He is tall, deacon-grave, bespectacled, softspoken; above his generous brow, from which the hair is steadily receding, there sometimes seems to hover a nimbus of reflected light. He neither smokes nor drinks, goes to church 200 times a year, is married to a church organist, and reads the Scriptures to his two young daughters. Taft's calling is not spiritual, except at one remove. Adon Taft, 34, is a working newsman and one of the nation's best in his field: he is religion editor of the Miami Herald (circ. 275,067).

To a branch of journalism rarely distinguished either for professional merit or piety, Taft brings a full measure of both. Church affairs are thoroughly chronicled; the Herald has the largest religious news section of any nonsectarian newspaper in the U.S. Taft conscientiously audits as many as five sermons a week, attends all important religious conferences, reports every church mortgage-burning.

More than Sectarian. He also peels a sharp eye for stories of more than sectarian interest. After Ellen Severson was chosen Miss Miami Beach last year, Taft put her on the church page--in her role as organist and Sunday school teacher at Miami's Palmetto Presbyterian Church. When a phony evangelist named Jack Coe came to town, Taft exposed him, harvested 10,000 letters from readers--mostly grateful--and had the rich satisfaction of seeing Coe hastily strike his revival tent. Taft keeps running track of two Bade County lawsuits challenging a state law that requires public-school teachers to hold morning devotionals and read the Bible to their pupils; Taft strongly and publicly endorses it.

A lifelong Baptist, Taft started on the Herald as a copy boy in 1949, served as polo editor for a spell, and worked several other mundane beats before getting his present assignment seven years ago. Most newsmen consigned to the church department have a tendency to groan. Taft accepted his new post as a serious challenge and a solemn responsibility.

More than a Job. In the years since, he has earned the respect not only of Miami churchmen but, more important, of Herald editors and Herald readers. The paper has gradually expanded religious coverage from one Saturday page to at least two, also carries a Taft column on synagogues every Friday, another column, "A Stranger Goes to Church," on Mondays, and regularly uses Taft stories in other weekday editions. Says Herald Managing Editor George Beebe: "We didn't realize what a religion beat meant until Adon took the job. Our church pages are as bright and lively as any in the paper."

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