Southerners Step Forward

Some of the strongest statements on equality as a command of the Gospels are now coming from conservative, mostly white, Southern religious bodies, which until lately reflected enduring cultural prejudices against the Negro. The newest and most forceful is from the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., which last week concluded its 106th General Assembly at Montreal, N.C.

About 99% of the 946,000 Southern Presbyterians are white. Although the church has condemned segregation before--at the 1964 and 1965 general assemblies, for example--delegates this year made it clear that condemnation must be followed by action. Noting that presbyteries in Mississippi and a few in Alabama and South Carolina have refused to receive Negro churches, the assembly warned that these bodies were "in danger of contempt and subject to discipline"--in sum, integrate or get out. The church also gave qualified approval to civil disobedience "as a measure of last resort." The Rev. Frank H. Caldwell, who was elected moderator by the assembly, acknowledged that civil rights issues "underlie a great deal of unrest and dissension" in his church, but held that the unrest is leading to a redefinition of the church's mission.

Civil rights was not the only issue in which a new liberalism prevailed. Recognizing that morality is no longer defined as mostly a matter of personal conduct, the delegates created a new Council on Church and Society, which will advise the church about stands to be taken on contemporary social issues. Tentatively, the delegates also agreed to supplement the classic Westminster Confession of 1647 with a modern statement of faith similar in purpose to the Confession of 1967 that will be considered by the "Northern" United Presbyterians at their 178th General Assembly later this month.

The Southern Presbyterians' traditional wariness toward ecumenism also underwent change. Last year the assembly rejected a proposal to start a series of unity conversations with the United Presbyterian Church that might reconcile the two bodies, which split during the Civil War. This time, delegates voted to enter the Consultation on Church Union that is considering the Blake proposal. Already committed to the Consultation, which holds its fifth annual meeting this week, are the United Presbyterians.

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