70 years ago — May 22, 1950 In 1866, David Livingstone returned to Great Britain after years as a mission worker in Africa. He went to Glasgow to receive a doctorate. Livingstone stood before students as they “looked upon his tall wasted figure; upon his arm, mutilated by the attack of the lion and hanging useless by his side; upon his face, furrowed deep with marching and fever.” He told them of his years in Africa of “hardship and home sickness, and then he said, ‘Do you know what made me strong to face and endure and love it all? It was the constant presence of him who said, ‘I am with you always.’” The days in Africa “had been to him days of heaven upon earth, because of the unseen presence that marched beside him. Days of heaven do not depend upon golden streets and jasper walls. … The soul who is living close to him need not wait till death to taste the bliss of the redeemed. Here upon this earth, walking these common streets, doing day by day our weary tasks, we may stand in … [Read more...]

60 years ago — April 25, 1960 “Presbyterian students in Alabama have a feeling that they have been encouraged to bear courageous Christian witness and have failed to get needed support from some of their leaders. They are saying this in view of cancellation of a scheduled meeting on the campus of Stillman College.” Stillman is a historically black Presbyterian-related college in Tuscaloosa. These students planned an interracial meeting on the campus of the University of Alabama, but were refused and moved it to Stillman College.  “The Alabama Westminster Fellowship has been holding integrated meetings for several years. The 1959 meeting of the Synod of Alabama was featured by an attack upon phases of this program and the Synod rejected critics.” Despite threats and warnings from the Ku Klux Klan and White Citizens Council, the planned meeting at Stillman had not been deterred. As pressure mounted to the synod’s committee, they ultimately gave in and canceled the interracial meeting. … [Read more...]

50 years ago — April 6, 1970 The General Council of World Presbyterians, held August 1970 in Nairobi, Kenya, developed a Bible study to help individuals, churches and governing bodies explore issues of the theme “God reconciles and makes free.” One of the lessons focused on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31): “The same technology which has made the lot of urban poor so much more degrading has made the rich richer than ever before in history. The gap between rich and poor seems to be opening rather than closing, both within nations and between nations, and this is the moral problem. If we were all poor together, or all rich together it would be different. But when rich and poor live together in the same world, then the question of injustice has to be faced. And that is what has happened to us. … There is no reason why we should expect economic systems to produce moral results. They were not meant to, and on the whole they don’t. The international market system … [Read more...]

40 years ago — March 17, 1980 “During the first four years of the 1940s, a little Huguenot village perched on a plateau on the mountains of southeastern France saved the lives of more than five thousand refugees while the Germans were occupying France, and while the SS troops were stationed near them, ready to wipe out what many called ‘that nest of Jews in Huguenot country.’ … If goodness involves not only following the negative commandment against killing, but also obeying the positive injunction to be your brother’s keeper by preventing others from killing, no matter what the risk, then the people of Le Chambon were of the very substance of goodness, for they killed no one, and hated no one, in those murderous times, and they saved people (mostly children at first, and later whole families) who were marked for the extermination camps. “About a year ago I wrote a book, ‘Lest Innocent Blood be Shed,’ to tell the story of how and why these French Protestants endangered their … [Read more...]

30 years ago — February 19, 1990 A few days before the remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth, the state of Virginia, the former capital of the Confederates States, inaugurated its first elected black governor. “The grandson of a slave now holds the highest elective office in a commonwealth where, only 32 years ago, on the same platform which Gov. Wilder spoke his inaugural words, Gov. Lindsay Almond proclaimed a doctrine of ‘massive resistance’ to federally sponsored integration.” Nonviolent advocacy coupled with the political process brought change. “In 1963, when I was a student at Union Seminary in Virginia, I recall attending a” conference led by King and Adam Clayton Powell. Seminary professor E.T. Thompson, “who was for many years associated with the Outlook,” was on stage welcoming the speakers. “Twenty years later, I sat in Thompson’s living room with a confirmation class” and asked if he remembered that night. “He asked if I remembered the title of King’s sermon. … [Read more...]

“Asked to state her opinion of the current status of the PC(USA), she responded: ‘I think it faces a lot of problems. The Presbyterian Church is graying and its membership is dwindling. Financially, the church continues to face budgetary difficulties and to search for ways to do the essential work of the church while keeping costs under control. ‘At the same time, I believe the church is filled with people of deep faith who want nothing more than to put their Christianity to work in making a better world. I realize there will be battles, over power and theology. But I believe there also are important stories to tell about the real work the church is doing in spreading and living out the gospel message.” So goes an interview with the new Outlook staff member, Leslie Scanlon. The article indicates Leslie is a veteran, award-winning newspaper reporter and columnist of the Louisville Courier-Journal. “We have sought a high-quality, professional journalist to fill this position and we … [Read more...]