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Kudzu creator Doug Marlette dies in car crash

Doug Marlette, the cartoonist whose beloved character Kudzu charmed, and perhaps comforted, a generation of readers, died recently in Mississippi as the truck he was riding in evidently skidded off the road and crashed into a tree. From all evidence, Marlette died instantly. Word was that he was traveling from an airport to assist young people in an area school who were planning a performance of a musical based on the Kudzu character.

I am sure that many readers of the Outlook opened the funny papers to see what antics their southern adolescent hero was up to. Or perhaps they wanted to know what advice Momma had for her son. Again, the odds are, that for religious readers, the second most important part of the cast was the Rev. Will B. Dunn, whose advice and preachments Kudzu sought. Then there was the car mechanic, Uncle Dub, who never lifted his head from the engine he was repairing.  

Dunn, some say, was modeled on the noted Baptist preacher Will Campbell, whose folksy ways and trenchant commentary on American life caused rejoicing among some and rage among others.

In the South, it is not unusual to see preachers rise to prominence on their strongly presented views, and flamboyant style, rather than on their education and scholarship. Still, folks held the clergy in some regard. I can witness to that myself, as ribald stories ceased in the barbershop when I entered, only to resume when I left.

Marlette probably held some ministers in high regard, and the preacher at the Bypass Baptist Church is subjected to the kind of friendly criticism we might offer well-meaning bloviators in the religious or political scene. In fact, I understand that Marlette himself was not only a Christian, but an Episcopalian, until a novel he wrote was construed by the priest of his congregation as an attack on his very self. From that point on, we are told, Marlette and his family attended a small United Methodist Church at which his funeral was conducted.

There are many news reports, and more than a few editorial comments, on the life and work of Doug Marlette. So, I will not repeat details. However, it is worthwhile noting that his funeral was attended by a variety of writers, both liberal and conservative.  

Marlette was a cartoonist of the first water. He was also a novelist. A recent speech I read, which was offered at his son's school, Durham Academy, approaches the challenges to well-born youth with intelligence, imagination, wit, and love. I would love to have heard that address.

My friend Vaughn Earl Hartsell, once an editor at large of this magazine, had met Marlette, and enjoyed his work. On a trip to Mississippi to participate in the interment of the ashes of a close friend, he had the opportunity to view not only the place where the fatal crash occurred, but to view the horrible remains of the Toyota Tacoma in which Marlette was a passenger. He was able to rescue some CDs holding some of Marlette's work, and return them to the grieving driver of the vehicle. While I am at my desk, I can look at, and listen to, a youthful singer voice Kudzu's yearnings and wisdom by way of a copy.

Well, he was just a cartoonist, one might say. He was that. He was more. He was in the direct line of Jesus of Nazareth, who evidently loved a good story, and could be very witty at times. Looking at the practitioners of religion, he could declare that they "strain out gnats and swallow camels." Without drawing a picture on paper, Jesus proves himself the master of the cartoon, which in a few frames captures a piece of wisdom for now, if not for the ages.

Alas, the local morning paper I read, noted for its liberalism and its sustained rage, did not carry Marlette's strip. I believe that now and then his editorial cartoons might appear, to the delight of those who love to see pomposity deflated, with humor, and not with malice. The comic pages have, sadly, been reduced in size these days, and perhaps the quality of earlier politically slanted strips is not as high as L'il Abner, and Little Orphan Annie, which often provided a clever editorial slant on this or that issue.  

Who will take Marlette's place? Is there some person out there who can, with a few deft strokes of a drawing instrument, capture for the brief time it takes to read (and view it) some facet of life that desperately needs examination? If so, I wish for his or her appearance, and hope that our local newspaper will deign to carry it.

Visitors and villagers experience help and hope in Honduras

Down the highway, dodging potholes, we pass yet another bicycle struggling up a hill, firewood strapped to the back. Turning into town, the road becomes dirt. Chickens scoot to the side, letting us pass. A malnourished dog darts across the street, stopping to lick the salt off a discarded wrapper of chips. Time here moves as slowly as the bus negotiating puddles and driving around an oxen-pulled cart hauling adobe blocks.

It's my second visit to Jesus de Otoro, a community of approximately 20,000 in the central mountains of Honduras. Six years ago, a group of Presbyterian churches in Michigan and Indiana along with a Christian Reformed Church in Iowa began working together to improve life in this community while sharing the love of Jesus Christ to its residents. This is the eighth visit for some in our group.

Small church on a mission

South Plains Church in Keswick, Va., was surrounded by clotheslines and baby caps flapping in the breeze on June 10. Inside the sanctuary, baby caps were used to create flower arrangements and colorful wreaths. The baby caps, all 1,866, were dedicated that day as part of the church's mission commitment through the Houston-based Medical Benevolence Foundation, which partners with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The caps are hand knit by church members.

As part of the worship service on June 10, members young and old held the long line of caps and joined in singing "Jesus Loves Me." The church's pastor, David K. Garth, pronounced the benediction in the churchyard.

200 years of black Presbyterianism celebrated July 11-15 in Philadelphia

(PNS) With praise and singing that shook the roof, more than 500 African-American Presbyterians recently came together for a spirited, worship-filled bicentennial celebration marking the birth of black Presbyterianism in the United States and sounding hope for the future.

The historic 200th anniversary gala, featuring rousing sermons and gospel music that brought participants of all ages to their feet, was the focus of the 39th National Black Presbyterian Caucus convention, which was held here July 11-15.

The NBPC elected new officers at the meeting. The Rev. Gregory Bentley, pastor of Brown Memorial Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala., is the new president. The Rev. Karen Brown, executive director of the Family Life Center at Madison Avenue Church in Baltimore, Md., is the new vice president. Joan Alston, a member of Westminster Church in Sacramento, Calif., is the new secretary. Incumbent Warren McNeill of Philadelphia remains treasurer.

The five-day event, whose theme was "Celebrate Our Heritage and Embrace Our Hope," was a homecoming too -- deliberately convened in the city that on May 24, 1807, became home to the nation's first African-American Presbyterian congregation: First African Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia.

A special Sunday worship service at First African church was held on the convention's final day to commemorate the congregation's 200th anniversary.

The Antioch Partners, missionary sending alliance, operational

Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship and The Outreach Foundation joined in a strategic alliance last year for the purpose of sending missionaries. This alliance, now called The Antioch Partners, has begun operating.

A few less deaths: Volunteers give aid on Mexico border

Looking for dead bodies was not what they had in mind when they joined.  Whether they work with Humane Borders, Samaritans, No More Deaths or Borderlinks, each volunteer aims to save the lives of migrants struggling to survive the Arizona desert. But when the call came in, telling of the probable death of Prudencia Martin Gomez, an 18-year-old Guatemalan woman, they turned from rescue mode to recovery mode. They went searching for her remains.

The call came through channels from her fiancé, a resident of northern California. He had found steady work there, so Prudencia decided to surprise him by migrating there herself. Lacking the immigration papers, she linked up with a group of migrants who successfully made their way across the border and began their trek -- a hike of 60-70 miles -- to the area of Tucson. With the group she journeyed on foot nearly 60 miles through the dry, hot desert.  But she developed a heavy menstrual flow. Her strength began to give out.  So the others found a spot to leave her, an area of soft sand under a tree that provided some shade.  They left plenty of water and electrolytes with her. They studied the terrain around her, noting the numbered telephone pole not too far away. 

L.A. church helps launch New Sanctuary Movement

"Immanuel joined the New Sanctuary Movement as a pastoral issue first and as a political issue secondarily," says Frank Alton, pastor of Immanuel Church in Los Angeles.

The national debate about undocumented immigrants is not simply an "issue" for Immanuel Church. Undocumented immigrants not only represent a significant part of the congregation's membership but its leadership as well. "Their status in this country impacts every area of their life," according to Alton. Pastorally he has come to realize that "there is no way to minister effectively to that part of [the] congregation without addressing immigration as both a pastoral and a political issue."

As a response, the church has joined the emerging New Sanctuary Movement. The movement is "a coalition of interfaith religious leaders and participating congregations, called by our faith to respond actively and publicly to the suffering of our immigrant brothers and sisters residing in the United States," according to its pledge.

“Hope is in our midst” theme of 2007 Presbyterian Youth Triennium

More than 4,400 Presbyterian youths participated in the 2007 Presbyterian Youth Triennium July 17-22 sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The theme was "Hope in our midst."

The gatherings were held on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

Worship celebrations with lots of music, drama, and Bible messages were a part of their busy agenda. The drama group, Goose Chasers, Inc. led by Mark and Cheryl Goodman-Morris, a clergy couple from Portola Valley, Calif., presented different programs during the week. The theatre troupe has "performed" at every Presbyterian Youth Triennium since 1983.

Voluntary simplicity is about both giving up and gaining in life

For some Presbyterians, the idea of stewardship connects to an underlying question: How do the decisions one makes about how to live influence what one has to give back to God's world?

Increasingly, Americans seem to be paying attention to environmental issues, partly as a result of growing concern about global warming and energy costs.

And in some congregations, that's leading to conversations about "voluntary simplicity" or sustainable living -- conversations including everything from how to cut back on energy use and live a "greener" lifestyle, to whether the benefits derived from having a fast-paced, all-consuming career are worth the costs.

Lutherans say No to changing gay clergy rules

c. 2007 Religion News Service

After five days of debate among delegates from the 5 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, voting members deferred any changes in clergy standards until a special task force on sexuality releases its report just prior to the next assembly, in 2009.

Phil Soucy, a spokesman for the pro-gay group Lutherans Concerned/North America, which brought dozens of supporters adorned with hand-knit rainbow scarves to the assembly, said the move to discourage discipline of gay clergy is a cause for celebration.

'We didn't get policy change now, but in the intervening two years we are not going to have people like Bradley Schmeling hauled up on charges simply for falling in love,' Soucy said.

Bradley Schmeling of Atlanta was taken off the ELCA clergy roster after making public that he is in a relationship with another man. His congregation, St. John's Lutheran Church, kept him as their pastor anyway. The actions taken by the church assembly will not affect his situation, Soucy said.

Conference celebrates Multicultural church

(PNS) More than 600 persons attended "A Racial Ethnic Multicultural Event" in Los Angeles, July 12-14, sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),..

Brooklyn church’s large stained glass window blown out by tornado

The stained-glass window -- an image of Jesus standing before a multi-ethnic crowd -- shone at night, glowing from within Fourth Avenue Church in Brooklyn, New York like a visible witness to the community https://fourthavenuepresbyterian.org/.

And when the 25-by-12 foot stained glass window catapulted out early on the morning of August 8, dropping two stories and shattering on the sidewalk below, not a single person was hit. It was about 6:15 a.m., the start of the morning waltz to work, on a busy block just a block and a half from a subway stop.

That sidewalk is "incredibly busy in the mornings," said Fourth Avenue's pastor, David Aja-Sigmon. "People should have been going to work. ... No one was hurt. Thank God."

The tornado smashed about 10 blocks of Brooklyn in a brief, intense spasm.