Christian Social Relations Directors Meet
Diocesan Press Service. May 10, 1966 [43-14]
Poverty, racial discrimination, the war in Viet Nam and extremism were among the topics discussed by about 60 diocesan representatives at the Christian Social Relations Conference held April 26-29 at Seabury House in Greenwich, Conn.
The theme of the conference was "The Changing Role of Christian Social Relations in the Modern World."
The keynote address was delivered by Arnold Edinborough, a Canadian Anglican and editor of a weekly magazine of comment and opinion called "Saturday Night." He said the cultural changes of the present day world were dramatized by the great strides taken in the field of publications and communications. The church revolution on this continent was highlighted by activities in the field of education, automation and urbanization.
Speaking next, the conference chairman, the Rt. Rev. William H. Marmion, Bishop of Southwestern Virginia, enumerated the various steps taken by the Episcopal Church towards the amelioration of poverty in many areas of the country including the Appalachian region.
Bishop Marmion urged the delegates to accept the social revolution which "our ancestors have bequeathed us," and said constant dialogue with all concerned at all levels was crucial for the success of this revolution.
Another speaker, Mrs. Muriel S. Webb, associate director of the Department of Christian Social Relations, Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, said theological changes in a turbulent society had spread the conviction that the church's mission was in and to the secular world. Divisions were crumbling between branches of the Christian faith, and even between faiths. In the efforts for the implementation of rights now enunciated and in the struggles for better education, jobs and housing, the churches were in the vanguard.
The delegates to the conference also heard a panel discussion on extremism. The speakers, representing the Anti-Defamation League in B'Nai B'Rith, were Saul Littman, director of Program Division, and Rabbi Saul Bernards, director, Department of Interreligious Affairs.
Perhaps the most lively session of the conference was the panel discussion on race which was led by three young-looking men actively involved in the various civil rights groups: Sterling Tucker, Director, National Urban League in Washington, D. C.; Lloyd Lynch, National Director, Congress of Racial Equality, New York City; and William Booth, Commissioner of Human Rights, New York City. Mr. Tucker discussed segregation in housing; Mr. Lynch talked about civil rights in the field of education; and Mr. Booth spoke about the various discriminatory practices in employment.
The speeches were followed by an open discussion by the whole group. Several delegates pointed out the difficulties their dioceses had been having in implementing civil rights and outlined the measures they had adopted to overcome these difficulties.
William Stringfellow, lawyer, theologian and author, presented his views about the present administration's policies in Viet Nam and strongly advocated an early termination of the war for which the initiative should come from the U. S. Government.
The last panel presentation was on the subject of poverty and it was made by a group of parishioners of St. John's Church, Jersey City, N. J., who themselves knew poverty first hand. Later small groups met with panel members, most of whom were on welfare themselves, to discern just what role the church should play in the war against poverty.