Bishop Moore to Direct Operation Connection
Diocesan Press Service. May 5, 1968 [65-4]
The Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, Jr., Suffragan Bishop of Washington (D. C.), has been named Director of Operation Connection, according to a joint announcement by the Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and the Rev. Albert Cleage, Jr., of Detroit, Michigan, co-chairman of the Executive Committee of the national inter-faith coalition set up last month to tackle the nation's desperate urban problems.
Operation Connection will function initially for an eight month period in selected urban areas. The coalition will utilize Roman Catholic and Jewish resources as well as those of participating Protestant bodies.
Bishop Moore has been granted a three month's leave of absence from his diocesan responsibilities by the Bishop of Washington, the Rt. Rev. William F. Creighton. "It is the hope of the sponsors of this coalition," said Bishop Moore, "that the Church can be a catalyst in rebuilding American cities."
Operation Connection will cooperate with such bodies as the Urban Coalition, headed by John Gardner, former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. Its planning and strategy staff will work with business, political, religious, labor and black community leaders.
Bishop Moore, who was educated at St. Paul's School, Yale University and General Theological Seminary, began his ministry by helping to revive interest in the work of a downtown mission, St. Peter's Church, Chelsea, New York City. He then went as part of a team ministry to Grace Church in the Van Vorst section of Jersey City. He remained at Grace Church until 1957 when he was called to be dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis where he served until his election as Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Washington in September 1963. He was consecrated bishop on January 25, 1964.
During 1963-65, he served as the first chairman of the board of the Delta Ministry, a cooperative venture of the churches in Mississippi. He is the author of The Church Reclaims the City, and a contributor to the recently published The Underground Church.