BEDC Members Deliberately Spill Communion Bread and Wine
Diocesan Press Service. January 23, 1970 [83-3]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- A presentation by three representatives of the Philadelphia Black Economic Development Conference at the Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, Swarthmore, Pa., ended with the spilling of Communion bread and wine on January 4.
Representatives of the Philadelphia BEDC, lead by Mr. Muhammed Kenyatta, interrupted the regular Sunday service to protest the inaction of the Presbytery of Philadelphia to Black Manifesto demands.
When Mr. Kenyatta finished a 20-minute speech he took Communion bread and wine and dropped them on the floor.
"This is the blood and body of my people," he said.
Dr. Bertram deH. Atwood, pastor of the church, removed the elements from the floor and advised the BEDC members to leave, or risk losing what case they had made.
The Rev. Walter D. Bowen, a black Presbyterian minister who works with juveniles at a Bucks County youth development center, said he was upset by the spilling of the Communion elements but was in agreement with the words of the BEDC speakers.