News Briefs
Diocesan Press Service. November 2, 1964 [XXVI-7]
NEW PROVINCE FORMED
A Ninth Province consisting of eight Missionary Districts of the Caribbean area has been formed by the 61st General Convention.
The present members of the new Province are Central America, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama Canal Zone, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It is also hoped that the District of Haiti will be added to the above Districts, when conditions there allow the district convention to vote on the matter.
With the exception of Mexico and Cuba these Districts were members of the Province of New York and New Jersey.
RACIAL INCLUSIVENESS STATED
The 61st General Convention called upon the Church to "proclaim unfailingly in the worship, in the sacraments and rites, and in what it does in the world that racial discrimination, segregation or exclusion of any person .... because of race from the rites or activities of the Church ... are contrary to the mind of Christ and His Church..."
The resolution, which originated in the House of Bishops, was approved by the House of Deputies by a majority voice vote after brief debate.
The resolution affirms the unity of mankind and calls upon members of the Church to remember their duty "to minister in the world as an agent of reconciliation among men and as an instrument of judgment between them. " It also reminded Churchmen of their duty to support morally and materially those Christians who are involved in areas of conflict, and commended those who "by their daily lives and ministry in troubled areas are the quiet agents of social change and whose courage and loyalty often are forgotten in our day of rapid change."