Dear Sisters and Brothers,
When in 1960 the editors of the Christian Chronicle report Carl Spain's speech at the Abilene Christian College Lectureship as a major news story, they plainly do not know how their coverage of Spain's lecture will be received. They must know but do not report the immediate and vocal reaction in Sewell Auditorium. That positive sign still would not predict how the rank-and-file among Churches of Christ in the South and nationwide might respond.
In subsequent issues the CC published six letters in response to the news story. Only one of them, from a minor functionary at Harding College, criticized the CC for its coverage. Another, although favoring the speech, was-- perhaps inadvertently--published as unsigned.
Dear Brethren:
I am not a controversialist by nature. I am a gospel preacher working in a small town of about three thousand souls called Greenville, Ky. I read with interest the article entitled: ACC Teacher Asks: "Are We Moral Cowards?" in the Tuesday, March 8, 1960, issue of the Christian Chronicle.
I don't suppose the voice of a "little guy" like me will be heard in very many circles but I feel compelled to speak. I would like to ask a question. How can the Board of Directors of ACC discriminate between races when it comes to Christian education? Do they answer: "The college is not obligated to educate the colored?"
Most of us know that the church cannot operate a college as such but certainly individuals can operate a college. ACC might say: "For the sake of expediency we discriminate." Since when does expediency have preference over an above the plain teachings of the word of God? Since when is it right to discriminate between men when God did not do so? (See Acts 10:34.)
Let's suppose that I am in the grocery business and a colored person enters my establishment seeking to purchase food supplies and I explain to him: "We do not cater to the colored, you will have to go somewhere else." How much influence will one have as a Christian while possessing this kind of attitude? [r]ealizing that "The eyes and ears of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Proverbs 15:3). How can the individuals that constitute the Board of Directors of ACC have this attitude toward the colored.
I have always supported our Christian Colleges in any small way that I could but I will not become a part of discrimination. The events that transpired in Bro. Spain's home town are an absolute disgrace. Someone might say: "This is a touchy problem, an acute situation, and it must be handled carefully." To this I wholeheartedly agree, but the sooner men and women understand the meaning of Acts 10:34, the sooner this problem will be solved.
To all this I say: May the God in heaven give us more men like Bro. Spain who has the courage of conviction and the strength of character to speak out against such "spiritual wickedness in high places".
Dear Brethren:
I have been grateful for your wonderful news coverage of the work of the church throughout the world. I was certainly very disappointed when I picked up the last issue to see your feature article consist of different type of material.
Regardless of the merit or demerit of Brother Spain's lecture, it would seem far better to me for you to continue with your original purpose rather than take part in items of this nature.
I believe you are hindering the purpose for which you exist and trust that your future usefulness will not be hampered by further articles of this nature.
You were doing a great work in a much needed field. Why not stay in this field and leave other areas to other publishers.
Dear Brethren:
I want to congratulate you for publishing the account of Carl Spain's talk on segregation in the March 8 issue of the Chronicle. I have often wished I had the proper speech to make just such a talk in every Church of Christ pulpit in our country.
Every one of our preachers should open his eyes to his lack of courage in teaching the truth on this subject, and ask God to forgive them for past failures to do so. To me, there is no greater mark against our brethren than their steadfast refusal to permit the Negro to worship with us. I have often wondered where they expected the Negro brother to dwell with us in Heaven. Can you imagine a just God puting [sic] him off in some dark corner?
I want to commend you also for running the story of C. A. O. Essien in the same issue of your paper. After reading this story I can't see how any group of elders could refrain from making known to the public that the doors of the Church of Christ are no longer closed to the Negro.
We should bow our heads in shame to acknowledge that the civil government should be first to demand that we recognize Christ's law that we are all ONE in Christ. Shall we sit by until public opinion compels us to open our doors to the Negro?
Dear Brethren:
I want to be among those who express gratitude to the staff of the Christian Chronicle for informing the brotherhood of the recent lecture denouncing segregation in our colleges which was delivered in Abilene by Brother Carl Spain.
We should all realize that the problem of race differences is not a new one, for both Christ and the apostles had to deal with the same issues. And then, in order to expedite the spread of the gospel, the church did not try to force integration through some legislative form; rather, "the gospel of the circumcision" was committed to Peter, and "the gospel of the uncircumcision" was committed to Paul. These men worked with conditions as they were, and we should do likewise. And if current racial tension creates new problems and conditions, then we must deal with these new problems and conditions. And if these unseen forces work to uplift a race of men, of all people on earth, the Lord's people should rejoice; for the influence of the gospel is one that will lift up one group and pull down another in order to equalize all!
While I realize that there are many grave problems facing us today, the solutions to which may not be easily discovered, yet as Christians we should face these problems with courage, earnestly praying that we may improve, and not worsen, conditions about us. Nothing will heal differences more quickly than the Christian spirit; and nothing is more destructive that the spirit of the mob. Legislation cannot heal our differences, and mob violence will only increase them. Christian education seems to be our only sure solution, for this reason I wholly endorse the statement of Brother Spain when he says: "Brethren, we are not recommending revolutionary legislation. We are merely suggesting that we offer Christian education to all Americans without respect of persons."
Dear Brethren:
I have read with interest the "Letters to the Editor" column of the March 29 issue of the Chronicle. I am an ardent supporter of your paper, believing that our brethren must be informed if they are to respond to the many excellent challenges before us.
Your report on the speech of Brother Spain was news. You publish a newspaper. News belongs in a newspaper, even when that news points out some "sore spots" among us.
You have not written columns of ugly vituperation. You have shown nothing but good taste in your reporting of all events as they occur. I dare say that a speech on "Modernism," "Worldliness," "Professionalism Among Preachers," "Anti-ism," or some such subject might have been reported without objections from any quarter. Why then, should we object to the report of a speech on "Discrimination?"
Not too long ago a person asked me why I didn't concentrate on the "un-churched" and not on the denominational member. The preacher must concentrate on the lost, no matter where he finds them. A newspaper must publish news and it shows a lack of integrity when it refuses to publish news that is unwelcome.
I too trust that the Chronicle will never become the spokesman for any "special interests" in the church. I only want it to continue to be a newspaper. When facts are presented in a fair manner, brethren likely will change their thinking in many respects. May the Lord be with you in presenting these facts.
Dear Brethren:
I was very happy to see your article concerning Brother Spain's lecture. This is a very important issue and the Brethren have "passed by on the other side" long enough.
Some may say that it is not our concern, but hatred and injustice are always of concern to a Christian. It is very sad to see schools that call themselves Christian turn away fellow Christians because of their skin color. It makes it very difficult to convince non-Christian Negroes that we are really the church of Christ.
I fear that such schools are misusing the word Christian in their title or advertising. At a time when the church should be strong and set a truly Christian example for the rest of society we remain silent and drag our feet with the ignorant and bigoted. I only hope other brethren will speak out against this un-Christian practice of discrimination.
In 1960 "letters to the editor" are not common in journals among Churches of Christ. We may never know how many letters referring to Spain's lecture the CC actually received. We could assume that this assortment accurately reflects the distribution of opinion, if it is not in fact the total of letters received.
What is remarkable is that only one writer objects, and that in public he objects only to the CC's coverage of the lecture, not to the lecture itself. J. L. Dykes is a member of a family prominently associated with Harding College; in that light it is significant that one of the most positive letters comes from Billy D. Verkler, a professor of sociology at Harding.
R. C. Oliver, born in Calloway County KY in 1918, is in 1960 a minister in Johnson City TN and a graduate student in East Tennessee State University. An alumnus of Freed-Hardeman, Oliver began preaching in Detroit in 1934 and has spent most of his career in Michigan. In 1962 he will return to Clawson MI for a second stint as minister of that congregation.
The origin of the unsigned letter is puzzling. The signature may have been dropped by mistake in composing the page; there is no "name withheld," a convention that the editors might have been expected to observe if the deletion were conscious. On the other hand, this letter looks suspiciously like a "pump primer." It is well-crafted, in an elegant diction, and there may have been some disagreement about how to sign it. It may in fact come from a member of the Fidelity or Abilene Christian establishment.
These letters seem to indicate that by 1960 the "amen chorus" for fundamental change in the racial climate of the Churches of Christ is larger than the confines of Sewell Auditorium in Abilene. The chorus will soon rise to a crescendo--and then, in the climate of reaction since the 1960s, diminish to a whisper.
May God have mercy.
dhaymes, his mark +