You are here
Kenneth Neigh remarks to standing committee on urbanization, 174th General Assembly, May 21, 1962, side 1.
Primary tabs
Download
- speaker[Neigh, Kenneth Glenn] There are annual regional evaluation and planning. Six new area
- speakerevaluation cabinets, comprised of field and headquarters personnel,
- speakerhave mapped this year and reviewed the work being administered through synods and
- speakerpresbyteries. The committee commends the Board for the development of this process.
- speakerArticle fourteen Education. Item one. The committee calls the
- speakerattention of the General Assembly to the report of the Boards of National Missions and
- speakerChristian Education concerning colleges. on which the one hundred
- speakerseventy-fourth General Assembley acted in connection with the report of the Standing Committee
- speakeron Christian education. Two. The report was approved by the Board
- speakerof National Missions for submission to the General Assembly. Three. The
- speakerCommittee commends this report as fulfilling the directives of the one hundred
- speakerseventy-first General Assembly in establishing feasible relationships
- speakerbetween the Board of National Missions and the Board of Christian Education in
- speakerrelation to the colleges related to the two boards. The committee notes its satisfaction that
- speakerthis arrangement provides for the continuing preservation of the historic and
- speakercontemporary values and services inherent in the National Missions
- speakereducational program. Article fifteen. Health and
- speakerWelfare. In accordance with instructions of the one hundred seventy-third General
- speakerAssembly, two pilot projects are planned. And they are before you.
- speakerItem two. The Roseanne Hughes Home for the Elderly in Louisville Kentucky,
- speakerby the terms of the donor's will establishing it, is related to the
- speakerGeneral Assembly. The committee recommends that the General Assembly approve
- speakerthe auditors report of the Roseanne Hughes Home and the
- speakerconduct of its affairs during the past year. Three. The committee
- speakerrecommends that the General Assembly receive and approve the following
- speakerresolution adopted by the national Presbyterian Health and Welfare Association. Quote
- speaker"The executive committee of National Presbyterian Health and Welfare Association
- speakerbelieves that the expansion of health and well fallow welfare work
- speakeramong our church's auspices should be considered an integral part of the
- speakerchurch's development program. And requests that, in addition to funds
- speakerallocated for church extension, a beginning soon be made in allocating
- speakerfunds to assist in the creation of new church-related health and welfare agencies.
- speakerAnd in the expansion of the services of existing agencies related
- speakerto our church." End quote. Item four. The committee reminds the
- speakerChurch of the increasing number of older people in the congregations and communities
- speakerwho need the fellowship of the church and opportunities to serve within the
- speakerlimits of their capabilities. The Division of Health and Welfare is commended
- speakerfor the leadership it continues to provide in stimulating the development of
- speakerfacilities and services for older people. Public relations
- speakerand interpretation. Article sixteen. Interpretation. The committee commends the
- speakerBoard for its interpretation programs. The committee expresses its satisfaction
- speakerwith the increasing participation by high school and college students. The committee recommends to the
- speakerchurch the new personal interest program. Article
- speakerseventeen and interpretative materials. The committee urges use of the narrative section of
- speakerthe annual report from Missions to Mission. Also recommended for
- speakerstudy of this theme is "Who cares?" The Committee calls the
- speakerattention of the church to other new National Missions material for of it but now
- speakeravailable. Article seventeen. The committee notes with
- speakerpleasure the continuing support of the United Presbyterian Women.
- speakerI beg your pardon, that was Article Eighteen. And now with your permission I would like to add
- speakerArticle nineteen that does not appear in the printed sheet. The Standing Committee
- speakerrequests the General Assembly to join with it and the Board of National Missions
- speakerin expressing appreciation to the Reverend Dr Raymond I. Lindquist,
- speakerretiring, with the conclusion of this Assembly, as president of the Board of
- speakerNational Missions. The United Presbyterian Church, we believe.
- speakerowes an enormous debt to Dr Lindquist for the faithful,
- speakercreative and incisive leadership he has given to the area of the
- speakerchurch's responsibility. We therefore recommend that this expression
- speakerof appreciation be spread upon the minutes of the one hundred seventy-fourth
- speakerGeneral Assembly. In conclusion, the Standing Committee
- speakercalls the attention of the General Assembly to the grave difficulty of
- speakeraccomplishing adequately its stated task in the severely abbreviated
- speakertime allotment possible under this year's General Assembly docket.
- speakerMeaningful review of the Board's vast program obviously requires
- speakermore than one afternoon and evening's work. That committee therefore
- speakerrecommends that the stated clerk consider this problem and,
- speakerif feasible, recommend to the General Assembly the allowance of time,
- speakermore time in the committee's docket for the committee's work. Mr. Moderator, i move this report be received and its recommendations adopted. If there is a
- speakersecond, Dr. Neigh [Neigh, Kenneth Glenn] will speak to it. Last year, the Board of Christian Education due to time, lost its most valuable leader. This year, the Board
- speakerloses its most valuable leader. And, I lose a good friend. [Lindquist, Raymond I.] I was given this document, ladies Before replying to Dr. Neigh's kind statement.
- speaker[Lindquist] and to Dr. Firth [Firth, Richard W., San Antonio] and your fine, I mean kind motion, Sometimes we brought Eskimos and Indians and Spanish-speaking
- speakerpeople here on the platform and you've gotten the chance to see them and we have.
- speakerBut today. We'd like to have all the folk who are in any way connected with
- speakerthe Board to be recognized. And, therefore, whether you sit out
- speakerthere or if you sit up here, as I read the category in which you find yourself,
- speakerplease stand and remain standing until all who are engaged in
- speakerthis great mission to the nation have been called on.
- speakerFirst of all the ministers and elders from National Missions churches. Would you please stand and
- speakerremain standing. Please remain
- speakerstanding in the area and then the men and women we used to call the Sunday school
- speakermissionaries. Today we call them the "mobile ministers." Would you stand?
- speakerAnd then we have a vast church-related health and welfare agencies. All of you who are
- speakerconnected here as board members, staff of children's homes, homes for the aging,
- speakerhospitals, outpatient clinics, community centers, neighborhood houses. Please stand.
- speakerAll who are in the institutional chaplaincy, please stand. Teachers and administrators
- speakerand board advisory committees of our schools and colleges, would you stand?
- speakerOthers carrying on missionary activity such as evangelism. Would you stand?
- speakerMinisters and elders of churches brought to life through new church development or older
- speakerchurches aided by loans or grants. Would you stand? Finally
- speakerjudicatory executives, and field assistands, and members of the synod and presbytery National Missions committees
- speakerand board members. And everybody connected with the Board of National Missions. please
- speakerstand. You see what I mean? Let's give them a hand. [applause]
- speakerNow, I think our point has been made. I just want to say a word in farewell.
- speakerWell. I've had a decade and a half with this
- speakermission to the nation and this chance after coming up
- speakerto the finish line, to canter back to the finish line as a real
- speakerchance to say something. At the end of a horse race, I'm told but that the horse
- speakerdoesn't stop right at the line, but he turns and then comes back.
- speakerI've found myself in a strange dreamy sequence of moods this morning.
- speakerI must be very careful not to go too far into the land of nostalgia because one
- speakergets out of touch with reality. But it reminds me of the doctor who was operating on my
- speakernose was a couple of years ago. I had a growth. They said it was cancer, but it turned out to be benign.
- speakerAnd as he was operating, he said, "Preacher, do you feel anything?" and I said, "No. Why?"
- speakerHe said, "Well, I'm working on the periphery of the anaesthesia." I said,
- speakerDoctor, that's where I work every Sunday."
- speakerAnd I'm working in the periphery of an anesthesia now, the anesthesia of the past.
- speakerWhen I came with the Board, I was a comparatively young man. And, now the processes of senility are
- speakerwell advanced. It was a world in which we just won a big
- speakerwar and thought we'd have peace forever. And, we didn't find it. We discovered a bomb and this bomb
- speakerhas hatched out other bombs and we haven't found that invulnerable land of ease that we
- speakerwanted to have, where everything would be perfect for the preaching of the gospel.
- speakerJust two points I want to make now in conclusion. and that is that we operate on the
- speakerprinciple here of replacement of worn old parts. And, we are replacing a worn old
- speakerpart today. I used to have a car. It
- speakerwas a collegiate flivver. and I think every part on it sometime or other had
- speakerbeen replaced. I heard about a dear old grandmother in a rocker in front
- speakerof a fireplace in the mountains. And her little grandchild came and said, "Grandma, how old are your
- speakerstockings?" And she said, "Sixty years." "Oh, that can't be!
- speakerGrandma." "Yes, it can, because when the feet wear out I refit them and when their legs
- speakerwear out I releg them." We are refitting and relegging
- speakertoday. And, this is a good principle. The principal replacement of
- speakerworn parts. The second principle is the extension
- speakerof our communication to every part of our country and to every group.
- speakerThis extension costs a lot of money, costs a lot of time, a lot of effort, but it's worth it.
- speakerYou know electricity is very cheap today. Man drive an electric car from New York
- speakerto Miami for a total electrical cost of two dollars and seventy five cents.
- speakerHowever the extension cord cost eleven thousand three hundred sixty-seven. It is a great
- speakerthing to be a part of the extension cord. And, even though I won't be a formal part of it, I'll feel that I can still
- speakerI can still work at it. God bless you and thanks a lot.
- speaker[Applause] [Neigh speaking] It has been
- speakerMy sad and solemn fate across the years to always have
- speakersomeone make me feel like the dog act after the headliner.
- speakerAt the conclusion of the drafting labors of your
- speakerStanding Committee on National Missions, its secretary [Morse, Hermann N.]
- speakeran old friend of mine who is not widely known for his optimism,
- speakerobserved that the document was not monumental. This is
- speakertrue. It's not a great utterance about
- speakerthe State of the Church or its nature. It is
- speakerhowever a thoughtful review of the program, referrals
- speakerto and projections of the Board of National Missions made in
- speakerall too short a time. To this most adequate document,
- speakermay I add a footnote. May I add a statement of
- speakerintention. Being more conservative of speech, may I
- speakerapologize for some lack of oratorical orthodoxy in
- speakerrefraining from quoting D. T. Niles [Niles, Daniel Thambyrajah] or Lesslie Newbigin.
- speakerand return to the old hat, but old standby of Arnold Toynbee
- speakerDr Toynbee wrote recently in effect.
