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Highlights of the 180th General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church U.S.A, side 1.
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- speakerGod, our father, judge, and you have chosen us to do your work
- speakerin the world, but we have been lazy, impudent and proud.
- speakerWe have power, yet we claim to be helpless.
- speakerWe are prosperous but reluctant to give.
- speakerWe seem pious, but we will not listen to your word.
- speakerForgive us, for we are unworthy servants who have not done what you command.
- speakerLord, have mercy on us.
- speakerAnd forgive our sins.
- speakerThe one hundred and eighty at the General Assembly, like all others,
- speakerbegan with worship, confession and communion.
- speakerLord, have mercy and forgive our sins.
- speakerThe first order of business for any assembly is to elect itself
- speakera moderator, the 180 of chose John Gov.
- speakerSmith on the second ballot.
- speakerHaving read these rules according to order.
- speakerThis is this is the way we rapidly do things.
- speakerAre your instructions moderator and for the direction all the members in the management
- speakerof business bring, the Almighty God made direct and bless
- speakerall the deliberations of this General Assembly for the glory of his name
- speakerto the United Presbyterian Church, United States of America.
- speakerI resign my place in office as moderator.
- speakerI'd like to not only like I'm very happy.
- speakerThey've been crampon you.
- speakerSymbols of this office, I kind of feel
- speakerlike this is the wrong way around the installation bestowing is
- speakerwhat we wanted to have.
- speakerWe've got Meghan on the line.
- speakerI'd like to think.
- speakerThank you.
- speakerI think you better sit down while I say something about this man.
- speakerI think that this assembly would want the first words
- speakerof the new moderator to be an expression on
- speakeryour behalf of our appreciation for Jean Smathers.
- speakerIf the people of
- speakerbig like Tennessee are as anxious to have him back as he is to get there,
- speakerEugene Smathers should live happily ever after.
- speakerMinister appeared as a guest of the assembly.
- speakerHis name, the Reverend Ralph Abernathy, leader of the Poor People's March
- speakeron Washington, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the man
- speakerwho inherited the ministry of the late Martin Luther King.
- speakerWhat we are demanding is massive and comprehensive and expensive.
- speakerIt will require many new laws and many new appropriations
- speakerresources we are demanding look large compared
- speakerwith what is now being spent in these areas.
- speakerBut let me remind you, my Christian friends, that they do not look large
- speakercompared to what is being spent on the occupation
- speakerand bombardment of a small Asian country
- speakerwith which we no longer which we have had no historic
- speakernor political or economic ties in the past.
- speakerWhat I am actually saying is that instead of
- speakerus spending billions of dollars to carry on an
- speakerunjust and ungodly world 6000
- speakermiles away in Vietnam, killing brown children
- speakerand dropping napalm and dropping bombs and destroying
- speakerlife, now we ought to be spending those billions of dollars
- speakerto make life a reality for all American citizens right here
- speakerhome.
- speakerIn fact, what I'm actually saying is that we are tired
- speakerof sending our son, our black sons,
- speakerto die in Vietnam, and yet when they come back
- speakerto the United States of America, they are certain areas in
- speakerthe vast cities of this country where they cannot buy a home,
- speakereven if they have the money to do so.
- speakerThese look like large figures compared
- speakerto what we are spending now in these areas,
- speakerthey do not look large compared with what is being spent to send weapons
- speakerto control to countries all over the world that have
- speakernothing to fear so much as their own armies.
- speakerThey do not look large compared to what is being spent to keep
- speakeran American army in Europe on the theory that
- speakerthey are defending our former allies, our former enemies,
- speakeragainst attack from our Russia that no longer
- speakereven controls most of the communist government of Eastern
- speakerEurope and the resources we demand and don't look so
- speakerlarge compared with what is being spent in the exploration
- speakerof space or the building of superhighway.
- speakerWe are spending twenty five billion dollars to put a man
- speakeron the moon. Surely if we can spend 25 billion
- speakerdollars to put a man on the moon, then why can't we spend billions
- speakerof dollars to stand on our feet right here in the United
- speakerStates of America?
- speakerMr. Abernathy went on to solicit the aid of the Presbyterian Church
- speakerfor the Poor People's March.
- speakerHe asked for one hundred thousand dollars AutoReader.
- speakerIn response to reference sex from the 180s General Assembly,
- speakerthe general counsel challenges the General Assembly
- speakerto recede during this assembly.
- speakerA substantial offering at a time to be determined
- speakerby the poor people's campaign to be sent on at once
- speakerto noting that in 1967,
- speakeran inadequate response to the fund of our freedom appeal
- speakerfrom some 1000 churches realized less
- speakerthan 100000 dollars.
- speakerWe challenged all our local churches to at least
- speakerdouble such contributions. On June the 2nd, 1968,
- speakerit being understood that the second one hundred
- speakerthousand dollars realized from such a response
- speakerwill permit the Council on Church and Race to allocate
- speakerinitial funds demonstrating the United Presbyterian Church's
- speakerparticipation in the ten million dollar development
- speakerfund of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
- speakerThree. A temporary advance of fifty thousand dollars
- speakerbe made by the Council on Church and raised BRAMICH funds
- speakerbudgeted in 1968 in order that the
- speakercouncil may present to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference leaders
- speakeron May the 30th, 1968.
- speakerThis first evidence of the desire of the United Presbyterian
- speakerChurch to participate in its development fund.
- speakerIt is understood that this fifty thousand dollar advance
- speakerwill be repaid by the Council on Church and raise from
- speakerthe funds received in response to the 1968 appeal
- speakerin behalf of the Fund for Freedom.
- speakerAnd failing this, the general counsel will determine
- speakerappropriate budgeting adjustment.
- speakerMr. Moderator, I move that we approve this reply.
- speakerGeneral Counsel to reference number six.
- speakerThe Commissioners and their guests contributed 4000
- speaker187 dollars and twenty cents when the collection
- speakerwas taken.
- speakerThat was a gift.
- speakerCharities still later the General Council
- speakertook another action, neither charity nor precisely sound
- speakereconomic practice.
- speakerUntil someone comes up with a better word, we'll call it service.
- speakerChristian Service.
- speakerMr. Moderator, members of the 188 General Assembly
- speakeron the action to modify the General Council's proposal regarding
- speakerinvestment in housing and in other businesses in low and middle income
- speakerareas. I should like to share with you the background of information
- speakerthat I believe to be important to a necessary understanding of what
- speakeris involved.
- speakerFirst, the purpose is to release funds already
- speakerinvested, otherwise are becoming available for investment
- speakerso that they can be placed in housing or in business ventures
- speakerneeding capital, which is not available or not obtainable from usual
- speakersources.
- speakerSecond, we should keep in mind that the capital is debt, capital
- speakerand not venture capital.
- speakerWe are not proposing that the church should go into these businesses, housing
- speakeror other types of businesses, but rather that it should lend money to such
- speakerbusinesses as may be located, recommended and accepted
- speakeraccording to procedures yet to be worked out in detail.
- speakerThird, we expect to be furnishing debt capital that is making
- speakerinvestments at greater than usual risk and
- speakerlower than usual return in many cases than is customary
- speakerfor the use of the general and special funds to which we refer.
- speakerThese funds have been acquired over many years in a variety
- speakerof ways and subject to numerous and varied restrictions as to how
- speakerthey may be used.
- speakerSome of these restrictions have been imposed by the donors, other
- speakerrestrictions are imposed by statute or other legal requirements growing
- speakerout of the manner of their acquisition and yet others by the
- speakercontractual nature of the uses to which they already have been committed.
- speakerThe only funds we can deal with in a general action of this kind are those
- speakerfound to be relatively free of restrictions as to investment
- speakerand these we are speaking of as general funds or special reserves.
- speakerAnd these terms are in contrast to such terms as trust funds or
- speakeractuarial reserves or the general category of restricted funds
- speakeras a whole.
- speakerAnother point as reported previously.
- speakerThe total of all funds invested are available for investment
- speakerapproximates 446 million dollars.
- speakerThis includes some 233 million dollars invested
- speakerto assure the soundness of the pension plan and significant
- speakerlesser amounts representing totals under the jurisdiction
- speakerof one or two of two other boards Christian
- speakerEducation and National Missions, the Commission and
- speakerthe United Presbyterian Foundation, as well as the seven seminary's
- speakerrelated to our church.
- speakerThus, there are a dozen independent boards from home
- speakerand through whose authorities funds must flow into this common venture
- speakerfor a new and different investment opportunities.
- speakerSeventh point, a preliminary but educated estimate of the amount of funds that
- speakercan be called reasonably unrestricted from the standpoint of the action
- speakerhere being contemplated places their total at 42 million
- speakerdollars. This is divided among the program boards and agencies
- speaker30 million and the seminaries 12 million.
- speakerIn the case of the Board of Pensions only reserves associated with
- speakerits Department of Welfare, roughly 890000 billion
- speakerare counted in this total of 42 million or the
- speaker30 million portion of that 42 and
- speakereight point if 30 percent as now proposed in the amendment
- speakeryou have in paragraph B of the white sheet before you.
- speakerIf 30 percent of these relatively unrestricted funds were made available
- speakeras rapidly as suitable, housing or business ventures could be located,
- speakerscreened and found to be appropriate, some twelve and a half
- speakermillion dollars would become so invested.
- speakerIn addition, we should remember that about eight point nine million
- speakeralready has been invested for related purposes.
- speakerThis total appears on the Blue Book page 238 through
- speakernormal investment procedures of the same three boards, the commission and the foundation.
- speakerThe action you now are considering would enable us to reach
- speakera combined total in the range of 20 to 25 million dollars of investment.
- speakerA ninth point. The real effect, however, and one we should
- speakerconstantly keep in mind, is that our new money, potentially
- speakerthe twelve and a half million dollars that I have mentioned is STADA money
- speakeror seed money, which we confidently expect will attract other
- speakermoney and much larger sums to those ventures which we as a church
- speakerdecide to invest in.
- speakerThis additional money should be forthcoming from other judicial authorities,
- speakerSenate Presbytery, local congregations
- speakerfrom other churches or councils of churches from private sources,
- speakeraccording to the forms of business enterprise that will be set up in a multitude
- speakerof individual local situations.
- speakerAnd this may lead to supplementation by government funds or insurance
- speakerby government to attract other funds as might be appropriate
- speakerin any of these situations.
- speakerOne other effect, also important to keep in mind
- speakeris the relationship of all this to the financing of current programs of the church.
- speakerThrough these same boards and agencies, plus the Council on Theological
- speakerEducation and the General Council, neither of these last two has funds
- speakeravailable for investment in 1967,
- speakeras Dr. Hudnut reported Friday morning, about two and a quarter million
- speakerdollars of General Assembly general mission of a General Assembly
- speakergeneral mission budget of forty five point eight dollars million had
- speakerto be met by appropriations of general funds
- speakerin 1968.
- speakerPay up thus far to the end of April suggests a similar
- speakeramount will have to be appropriated this year.
- speakerNow, to the extent that investment return on
- speakersome twenty, some twelve and a half million dollars is reduced
- speakerto a lower than customary rate, and to the extent that these general
- speakerfunds are committed to investment rather than appropriated
- speakerfor a program, the difference must come
- speakerfrom increased giving by the churches.
- speakerIf we are to maintain the level of program work now being done
- speakerand budgeted in 68 and to be budgeted by your
- speakeraction Monday and 69 with General Assembly general mission
- speakerfunds, it therefore behooves us to keep in mind that our
- speakerzeal must not end with an action here this morning
- speakerin Minneapolis.
- speakerWe shall have to work and we shall have work to do back home in and
- speakerout of the church to make certain that what we decide must
- speakerbe done is communicated to every possible person who might be able
- speakerto have a hand in doing it.
- speakerOur concern here should be to set the right direction, provide a vigorous
- speakerstart for work that is that's succeeding.
- speakerGeneral assemblies can build upon according to the successes that are achieved.
- speakerIt is with this kind of background information that the general counsel has recommended
- speakerthe substitution of the 30 percent figure as contained in the white sheet
- speakerthat you have. Thank you very much.
- speakerFormer moderator Ed Hawkins spoke for the Committee on Church and Race
- speakeras the Council on Church and Race stands in these very
- speakerearly days of its task.
- speakerWe trust that we will be guided and sustained
- speakerand supported by what has gone on before us,
- speakerbut that beyond that, we might be able
- speakerto respond to the
- speakertwo pronged hope of that commission's report
- speakerthat the time has come not only to end
- speakerthe destruction and the violence in the streets of our ghettos, but the destruction
- speakerand the violence in the lives of people.
- speakerThis means that beyond what we say
- speakerwe are going to do, we must be caught
- speakerdoing the things that represent our obedience to him,
- speakerwho came to bind up the wounds
- speakerthat. Venomously gave to us on Saturday in
- speakerthe investment portfolio situation,
- speakerwe must be caught in the act of spending
- speakerthose funds on the economic development
- speakerof our ghetto areas in relation to the mandate
- speakerthat you gave earlier today.
- speakerWe must be caught in the act of being in
- speakerWashington with the Poor People's Campaign,
- speakerwith a substantial amount of money and resources
- speakerto meet some of the immediate and desperate needs
- speakerof this present moment, while at the same time a
- speakersubstantial amount to the long range need
- speakerthrough the development fund.
- speakerThese are the kind of things that will remain
- speakerour task as we are at these
- speakerearly days.
- speakerAnd this will represent for us not only
- speakerthe crisis that exists in our cities, but this
- speakerwill represent the crisis of faith in which we
- speakerare involved.
- speakerAnd somehow we believe that the church will be really
- speakerwise if it will take that faith
- speakerat its word and act on it
- speakerand become partners with all those who
- speakerdesire to build a better world.
- speakerThis will catch us
- speakeras we are in the act of building this massive
- speakerwill, that we may end
- speakerthe tensions between man and man and begin the reconciliation
- speakerthat under God must take place if any of us
- speakerare to survive at all.