thumbnail of Annual Meeting, The Riverside Church: 1961-12-06
Transcript
Hide -
If this transcript has significant errors that should be corrected, let us know, so we can add it to FIX IT+
order one of the things that we look forward to very much is to have an opportunity to hear one of our children's class we're now going to ask the boys and girls of the fifth and sixth grade fire to come and share with us to christmas carols the first carol and that's the title of the piece they're going to say was written a few years ago by two of our fellow members dr and mrs philip m stimson the second carol which requires going to saying is the snow lay on the ground a traditional carol arranged by the old salary ms fredericks long is the pianist for the choir and this is rosemarie wildman is the director i know that doctor an assistance center here i think we should call off their first of all the pope and now we'll have the fifth and sixth grade choirs with mrs wildman their leader
now crime and i'm and who
he cries it's
b cries it is the
patient to pay well i know you all to join in thanking <unk> wildman mr swann and i think also a word of thanks to the choir mothers who not only come and sit in the back but also helped roll band take care of these boys and girls during their rehearsals and on occasions like this i know how much they had to our enjoyment of our annual meeting it's now my privilege to call to order the regular church meeting tonight as you know we have for most of the meeting can currently both a meeting of the religious society and also the religious corporations we are meeting now as the religious society that is the church mr mcgregor is the clerk all the
church mr mcgregor we are glad you are here thank you for being part of this meeting and i think it's important to constitute this meeting by asking dr lyons to offer a prayer dr lyle the us quietly pray in the first place of blessing god and you in him the glory due his name or his greatness his car his majesty and then in his presence
confessing before him not only our dependence upon him what are true and were they nervous because according to the high ideal of jesus christ our lord we fall short and yet he accepts us says we aren't weekend sank him what not only for the gift of his son but for the continual grace that surrounds us and enables us to adventure with face then with humility to this is guidance on us as individuals that he says may be in our hearts and minds
that this piece may spread across the world that the time shall never come when the singing of children at christmas time shelby order to grant our heavenly father in that which we do still be done not only in the service but to the glory of timing and that a peace of god which passes human understanding they fill our hearts and mine with the knowledge and love of god and outside son jesus christ our lord and let the blessing of thy spirit comfort all like children on them
and some of you may already have noted that the fourth member of the legion reverend eugene volokh is not with us this evening i think perhaps a word of explanation is called for join our staff he told us that there were several commitments which he had made a number of years earlier as a methodist minister and he felt in duty bound to honor those commitments we all heartedly agree with it we felt that the need of the methodists was greater than our own from time to time i say that with some freedom as a congregation mr lombardi is tonight in nashville tennessee have important meetings of the educational boards of the methodist church and i know that you will forgive his absence
even as we regret to his inability to be with us this evening happy annual church meeting and that all church meetings it is appropriate to hear from the secretary of the board of the deacons who brings to us two items of business this evening and i would call upon missed rule sally the secretary of the board of the gains for the business that comes before the church meeting the south may i ask do you have this calling to take in hand this think mimeograph see villages if that's to lucy lawless in which i'm about to present prefers to that recommendation in accordance with this say confirmation of its actions concerning admission to and this mission
from membership as indicated on these pages now move confirmation of these actions you you have heard the motion presented by the secretary to the board of beacons is there a second to this motion now we're not going to get through the meeting and this is more cooperation and is there a sense of emotion i think i hear a second and i see justice stevens waving his hand all those in favor of confirming the reception of these new members and i'm tempted to say with a smile i don't know what the alternative is that it is important if we confirm these new members all those in favor would please signify by saying ah i'm not even going to call it alternative that recommendation from the border deacons refers to the yellow mimeograph to change at its meeting on monday night this week
the party approved the recommendation of the ecumenical committee and now sidney it's for your approval the two recommendations that firms for the election of the falling persons as delegates to the indicated turns to the new york rap this cities to study the names which appear at the top of the page and the election of the persons whose names appear at the bottom of the page as delegates to the indicated turns to the new york city congregational church association i'm moving is harrison's be elected as designated is there a second to this motion i would like to make one word explanation you realize of course that the riverside church is related as a church body through both the american baptist convention's through this channel and also to the united church of
christ at this particular time the united church of christ is being formed as far as local associations an estate conferences is concern and the new york city congregational association which are delegates go is the body which at this time is empowered to be the association for the united church of christ this is why we appoint our delegates to the congregational association which is acting for the united church of tribes i think this word of explanations old to you we have a motion before the church and has been seconded that i call for the question and ask all those in favor of the motion please signify by saying aye other any opposed it is so bad and mr mcgregor i think you have on the minutes the passage of both of these two matches since its allies already called attention to some of the mimeograph material which you have now i
call attention to the benevolent support which is also when the mimeograph material under the chairmanship of ms edith letter ago a very hardworking and faithful benevolence committee has worked these shia approving in your behalf expenditures as indicated to a number of organizations to receive our benevolent gifts i hope very much that you will take these lists home will familiarize yourself with them i hope that some of you have an opportunity to come in here in detail the sunday morning descriptions that are classes of some of these benevolence projects which are enormously exciting they deserved even more attention than sometimes the pressure of time makes possible but i do want to call your attention to that document now also call your attention to the fact that the highlights of this annual meetings
are being recorded by radio station wor be our riverside own radio station and that if you don't like what you hear tonight you will have a chance to hear the same thing over again on monday december eleventh act and forty five pm maybe change you never can tell this is w rv are putting out the highlights of our annual meeting next monday december eleventh that ten forty five in the evening i hope you and all your friends and perhaps he will suggest that some of those who could not be here tonight that they have that opportunity this annual meeting comes as i'm sure you realize as a part of our regular wednesday evening programs wednesday evenings at riverside and i would call to your particular attention the fact that next wednesday evening december thirteenth the program
for wednesday evening at riverside is the cafeteria supper between five thirty and six that at a variety of activities including our spanish classes up until eight o'clock and then at eight o'clock under the sponsorship of counsel seven the subcommittee dealing with community problems and resources and riverside responsibilities in community development and then this is their child's very able chairmanship we're very excited just edward r dudley the borrow president of manhattan and a mourning side gardens neighbor of this church is going to be the speaker at wednesday evening at riverside is not only going to come and speak but he has said that he would come to answer all of the questions that any of us might have to ask to borrow president i think this is a great privilege for us as well as an opportunity and i hope you will bear in mind next wednesday evening
and then just one final announcement in this a spoken in behalf of the legion as well as of the adult education committee of college so too beginning on sunday january seven and running through the eight sundays in january and february and the convener ship of dr clarke age had when asked they were going to have a great privilege of having a collector's on the recent world assembly of the world council of churches in new delhi and the third assembled here is a chance for us with the help of dr as they and seven other outstanding well christian leaders to learn in detail and intimately what has transpired at new delhi the meeting closed yesterday with you then and i speak for the collegian putting a date book sunday morning january seven at nine forty eight in the morning to learn about new delhi
now being part of a plot twist my watches correctness divulge isn't too fast to call to order the annual corporate meeting of the riverside church and with it of course is held and dr nara steve it's wonderful word is com currently the church meeting and i now call that meeting to order the first order of business is the election of the chairman of the corporate meeting presided over that corporate meeting and over the column current church meeting and i would recognize mr james no a member of the board of trustees and chairman of the stewardship council traditionally the stewardship council is responsible for planning this annual meeting to say very much about jim hall after years of wonderful service and inspiration which he has given to the judge i think would not be sitting in he's holding a stopwatch on me besides so i'm
simply going to say jim hall we're glad you're here to carry on that's because budget with a stopwatch decided to keep talking like that has become our custom me i know a meeting a gun laws at a nazi in is a gun he'd to the new decade last year the theme was the new decades challenge to christian citizenship and our guest speaker was governor rockefeller this year it is the new decades challenge to this group's and our guest is a prominent educators and i don't want to preside this evening the stewardship council would have to turn to a distinguished representative all the scoops who is very active most
useful and highly distinguished in the field of education a member of our church and there was a sort of a neighboring institution and so acting on the instructions of my committee on out the pleasure to nominate for the chairmanship all the corporate and church meeting the dean of the teachers college of columbia university you have heard the nomination of dean fisher to be the chairman of this meeting live near a second i hear the second with all those in favor of being fissures election as chairman of this meeting please signify by saying aye dean fisher we're honored to have you here and i take great pleasure in turning over to you the non existent gavel of this particular meeting
the guilty or they strain of this election campaign so great that i hesitate to embark immediately upon the duties of the office to which i've been elected but i assure you that mr hoge has made my porch this evening are quite simple and easy by giving me a they're a complete rethinking of what is necessary to keep leading building on time and you may be sure that if anything interferes with a rapid and and expeditious handling of events this evening the fault will be the fault of a chairman and not the fault of his coach they first order of business this evening is to elect a clerk of the meeting the law requires that we elect a clerk of the corporate meeting and i shall now recognize mr searle not played who i believe has a nomination to propose
over the nomination of mr mcgregor is there another nomination if not we shall declare the nominations close tonight show last all who are in favor of the election of mr mcgregor ways to indicate soap by saying aye those opposed no mr mcgregor is elected they work of the meeting and we shall bank and forest service we have now they report of the nominating committee that's charles glenn saying is the chairman of that committee and we shall be happy to have a report determined i have it means m reporting on behalf of the nominating committee the following or the church service for the but it made for a term of three years to expire in december thirty first nineteen sixty four mr harris no water to fill out the term of two years of a boat a handsome resigned
expiring december thirty first nineteen sixty three says joseph free to fill out the term of one year and this is joseph read expire in december thirty first nineteen sixty two with richard have done it and further for the corporate meeting for thursday's for the term expiring at the annual corporate meeting in nineteen sixty four it to robert e fuller mr edward ates bring you francis as harmon and charleston and they were dressed the development unexpired term and you are hawthorne resign ending at annual corporate meeting in nineteen sixty two george ace bailey and for more than they can support term of five years exploring december thirty first nineteen sixty six mr robert e money and to better cigars side a way hanssen the seminal kennedy mr albert g widens all
our weight and for a term of four years to fill the unexpired term of robert lee resigned expiring december thirty first nineteen sixty five the robert c johnson and for a term of two years to fully unexpired term of view about her resigned expire in december thirty first nineteen sixty three was to robert f beach and for church territory turned one year expire in december thirty first nineteen sixty one mr ramsey mcgregor is there a second to the report of a nominating committee here they report second that are there are additional nominations are any of these offices if not we will declare the nominations close then proceed with the next item on the agenda which is to elect to inspectors of the
election for that purpose i recognize the footsteps well as many as favorably election sally and mr snyder indicate so by saying aye those opposed to the opposite side where that's sally ann schneider elected as they official inspectors of election in order to expedite they handling of a balance i should like to apply says additional inspectors or tellers the following person's this is marion the carol goes missouri cummings dr paul answered mr esper we're going to georgia gustafson says her own house mr anatoli jay decided a ways to go as virginia macleod as john mason all caught up to watertown as alien
sanborn dr weitzman this a stealth callously mr howard peterson before you proceed to vote let me call your attention to they all vacations for voters you about that on a yellow ballot which deals with the election of members of a budget committee and other person's forte annual profit for the corporation and i might wipe out a statement that qualified voters for those two groups of candidates shelby all persons awful age who are members of the church in good and regular spending by admission into full membership or communion or those persons who have stayed at lee worship with the church and have regularly contributed to the financial supporter of during the near preceding this meeting those who are eligible to vote for the candidates listed on the green that make candidates for beacon and for church where our
only one of those two groups of voters those who are members of the church in good and regular spending by admission and for communion there is one parent amelie green bow of a typo which is almost inevitable in america this time the date on my last item or church work for a term of one year should read expire in december thirty first nineteen sixty two it would be a short year i will ask you know to mark your ballots and then i suggest you pass and to save some time to make a person who sits or let's say far this too my laugh so that they those who collect the ballots will know where
they are pressure about that side of your table i like your writer's most diversity they inspectors will then be able to collect the balance is there anyone who does not have a ballot fb unique because it has been weeks by the pows
because blank as beans beans so when you
wave them somewhere and see you fb and they that all the votes are going to be cast have been cast and the tellers to allow do their duty we come next to an important part of a business of the evening the presentation of a budget for nineteen sixty two as toward are going well present the budget for us beef but it as a but christians also been talk that we shouldn't waste undue emphasis on what some people call the almighty dollar level as churches do have to be concerned with money you perhaps have heard the story about a small boy who attended church with his parents who asked him and the return home hunted like
the service will it was all right he said thus far it's been money does have to go in two directions we have taken him before we can spend that that's exactly why we have to have a budget a budget as nothing more than an intelligent plan what money we expect to have to spend time where we expect to get every organizations large or small riverside church is a well run organization that is a big business operation i've been told that our annual budget is probably the largest of any church in the world dr mccracken would be the first to chide if i read further their biggest in the senate votes
for friday or satisfaction we all know that it's not how much money we spend that really counts it's how well and wisely we spend the fact remains that we are a society do have substantial sums of money very briefly enough about our requirements so that you can act wisely and intelligently and about the united states to budget you watch as a steady the budget which is summarized on me a new orleans and the stack of papers the peculiar places however and fearful of material but that the ladies may be a bit allergic to financial statements a crime so i've had prepared a sharp which us a poem a week to get a clear concise picture vis tolerance they're not sure
how as bruno has been he's been there all
right it is he's busy
he's been there
yes bees for me ms
bhatia is big your reaction to mr robbins presentation makes it the necessary for me to read anything before we proceed to vote on the budget and it seems reasonable to ask his job to give us a statement from the stewardship council about the prospects of a funding of this budget for next year to be less drama and it is in the end a very clear on appealing way and this dog and has given you the bad news is presented you with a chair or with the bill and of course it
is a model bill now i and i have the pleasure of giving you the good news is all telling you like you are able to pay this bill and that you made about the approval all this budget with confidence that it will be raised so as i know second as the party's motion i assure you that you will raise this budget and the confidence which i wouldn't talk to you is not happenstance it's not that it is contained in the statistics which i do about it a star tonight show knew that legal issue out for subscription services contribution but if you please it's three hundred and forty two thousand five hundred bottles of that is to be compared with three hundred and thirty thousand dollars last year
a budget of three hundred and thirty thousand dollars you've pledged by the time of the annual meeting three hundred and eleven thousand two hundred and thirty five all that was ninety four point three percent although ago at the top now i know how interested you are in the history of these matters what that you would like to know a little something about what you're doing that she and so let me tell you that on your goal of three hundred and forty two thousand five hundred dollars you how does all this time three hundred and twenty four thousand five hundred and twenty one dollars or ninety four percent audible china there are two thousand pages in at this time leaving us about
three hundred to go we usually receive between two point two hundred three hundred it was last year at this time the way a nineteen hundred and twenty one badges so that we have heard from more people this year than we had this time last year pledges for increased amounts for increased giving by the same people oh very encouraging nine hundred and thirty two as compared with eight hundred and forty four last year to stop and this is this in any significant think the yellow top increased giving by the same people today is fifty two thousand three hundred and ninety nine dollars as compared with thirty six thousand nine hundred and sixty nine thousand i
well you see where we all the police chief said today by president can you describe the missing dashiell he said yes he is five feet seven inches tall and seventeen thousand dollars sure so we are about joe seventeen thousand sixteen thousand nine hundred and seventy nine to be exact shop of the nineteen sixty two contribution go i wish i could be as casual about raising the rest of it as was a little boy in school when the teacher was talking about the prodigious rate at which unlike troubles did he just think the teachers set alight coming to us from the sun at a rate of almost thousands of wild to say isn't it wonderful a natural very said the little boy it's downhill always
well i'm afraid that it isn't for us unless we make it short but downhill all uphill we are going to get and their art to very good reasons why we will and the first place we are proud of this budget we have enthusiasm for that and for what it will enable us to do we will impart gallup tried and our enthusiasm than others and encourage those who have not yet subscribe to do so soon and when we have received letters from those who have not yet subscribe for why did they were pledging the same amount that they did last year we will not only reached a goal but we would do as we have done in previous she is a seat
here in my friends is the speed at all because we're not raising this budget all the measurements of song where the charitable organization for the support of song old low educational institution for the netherlands of some notable foundation we are raising this budget for the support of the trick we are we are raising it to afford a ministry well by the mission of a great christian church can be carried on and its destiny that again is our strength and love aaron is the assurance about ultimate success now the other good reason why we shall raise this budget is that we how another rate every member organization which has long taken the high tradition which has been established
via or look at gene and this this is the late teens every member gaps i wish i could mention all the names but i can deal of course with only a few and the first one should be our chief candidates who is none other than print he says he enjoys drinking the budget so on we can believe it is evident it is evident in the titles which he select in the composition and with the enthusiasm with which he delivers i would say that he gets foiled with enthusiasm if it were not for a story which i trust a man applying for a job was asked if he ever at the clyde with enthusiasm and he said oh yes sir i got fired with enthusiasm from every job i've had
well of course the challenge of all the house committee have a certain church was reporting for his board of trustees just after the budget sermon and he said and then we have a bill for seventeen dollars and thirty eight cents for repairs to the pulpit coverage i might add a request would the past to be just a little less in fact well is selling the shia wasn't by gold in pot giving my wrist and he did and we're grateful for this minister and we certainly don't want him to be in the predicament of the vote to other ministers one very good because the church treasure up with the decimal point in the wrong place
and in reporting the budget subscription and the other side to his deacons brother and i don't want you to raise my salary new law i'm having too much trouble raising what you're already paid well let me mention other names the chairman of the canvas the shia is the capable and the lovely miss elizabeth weeks who has worked in several of the canvases and who has the she added her name in noonan notes that is to that long list are permanent unsuccessful and his job it is you know why it's just a moment where she's sitting you go see a pleasing testimony to my girl the pope
well the cultural assisting most weeks has been the veteran doctor but his boss kai eide a heat will rise arable what you would see there he is right and so too and let me tell you this that he is extremely hands and what he does and then what he does unmask the good works in the riverside church now these two leaders used a phrase in one of our lovers early and the candles to their organization and it came to symbolize what they did said then this letter the degree of our success and all the cat on the imagination but with which we follow each step of the organization
as dr foskett might say my how up in the life of this church is the phrase cap and imagination how much of it how much of town imagination went into the call years ago dr forster and years later to talk to fred how much went to their removal all the church from downtown to this prompts for the construction of this mighty plot add to the setting up of an adequate endowment or maintain and imagination and enthusiasm a fire this campus organization throughout the long months of preparation and the days of execution it is injected one of pride in the scandals is second only to our rate is four year after year
dedicated and competent chairman division of ages captains and workers make up an organization of over three hundred and fifty people to each and every one of this organization i expressed the appreciation of the board of trustees was the stewardship council and i am sure all all of you for all of you have shown by your participation in this parade and taking your appreciation for this organization and i think they would like to recognize it now as president tuesday on the record the plane thank you mr pogue you
have now heard the motion for the adoption of the budget and they second and keeping with a customer riverside church i shall ask all those who favor the adoption of the budget to signify this action by rising i declare that budget as presented unanimously adopted by this meeting i wonder if they have a report of a inspectors of the election is now getting us and china may we have a report but chairman i didn't even before the election which took place a scene at the budget committee for a term of three years to expire in december thirty
first nineteen sixty four mr harrison so what was elected by two hundred and forty one bound for love or ten two years mrs jones of reid was elected by a total of two hundred and thirty nine points to fill out a time one year this to a rigid of paladin was elected by a total of two hundred and forty one there are atrocities for ten years damage by at the annual corporate meeting in nineteen sixty four with robert follow was elected with two hundred and thirty seven about deadwood h greene with two hundred and thirty six france is as common with two hundred and thirty seven and charles glenn king with two hundred and thirty seven the trustee to fill another just beautiful unexpired term george h haley was quoted was elected by a total of
two hundred and thirty two ballots for dickens robert bea bundy was elected with a total of two hundred and thirty five now that i stayed outside with a total of two hundred and thirty three about abel a handsome with a total of two hundred and thirty five pounds mrs kennedy would two hundred and thirty two analogy whiteness all of the total of two hundred and thirty four ballots and how our way with a total of two hundred and thirty four for digging for time for years robert c johnson was elected what two hundred and thirty one about for beacon for a time of two years robert f beach was elected by two hundred and thirty two bout and projects like for ten one year run gm but there was elected by two hundred and thirty four about a sixth
snyder and thanks also to all who assisted and touting the results of the election really regular business of the evening has now been completed and we may term today addresses on our program our guest speaker tonight is a man who is no longer a stranger to anyone in new york indeed he has been a neighbor of riverside he was a neighbor of riverside some time ago he came to east from nearly as far west as one can in the united states he was born in portland oregon but on his way east he stopped to pick up a degree at art college and then came to spend some time and study the graduate faculties at columbia and then the union theological seminary he is by trade a philosopher a teacher and administrator
and some of you knew him as president than of islands college in virginia where some of you may know that while he was active that allen says president he found time also to stimulate through his attention and leadership one of a very interesting and forward looking experiments in educational communication lennon a school's of roanoke virginia it was established several years ago a program and they teaching of mathematics through they use of what we're now calling teaching machines this i should tell you it's one of the experiments looked upon with great approval by educational experts throughout the country on the very best of the day new experiments with this fascinating new approach to teaching and learning i can give you a summary of the long list of positions of honor and responsibility that our speaker has held and
does hold but i would prefer rather to suggest briefly some of the reasons why he has been called to those positions and why he continues to be asked to assume heavy responsibilities of american education is a man whose sense of the purpose of education runs the he has worked in philosophy he has also worked in religion some of you here now that one of his books is entitled religion and economics another religion and human experience is a man who understands the relation between what is nearly urgent than what is fundamentally important in education and in life he is a man whose opinions are sought and whose advice to solicit that because he is trusted as one of integrity intelligence imagination encourage he came from one of a
distinguished smaller institutions of this country to head two years ago one of the very largest institutions of higher education in the entire world what has come to be known since he assumed his offices chancellor li city university of new york everett is a man who understands that we may not choose in this country between the simple easy task of providing good education for a relatively few of our people or providing mediocre education for all of our people you know that we had no choice in our time and our land but to provide the best education we can for all of our people this is the cause to which he has dedicated this is the working week in which he is serving in a very distinguished fashion in a way that all of us in education do you as exemplary and so it is
my privilege and pleasure to present and the privilege of all of us to hear the chancellor of the city of university of the city university of new york doctor john are accurate ah i'm sorry that i must get up to speak i found that fascinating speech you drew and i wonder who it was about an all i have two words of an adoption i spent a number of years in this summer a number of years living and the difference hall and when it was said that i had an intimate association with this church that was quite true the caramel and every saturday afternoon nap for a period of four years and this is my first opportunity to return the call
and the second word is that i spent a number of years of union seminary listening to rival neighbor talk about christian democracy as informed by the profound obese of the biblical insight i never knew what that was about it until this evening when i saw democracy in action for the first time this church it kept me awake finally explain extraordinarily difficult the topic that i was assigned to the challenge of the schools in the decade ahead we and as all that we
are hoping to be good administrators or school systems or of colleges or universities i took pen in hand and sat down to write a speech i got to page twelve and this speech and then read it back and noticed that it was nothing but a series of statistics it concerned itself with the enormous economic problem of building a school system for the size of population that we were going to have in the nineteen sixties it concerned itself with doubling the capacity of our colleges and universities it concerned itself with the development of an increased number of phd is an increased number of babies in increased number of families and increased number of the masses and an increased number of every other sprint in the alphabet you could use if the clark all of the
money that was going into everything from alice and not going into the bricks and mortar that would build new schools new colleges universities new research service now suddenly struck with the parallel of my reading back over this manuscript to the story of the un observer who went into darkness after he finally won all the way and as far as he could ordinary find a restaurant they walk into the restaurant and sat down and said that i have amended the menu is headed to a non the mayo the first item on the menu whats brought missionary ninety five cents a second item on the menu was baked un representative a dollar twenty five and the third item on the menu
where was a sordid presidents and chancellors of colleges and universities for dollars this fall a lot that and said how in the world do you get from it five cents for a missionary usually boil to four dollars for assorted translucent khalid resident khaled university presidents lakers looked at him and said listen in all those figures an old words are so mixed up there just help clean high high and thus the difference in price well this story occurred to me and i decided that i would not talk to you tonight on all of the obvious numbers and play the numbers game it can be given to you very briefly everything has to be doubled practically as far as our educational plant
and the first snow used to teach in the next ten years if we are to have anything like the kind of opportunity for the children in the seventies and sixties that we've had in this country in the past so much for the numbers important thing is what's going to happen in the schools the important thing is what's going to happen to the assumptions of the teachers and what's going to happen to the assumption that the collie assumptions of the college professors of the university professors and the research workers there's very little question that as the president's commission stated nineteen fifty seven that there's these united states has become a society of students over thirty percent of the total population all those warm bodies breathing on this continent over thirty percent of them are in some form of formal educational program to day to date over
thirty percent children all the way through some kind of formal instruction another who knows how many are taking informal course is not in a formal program and the variety of adult education military governmental industrial and whatnot so we have because society's ills a society of people taking courses a society of people going into class society of people trying to learn something the real question is what are we trying to learn i asked one man who walked into city college at eight o'clock in the evening after he's been working all day rushed home about somebody finally done in the last fifty two years old i asked him why he's there is there anyone
well i just won a lot that maybe a history class and that may be sufficient for as the young eager nineteen year old plays in a math class and he says he wants to move overseas this whole country is dependent upon people knowing physics and i want to be one of the ones who are dependent on as over what one answer always seemed to come back that somehow somewhere under some circumstances knowledge is going to save us and this is one reason we have become a society of students the military establishment of this country has to agree your educational system today than any military is an establishment has ever had in the history of the world and it is much greater and much more varied with a
greater amount of money and then any other single educational system to be found in this country industry's commitments are like the military is moving up higher and higher and higher as far as education was concerned each time why four balls because we're no longer dependent upon the foot soldier were dependent upon the scientists caution about where no longer dependent upon the shrewd businessman who gets his office in his hap were dependent upon research teams in wilmington delaware one engineering buildings in detroit and on a whole variety of gene research why people highly trained in small areas of knowledge that reduced the products we use daily and are utterly dependent upon we could know more turn off the stream of knowledge that now defends us against our foreign enemies then we could fly i used to say flood again look what knowledge
did for my speech that we could fly there without rockets or without solid fuels we could know more turn it off with regard to our industry and go back to the kind of industry we had fifty years ago a hundred years ago and we could think of any other complete impossibility our economic society and our defense against foreign enemies dependent upon knowledge of what kind of knowledge scientific knowledge the knowledge that man has gained and generated of how to manipulate and use of the elements of the earth in such a fashion as to defend him and in such a fashion as to give him material comforts over and over again as you talk to college students they will tell you that they know this is a science based society this is a science based industry this is a science based defense and there is no sense in
talking about turning the clock back to the time when before mathematics of experimentation were married and they're unhappy for us union now this is education to a great many people this is the challenge it's how are we able to generate and transmitted through art education organizations our schools the maximum amount of scientific knowledge to keep this enormous industrial machine and defends the shooting based upon science going and moving and keeping costs relatively free relatively comfortable and relatively scared how are we going to do it for a great many people this is the challenge of the schools that is in part for me i think we have to devote much more efficient methods of transmitting knowledge i think we have to develop a much more efficient methods of
generating knowledge i think we have to develop a much more efficient methods of getting students into school getting filled with this pop and getting out and getting working and i think the russians in many cases are now developing better ways of doing this particular job that we have in the past or that we have now let's say we succeed and our school leaders chat we will have the most beautifully developed grew of moral lobsters we will the people who can happily listen to all mozart piece unhappily reach shakespeare and happily do a variety of puzzles and mathematics while a fire that same kind of
forces that were fired at dallas we'll have more all monsters will have highly trained technicians who can do all sorts of evil much more efficiently than we've ever been able to do it in the past the challenge of the schools has to go far far beyond the point of generating an transmitted knowledge and the difficulties this is the part we don't know how to do we do know how to generate knowledge and we don't know how to translate it and we are making a much better job of transmitting of generating but we do not know how to place that knowledge in an appropriate and proper moral context which moral context will make that knowledge usable for good purposes rather than for evil ones remember the same airplane that can carry vaccine to save people's lives can carry bombs that blow up and
all these things can be used for one side and on the other side at all the knowledge that has generated is a mole is neither good nor that with usable for good or bad purposes i would submit to you one possible answer and that is first comes further by recognizing that probably the greatest confusion and the greatest retreat in the last hundred years in western world have been the confusion and the retreat of the churches and theology that the confusion in theology created by the very science that started moving and upon which we're not dependent there's confusion as of such a crime in such a character that many school student who looks upon him as a kind of
anachronism of the past which read that you like to do like an anagram prefer to do an aggressive or what my daughter my daughter certainly one day is it really true that you didn't have television when you were fourteen and isolated it's really true what did you do but in any event this world for her was just completely impossible laura without television was the world that she couldn't imagine what anybody did this is what a lot of the kids in all ages and schools and colleges and universities deal with regard to the kind of theological positions they are presented with this belonged somewhere in the path of it was born out of the pastoral scenes on these slopes in palestine it was brought through a europe that they only
understand vaguely and was brought into this country and put before them and they're not quite sure what it means and what the words mean in this confusion there's confusion fusion comes from the fact that they don't know the words the book goodness into you don't understand how to use these words and make them stick as they communicate one with each other and i think why i this confusion at this retreat by recognizing that we have to recognize that out of somewhere this great big amoral knowledge machine that our schools and universities are tradesmen out of somewhere must come the driver for this and it must come in terms of the language that must come in terms
perhaps a new concept it must be as normal human as possible and yet it must have the austerity of divinity these things can be had in this day as they could have been had and were had been many days passed but today our danger is so great that we had better get about the business of doing it but i don't believe the schools are going to do it if you present those schools with this job and i don't believe the schools are going to meet this job this challenge is going to be met by a church is it going to be met by families it's going to be met by all of the agency's coming together once more in the attempt to reinforce the things that whole society together rather than the things that break it apart otherwise knowledge will succeed to break it apart it will succeed in being a moral and it will succeed in not producing
what potentially human beings can happen i don't know how to impress upon you what it can do to you if someday you're feeling very good and self satisfied with that money in the bank and your wife was released today and your children just by luck happened to be just perfect and you notice the alternative is full and you feel as though well this is really it and i won't try it and just walk through the last look at the computing machines and see what they will do and see how they can do it then get us know two hour trip outside of boston and see where some in the ground and out of this brutal income why somebody pushing a button in omaha
nebraska a warhead and the missile were to knock out the city of moscow just do this just make one trip the day you feel so good one trip to this kind of the world and you'll see what knowledge can do and you'll see how utterly fantastic is the challenge to everyone outside the school's to bring some kind of more pressure one the direction in which this knowledge is gone well unfortunately for you perhaps you didn't hear very many statistics but i think this is the important job and this is the one we will either beach or there will be not very many more of these extraordinarily delightful church leaders that rig the
pain and our chancellor everett i don't have to tell you after this response of our meeting a luxury i'm grateful we are and how deeply we appreciate what you have in saying to as a challenge to the school's does not reduce at all the challenge to the church it would be a kind of presumption for me to introduce the next speaker to this audience but then you present again i would note that we have tonight the privilege of hearing from one of the truly distinguished church men of our time one of the great religious leaders of our world
and a man who we have the honor and the humble tried to call iran dr mccracken to pay mr chairman may i festival say to you that it is a pleasure to have you here presiding over this annual meeting to see him you another indication of me close for tat no relationship that exists between this church and the institutions of landing on the hill in regard to the address that we have just listen to me i say that any question that may have been in anybody's mind
the reason for the appointment or the doctor evident to his position might start buying what has been say have been made plain and obviously i've listened to our mosque really address on a subject striking right at the call of issues crucial to our time coming towards the end of the meeting i have some desire they're far dealing with my aspect of tonight seemed to hearken back to area matters because i think it would be remiss of me when you made your rent not acknowledge one what was done towards the raising of the nineteen sixty two budget by the canvases not to say something about the contribution of the state though those
of us who were veterans in this undertaking are our custom a very much mr fobes juliet know how much of himself he invests in the enterprise year after year and i am certain that i speak on behalf of warlord and that this truth when i'm at their knowledge of our great debt to him ta ta as one other matter that might be recommended status that i should like to mention frequently upstairs in the pulpit you hear me refer to the new yorker i'm happy to tell you that in the current issue of the new yorker the subject of the profile is smart us at
executive director of unicef and the member of the riverside church i've only had an opportunity myself of scanning the profile that i commanded to your notice education is the principal seemed tonight and i cannot refrain from beginning what i have to say with a story a story about a schoolteacher who was given a ticket for driving through a stoplight and did call for her appearance in court on the following monday morning she worked at once for the judges explain that you would be in class dj on the monday morning and asked for an immediate disposal over case so you're a schoolteacher
said the judge that in your presence here for pharaohs a long standing ambition of mine you sit right down at that table and write i went through a stop sign five hundred tai chi even to tell the story from fills with the addition of some of us that i don't think there can be any question at all that in basically the subject of religion in the schools will close one of our most stubborn and difficult problems it is a subject about which americans are sharply divided to appreciate how deep the divisions around one need only need to back hits put out by the fund of the
public religion and american society religion and the schools all that is the case of the present administration without roman catholic at its heyday sponsoring a federal aid to education bill which the roman catholic bishops have announced their intention of opposing on the drone that it discriminates against children attending on public schools' or that is the item in yesterday's newspapers the announcement that the supreme court will take under consideration whether it is constitutional to see a daily prayer as an opening exercise in new york schools a practice challenge by five long island fairness during joey's
one unit to one members of the ethical culture society one non believers in any religion now this subject is foreign to this subject is complicated this is one reason why it tends to go by default in the time at my disposal i can't do more than touch on certain aspects of it for example that of protestants concerned about the growing secularism of the schools and this ties or write in with what has been said by the chancellor who advocate the common core all studio christian tradition to be taught in the schools they were all that it is intolerable
that are minorities should impose its will on the majority they've all but it is intolerable that the moral and spiritual values and principles which went into the founding of the nation should not be forced to invite rising generation and that is their position that the public schools karen and she'll teach the common real religious tradition as the only adequate basis for the life on the screens and for the personal lives of teachers students and citizens in a free and responsible democracy now even if this principle whether acceptable that our difficulties in plenty practical difficulties teaching the common
core all of the judeo christian heritage would've cost me drawing on the bible which i do would their jewish parent feeling that the new testament to spot of the problem poor would a protestant didn't feel that the old testament in and by itself a spot of the common core would roman catholic parent approves the use of a protestant mission of the bible and nobody can see what the problem is how in our crew mystic societies can really should be introduced into the public schools and sectarianism be avoided this has led other protestants to make a plea for teaching in general about religion presenting the historic vote beliefs
all the major faiths without any attempt to indoctrinate but without any real attempt to be sexual impartial objective the conviction here is that along sectarian religious teaching should be an organic part of the public school direction and back of it is the belief that education is inadequate when it is divorced from the disciplines and insights of religious faith and the religion itself is seriously weakened when it is not made an essential part of general education those who pressed for non sectarian religious teaching maintain that there's nothing in our laws and
our traditions in our court decisions which prevents the public school within its own probe from making provisions for the religious interpretation of like oh this is far less than someone and far more but others will accept and he also that of practical difficulties that your mom too on teachers would be very heavy of loyal subjects religion is the one about which after all it is the most difficult to be impartial and objective an attempt at a solution of the problem is providing the very least tying for religious instruction and the supreme court has ruled it permissible as long as public property is not used for the instruction in some quarters
it is regarded at least ideas as affording an opportunity to churches and synagogues to supply are greatly failed me in the education of american children churches and synagogues are said to have taken the provision seriously it follows four competent teachers effective program in adequate textbooks and broadly speaking that has been la or closely the reason is the religious leaders have become increasingly aware all the limitations and the weaknesses of the procedure that this looks like a big shift it is opposed by many protestants and jews as religiously divisive been spending use to say that it pre supposes a matter of ignorance of the
minds of children and for that matter parents to have been an enthusiastic about the weighty is consideration is is that by removing the instruction from the regular program of the school the release method suggests the lead all an integral relationship between religion and all other educational pursuits and thereby fosters the impression but religion is something apart not only from literature and often science and and economics from the mainstream from the real business of life so the subject to so and complicating the divisions in the nation are probably reflected in
our own congregation i imagine we have within our membership proponents and critics of the three approaches i have outlined a problem called approach the study of religion as a factor in our culture at least i approach will be some actors that we must be thinking about but we must be reading about that we must be coming together to discuss these are matters that should be the business of counsel to these are matters that should be the business of the border deacons of the church and we have in the morning site rights community a man one time professor at teachers college frequent in his attendance at the services of this church daughter emma's johnson who has given a lifetime of study to the
subject seems to me that the position he let the manns it is shared by many others merits support he advocates the adoption all the national policy that would permit a worried range of local experimentation was sought we already have in higher education local experimentation because religiously some communities in the country are almost entirely homogeneous while others art as in our case a new york city real estate he advocates that no pre sentence should be regarded as not subject to review and that not even the writings of the founding fathers should be looked upon as infallible political scriptures and that all the while the courts should be standing got into
the knee only where there is a clear and present danger that some violation of religious liberty went up the costs of our history our national history justifies such local experimentation the exclusion of religion from the public schools was june or originally not to opposition to religion as set but to the desert to keep sick at it isn't a lot of the schools it was a desire reinforced by the concern of religious denominations to avoid control of education by their iras but the explosion has had consequences that one may shortly say well neither anticipated law intended the school year by year i've become more and more
secular know secularism is itself a faith often an aggressive dogmatic intolerant faith it is not the fees all the majority of the citizens of the united states justice that was his dictum is no famous we are underlings just people whose institutions presuppose a supreme being added would be intolerable when a secularist minority to impose its will on the majority in this are our decision justice douglas oh all the danger often defending those who believe in norwegian or for those who do so really the trouble is that the minority are
actively crusaders and the majority the protestant majority is active naacp apathetic to be spice model in interest and inaction this protestant majority is very difficult time around was to rally him to step to actually take the federal aid to education bill because it does not include iggy to parochial schools the roman catholic hierarchy or poses no federal money for the public schools is desperately needed we've brought storms off to be vocal and active in our support of their tree a lot of support our campaign of information and education we should be verging on our representatives
in congress the necessity of having this fighter legislation debated and brought to of all we should be on our representatives the necessity of standing up and being counted if we do not speak up for the principle today our children may yet have to fight for it and silence on our parks will only encourage further and create and more of this in the moms i must not include without saying one thing more we may work for the day when the history of the literature the moral and spiritual values of religion will be sympathetically dealt with in general
education so that the children off this country may enter into that flew cultural inheritance by the final the huge use a bow responsibility for religious nature bruce right back into the church behind the church the hole so we head you meet your responsibilities in this congregation and reaching out from there are political responsibilities as christians the pope i know i speak for all of you when i
express our thanks to those who have spoken to us this evening and stimulative than challenge does i think i express also your wishes when i say thanks to all who have done the many things that were needed to be done to make this meeting as successful and as truthful as it has been now to close very evening i shall ask dr mccracken if people announce the benediction the grace of our lord jesus christ the level drop the fellowship of the holy spirit be with as oh no and for evermore i mean yeah
no no no no i mean no no sign at our nine half hour now the counties
by sneak peek peek speak has been police beat
sneak peek many companies many many many many many weeks
many many many many there's been weeks barry county that has
been the case but the key is to pass this bill the
peak of the pay to play a unique is weekend edition
Program
Annual Meeting, The Riverside Church: 1961-12-06
Producing Organization
WRVR (Radio station: New York, N.Y.)
Contributing Organization
The Riverside Church (New York, New York)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-528-rj48p5wp1z
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip-528-rj48p5wp1z).
Description
Program Description
Live coverage of an annual meeting at Riverside Church.
Broadcast Date
1961-12-11
Created Date
1961-12-06
Asset type
Program
Genres
Event Coverage
Topics
Business
Education
Religion
Media type
Sound
Duration
02:08:07.944
Embed Code
Copy and paste this HTML to include AAPB content on your blog or webpage.
Credits
Performer: Swann, Frederick, 1931-
Producing Organization: WRVR (Radio station: New York, N.Y.)
Publisher: WRVR (Radio station : New York, N.Y.)
Speaker: McCracken, Robert J. (Robert James), 1904-1973
Speaker: Everett, John R.
Speaker: Lyons, Jesse
AAPB Contributor Holdings
The Riverside Church
Identifier: cpb-aacip-4145c744845 (Filename)
Format: 1/4 inch audio tape
Generation: Master
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
Citations
Chicago: “Annual Meeting, The Riverside Church: 1961-12-06,” 1961-12-11, The Riverside Church , American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 29, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-528-rj48p5wp1z.
MLA: “Annual Meeting, The Riverside Church: 1961-12-06.” 1961-12-11. The Riverside Church , American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 29, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-528-rj48p5wp1z>.
APA: Annual Meeting, The Riverside Church: 1961-12-06. Boston, MA: The Riverside Church , American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-528-rj48p5wp1z