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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 1968)
ARCHDIOCESE OF ATLANTA SERVING GEORGIA’S' 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES VOL. 6, NO. 48 ATLANTA, GEORGIA THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1968 Holidays Included ChurchCouncilOf Georgia Backs School Prayer Ban ATLANTA (NC) - The Georgia Council of Churches gave its approval to the U. S. Supreme Court decision banning prayer in public schools, and raised objection to the ways in which religious holidays are observed in the schools. FARMINGTON, W. VA. 1 —Mrs. Frank Matish clutches her ro sary as she wipes away a tear while attending 1 a news con ference (Nov. 26) about the 78 miners trapped since Nov. 19 in Consolidation Coal Company’s mine at nearby Manning- ton. Mrs. Matish’s husband of 31 years, Frank Matish, is among those trapped. (NC Photos) In N.Y. Catholics Invited To Join Council NEW YORK (NC) The Protestant Council of the City of New York has dropped the word “Protestant” from its name in an ecumenical move aimed at encouraging Roman Catholic membership on both diocesan levels. Beginning Jan. 1, the 25-year-old organization headed by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, will be known as the Council of Churches of the City of New York. The change in name came as part of a unanimously approved new constitution which provides for greater participation in council policy and decision-making by member churches on the local level. The new constitution, approved at a meeting of the council’s general assembly, also opens the way to membership for Church Community Associations, or local “clusters” of Protestant congregations and Catholic parishes. A few of these are already in existence; others are in the process of formation. Eventually, council officials hope, the archdiocese of New York and the diocese of Brooklyn will be formally received into the council as denominational members. A spokesman for the New York archdiocese said, however, that affiliation with the council must await the completion of studies now being made in Catholic-Protestant cooperation by divisions of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in the National Council of- Churches. In some areas, Catholic parishes and dioceses have joined state or city church councils. Meanwhile Archbishop Terence J. Cooke of New York became the first high-ranking Catholic prelate to participate in a service of worship at the Interchurch Center, headquarters of the National Council and (Continued On Page 2) The ecumenical body, representing 11 major denominations in Georgia, called for government neutrality an matters of religious belief, and further proposed that baccalaureate services not be held under public school auspices. The council, in a resolution approved at its annual meeting, declared its opposition “to the use of the power or influence of government. to promote any religious beliefs, even those held in common by most citizens.” The Rev. Robert Thomason of the Wesley Foundation, Milledgeville, Ga., a member of the Georgia Study Committee on Atlanta Area Jaycee Empty Stocking Fund now 42 years old December 8th 1968 will mark the 42nd anniversary of the Empty Stocking Fund. The fund began in 1927 by the old Atlanta Georgian newspaper to provide clothing, toys, and other goodies for a small number of needy children a total of $1,000 was collected. But Christmas this year will come to some 23,000 needy children in the greater Atlanta area because of the Empty Stocking Fund Drive. The goal for this year’s drive is $75,000. Last year more than $71,000 was raised to purchase toys for some 18,000 underprivileged children. Seventeen Atlanta area Jaycee chapters and hundreds of local college students and high school ROTC units will conduct the Day Long Drive. Sunday, December 8th; Church-State Relationship which drafted the resolution, said that in approving the resolution the Georgia Council of Churches “comes out on the same side as the Supreme Court decision.” “But,” he explained, “we did so for different reasons. Theirs were legal and ours were theological.” The Methodist minister said the commission which drafted the report studied the question for 10 months. The committee included Baptists, Jews and Catholics who are not members of the council. The ministers and laymen disapproved of “any government action of which the primary Special editions of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Green Sheet) will be sold by these canvassers from door-to-door and on street corners all over the city on drive day. All monies go to purchase toys for these needy children. Distribution of the toys will be handled from a Jaycee operated store at 554 Peachtree Street, N.E. Parents of needy children will have a large selection of new toys to choose from at the store. The store will be open from December 9 th through December 18th. Eligible families are selected from names sent . in to the Jaycees by Churches and Individuals, and the Fulton and DeKalb county Welfare Departments. REMEMBER TC)YS INSTEAD OF TEARS purpose or result is to promote belief or disbelief in particular religious principles. Asserting that the “maintenance and furtherance of religion” are the responsibilities of the church, the synagogue and the home, “and not of the public school or of any other institution of government,” the Georgia church representatives warned that government support of religion is inevitably a form of coercion and is “inneffective and detrimental.” The Rev. Mr. Thomason said the committee is seeking support from members of the Roman Catholic, Jewish and Baptist faiths by circulating the resolution among them. He noted that public school prayer or baccalaureate services could offend members of the Roman Catholic or Jewish faith, even though the Protestant Christian services were generally agreeable to the majority of parents and students. “Inevitably, there are relations between church and state,” he said, “but it is not the business of government to hold religious services.” Priest’s Father Dies Father Robert Kinast’s father died on Sunday, December 1. He had been ill for some time. The funeral will take place on Thursday, December 5, 10 a.m. at St. George’s Church, Pittsburgh, Pa. Father Kinast is an assistant at Most Blessed Sacrament Church. Editor To Speak The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Holy Name Society will be priviledged to hear one of the most outstanding priests in the Diocese of Atlanta at the next Holy Communion breakfast, Sunday, December 8th. Father Donald A. Kiernan, Rector of St. Jude’s Catholic Church and Editor of the North Georgia Bulletin will be speaking in the Church of his first assignment in Atlanta. An invitation is extended to all former members of the Society and the Shrine, to join with the Holy Name Society, at the 9:15 Mass and later the Communion breakfast in the newly renovated Social Hall. SISTER MARIA ROSA (right) runs an orphans’ home at Tegu cigalpa, Honduras, caring for about 145 children. To the left of Sister Maria Rosa is Norman W. Powell, a Peace Corps worker. The assistant at left is unidentified. (NC Empty Stocking Fund Now 42 Years Old
