Services Put Focus on Sit-Ins

              GREENSBORO DAILY NEWS
MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 1980
Churches Recall Sit-ins
Services
Put Focus
On Sit-ins
BY KENNETH CAMPBELL
AND LEMDSEY GRUSON
Dally News Staff Writers
The 20th anniversary commemoration of the 1960
sit-ins began in local churches Sunday with prayers, sermons and other activities emphasizing the significance
of the event.
The day was proclaimed "Equality Day" by Mayor
Jim Melvin. The Feb. 1 Committee, which has planned
a five-day commemoration of the sit-ins, asked churches
to use "the brotherhood of man" as a theme for their
services.
Some ministers said the sit-ins or the theme was
included in a prayer or sermon, while other ministers
said they always preach brotherhood and equality. And
still others said they took advantage of the special day
and used the sit-ins as a focus for their sermons.
"We feel every day is equality day, and I always
try to stress that," said Dr. George Gay Jr., pastor of
St. Stephen United Church of Christ. "We don't need
the governor or anybody else to proclaim it. We get our
orders from God."
His sentiments were echoed by the Rev. Prince E.
Graves, pastor of St. James Baptist Church. "I try to
do it (emphasize equality) every time I stand," he said.
He added that references to equality and the sit-ins
were made in the service.
But several ministers, including the Rev. Brady
Faggart, went further and based their entire sermon or
service around the occasion.
"The whole sermon was directed toward what happened 20 years ago and what is happening today," said
the Rev. Charles Zimmerman, a pastor of First Lutheran Church, where he and Faggart are pastors. Faggart
was out of town during the afternoon and could not be
reached.
Using the sit-ins as a point of departure, Zimmerman said Faggart told his two morning congregations
that "we cannot close our eyes to the past. We need
to be concerned with people who are in need today.
"The Gospel text was taken from the teachings that
the ministry is to heal the blind, help release the captive and release the people who are bound up; that it is
really up to those of us living in Greensboro to provide
the openness so we can live with respect and without
discrimination in our lives."
The Rev. Lloyd Green Jr., pastor of St. James United Presbyterian, said: "I talked about remembering the
past and remembering February 1, 1960, and what that
means for us today. I talked about telling our children
and grandchildren what that means for our society today."
The Rev. John Tol Broome, pastor of Holy Trinity
Episcopal Church, said he talked about trying to finish
an unfinished agenda in a world that's gone haywire.
He announced the planned prayer vigil and suggested
that every member of his congregation attend at least
part of it. Broome suggested that those who can't go
take time out and pray or meditate about whatever they
should do to bring about more equality to finish the unfinished business.
Rabbi Arnold S. Task, of Temple Emmanuel, tried
to help the children understand the significance of the
sitfns and the civil rights struggle that followed.
"It's difficult to imagine how things were before
you came along," he told children in Sunday school
classes. "It's hard to remember when blacks didn't have
the same opportunity," he said in an afternoon interview. "Now whites and blacks can sit, talk and eat together and the children don't know what it was like
back then.
Dr. Emmett Floyd, pastor of Congregational United Church of Church of Christ, said he mentioned the
equality day in sermon and prayer and cited the events
scheduled this week to commemorate the sit-ins.
At First Baptist Church, Dr. Alton McEachern said,
"We prayed for the mayor, the city manager and law
enforcement officials. We prayed that they have the
wisdom to keep law and order when forces on the far
left and right, the CWP and Klan, threaten."
The Rev. Cardes H. Brown, pastor of New Light I
Baptist Church, used the occasion to encourage his
members to register to vote. A voter registration drive
is being held at the church each Sunday after worship
services, except on communion Sundays, until the primary.
"We were trying to place emphasis on the time for
the need in the community," Brown said. "The mes- t
sage was geared around 'God's School of Knowledge.' "
The next event in the commemoration week will*e I
a convocation Thursday at Bennett College, honoring
Gloria Eugenia Brown Wise, the first female to join the
original four sit-in participants. Other events that day
will include a prayer vigil beginning at 4 p.m. at Church
of the Redeemer, a 7 p.m. reception by A&T State University Chancellor Lewis C. Dowdy for the original four
sit-in participants and a 7 p.m. tea at the Greensboro
Public Library for the three major authors who have
written books about the sit-ins.
Several events, including the unveiling of a historical marker and a luncheon with the four original participants, are scheduled for Friday, Feb. 1, which has
been proclaimed "Civil Rights "Stf" bwGov. Jim Hunt.