Word: seastrand
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...revolution began so quietly that the church's 400 members were hardly aware of it. "It is quite conceivable," said the Rev. Paul T. Seastrand in a report to the congregation two years ago, "that some of our Negro friends may politely ask if they may come into our church on Sunday morning to worship. Certainly Christian love has no answer but to kindly grant the request." There were a few frowns and compressed lips, but the congregation showed no rancor. In Houston, no Negro had ever asked to join Augustana Church, even though it is perched...
Though he had been their pastor for six years, the congregation had a lot to learn about Massachusetts-born Pastor Seastrand, 40. Many a Southern pastor who thinks church segregation un-Christian is afraid to buck his all-white flock to abolish it. Not so Paul Seastrand. "God and one," he said, "is always a majority." Amid some ominous grumblings, he began a persistent campaign to persuade his congregation to "meet the challenge of integration." He preached the Christian view of equality. "It is not my purpose to force on you my own convictions," he said, "but to endeavor...
...Pastor Seastrand was bitterly criticized for his attitude, and some angry talk broke out at church meetings. There were dark rumors-half the congregation would leave; the church would not get financial support. To every protest, Pastor Seastrand gave a gentle but firm rejoinder. When his congregation talked of moving the church, he warned: "We can't move ourselves away from moral and spiritual responsibilities." Meanwhile, more Negroes came to church each Sunday, and several Negro children enrolled in the Sunday school. By last summer half of the 70 children in the church's vacation Bible school were...