Presentation
WHOLE GOSPEL CONGREGATION AWARD
on behalf of
The Witherspoon Society
to
Central Presbyterian Church
Louisville, Kentucky
June 10, 2001
by Robb Gwaltney
I have been asked on behalf of the
Witherspoon Society to present its Whole Gospel Congregation Award to
Central Presbyterian Church, Louisville, Kentucky. I'm absolutely
delighted to do this, even though it does feel a little incestuous, since
this is the congregation that I call home.
Let me tell you a story of evangelism and church growth. The congregation
as it now exists was founded in 1957 by the merger of two downtown
congregations, Warren Memorial and Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Churches.
Both of these churches had long and honorable histories, including at
least one prior merger on each side.
The newly created Central Church set out in its first years to contribute
to the church growth of the Presbytery by founding two new congregations:
in the south end of town, we "parented" Fourth Presbyterian
Church; and at the eastern edge of the city, Calvin Church came into being
with a base of members from Central.
The 60s and 70s were not kind to Central and by 1980 when Ron Reinhart
came to be pastor he looked out at a congregation of twenty on his first
Sunday. But this was not a congregation without resources. Not only was
there the endowment based on the sale of the Warren Memorial building, but
also the 35 or so remaining members included such individuals as the
Acting President of the University, and other persons of strength,
knowledge and conviction.
Being good Presbyterians, they formed two committees: the first to propose
a future vision for the congregation; and the second to propose, in light
of that vision, what to do with a building, by then badly in need of
repair. Briefly, they decided to stay downtown and serve the community.
They also decided to begin the process of renovating the building,
judiciously using the endowment alongside congregational contributions.
They looked around at their community and all sorts of stuff started to
happen. Briefly, they looked around the found lots of ways to become
deeply involved in the community: both through direct involvement in many
projects, and also through expanded use of the building by community based
groups.
Among that small congregation, there was a young man who, after a long and
difficult struggle with disease and his sexuality, died of AIDS. The
church responded, not only with pastoral care to this individual, but also
decided in 1983 to become a More Light Congregation. Central was the only
More Light congregation in the synod until 2000, when we walked with
Central Presbyterian Church of Owensboro as they journeyed through that
process toward more light.
At the General Assembly in 1974, Witherspoon Society presented its annual
Award to Maggie Kuhn in the Library of Centralwithin two years after the
Society's founding and at the last General Assembly to meet in Louisville.
The citation that I will present to the Clerk of Session in just a few
moments says:
The Witherspoon Society
presents its
Whole Gospel Congregation Award
to the
Central Presbyterian Church
Louisville, Kentucky
in grateful recognition of
its commitment to community service
its advocacy of racial justice
and its demonstration of full inclusiveness
as a More Light Congregation.
Last week Mark Baridon put together for me a list of
activities that are part of Central's history. He gave me a long list. (See
appendix at end of paper) He listed things like founding Neighborhood
Development Corporation, housing the county-wide Peace Education Project,
being a Sanctuary congregation, providing campus ministry programming at
UofL, and a lot of other ongoing programming, program support, and
advocacy.
The congregations' active involvement in Open Housing in
our area, in the development of the Kling Center for older citizens, the
involvement of the church in all manner of public statements and
activities through the leadership of George Edwards and others are a few
of the commitments that show the congregation's involvement in racial
justice.
When Central made the commitment to become a More Light
congregation, it didn't stop there. Central has been a sponsor of Glade
House (home for Persons with AIDS), with establishing the AIDS Educational
Coalition, the local chapter of PLGC. And we took it into the streets with
help in organizing the first March for Justice with the Central banner
leading that parade since nobody else wanted to lead the parade. It's been
in the parade every year since then, with pastors, session members and
others marching together, sometimes dressed alike so nobody would miss how
many of us there were. In 1989, an elder at Central, Nick Wilkerson was
honored as Gay Man of the Year.
Ann Deibert came as Associate in 1998. Ron retired in
1999. Mark Baridon was installed as the new Senior Pastor on Ascension,
2001 (just a few weeks ago). But let me share a few statistics that came
from Ann's annual report at the congregational meeting last week. Almost
exactly 60% of the present members of Central have joined within the last
three years. Last year alone, we experienced at 15% increase in our
membership. (Listen, those of you who are saying the church isn't growing
because we're not being pure enough!) The entire physical facility has now
been remodeled, including the Skinner organ, and the endowment is in as
good a shape as ever.
I'd like to quote our Mission Statement from the front
cover of Central's Sunday worship bulletin:
"As a commitment to Jesus Christ and an
understanding of the family of God, we shall strive to build a strong
congregation, that, as an arm of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in
downtown Louisville, shall be as inclusive as possiblea congregation
whose members proclaim God's love by nurturing and supporting one another,
and work actively for peace and justice for all of God's children,
especially those who have been cast outside the mainstream of
society."
On the Home Page of our website, under the heading of
"Who We Are" Central describes itself as "a community of
faith learning to celebrate our differences and reaching out to others
with God's peace and love. We invite you to participate. We are committed
to an expression of our faith that includes, as full parts of the faith
community, old, young, female, male, persons with disabilities, and
persons of all cultures, races, nations and sexual orientations."
May I introduce to you Dr. Carolyn M. Kling, Clerk of
Session, Central Presbyterian Church. Carrie came to Central 4 ½ years
ago from Rochester, New York, where she had been on the Session at Third
Presbyterian Church. She came to Louisville to teach at the University and
is now Assistant (by July 2, Associate) Professor of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology at the School of Medicine. [Her
insightful remarks are on another page.]
On behalf of the Witherspoon Society, I hereby present
our Whole Gospel Congregation Award to the Central Presbyterian Church of
Louisville Kentucky in grateful recognition its commitment to community
service; its advocacy of racial justice; and its demonstration of full
inclusiveness as a More Light Congregation.
CENTRAL
PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH
Committed to community service
Advocates for racial justice
Demonstrates commitment to full
inclusiveness by being a More Light
Congregation
Some of the congregation's activities:
