Working to Tackle Issues
“Senior Minister D.L. Dykes and I made it a priority to preach against segregation. We spoke openly. It was a full time job to tackle segregation from the pulpit and in church work. Services were televised. One night the church board walked out of a chapel meeting and would not shake our hands. The paper was calling us communist. For an unknown reason, J. Edgar Hoover sent his right hand associate, Clyde Tolson, down to say these ministers are not communist. Caddo Parish, the town, was one of the most conservative areas in the country. It was a hotbed of McCarthyism.
There would sometimes be one man of color who would come to church, and he’d sit in the balcony. I would welcome him to church in front of the congregation and say “I wish you’d come down on the main floor.” I’d challenge the room “Would God put him in the balcony?” I don’t know if that did much good. We balanced our message by planning programs to involve people. Somehow despite what seemed an unpopular message, we had the fastest growing Methodist Church in the country. The church didn’t agree with us ideologically, but we made things fun & encouraged people to think.”
