Christine Darden, the first African American rocket scientist and one of the “Hidden Figures,” tells me of weeping while reading a Presbyterian public education position paper published in the early 1950s that declared that “separate but equal” schooling was not equal or just and that called the church to desegregate schools and improve public education for blacks. She wept because it was written when she was a little girl, studying in a segregated school and recognized its inadequacy. For example, her school lacked enough textbooks, and the textbooks they had were out of date, missing covers and pages. Other Christians noticed and said the problems should be remedied. (Her parents, educated Black Presbyterians, enriched her schooling.)
The Confession of 1967 was written to address a nation and a church divided over the Vietnam War and Civil Rights. Taking its cue from II Corinthians Chapter Five, it outlines the theological basis for the ministry of reconciliation that is still relevant today.
Read The Confession of 1967, especially C67 9.07