Brooks Hays
Report from the Capitol newsletter - Page 1 ; Brooks Hays A bittersweet month, October, for the family and friends and acquaintances of a man for whom "Christianity was a call to duty, a judgment as well as consolation," and one truly deserving of the title of rec-ognition reserved for ranking officials, and at all times was he found to be the "Honorable" Brooks Hays. He was to have been present, health permitting, at the National Religious Liberty Conference, but that was not possible. And just a few days later he died. Eulogized in the Washington Post as a person of "extraordinary courage," as a southern congressman he stood up for racial moderation and as a consequence suffered po-litical defeat at the hands of a segregationist write-in candidate while losing none of the respect of those who appreciated his promotion of good will. The memorial service in Washington was largely a family affair, thanksgiving and prayer led by Pastor George Hill and another dear friend, Clarence Cranford. Hays and Cranford were members of Calvary Baptist Church, Washington, and in 1958 both served their denominations as president—Brooks Hays, of the Southern Baptist Convention, Cranford, of the American Baptist Churches, USA. On November 4, the House of Representatives will hold a Special Order of Tribute to their former colleague, Brooks Hays. It is sufficient to say that the 18th National Religious Liberty Conference approached the theme from a variety of viewpoints. That route doesn't lead to consensus, but then that was also the openness necessary in trying to be faithful to the Conference's underlying motif—the invitation to share God's love must be extended free of coercion and manipulation. Only in the "hands" of God is evangelization a certainty. The conference is ably re-ported by this staff and Baptist Press. Missed attending the conference? Tapes of each of the speakers may be ordered. See the form on page 16 of this issue. Welton Gaddy recently addressed a meeting of Amer-icans United on the issue of pluralism, religious and political. It is the kind of topic we can't seem to get away from at this moment in time. Advocates for religious/ political liberty have their task cut out for them, writes Gaddy. Incidently, that lesson also came from the pro-vocative two-day conference on religious liberty. Victor Tupitza