I decided to attend the small Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne this morning, instead of the larger downtown First Church, thinking that I would probably find a depressed congregation. I was right to attend, and I was wrong about what I would find. It is indeed a small congregation (about 30 worshippers today), but it is alive and well in all ways. The newly renovated building is lovely. The people were exceptionally warm and friendly. The worship service was well-designed and very engaging. The "interim pastor", who has been there nine years now, is remarkable. His name is Rodger McDaniel. He is almost my age. He is a lawyer as well as a seminary graduate, and he is a Disciples of Christ minister happily serving this small Presbyterian church. He served in the state legislature.He is an attorney. He ran an unsuccessful campaign (as a Democrat) for the US Senate in 1982. He was head of the State Department of Family Services and Mental Health. He writes a weekly column for the local newspaper. This is an avowedly progressive congregation, yet one of the regular attendees is a Reagan appointed federal judge.
Ironically, I was told that this congregation was formed by persons who split off from First Presbyterian Church almost fifty years ago when the national church made a donation to the Angela Davis defense fund. For those of you who are younger and unfamiliar, Angela Davis is a person who was considered a radical civil rights activist, who was a member of the American Communist Party, who was arrested, charged and tried for conspiracy in the armed take-over of a California court room in 1970, in which four people died. She was acquitted. At that time, he PCUSA was split between northern and southern branches; the northern church made the donation to her defense fund. This contribution led to great protest in the church, even though she was acquitted. (One might draw from that fact that we did the right thing in contributing to her defense.) The issue is still controversial to this day, and I hear repeated complaints about it. So it is ironic that this now-progressive church in Cheyenne owes its founding to people who were upset by the church's contribution to her defense.
What this shows, I conclude, is that turmoil in the church can produce unexpected results. And, for Presbyterians, this is a testimony to the providence of God.
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