50 Years: Racial Reconciliation and the Church

Find links below to all the stories in the “50 Years: Racial Reconciliation and the Church” series.

Editor’s note: Later installments don’t relate directly to the 1960s. However, we have included the links here for readers interested in additional coverage of race issues in Churches of Christ.

Part 1: Detroit race riot

National Guardsman Gary Ciko checks buildings for snipers during the 1967 Detroit riot

• ‘No more us and them’: At 50th anniversary of Detroit race riot, black and white churches model unity.

• The riot, in retrospect: Hubert G. Locke was a Church of Christ minister and Detroit Police Department employee in 1967.

Part 2: Marshall Keeble

Dewayne Winrow, one of Marshall Keeble’s former “boy preachers,” has served the Reseda Church of Christ in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley since 1975.

• Marshall Keeble’s ‘boy preachers’ still baptizing and saving souls: Famous traveling evangelist mentored many of the most influential African American ministers in Churches of Christ.

• Two legacies, 50 years later: Marshall Keeble and Martin Luther King Jr. fought for ‘different things in different ages.’

• ‘Sister Keeble’ stayed strong in mind, faith: The widow of famous traveling evangelist Marshall Keeble lived to be 108.

• Marshall Keeble fought racism by melting hearts: ‘He had intellect, insight and a humble spirit that he used to stand at the front door of the angry lion of racism.’

• A bedside prayer with Brother Keeble: Meeting him was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Part 3: Atlanta meeting

The Atlanta meeting made the front page of the July 5, 1968, Christian Chronicle.

• Fifty years after historic meeting, race still divides Churches of Christ: ‘We still have two brotherhoods,’ says longtime minister who helped organize 1968 national conference.

• My life in the pews, black and white: Covering the 50th anniversary of the Atlanta meeting on race relations in Churches of Christ has journalist thinking about his own history. 

• From the 1968 archive: Atlanta conference studies race.

Part 4: Abilene, Texas, sermon

Celebrating the ribbon cutting for the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action are, from left, Abilene Christian University President Phil Schubert, Spain’s grandson Gavin Rogers, Spain’s daughter Claudette Rogers, founding director Jerry Taylor, ACU management sciences professor Orneita Burton and ACU Provost Robert Rhodes.

• Once-segregated Christian university targets racism with launch of new research center: Founding director urges churches to speak out against ‘situations that carry the foul scent of racial injustice.’

Part 5: Oklahoma Christian University apology

Seated among his classmates, Ron Wright, reacts to a certificate of recognition presented by Oklahoma Christian University President John deSteiguer.

• After 50 years, an apology: Oklahoma Christian University asks for forgiveness from former students, arrested and expelled on racially tinged charges.

• Racial concerns prompt renaming of Christian university’s auditorium: Main chapel venue at Oklahoma Christian will honor Benton and Paula Baugh, major donors and Christians involved in racial unity efforts in Houston.

Part 6: The life and legacy of Jack Evans Jr.

Jack Evans Jr., the oldest son of longtime Southwestern Christian College President Jack Evans Sr., preaches his father’s funeral. “I don’t have to eulogize him,” Evans Jr. said. “His life is his eulogy. Your presence … is his eulogy.”

• ‘A giant has fallen’: Jack Evans Jr., appointed in 1967 as the first black president of Southwestern Christian College in Terrell, Texas, dies at age 81. He was one of the most influential African American preachers in the history of modern-day Churches of Christ.

Part 7: The police killing of George Floyd

A crowd gathers for a prayer vigil at the Simpson Street Church of Christ in Atlanta.

• Protests and prayers: Christians respond to George Floyd’s death with outrage, rallies and calls for justice.

• ‘We are not screaming when God is screaming’: Four lessons for members of Churches of Christ — black and white — outraged by George Floyd’s death.

• After George Floyd’s death, petition to rename Harding auditorium gains support: Alumnus calls the daily chapel venue’s namesake ‘a vocal racist and supporter of segregation.’

• Civil rights hero’s great-grandson stands up for friend called the N-word: A white teen used the racial slur against a black opponent who beat him at football.

Filed under: 1967 1968 Abilene Christian University Atlanta Detroit National Race Racial reconciliation and the church