Black Manifesto Challenged by Dr. McIntire in Abington
From the Philadelphia Bulletin of July 21, 1969
By Betty Medsger
Of the Bulletin Staff

The Rev. Dr. Carl McIntire stood in the rain yesterday in front of the Abington Presbyterian Church and declared that the mainstream churches of the nation should pay $3 billion in reparations to the “Bible-believing Christians.”

Refused permission to read his “Christian Manifesto” at the 10 o’clock worship service, Dr. McIntire taped a copy of the Manifesto to the outside of the church. He then went to a cluster of trees and surrounded by about 150 of his followers, read the document aloud.

The Collingswood , N.J., fundamentalist leader, said his Manifesto is meant as a “challenge” to the Black Manifesto, which seeks $500 million in reparations from the nation’s churches and synagogues for racial injustices.

Kenyatta Remarks

Dr. McIntire said he wants the bulk of the reparations to go to his International Council of Christian Churches, of which he is president.

Earlier last week, Dr. McIntire had been refused permission by the church’s officials to read his manifesto. He is request followed remarks made in worship service at the church of previous Sunday by Muhammed Kenyatta, Pennsylvania director of the National Black Economic Development COnference.

Kenyatta had received permission from church officials to explain the NBEDC’s campaign.

Among the demands in the Christian Manifesto of Dr. McINtire is one calling for $300 million to “inform all the Negroes who have been misled by false accusations of racism and the nature of Christian brotherhood.”

‘Book of Freedom’

These funds, say the Christian Manifesto,should go to the fundamentalist Negro churches “separated from the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.”

They should be used “to persuade the Negroes in the United States and the world that their first need is Jesus Christ as presented in his Gospel and the BIble is the book of their freedom.”

When Dr. McIntire appeared at the front entrance of the church yesterday at 9:52, he was met by Lowell A. Reed, a member of the session of the church.

After being informed that his request to read the Manifesto had been declined, Dr. McIntire twice asked if the session would reconsider its decisions. Reed said it would not. He welcomed Dr. McIntire as a worshiper, but said he was not welcome to read his Manifesto during the worship service.

Endorsed by Two Negroes

Dr. McIntire said he intends to present the Christian Manifesto everywhere the Black Manifesto is presented.

Prior to reading his Manifesto, Dr. McIntire asked two black men to endorse it. They were the Rev. K.L. Nasir, of Pakistan, and the Rev. Aaron Dumas, of Jamaica. Mr. Dumas said he plans to “work with Negroes in Washington, D.C., for Dr. McIntire.”

Dr. McIntire said he thinks the men who built most of the churches and church-related institutions in America “thought like I do.” Therefore, he reasoned yesterday, “we should get these buildings back.”

In particular, he wants Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J.; Drew University, Madison, N.J.; Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, New York; Southern Methodist University, Dallas; and Emory University, Atlanta.

Among the demands of the Christian Manifesto are:

– One billion dollars to be used for “evangelizing the nations and $500 million for the erection of hospitals in which the Gospel of Christ be presented…”

– $30 million for 18 publishing and printing centers in the United States and abroad to “deliver the nations from teh Communist deceptions and totalitarian powers.”

– $250 million for audio-visual networks in Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, and Washington to be “an alternative to their false racist propaganda.”

‘Voice of Hell’

To Dr. McIntire, the Black Manifesto is the voice of hell,” he said, “not the fruit of the spirit. it is the evidence of Communist participation in the internal life of the church.”

Abington and Philadelphia police as well as State Police were outside the church during and after Dr. McIntire’s presentation.

The service progressed as usual inside the building. The taped copy of the Manifesto soon disappeared from its position on the inside of the front door.