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JUNIOR HIGH CHEERLEADERS—Leading the Cindy Femell, Gail Wilkes, Kathy McElhannon, and cheers for Clinton Junior High School this year Susan Campbell.—(Yarborough Photo) ax^ Brenda Campbell, Cindy Young, Laura Jacobs, 2Yiew| THE MINISTER BY LENNART PEARSON Head Librarian Presbyterian College The Minister. By Charles Mercer. 347 pages. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 1969. Novels about ministers, more often than not, read like soap opera. It would be pleasant to re port an exception, but the light shed on the prob lem of the Protestant pastor by Charles Mercer’s new book is a bit dim. Martin Judson’s ministerial career began in 1^40 in the struggling First Baptist Church of Up ton, Pa., where with youthful zest and some world- ly-wisdom he takes on stingy deacons, broken fur naces, wife-snipers, lustful spinsters, and all the other trials that supposedly go with first pastor ates., Deliverance comes in the form of a call to a much larger and more prosperous church in the Midwest, where new challenges await his ministra tions: devious pulpit committees, bumbling assist ants, rich anti-Semites. Frustrated, Judson takes his family to New York and a job at the Honeywell Foundation, where as director of Asian projects he is sent to Korea just as the war breaks out. Barely escaping from the advancing enemy, he finds himself along with a Catholic priest trying to run a program of refugee relief. Hailed on his return as a public figure, he yearns again for the pastorate, resisting a Cathedral appointment in favor of a well-heeled but dying inner-city church. His daughter, now in college and caught up in the new activism of the sixties, meets her future husband, a divinity stu dent, on a Freedom Ride through the South. They marry, Judson’s son-in-law sets up a new-style ministry in the swinging slums, and the cxcl& so to speak, begins all over again. Mercer’s novel is too much concerned with situations and too little concerned with people. With the exception of Judson’s work in Korea— easily the best writing in the book—the episodes are predictable and the characters are stereotyped. This makes for mediocre fiction. The relation between pastor and flock is also more subtle and complex than you would gather from this acconut. Many laymen would have trou ble recognising themselves (if not their neighbor) as Martin Judson’s parishioners. The same can be said about the minister’s re lation to himself. For example, in the days when pastor and people shared a sense of the transcend ent, everyone knew what was meant by “a divine vocation” or a "call to the ministry”. But what happens when this sense is weak or absent? For the minister it can( and should) produce a crisis in his self-understanding. This dimension of Martin Judson’s existence is barely recognized, let alone explored. There is irony here. In many ways, Martin Judson is as secularized as his praishion- ers; yet, until the nostalgia which inhibits insight into this singular situation is dissolved, there is a basic question about his professional commitment which remains open what is Martin Judson really doing, and why? The Minister is pretty much in the tradition of The Bishop’s Mantle and No Trumpet Before Him. Charles Mercer is the author of eleven other novels, including Rachel Cade, which was made into a movie. The Minister is also movie stuff. Look for a good audience at the matinee. INTERESTING FACTS By Tom Plaxico Here's an amazing fact about the 10th Presi dent of the U. S., John Tyler. He and his daughter spanned almost the en tire life of this nation. Tyler was bom in 1790 when George Washington was President and his youngest daughter, Pearl, did not die until 1947 when Harry Truman was President! During his lifetime, Tyler held an unusual number of high jobs. Besides being President of the United States, he was in the U. S. House of Representatives, a U. S. Senator, chancellor of William and Mary College and governor of Vir ginia. And, here’s another interesting fact . . . Your Chevrolet is long-lived too. If you doubt this fact, we suggest you play this little game on your next trip—Count the number of 1969 Chevrolets you meet on the road. That means they are stUl running after ten years of use. To those jokers who come in and lament, ’They don’t make cars like they used to”, we say, ‘Thank Goodness.” Plaxico Chevrolet, Inc. 4M West Main Street THE CHRONICLE Clinton, S. C., Nov. 13, 1969—1-C Donald C. Duck To Speak At 1st Presbyterian Mr. Donald C. Duck, an attor ney in the firm of Cadick, Burns, Duck and Neighbors in Indiana polis, Indiana, will speak at the First Presbyterian Church next Sunday, November 16. Mr. Duck, who is an Elder in the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, is the father of an ordained minister and has a son at the Cornell Medical College in New York City. He is a grad uate of the University of Arizona and the Indiana School of Law. Except for three years during World War n, when he was a spe cial agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, of the United States Department of justice, Mr. Duck has practiced law in In dianapolis since 1938. He is a spe cialist in labor relations law. Besides beingvery active inhis own church, Mr. Duck has tra veled extensively throughout the entire nation as an associate in Faith At Work Inc. and a coor dinator for the lay witness move ment. He is a frequent speak er in various Christian retreats and conferences, having only re cently spoken in the North Avenue Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. * * ♦ Smith Serves At Niagara Falls U. S. Air Force Sergeant Tay lor H. Smith, son of retired U. S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and Mrs. F. V. Smith of 406 Elm St., Clinton, has arrived for duty at Niagara Falls International Airport, N. Y. Sergeant Smith is a security policeman with the 4621stAir Base Group, a unit of the Aero space Defense Command which protects the U. S. against hostile aircraft and missiles. He pre viously served at Suwon AB, Re public of Korea. The sergeant, a graduate of Clinton High School, attended Truett McConnell College, Cleveland, Ga. His wife, Yvonne, is the daugh ter of Mr. and Mrs. TroyE. Dot- son of 209 Bryant Road, Monroe, Ga DONALD DUCK Southerland Heads Farm-City Week J. P. Southerland has been ap pointed by Gov. Robert F. Mc Nair as chairman of Farm-City Week in Laurens County, accord ing to E. A. Anthony, agri-busi ness coordinator for the State Department of Agriculture, and chairman for Farm-City Week in South Carolina. Other members of the County Committee who will serve with Mr. Southerland include M. L. Outz and J. H. Powers. “Tom 'rrow's Food and Fibre---Everybody’s Business” is the theme of Farm-City Week to be observed throughout tlie Nation during Thanksgiving Week, November 21-27. Farm-City Week activities in South Carolina will feature a massive rally in Columbia, Nov ember 24, as an effort todemon- strate a new look at the import ance of agriculture to the econo my of the State. * * * SUIl in Existence The Emancipation Procla mation as written by Presi dent Lincoln is still in exist ence In 1864 the document was sold at a bazaar to bene fit wounded soldiers. Later, the New York legislature ap propriated funds to buy the proclamation and added it to historic papers in Albany PRESBYTERIANS'! The minority group of younger liberal ministers which has dominated the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U. S. in recent years has now made its g-oal crystal clear. These men are plan ning. 1. To change our Westminster Confes sion of faith which they voted to up hold. 2. To liquidate the Church by merging it with the more liberal United Presby terian Church as the first step toward union with the colossal super-church being readied by the consultatiion on Church Union, also known as COCU. Our Book of Church Order requires the approval of 3-4 of the presbyteries to change the Confession or unite with other bodies. Realizing that they cannot possibly obtain this approval, these men are working to change the 3-4 rule to 2-3. They are also planning to change our synod and presby tery boundaries in a way that would make it easier for them to obtain the necessary votes. These crucial issues which affect the very exist ence of our Church are rapidly coming to a head. Every Presbyterian needs to be informed regard ing them. YOU ARE INVITED TO HEAR Kenneth S. Keyes, President CONCERNED PRESBYTERIANS, INC. speak on "The Mobile Assembly and the State of the Church” , H ARTNESS-THORNWELL MEMORIAL CHURCH CLINTON, S. C. [TUESDAY, NOV. 18, 7:30 P.M. 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