Trends

Moderator. In Brooklyn Rev. Henry H. Proctor is the unpretending pastor of an unpretentious little Congregational Church and its equally unpretentious membership. Yet the qualities of heart and mind that Rev. Mr. Proctor presents to his little flock have not passed unnoticed. Powerful pastors of powerful churches esteem him well -- men like Dr. S. Parkes Cadman of the Central Congregational Church and James Percival Huget of the great Tompkins Avenue Congregational Church, who are his neighbors. They and their fellow Congregational ministers met last week in Manhattan to choose a moderator for their New York Association of Congregational churches. They chose Rev. Mr. Proctor.

The new moderator is the son of onetime Negro slaves; is 58; a graduate of Fisk University and of Yale (Bachelor of Divinity) ; holds "progressive" rather than modernist religious views.

Dr. Cadman Snubbed. Although Dr. S. Parkes Cadman, famed for his radioed advice on all manner of topics (TiME, Dec. 21), was onetime a chaplain for the New York National Guard, he disapproves of emphasis on things military. The other week he said so plainly and publicly, ignoring the fact that he was to be the commencement speaker at the New York Military Academy's graduation exercises. Last week his intended hosts wrote a curt note withdrawing their invitation.

In Naples. In a small phial in a Catholic chapel in Naples abides a red substance which all the faithful recognize as the congealed blood of St. Januarius. Twice a year the clotted mass dissolves--usually in May and September. Last week Crown Prince Humbert appeared in Naples for a day. The blood dissolved. Newspapers printed extras. The populace saw heavenly favor for the Prince.