New Moderator

Every year the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (2,000,000 members) elects a Moderator--a largely honorary but distinctly honorific post. In Minneapolis last week the church's 157th annual assembly chose tall, grey, bespectacled William Blakeman Lampe, pastor of St. Louis' big (1,500 members) West Presbyterian Church.

Dr. Lampe describes himself as "the common garden variety Presbyterian preacher," and on most issues is a middle-of-the-roader. But after his election (on the second ballot), he made it clear that he saw eye to eye with his predecessor. Dr. Roy Ewing Vale, when it came to Roman Catholics in politics. "We are not fighting the Roman Catholics," said he, "but we have always fought for our liberties, and we will continue to do so."

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