Jule Christian Spach, who served 25 years in the mission field in Brazil before being elected in 1976 as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, died March 26 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was 98.
The Rev. James Phillips Noble, a distinguished Presbyterian minister and civil rights activist who helped guide The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) through the Presbyterian reunion, died March 12, 2022, in Decatur, Georgia. He was 100 years old.
At first, nothing about Stillman College reminded Johnykqua Bevans and Rayondre Roberts of their home on the tropical island of Grand Bahama: not Alabama, not the food, not their classmates and not the as-yet unfamiliar Presbyterian tradition in which the college is steeped.
But then there was the choir.
Perhaps no two words excite Jocqueline K. Richardson more than the two she now sees on nearly every line of Stillman College’s Student Life webpage.
“Coming soon!”
2015 was supposed to be a big year for Rose Bryant, with positive changes for her and her son. It ended up being just that — but not like she expected, and it all began with disappointment.
Beginning at age 14, he slept wherever he could find a place to lay his head. He stayed with cousins, friends, his grandmother and his aunt. Sometimes he spent the night on a park bench. His mother’s struggles with mental illness and other medical issues had diminished her ability to care for Kelly and his brother.
The founding of Stillman College toward the end of the 19th century was an act of courage and faith. It was not, however, an action taken without consideration and debate. Stillman College is a historically black liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). During the month of February, residents of the U.S. and Canada celebrate Black History Month.
In 2017, when representatives from the United Nations toured the Black Belt of Alabama, one commented that the poverty there was unlike any he had seen in the First World. This area across the southern half of Alabama, once famous for its antebellum cotton production, is now well known for its difficult living conditions. These conditions disproportionately affect the African-American descendants of enslaved labor. Yet, many of these black residents also inherited an indomitable work ethic and have made incredible strides for themselves and their children.
