Dudley, Joseph, & Moore
by Carl McRoy
“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” -E.G. White
The great cloud of witnesses described in Hebrews 12:1 doesn’t simply include the patriarchs and prophets of biblical antiquity, but also those who throughout the ages have held the banner high for truth, love, and justice. For countless generations, believers have stood on the frontlines to combat forces of darkness that seek to suffocate the weak and vulnerable. While frontline work with the Civil Rights Movement was often discouraged, several Adventist ministers were heavily involved out of the conviction that these were ministry matters. The fruit of their work pays dividends for Adventists to this day. Also, their legacies stand as towering examples of what faith in action looks like.
On the night of April 4, 1968, Robert Kennedy called the home of Charles Evers (brother of slain Civil Rights champion, Medgar Evers) to ask him to publicly plead for peace in the wake of MLK’s murder. Evers agreed to do so, but wasn’t hopeful that his words could restrain the forces of fermented agony among the Black masses when so many were already becoming disillusioned with Dr. King’s nonviolent tactics. A couple of Black Adventist ministers were visiting with Evers when the call came in and knew he was right to be skeptical. Elders Charles Joseph and Earl Moore ended their visit sooner than they would have liked. Kennedy’s call to Charles Evers was Earl Moore’s call to drive their medical van back to Memphis, where he and Charles Joseph had been helping with the sanitation workers’ strike. Spiritual and physical healing would be in large demand.[1]
Charles Joseph, a Black Seventh-day Adventist minister, was a member of NAACP, SNCC, CORE, the National Urban League, and became the next door neighbor of Charles Evers when he accepted a pastorate in Jackson, MS, in 1965. With the support of their conference president, Charles Dudley, Joseph collaborated with Earl Moore, another socially active Black Adventist pastor, for a fundraising tour of Black Adventist churches called “The Mississippi Story.”
After testifying of the terror and poverty faced by Blacks in the South, especially Mississippi, their sister churches responded with donations of $38,000. Joseph and Moore then purchased a van and equipped it with medical supplies. Members with medical backgrounds volunteered their services as they ministered to the underserved and provided support Civil Rights demonstrations.[2]
Southern White Adventist leaders became indignant when the van was spotted at the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, DC, shortly after King’s assassination. When they attempted to reprimand them at the Southern Union headquarters, Charles Dudley defended the move as ministering to the needs of their constituents. Earl Moore boldly ended the meeting by insisting there was “no White money” in that van. The two returned to Resurrection City, rendering support for six weeks.[3]
Stay tuned for Part II…
Samuel G. London, Jr., Seventh-day Adventists and the Civil Rights Movement, p. 133.
Ibid, pp. 127-130
Ibid, pp. 133-134
Carl McRoy serves as Director of Literature Ministries for the North American Division.
