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0 0 0liltsKflN%u20ac STREET SYNAGOGUEC O N S E R V A TIV EEG A LITA R IA NWorship m a warm, relaxed Jewish atmosphere with families and singles in Brooklyn's historic landmark Synagogue We are the borough's oldest Con gregation, yet we are in many important ways, its youngest We are very traditional in our Judaism and yet open to change, an example ot which is the equality ol women in our communityHIGH HOLIDAYSR osh H a sh a n ah O ct. 4-5 Yom K ip p u r O c t. 13 SHABBAT SERVICESF rid a y 6:30pm S a tu rd a y 10:00am%u2022 Religious School starts Sept 14 . p aren , .T o d d le r G r o u p s%u2022A d u lt Studies %u2022 Holiday Workshops%u2022 Youth Programs . FrkJay N,gh| Mea|sJonathan G insburg, Rabbi C all 875-1550236 Kane Street, between Court and Clinton in Cobble HillBETHLEHEMLUTHERANm u t n r < i i v i %u00ab i t i \\ v 1 1T hird Ave. at P a c ific S t. B o e ru m H ill, B ro o k ly n , NY 624-0242Paul I Matson, PastorSUNDAYS: Services 10 a.m. Choir participating Sunday School 11 amEveryone invitedF ir s t P r e s b y t e r ia nC h u r c h o f B r o o k l y nInvites You To CelebrateThe Installation o fDr. Paul SmithSunday, September 21st at 3 p.m.Organ Recital 2:30 p.m. Reception at conclusion of service Avoid Disappointment%u2014 Come Early124 Henry Street %u2022 cor. Henry and Clark Stsm i o n i g JemB r o o K iy nNeal I. BorovitzlDr. A. Stanley Dreyfus)RABBI I RABBI EMERITUS 1Avery TrachtH CANTOR SJOIN US FOR THE HOLY DAYSROSH H A SH A N A Y O M KIPPUROct. 3 8 pm Oct. 4 10 amOct. 12 8 pm Oct. 13 10 amOnce again we will be honored to haveRABBI ALEXAN DER M . SCH IN D LERPresident of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and a leading spokesman for American Jewry.Join our Rabbis and Cantor in conducting our Holy Day WorshipE V ER Y O N E IS W ELC O M EFor tickets and more information call 638-7600 or stop by 17 Eastern Parkway (at Grand Army Plaza) (Ample Parking)loin W ith UsJfoRThe. __ _high holy baysThe H o lid a y S eason ha s a lw a y s been a s p e c ia l tim e fo r th e J e w is h People, a tim e to re c o n n e c t w ith ou r h e rita g e an d ou r c o m m u n ity . T his ye a r, e x p e rie n c e th e H o lid a y s w ith B e th E lo h im . W e o ffe r a c o m p le te s c h e d u le o f se rv ic e s and a frie n d ly c o n g re g a tio n th a t w e lc o m e s n e w c o m e rs .Jo in us. %u201e .Rosh YomHashanah KippurF rid a y O ct 3rd, 8:15 P.M. Sun O ct 12th, 8:15 P.M.Sat. O c t 4th, 10:30 A M. M on O ct. 13th, 10:30 A M.join W ith UsN\\^t h B o u q h o u t th%u20acyeARW e h ave a w id e range o f re lig io u s , e d u c a tio n a l, so cia l, a n d c u ltu ra l o ffe rin g s . C o n tin u in g p ro g ra m s in c lu d e th e R e lig io u s S c h o o l, E arly C h ild h o o d C enter, A fte r S c h o o l C enter, and A d u lt A cadem y. T he re a re a ls o sp e cia l le c tu re s , S h a b b a t d in %u00adners, a nd fa m ily h o lid a y c e le b ra tio n s . P lu s re c re a tio n a l a c tiv itie s , g ym and pool.Open House Religious School& Temple Tour Opening Sun. Sept. 14thC H U R C H N E W g*s_ 7-OA n .n n - .. M M IW . 1 Y lVJJt I I I I ! I .S/U x j . ^ v p i l lSun. M orn ., S ept 21st 10.30am -1:30pmEugene J Sack Rabbi Emeritusf - i G - | \\ l l I U C I y%u00abxi i d i m i u u y i i 111^11 V X V .IK V U IGerald I. Welder RabbiF or m ore in fo rm a tio n ca ll th e T em p le o ffic e (768-3814). A R eform c o n g re g a tio n loca te d at G a rfie ld P lace and 8th A venue, Park S lope.C o n g r e g a tio n B e t h E l o h i mBarfield temple 7**2First Presbyterian Church's New Minister HasA Dream Of An Integrated, Intercultural ChurchBY ARTHUR KROEBERThis weekend, Dr. Paul Smith will be officially installed as minister of First Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn Heights, in a two-day extravaganza featuring seminars and discussion panels as well as the traditional religious ceremony.The program of events reflects Smith%u2019s bias toward the practical at the expense of the theoretical, and makes clear his avowed commitment to a pluralistic church embracing as many social dements as possible: seminar topics run the gamut from %u201c The Computer: A New Church Tool%u201d toNicaragua, medical ethics, and AIDS.Smith is unabashed about setting a clear liberal agenda for First Presbyterian, which attracted media attention in January when it announced the appointment of Smith, a 51-year-old black pastor from Georgia.After sevai years as minister of a suburban Atlanta church, Smith sees his move north as a challenge both to himself and to his congregation. The main challenge, he says, is the creation of a genuinely pluralistic church %u2014 which Smith says is required of him by the %u201c universalistic%u201d theology he has espoused.His model is Howard Thurman, a black Baptist minister who died in 1979 and who, unlike more prominent black religious leaders of the 1960%u2019s, did not take an active role in the civil rights movement but rather went about the business of building a congregation without racial or ethnic barriers.He founded the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco in 1944, a church that included all ethnic groups and members of all Christian denominations.INTEGRATED, INTERCULTURAL %u201c He had a dream,%u201d says Smith, %u201cthat he could start an integrated, intercultural church. I%u2019ve committed my life to that kind of ministry.%u201dSmith%u2019s approach is distinct, though, in that he has tried to accomplish Thurman%u2019s goals within the Presbyterian denomination.He says this restriction has not posed difficulties, because of the nature of Presbyterianism.%u201c The Presbyterian church says that it is part of a Reform tradition, so the church is always reforming,%u201d says Smith. This doctrine of continual change opens the door to new ideas and approaches within the church, he said.Smith%u2019s politics %u2014 and he doesn%u2019t hesitate to air his views %u2014 are also decidedly reformistNO DERATE ABOUT PROGRESS %u201c There is not a debate, for me, about progress%u201d in racial equality over the last 25 years, Smith says %u201c Ybu can now ride the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. It%u2019s obvious that there are some quantitative changes that have taken place. Whether there%u2019s been a qualitative change, of course, is always a matter of debate.%u201dBut the fact of quantitative progress, for Smith, along with his inclinations towards universality, rule out a revolutionary racebased theology, such as the %u201c theology of black power%u201d advocated by James Cone and others in the 1960s.Here, Smith cites Martin Luther King, Jr. as an intellectual forebear. King, he says,%u201c moved from the particularity of race to the universality of peace. He asked, %u2018What does it profit a black male, for example, to gain his identity and then get blown away in Vietnam or now in the Middle East?%u2019 %u201dPRIMARILY THEOLOGICAL INSIGHT Smith believes King%u2019s major contribution to the universality of the Christian message for all of the oppressed. He stresses that this is primarily a theological insight, rather than a political one, although it allowed King to influence the political realm.The distinction between influence and power is a crucial one for Smith, since it permits him to distinguish between the political activities of King and other black activist ministers, and those of Pat Robertson and other television evangelists who now use their wide religious influence to lobby on behalf of conservative causes.%u201c Martin Luther King was asked to be a college president, to be (Hi boards of major corp o ra tio n s a n d fn m n fo r n ffin o in O o n ro ia %u201dsays Smith. %u201c He declined these offers, because he saw himself as a prophet and a preacher and did not choose to get involved in the political process.%u201dWhat King sought, Smith maintains, was to influence political leaders from a position of unassailable religious authority. He soughtR ev. P a u l S m ithnot political power for himself but rights for those who had been victimized by the misuse of power. The new breed of conservative evangelists, he asserts, seek power for themselves.%u201c Power corrupts,%u201d says Smith, %u201c but influence brings you to the bargaining table. As a pastor, all I have is my influence, which is based on my faith in Christ. Power would say, %u2019You%u2019ve got to join First Presbyterian so we can make that a base and run the rascals out of Borough Hall.%u2019%u201dHe finds the proselytizing and moneyraising techniques of television evangelists coercive, and calls them %u201c as bad as crack dealers %u2014 it%u2019s just a different kind of drug.%u201d But he also thinks distinctions can be drawn between the followers of King and those of conservative evangelists.%u201c For Mack people in our oppressed condiPower corrupts, but influencebrings you to the bargaining table.A s a pastor, all I have is m yinfluence, which is based on myfaith in Christ.tion,%u201d he says, %u201cthe black church is synonymous with power. The people who follow Pat Robertson are not oppressed, not threatened with their lives. People who follow Robertson have options.%u201dAlthough he%u2019s outspoken, Smith doesn%u2019t want to be viewed as a %u201c political minister.%u201d He applauds liberation theology, for instance, as an excellent %u201c academic exercise%u201d that forces students to question their assumptions. %u201c But you will find few liberation theologians in pulpits,%u201d he says.%u201c What%u2019s more important in the ministry is how you live %u2014 where you are in the critical points of the lives of people very different from yourself.%u201d In those cases, he says, talent, enthusiasm and sensitivity count for far more than a particular theological position.FACING UP TO DEMANDSIn one of his early sermons at First Presbyterian, Smith urged his congregation to become %u201c apostles of sensitiveness%u201d %u2014 to become aware of the needs and feelings of people in other ethnic groups and stations in life. Smith sees his challenge at First Presbyterian as forcing church members to face up to the demands of a genuinely pluralistic society. %u201c Some people may never have had to figure out how they feel about ethnic New York,%u201d he says.To characterize the philosophical basis for his practical approach to ministry, Smith turns to a metaphor used by his mentor Howard Thurman.He talked of a deep-sea diver, who goes through three levels: the first, near the surface, where there is plenty of light and life; the second, farther down, where the darkness of deeper waters becomes terrifying; and finally, the level of %u201c luminous darkness%u201d where, Smith says, %u201c The diver sees what he cannot see through his darkness, and sees only when he is still.%u201d%u201c We have to develop on the level of probing,%u201d Smith says. %u201c I really feel that if you can get down deep enough and see another person at the spiritual level; race, age, class, ands p t %u2014 a ll th a t w ill ta kp r a r e o f its e lf.%u201dRev. Paui Smith will be installed at a service Sept. 21 at the First Presbyterian Church, 124 Clark Street. Organ recital at 2:10 followed by service at 3pm. Reception follows the service. The installation follows an intensive weekend of lectures. For information on die program, call (24-3770.Pago 22, THE PHOENIX, S eptem ber 18,1986