Evening star., 1931-05-28
BIRTH CONTROL
ISSUE TABLED
Presbyterian Com mite e
Eliminates Question From
Report to Conference.
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
| PITTSBURGH, May 28.-The Gem
| eral Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in the United States of Amer
lea began its deliberations today freed
of the responsibility Of either approv-
| ing or condemning committee report
recommending qualified acceptance of
birth control as a matter OF church
policy.
Overwhelmed with protests from
Presbyterians throughout the country,
the Assembly Special Committee on
Marriage. Divorce and Remarriage
ended all-day executive sessions yester-
day with a decision to eliminate from
its report that section urging approval
of birth control when practiced because
of economic necessity or because Of
maternal health.
DR.. Nudge Seen as Moderator.
With that major controversy cleared
| from its path, the assembly moved to-
day to the election of new moderator,
with the selection of the Rev. DR..
Lewis Seymour Nudge Of Philadelphia
/ considered assured. Thus far no other
candidates have been mentioned. DR..
| Nudge is now stated clerk of the
church and its 100000 communicate
members. He likewise is slated for re-
election to that post, that OF chief ex-
ecutive officer of the church. A sermon
by the retiring moderator, DR.. Hugh
Thomson Kerr of Pittsburgh election
of the new moderator and, orga MIA
ton of assembly committees fill the
assembly docket for today.
| Though the birth control recon-
mendations of the Assembly Special
| Committee have been dropped from the
docket. there remain repercussions from
a similar report made public some time
ago by a committee Of the Federal
| Council Of Churches Of Christ in
| America. The assembly already has re-
| ceiyed oyertureS from presbyteries con-
| cerning that report, one demanding
| that the assembly repudiate the Federal
Council of Churches statement, another
asking that the Presbyterian Church in
the u. S. A. withdraw its support from
the Federal Council.
Revise Report on Marriage.
Neither molten, however, will be acted
upon until after they are referred to-
morrow to the Assembly Committee on
Bills and Overtures, which will recon-
mend what action 1t sees f1t to the
General Assembly.
other sections Of the report OF the
Committee on Marriage, Divorce and Re-
marriage were said by committee mem
bers to be undergoing revision.
Within the next six days the assem-
bly is expected to take further action
toward organic union with the Metho-
dist and Reformed Churches, already
tentatively approved. Further LIBERAL
ization of the church stand concerning
women in the church likewise Is antlc1-
pated in action on report OF the
| General Council chief administrative
body of the church, recommending tnat
women be admitted to its membership.
! Steps are expected to be taken nke-
/ wise toward reducing the membership OF
| the assembly, revising the Church BOOK
of Worship, and on proposals to make
more stringent the Presbyterian require
ments for entrance to theological SEMI
naries and the ministry.
Favors Birth Control.
One of the first three women ever
| chosen a commissioner to the General
Assembly Of the Presbyterian Church
the mother of four children-today said
that, in her opinion, birth control Us
right so long as it means the safe
| guarding of physically deficient wife
| health or the suppression Of the birth
Of physically and Intellectually UNIT
beings"
Mrs. Nina L. Silliman Of Green
River, Utah, gave her opinion of birth
control while attending the assembly
| here. Until this year women could not
serve as commissioners of the church.
Birth control, Mrs. Silliman said, ''is
entirely wrong If It means the shirking
Of the responsibility of parenthood by
the Intellectually and physically Supe-
rior. Under present laws the knowl-
| edge of birth control Is everywhere
available to the well-to-do and intelh-
gent. who need it very little, and kept
| from the great mass Of people who
could be classed as eugenica1ly inferior" !"
Urges Publication Of Church.
DR.. Hugh Thomson Kerr OF Pitts
| burgh told commissioners today that
"the coming of the living God Is not
made contingent upon the publication
Of politics but on the publication Of
| the church"
Preaching his last sermon as mod
orator Of the assembly as that body be-
| gan its deliberations DR.. Kerr declared
that "the mountains of bigotry and
| ignorance, the valleys of indecision and
| apathy, the crooked places of con-
troversy and insincerity are within the
| church.
Let the church get rid Of its secu-
/ lar spirit and then 1t can challenge a
secular society" he continued. LET
| OHIISCldIlS pEaCClce meekneSS anQ low
illness Of heart and secularism out in
the world will be put to shame. Let
the church solve the problem Of good
| will within its own fellowship and then
! 1t will speak with authority concerning
social and racial rtvalries. Let the
church find and maintain the secret
of peace within its own fellowship and
! then 1t can speak with authority on
the cruel waste Of war;"
Analysing the trend of the day as
liquidation Of religious beliefs, DR.. Kerr
said "the control Of the hitherto secret
resources Of the world has given to our
generation new sense of power, and
we have leaped to the conviction that
II We can control and exploit the mys-
terry Of the stars above and of the
soul within, we do not need God, and
we have substituted for the living God
one OF His own creations. We have
substituted relativity for reality; psy-
chology for prayer; an inferiority COM
| plex for sin; social control for family
worship; autosuggestion for conversion |;
reflex action for revelation; astronomi-
cal intimidation for the fear Of God !;
the spirit of the wheels for the power
Of the spirit"
!