1957 - Pastor Donald Nealon Anderson
Following the 35-year tenure of Pastor Hayes Farish, in July of 1957, Woodland Christian Church called Rev. Donald Anderson to be its new Pastor. A Navy veteran from WWII, and recent graduate of the College of the Bible, Anderson and his wife Peggy came to Woodland from Pendleton County, where he had served Flour Creek and Butler Christian Churches. They had a daughter named Donna. Prior to his brief service in ministry, he taught history at the University of Maryland.
Woodland also called Donald Scott to be Minister of Education. Scott had been State Director of Children’s Work for the Kentucky Missionary Society and was chapel pianist at the College of the Bible where he also received his degree.
During his time as pastor at Woodland, Anderson became active in CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality, participating in marches and sit-ins along with other white Protestant ministers who opposed discrimination in the south and advocated non-violent resistance. CORE played a pivotal role for African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. Along with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the NAACP, CORE provided many of the “foot soldiers” for the movement and was mobilized for the March on Washington, where Rev. Martin Luther King delivered his seminal “I have a Dream” speech. Due to the deliberate underreporting of the civil rights movement in Kentucky, something the Herald-Leader would apologize for decades later, I am quite certain there is much more to learn about Woodland’s participation at the time.
Anderson was born February 12, 1925 in Clifty, Tennessee. He was a son of the late "Bill" McKinley Anderson and Nota Mae Kidwell. Anderson received his AB degree from David Lipscomb College in 1950; before earning his 1956 Bachelor of Divinity degree.
It would be hard to think of anything more fundamental to the Protestant faith, nor more central to the US Bill of Rights, than freedom of thought. It is the foundation upon which all other liberties are built.
Yet throughout human history powerful institutions have sought to control what people believe, and in the wake of World War II, and the Soviet’s launch of Sputnik, fear of spreading communism led to the idea that school children should be taught patriotic pledges and Christian prayers.
In the May 1958, “Woodland Echoes” Pastor Anderson wrote about the controversy surrounding religion in the schoolhouse. Anderson noted that there was wide agreement that schools should instruct the children in “moral and spiritual values.” But Christians divided on how that should be done.
Anderson argued that “in the interest of justice and religious freedom” the schools must not be sectarian. The schools must be the defender of all freedoms, Anderson wrote, and they must have our whole-hearted support.
Woodland also called Donald Scott to be Minister of Education. Scott had been State Director of Children’s Work for the Kentucky Missionary Society and was chapel pianist at the College of the Bible where he also received his degree.
During his time as pastor at Woodland, Anderson became active in CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality, participating in marches and sit-ins along with other white Protestant ministers who opposed discrimination in the south and advocated non-violent resistance. CORE played a pivotal role for African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. Along with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the NAACP, CORE provided many of the “foot soldiers” for the movement and was mobilized for the March on Washington, where Rev. Martin Luther King delivered his seminal “I have a Dream” speech. Due to the deliberate underreporting of the civil rights movement in Kentucky, something the Herald-Leader would apologize for decades later, I am quite certain there is much more to learn about Woodland’s participation at the time.
Anderson was born February 12, 1925 in Clifty, Tennessee. He was a son of the late "Bill" McKinley Anderson and Nota Mae Kidwell. Anderson received his AB degree from David Lipscomb College in 1950; before earning his 1956 Bachelor of Divinity degree.
It would be hard to think of anything more fundamental to the Protestant faith, nor more central to the US Bill of Rights, than freedom of thought. It is the foundation upon which all other liberties are built.
Yet throughout human history powerful institutions have sought to control what people believe, and in the wake of World War II, and the Soviet’s launch of Sputnik, fear of spreading communism led to the idea that school children should be taught patriotic pledges and Christian prayers.
In the May 1958, “Woodland Echoes” Pastor Anderson wrote about the controversy surrounding religion in the schoolhouse. Anderson noted that there was wide agreement that schools should instruct the children in “moral and spiritual values.” But Christians divided on how that should be done.
Anderson argued that “in the interest of justice and religious freedom” the schools must not be sectarian. The schools must be the defender of all freedoms, Anderson wrote, and they must have our whole-hearted support.
- Trader 97-99