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A. POWELL
DAVIES
1902 - 1957
"Friends: The
organizations of All Souls Church, Unitarian, have joined together to
place a portrait bust of the late A. Powell Davies in this church of his
greatest ministry, and thus to make the bust available to you-and to America-and
to the world. "The sculptor is Jimilu Mason, a Unitarian and an admirer
of Powell Davies. She shaped her image as she viewed him at his work in
life. She caught for time beyond death his visage. "The loss of this
man is great, "...The Heavensent is recalled...,' but '... the last
Rear of the host will read traces of the earliest Van.' As long as Time
shall record man's thrusts at the sky, the spirit of Powell Davies will
live."
-Spoken
by RUSSELL BAIRD ADAMS
at the unveiling a/ the bust of Dr. Davies
see photos of bust on Harvard site
"Religion is not something separate and apart from ordinary life.
It is life-life of every kind viewed from the standpoint of meaning and
purpose: life lived in the fuller awareness of its human quality and spiritual
significance."
Probably no words of A. Powell Davies' better express the universality
and simplicity of his religious faith. Minister of All Souls Church in
Washington from 1944 until his death in September 1957, Dr. Davies rose
to prominence as one of America's most forthright, courageous liberal
spokesmen. His influence was felt not only in his own church and community
but reached out into national and international areas of concern. Whether
it was a question of racial injustice in the District of Columbia, unfair
methods of Congressional committees, or the needs of the underfed and
underprivileged in Asia-whatever the question, he spoke out simply and
courageously, reaffirming his conviction that "Religion is as large
as life and it should go into all parts oflife, claiming truth everywhere,
righteousness everywhere."
Early Years
Powell Davies was born on June 5, 1902, in Birkenhead, England, a suburb
of Liverpool. His mother came from Penymyndd, Wales, where, in his boyhood
he spent many vacations on his grandfather's farm. There in the large
household, he loved to listen to the family's spirited discussions. Any
and all ideas were entertained and debated, and the growing boy found
stimulation for his already active and adventurous intellect. As he once
said of his fellow-Welshmen, "They are highly sensitive, passionate,
emotionally finely balanced; poetry is natural to them. They are full
of eagerness for knowledge and seem to have a natural faculty for finding
the essence of things."
Proud as he was of his Welsh heritage, Dr. Davies early found himself
fascinated with America-its founding principles, its opportunity, and,
as he foresaw, its inevitable position of world leadership. So after completing
his theological studies at the University of London, and a brief pastorate
in a Methodist church nearby, he came to the United States in 1928 with
his wife, Muriel Hannah Davies.
Always an unconventional preacher, even within Methodism, Dr. Davies,
following a four-year pastorate in Portland, Maine, in 1933 became minister
of the Community Church of Summit, New Jersey, where he remained for 11
years.
The Faith Behind Freedom
During the period in Summit, through magazine articles and numerous public
addresses, Dr. Davies became known as an astute analyst of national and
international affairs. His first book, AMERICAN DESTINY, published in
1942, opened with the words: "Not by design, but by necessity, the
American people are moving towards world ascendancy." He developed
the thesis he continued to stress throughout his career, that America
must take the leadership in a world which has become a single, vast, reluctant
community. The United States, he said, "not only began with a revolution;
it is a revolution, and its faith in the freedom of man is the only faith
which can unite the world."
In a statement, "The Faith Behind Freedom," drafted by Dr. Davies
the following year, we read: "We believe that freedom grows from
free religion, that only a free religion can be universal, and that every
other freedom is based on freedom of the mind. "A true religion knows
no barriers of nation, race or class, and no exclusions through a creed.
Its unity is in its purpose; its covenant is brotherhood. As no man can
be good enough to be the master of another, so no man can be wise enough
to bind another in belief. Hence, we reject all orthodoxies and proclaim
the Free and Universal Church."
Dr. Davies' devotion to free religion and to the democratic system which
it nurtured was manifest throughout his career. Fellow Unitarians will
think of his leadership in the movement known in his words as "Unitarian
Advance," which substantially strengthened and expanded the denomination.
In this connection, Dr. Davies drafted the well-known statement of the
aims and purposes that unite the free Unitarian churches; "Unitarian
churches are founded upon individual freedom of belief, discipleship to
advancing truth, the democratic process in human relations, universal
brotherhood, undivided by nation, race or creed, and allegiance to the
cause of a united world community."
But Americans of all denominations, or of none, will vividly recall Powell
Davies' passionate adherence to the democratic faith, which, in his words, "is a belief that man, if he resolves upon it, can raise the level
f his life indefinitely... No fate has made him prisoner of his circumstances,
no natural weakness has condemned him to be ruled by tyranny. He is meant
to be free. Through the power of reason he can form intelligent opinions,
and by discussion and debate can test them. Knowing that truth is precious
above II things and the only safe guide to purposes and aims, the right
to seek it must be held inviolate."
The Nation's Capital
In September 1944, Dr. Davies became minister of All Souls Church in Washington,
D. C. From this pulpit, and in his many addresses throughout the country,
Dr. Davies continued to champion American founding principles. He vigorously
opposed racial injustice, censorship, abuses of Congressional investigating
committees, persecution of public servants, the activities of communist
and pro-communist groups, miscarriages of justice and petty police tyrannies.
As the Washington Post and Times-Herald commented, "To Dr. Davies,
a minister was one who 'vows himself to serve the brotherhood of man.
Wherever, then, the brotherhood of man requires his service, he must try
to serve it.' It was inescapable, therefore, that he should have been
militantly in the forefront of every assault upon intolerance and racial
discrimination and injustice. Convenience and convention never silenced
him. He was certainly the most controversial of clergymen in the Nation's
Capital. By the same token, he was, among all the members of his calling,
the most resolute and indomitable champion of righteousness as he saw
it and of the brotherhood of man."
To those who took him to task for preaching about public issues, Dr. Davies
replied that a minister who applies religion to public issues will be
sharply criticized. "This he expects-not because he thinks that he
has overstepped the boundaries of his ministerial obligations, but because
he knows that religion, if it be authentic, is greatly feared and widely
misconstrued.
"The reason for this is not obscure. Religion measures all things
by its claim for righteousness. Since such a claim, to many folks, seems
too exacting, they try to set a limit to it; religion must be walled in,
preferably beneath the roofs of churches; the Kingdom of God must be a
prayer, not a program; justice must be an aspiration, not an intention;
and love must be a mood and not on any account, motivation."
Religion in Action
To Powell Davies, the love of truth and justice and righteousness was
indeed a motivation, and he carried his convictions over into actions.
He was chairman of the Emergency Conference for Civilian Control of Atomic
Energy (1946), the coordinating agency which mobilized national opinion
behind the McMahon Act, thus transferring the management of the Manhattan
District and its related enterprises to the Atomic Energy Commission.
Under his chairmanship, the Conference later pressed for confirmation
of David Lilienthal as head of that Commission.
Earlier, in 1945, as President of Food for Freedom, he rallied national
organizations in support of appropriations for UNRRA and of expansion
of private overseas relief efforts.
Under Dr. Davies' readership, All Souls Church became an effective force
for social action. The collection on one occasion of more than 90 tons
of canned goods for overseas relief, the shipment of school supplies to
the children of Hiroshima in 1947, the widely publicized pledge no longer
to patronize segregated restaurants in the District of Columbia, the founding
of the integrated Columbia Heights Boys Club in cooperation with the Unitarian
Service Committee-all these are only a few examples of the religion-in-action
that he inspired.
The range of Dr. Davies' interests may be indicated by even a partial
list of organizations with which he worked. He was on the Board of Directors
of the Unitarian Service Committee, of the Meadville Theological School
at the University of Chicago, and of Federal Union, Inc. He served on
councils of the Planned Parenthood Federation, the National Committee
for Mental Hygiene, Americans for Democratic Action, the Population Reference
Bureau, and Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church
and State.
Along-time student and vigorous opponent of communism, he early saw the
moral issues at stake and took forthright positions while many were still
confused. He was equally clear as to the menace of McCarthyism, and fought
it resolutely.
Meanwhile, during Dr. Davies' ministry, All Souls Church, heir to a long
and distinguished history, was experiencing its greatest growth. So many
people attended the Sunday morning services that the main auditorium would
not hold them all, and the overflow heard the service over a public address
system in an adjoining hall. Seven new congregations were formed in the
Washington area, and until they called their own ministers, four of these
groups heard Dr. Davies' sermons by direct wire.
His annual series of printed sermons was mailed to subscribers in all
parts of the world: and on occasion, as many as 10,000 copies of a single
urtnon were distributed. Furthermore, many sermons were reprinted in magazines
and newspapers and reached an audience numbered in hundreds of thousands.
Scholar and Author
In addition to these activities, Dr. Davies found time for writing numerous
magazine articles and books. His book, MAN'S VAST FUTURE: A DEFINITION
OF DEMOCRACY (1951), has been translated into seven languages for distribution
overseas by the U.S. Information Agency. Other books by Dr. Davies are:
THE FAITH OF AN UNREPENTANT LIBERAL (1946), AMEPICA'S REAL RELIGION (1949),
THE TEMPTATION TO BE GOOD (1952), THE URGE TO PERSECUTE (1953) and THE
LANGUAGE OF THE HEART: A BOOK OF PRAYERS (1956). In more recent years,
with the growing public interest aroused by the discovery of the Dead
Sea Scrolls, Dr. Davies intensified his efforts to make available to the
layman the results of modern Biblical research. The two books, THE MEANING
OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS (1956) and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956)-approximately
one-half million copies of each have been printed as paperbacks-were followed
by THE FIRST CHRISTIAN-A STUDY OF ST. PAUL AND CHRISTIAN ORIGINS, completed
by Dr. Davies just before his death.
To those who were shocked by the findings of modern scholarship, Dr. Davies
asked, Do we fear that the Bible will not stand investigation? "What
this implies is that religion is only safe if it is based upon ignorance
rather than knowledge, and that the truth which religion exhorts us to
serve is nevertheless unfriendly to religion. "What happens as a
result of scholarly research that we come to know how religion really
developed, how it gradually and painfully made its way from one level
to another, how in the mind of man there was a natural evolution of ideas,
how in human society there was a slow sloughing off of barbarous customs
and an ascent towards benevolence and righteousness."
Dr. Davies was the recipient of many awards, beginning with the Theology
Prize at London University in 1925. He received the honorary degree of
Doctor of Divinity at the Meadville Theological School in 1947, and in
1955, Howard University conferred on him a Doctorate of Humane Letters.
At the time of Dr. Davies' death, the Washington Post and Times-Herald
said; "Scholarly and learned yet earthy and pragmatic, Powell Davies
was at once the spiritual leader and goading conscience to his congregation-and
to the whole community... All men, indeed-all men who believe in human
dignity and brotherhood-are the poorer for the passing of this courageous,
fiery and yet gentle spirit."
It has been remarked that of all his many good works, perhaps the most
lovably revolutionary was to make laughter a part of religious service. "Somehow," said Dr. Davies, "religion has been thought
too sacred for laughter; nobody seems to have suggested that laughter
itself might be a sacred gift. Why should it be thought that no one should
laugh in church? And so seldom remembered that laughter could have something
to do with refreshing the soul?"
"Too often," according to the Washington Daily News, "the
religious man is a bigot, the righteous man a humorless doctrinaire, the
crusader an intolerant ass. Dr. Davies was certainly religious, righteous
and a crusader, but he was broadminded, witty and kind."
Universal Citizen
In a posthumous award, the ADA noted that "his influence was characterized
by a non-pietistic approach to problems, and illumined by a lively sense
of humor and, when called for, by mordant satire and flashes of anger.
It extended far beyond the District of Columbia to all corners of the
universe. He was, indeed, a universal citizen."
His universality was perhaps his outstanding characteristic. "The
world," he said, "is now too dangerous for anything but truth,
too small for anything but brotherhood." "A character is no
longer good that stops short of the universal claim upon it." Again,
"Our neighbor whom we must love as we love ourselves is anyone whatever
and everyone whatever throughout the world."
And in churches, too, the basis should be universal. "What a shame
it is that there is anything in churches that shuts men out! For what
is a church but dreams and hopes and yearnings? And what is worship but
the longing of the lonely human heart?... Which of us dares say to his
brother, 'This is my church but it cannot be your church. The longing
in your heart is not like the longing in mine. The need you have is not
the same as my need. The God you seek is not a God who can be found of
both of us.'"
And even to those who claim to seek no God, Dr. Davies reached out a hand
as a fellow-pilgrim. in a sermon, "The God of the Atheist,"
he quoted movingly beautiful passages from Robert Ingersoll, noted nineteenth
century agnostic, who nonetheless was "so bold for truth, so quick
in sympathy, so generous in compassion." Dr. Davies quoted Ingersoll's
words: "He who loves, worships," and added, "Upon such
a man I have nothing to urge. Certainly no word of reproach. Nor do I
have a wish to better his thinking, or improve his creed. If he will not
kneel beside me, I will stand beside him." "Why should any of
us be confined within a single area of religious culture?" he asked.
"When I read Amos and Jeremiah, I say 'Would to God I were a Jew.'
When I read the Parable of the Good Samaritan, I say 'Would I were a Galilean.'
When I read the 13th of 1st Corinthians, I wish with all my heart that
I might be a Christian after the manner of the Apostle Paul. When I think
of Buddha and his Eightfold Path, I say, 'I, too, would be a Buddhist.'
And when I remember the trial of Socrates, I say in awe but with exalted
spirit, 'Oh that I might be so brave a humanist.' And thus at the end,
there is nothing I can say but that, like Emerson and Charming, I want
to live with the privilege of the illimitable mind."
When we do not know and cannot see, help us, 0 Eternal, to put our trust
in Thee. Even in this life, all about us and within us there is mystery.
Yet the mystery shines, and in its light we see the beautiful and good.
Help us to believe that it is not otherwise beyond the limit of our sight:
that beauty endures, that goodness reigns, that God's other name is Love.
Published by the
A. Powell Davies Memorial Committee
of All Souls Church, Unitarian
Sixteen and Harvard Streets. N.W.
Washington 9, D.C.
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