In his convention address, Bishop Lee notes preaching through an interpreter, “to a company of Omaha and Pawnee Indians, encamped in the immediate vicinity of Council Bluffs.”
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Just after the beginning of the Civil War, Bishop Lee advises against discussions of the topic of slavery from the church pulpits and at convention, calling the topic too divisive.
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Bishop Lee discusses preaching to the Dakota prisoners who were interned within Camp McClellan in Davenport, Iowa. Perhaps as many as half of the prisoners died during the internment.
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Bishop Smith addresses racial equality and the Christian stance on racial discrimination in his address to the 1964 Diocesan Convention. “I don't mean to say, of course, that in Christ we are no longer black and white or equal in endowment or ability. I do mean, however, that any division or discrimination simply on the grounds of race, sex, or class is not merely a had thing, but is impossible for a Christian without denying the Gospel itself.”
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Bishop Smith addresses the upcoming passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and that its passage will not end racial discrimination. He reiterates his message from 1964, that the Christian stance against discrimination is rooted in the fact that “Christ has given every member of the human race a new and equal worth by dying for all without discrimination.”
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Bishop Smith addresses the convention about “ the racial problem which threatens the peace and unity of our nation. It is political, economic, and social, but the root cause is prejudice, as the President’s Commission on Civil Disorder attests.”
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In Bishop Smith’s 1968 Convention Address, he mentions the formation of a special committee to propose specific actions the diocese can take to confront the social ills of the day, including racism. This is the report and resolution from that committee, headed by the Rev. Robert E. Holzhammer from Trinity, Iowa City.
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