“The first subject deals with our witness in the world of today in the area of human relationships. During the past year all of us have been caught up, directly or indirectly, in the problem of racial discrimination. Because of the extreme emotionalism connected with racial problems and events I would remind you again that we must face this issue upon the basis of the Christian position of the new man created in Christ. We take our stand, not on the ground of our common humanity, but on the fact that Christ has given every member of the human race a new and equal worth by dying for all without discrimination. This fact of the new man created in Christ is the gospel itself. Because He died for all men, our responsibility as Christians is to work for the elimination of all discrimination on the basis of color, race or sex. The moral issue is perfectly clear even though we all recognize that the social, economic and political issues are immensely complex.

It now appears that national legislation assuring the right to vote for all our citizens would be enacted. But this will not mean that the problem of racial discrimination will be solved any more than the enactment of the eighteenth amendment to the Constitution cured alcoholism. It is only as we work, in season and out, to bring men into unity with Christ and one another that there will be a real solution. May our witness in the local community, the state and the nation be such that God’s will may prevail and that the bond of peace and mutual respect for all men may characterize our common life.”

- Bishop Gordon V. Smith, Sixth Bishop of Iowa, Address to Convention, 1965