04399
September 8, 2004

Notes about people

by Jerry L. Van Marter

     The Rev. Joanna M. Adams, a nationally prominent Presbyterian minister, has been elected pastor of Morningside Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. She begins Sept. 12 and will be installed Oct. 31.

      Adams recently returned to Atlanta after two years as co-pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, citing the unacceptable pressures of maintaining a commuter marriage as the reason for her departure. She had previously served for 11 years as pastor of Trinity, Central and North Decatur Presbyterian churches in Atlanta.

      Adams is a frequent speaker at events all around the country. She is a trustee of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation, is co-moderator of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, and serves on the steering committee for “Joining Hearts & Hands,” a five-year, $40 million campaign to raise money for PC(USA) overseas mission personnel and new churches in this country, particularly racial ethnic and new immigrant congregations.

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      Beyers Naude, an Afrikaner cleric who had a change of heart after defending apartheid in South Africa and became one of the anti-apartheid movement’s key leaders, died Sept. 7. He was 89.

      A minister in South Africa’s Dutch Reformed Church, Naude spent more than half his life using the Bible to justify apartheid. When he changed positions South Africa’s white rulers denounced him as a traitor, and he was ostracized within his own church. In 1977 Naude was “banned” by the South African government for five years but continued to lead dialogue between anti-apartheid whites and blacks.  When the apartheid system finally collapsed in 1994 new South African president Nelson Mandela hailed Naude as a hero.

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The Rev. Marion  de Velder, 92, a former general secretary of the Reformed Church in America (RCA) who was  known for his work to strengthen bonds with other groups and churches, died Sept. 2 in a Holland, MI, hospital.