Building Blocks: "Fondren in the Crucible"
The 2022 Capital Campaign at Fondren Presbyterian Church
Dr. Moody McDill
Fondren Presbyterian Church is known in the Jackson community for having taken a stand during the Civil Rights Movement, allowing integrated groups of worshippers to attend. This is the legacy of the pastor, Dr. Moody McDill, who served as pastor here from 1944 to 1966.
Jackson was in the headlines of national news in 1963 and 1964 as integrated groups of visitors visited several all-white churches in the city. On the first Sunday of October 1963, two students and a faculty member, the Rev. Bill Hutchison, from Tougaloo College did come to Fondren to worship. Rev. Hutchinson and his family were members at Fondren. And this particular Sunday was World-Wide Communion Sunday.
However, several deacons met the worshipers at the door and did not let them enter. Dr. McDill threatened to resign unless all people were allowed to worship. His stand was decisive for the reputation of Fondren Presbyterian Church in Jackson. Yet, Dr. McDill’s stand was not universally approved of within the congregation.
Dr. McDill was one of a handful of white Jackson ministers who sought out opportunities for interracial conversation and cooperation. Gradually these ministers left Jackson, often due to social, economic, and political pressure that the minister, the minister’s family, or the church received. Dr. McDill was one of the last of these pastors to leave Jackson.
After a series of acts of intimidation, Dr. McDill accepted a position with the Board of Christian Education of the Presbyterian Church, U.S. Located in Richmond, VA in 1966.1
Fondren’s legacy as a place of hospitality is in no small measure related to Dr. McDill’s leadership. Arriving at that reputation was a difficult task. He understood that the role of the church was to be a place that welcomed all to worship God.
We are thankful in 2022 for Dr. McDill’s leadership and legacy. It has been and will continue to be a Building Block for Fondren Presbyterian Church.
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1 Carter Dalton Lyon, Sanctuaries of Segregation. University Press of Mississippi, 2017. Pp. 112-13, 151, 208-9, 270-71