Evangelist from Big Lick

Perhaps more than any other U.S. Protestant denomination, the United Presbyterian Church has eloquently proclaimed that contemporary Christianity must concern itself with the problems of the poor. Last week, at its 179th general assembly in Portland, Ore., the church elected as its new moderator, or chief presiding officer, a man who has spent his ecclesiastical career ministering to the underprivileged: the Rev. Eugene Smathers, 59, for 35 years pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church in tiny Big Lick, Tenn. (pop. 300).

Despite the remoteness of Big Lick and the size of Smathers' congregation --it numbers only 75--he has long been known for pioneering social work in his poverty-ridden region deep in the Cumberland Mountains. He helped set up health clinics and organize farm cooperatives, as far back as 1940 sponsored some of the South's first interracial, interfaith work camps. The son of a Kentucky tenant farmer and a graduate of Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, Smathers attributed his election* to his church's "recognition of those who serve in the difficult places of the world among the forgotten." As for Christian witness, Smathers says: "My concept of evangelism is that you've got to be with people and show the love of God through our love for them."

* Which was an upset victory over the preassembly favorite, Dr. William Hudnut of New York City, head of the church's Fifty Million Fund building campaign.

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