W. Sterling Cary

Cary was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on August 10, 1927. His father, Andrew Jackson Cary, was a real estate broker, and his mother, Sadie Walker, was a homemaker. He had seven siblings.{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Sam |title=Rev. W. Sterling Cary, Pioneering Black Churchman, Dies at 94 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/19/us/rev-w-sterling-cary-dead.html |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=November 19, 2021}} Growing up in Plainfield, he was active in the Boy Scouts of America,{{cite news |title=Troop 7 Holds Court of Honor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89226984/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=May 21, 1941}} and attended Washington School where he was the founding president of the junior high YMCA club and the eighth-grade class president.{{cite news |title=Hi-Y Club Organized at Washington School |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89226773/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=October 9, 1940}}{{cite news |title=Washington School 8th Graders Elect |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89226912/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=November 8, 1940}} In 1944, the Courier News called Cary "the boy preacher" in an announcement of his sermon for Young People's Day at a local AME church.{{cite news |title=Young People's Day Scheduled |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89229000/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=October 14, 1944}}

He graduated from Plainfield High School in 1945.{{cite news |title=Capacity Crowd Sees Awards Given At Plainfield High |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89229161/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=June 15, 1945}} After the dean of the mostly white high school told him that he had lost an election for student body president—an election he believed he had resoundingly won—he decided to enroll in the all-black Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. At Morehouse, Cary majored in sociology{{cite news |title=Briefs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89229658/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=April 1, 1946}} and occasionally returned to Plainfield to preach at Calvary Baptist Church; by 1947, he was an assistant pastor there.{{cite news |title=Pastor to Resume Pulpit Here Tomorrow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89229732/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=August 31, 1946}}{{cite news |title=Suburbanites Hear Plainfield Pastor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89229967/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=June 9, 1947}} He was a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and was elected student body president in 1948.{{cite news |title=Enters Seminary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89230668/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=November 19, 1949}} The same year, he was ordained a Baptist minister then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949.

Cary continued his studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York City while also serving as a student assistant to the minister of Grace Congregational Church.{{cite news |title=Plainfielder Heads Seminary Class |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89231178/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=May 3, 1950}} In 1950, at the end of his first year, he was elected class president for the upcoming year becoming the first Black class president in the seminary's history. He was elected student body president the following year and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in 1952.{{cite news |title=W. S. Cary Elected Student President |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89231407/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=May 2, 1951}}

File:Church of the open door 201 Gold St Bklyn jeh.jpg

Cary worked in a factory after graduating from Union Theological Seminary because he had been unable to find a position in a Baptist church. He moved to Youngstown, Ohio, to become the pastor of Butler Memorial Presbyterian Church from 1952 to 1955.{{cite news |title='Ability To Get Along' Marks New President |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89254343/st-louis-post-dispatch/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=December 8, 1972}} During that time, he co-chaired the United Negro College Fund in Youngstown and was active in other local organizations and committees including the YMCA and the Mahoning County Mental Health Council.{{cite news |title=Gets New Church Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89232616/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=December 20, 1955}} He married Marie Belle Phillips, a teacher in the SoHo school system, on July 11, 1953. They were married in Carron Street Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,{{cite news |title=Teacher Weds Ohio Pastor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89232175/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph |date=July 26, 1953}} and later had four children: Yvonne, Denise, Patricia, and W. Sterling Jr.{{cite news |last1=Langer |first1=Emily |title=W. Sterling Cary, first African American to lead National Council of Churches, dies at 94 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2021/11/17/w-sterling-cary-dead/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 17, 2021}} In December 1955, Cary was assigned to be the pastor at an interdenominational and interracial church in Brooklyn that included the Baptist, Congregational Christian, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Reformed denominations. It was the first interdenominational church built in a public housing project in the United States.{{cite news |title=Gets Unique Church Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89233565/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=February 22, 1956}} He began his position at the church, named the Church of the Open Door, on January 1, 1956.{{cite news |title=Will Pastor Brooklyn, N. Y. Mixed Church |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89233412/the-pittsburgh-courier/ |access-date=November 19, 2021 |work=Pittsburgh Courier |date=January 7, 1956}}

In July 1958, Cary was named the pastor at Grace Congregational Church where he was previously a student assistant to the minister during his seminary studies.{{cite news |title=Minister Named Professor At Famed Seminary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89235288/alabama-tribune/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Alabama Tribune |date=July 4, 1958}} He changed his denominational affiliation from Baptist to the United Church of Christ (UCC){{cite news |title=College Speaker |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89263801/echoes-sentinel/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Echoes-Sentinel |date=September 27, 1973}} and began his new position on September 1, 1958, succeeding Herbert King who had resigned to become a professor at McCormick Theological Seminary.{{cite news |title=Grace Congregational Gets Brooklynite As Pastor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89235844/the-new-york-age/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The New York Age |date=July 12, 1958}} Cary participated in several discussions on juvenile delinquency including a televised panel discussion on NBC's "Frontiers of Faith" series in 1961.{{cite news |title=100 Churches To Fight Juvenile Delinquency |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89241627/the-new-york-age/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The New York Age |date=October 24, 1959}}{{cite news |title=Press, Clery Discuss Juvenile Delinquency |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89241680/the-news-messenger/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The News-Messenger |date=June 16, 1961}} He was a speaker at a 1963 rally between the New York NAACP and Governor Nelson Rockefeller{{cite news |title=NAACP Ideas Are Studied By Rockefeller |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89242460/tampa-bay-times/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Tampa Bay Times |date=March 12, 1963}} and frequently spoke on racial issues in the 1960s. After the Harlem riot of 1964, while not condoning the rioting, he called for the suspension of the shooter, Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan, and the establishment of a civilian board to examine allegations of police brutality.{{cite news |title=Harlem Minister Explains Riots |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89242839/the-charlotte-observer/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Charlotte Observer |date=July 25, 1964}}

File:Lenox Presbyterian Church, 139th Street, Manhattan.jpg

Cary was elected committee chairman of a permanent "National Committee for Racial Justice Now" authorized by the United Church of Christ in 1965.{{cite news |title=United Church of Christ Activates Permanent Race Committee |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89244511/the-pittsburgh-courier/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Pittsburgh Courier |date=August 7, 1965}} At the annual UCC assembly in 1966, he condemned the Ku Klux Klan and other "insane bigoted mobs", and forcefully called for high-quality integrated schools and fairer employment laws.{{cite news |last1=Hofmann |first1=Paul |title=See Racial Injustice At Home; Don't Travel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89244864/el-paso-times/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=El Paso Times |date=February 6, 1966}} He was named executive coordinator of the committee in March 1966; at that time, he was also the vice president of the Manhattan division of the Protestant Council of the City of New York and a member of the Mayor of New York's youth task force.{{cite news |title=Pastor Gets New Duties |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89245143/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=March 11, 1966}} Cary advocated for racial justice both within the UCC, calling for increased funding to build new churches in Black communities,{{cite news |title=Negro pastors in UCC demand racial justice |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89246053/intelligencer-journal/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Intelligencer Journal |date=March 24, 1966}} and on a broader scale by helping to establish the "National Committee of Negro Churchmen" which promoted the Black Power movement. The organization purchased a full-page ad in The New York Times demanding changes to segregated schools and discriminatory laws.

At the Vermont Conference of the UCC in September 1966, Cary continued to advocate for the Black Power movement and Black liberation theology stating that "equality will come not by goodwill or love, but by the Negro's achieving independence, strength and some measure of wealth."{{cite news |title=State Churches Not Calling Negro Pastors |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89246449/the-burlington-free-press/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Burlington Free Press |date=September 8, 1966}} After his lectures, the conference ministers voted to adopt several race-related resolutions, including lobbying the state government for open housing and encouraging churches to appoint more Black pastors.{{cite news |title=United Church Clergy Adopt Race Relations Resolutions |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89246588/the-burlington-free-press/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Burlington Free Press |date=September 9, 1966}} In his role as chairman of the National Committee for Racial Justice Now, Cary also called on the UCC to protect ministers who spoke out on racial issues and other controversial topics such as the Vietnam War while also criticizing the firing of some outspoken ministers.{{cite news |title=Urge UCC Pastors To 'Speak Out' On Social Issues |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89247465/the-daily-times/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Daily Times |date=June 26, 1967}}

In June 1968, he was elected administrator of the New York Metropolitan Association of the United Church of Christ, a position in which he oversaw 77 churches in the district comprising approximately 36,000 UCC members.{{cite news |title=Former Plainfielder In New Church Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89248171/the-courier-news/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Courier News |date=June 15, 1968}}{{cite news |title=Four Sons Of The Parsonage Follow In Father's Footsteps; One Nominated For President |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2173926/the-pittsburgh-courier/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Pittsburgh Courier |date=September 28, 1968}} He was the first Black minister to hold the position. He was a signer of the 1969 Black Manifesto that called for white churches and synagogues to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in reparations.{{cite news |last1=Thorkelson |first1=Willmar |title=Black Manifesto signer to head church council |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89255426/the-minneapolis-star/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Minneapolis Star |date=December 8, 1972}} Cary opposed a 1971 effort to reorganize Protestant and Orthodox denominations into a tiered system with increased separation between individual denominations.{{cite news |title=Church Leaders Debate Council Reorganization |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89248707/the-times/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Times |date=January 26, 1971}}

The Minneapolis Star reported in September 1972 that Cary would be put forth by a nominating committee for president of the National Council of Churches, the largest ecumenical body in the United States, and that he was expected to be elected.{{cite news |last1=Thorkelson |first1=Willmar |title=Black may lead National Church Council |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89249002/the-minneapolis-star/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Minneapolis Star |date=September 30, 1972}} Running unopposed, he was unanimously elected to a three-year term at the NCC's general assembly in Dallas, Texas, on December 7, 1972.{{cite news |title=NCC elects first black |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89254190/idaho-free-press/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Idaho Free Press |date=December 7, 1972}}{{cite news |title=First black to head Council of Churches |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89254592/star-tribune/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Star Tribune |date=December 8, 1972}} Cary succeeded Cynthia Clark Wedel, was the first Black president of the NCC, and its youngest president at the time.{{cite news |title=Black Clergyman From NY Will Head Churches Council |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89254228/the-sacramento-bee/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Sacramento Bee |date=December 7, 1972}}{{cite news |last1=Wallace |first1=Andrew |title=Church Council Chief Calls Separatism Dead |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89258183/the-philadelphia-inquirer/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=January 1, 1973}} Upon his election, he pledged to focus on integrating churches, uniting different denominations, and advocating for affordable housing and education. At the Dallas meeting, the NCC general assembly also voted to establish a new, more diverse governing body to be rolled out during Cary's first year in office.{{cite news |last1=Cornell |first1=George W. |title=Change Period Starts For Churches Council |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89257942/the-times/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Times |date=December 9, 1972}} In February 1973, Cary joined other religious leaders, including Paul Moore Jr. and Balfour Brickner, in criticizing President Richard Nixon's proposed budget which decreased funding for affordable housing and other anti-poverty measures.{{cite news |last1=Reel |first1=William |title=Panel of Religious Leaders Hits Nixon's Budget |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89258826/daily-news/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=New York Daily News |date=February 17, 1973}} He accused Nixon of "declar[ing] war on the poor people and members of this country's minorities" and called on Congress to reject the budget.{{cite news |last1=Gagetta |first1=Vince |title=Nixon Declares War On Poor, Cleric Says |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2546529/sam-harris-feb-1973/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=February 27, 1973}} After Nixon fired Archibald Cox during the Watergate scandal, Cary released a statement urging Congress to "examine the President's fitness to remain in office".{{cite news |last1=Longcope |first1=Kay |title=Some religious groups calling for impeachment |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89264213/the-boston-globe/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Boston Globe |date=October 27, 1973}}

File:César Chávez.jpg speaking at a United Farm Workers rally in 1974]]

At his first NCC governing board meeting, the board voted to direct its member churches to evaluate a study paper on abortion in a move toward advancing Cary's goal of establishing a formal relationship with the Catholic Church.{{cite news |title=Church council leader sees future liaison with Catholic group |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89260713/the-courier-journal/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Courier-Journal |date=March 4, 1973}} In May 1973, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Bishop College in Dallas for "unique Christian humanism predicated upon justice for all".{{cite news |title=Top churchman gets Honorary degree in Tex |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89261340/the-pittsburgh-courier/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Pittsburgh Courier |date=May 12, 1973}} That same month, Cary and NCC General Secretary R. H. Edwin Espy apologized for and retracted a statement they had sent to the House Committee on Ways and Means opposing tax credits for students attending private schools, after they had received backlash from Catholic bishops.{{cite news |title=NCC Apologizes for Statement on Catholics' Poor Church Support |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89263400/the-messenger/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Messenger |date=May 25, 1973}} Cary was a vocal supporter of the United Farm Workers' grape strike led by Cesar Chavez.{{cite news |title=Chavez Gaining Church Support |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89264531/the-columbia-record/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Columbia Record |date=July 4, 1973}}{{cite news |last1=Cornell |first1=George W. |title=Sermons come to life – on a picket line |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89264619/the-record/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Record |date=July 6, 1973}} In 1974, he advocated for amnesty for draft evaders in the Vietnam War.{{cite news |last1=Dalecki |first1=Kenneth B. |title=Taft Contends Congress Proper In Considering Amnesty Grants |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89279667/lancaster-eagle-gazette/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Lancaster Eagle-Gazette |date=March 14, 1974}}{{cite news |title=Quest Begins For Amnesty Answer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89279748/fort-lauderdale-news/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Fort Lauderdale News |date=March 18, 1974}} He later praised President Gerald Ford's call for conditional amnesty while urging the president to make it unconditional.{{cite news |title=Amnesty call lauded by churchmen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89279890/the-inland-wheelman/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Inland Wheelman |date=August 30, 1974}} Cary moved to Chicago, Illinois, after he was elected executive minister of the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ in September 1974. This made him the first Black executive minister in the conference's history.{{cite news |title=1st black elected to church post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89280340/chicago-tribune/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=September 15, 1974}} In February 1975, Cary and other religious leaders met with Ford; it was the first time in a decade that church leaders were invited to the White House.{{cite news |last1=Thorkelson |first1=Willmar |title=Ford ends 'freeze' on clergy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89280835/the-minneapolis-star/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Minneapolis Star |date=February 8, 1975}} The meeting re-established the relationship between the NCC and the White House, though Ford and church leaders continued to disagree on issues like amnesty and Vietnam aid.{{cite news |title=A new dialogue with Ford |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89281313/tipton-county-tribune/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Tipton County Tribune |date=February 12, 1975}}

In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, he was appointed by President Ford to a 17-member advisory committee to oversee the resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees.{{cite news |title=Advisers named to aid in resettling refugees |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89283787/the-minneapolis-star/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Minneapolis Star |date=May 20, 1975}} In March 1975, the NCC voted for the first time to support gay rights passing a resolution that condemned discrimination on the basis of "affectional or sexual preference".{{cite news |last1=Robison |first1=James |title=Church council backs homosexuals' rights |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89371617/chicago-tribune/ |access-date=November 22, 2021 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=March 7, 1975}} At the same meeting, the governing board voted in support of the Equal Rights Amendment and resolved to investigate Cary's claim that the Nixon administration had bugged NCC phones in order to conduct special tax audits of the organization.{{cite news |title=Church Delegation Will Go To Cuba |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89282365/lincoln-journal-star/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Lincoln Journal Star |date=March 7, 1975}} He sharply criticized Operation Babylift, in which children were mass-evacuated from South Vietnam to the United States, accusing the U.S. government of staging the operation for political gain and saying that the Vietnamese people described it an "insensitive kidnap operation".{{cite news |last1=Robison |first1=James |title=Orphans used for political purposes: cleric |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89282825/chicago-tribune/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=April 11, 1975}}{{cite news |title=Orphan airlift called 'insensitive kidnap' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89282865/the-dispatch/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=The Dispatch |date=April 11, 1975}} Ebony named Cary among the 100 most influential Black Americans in both 1974 and 1975.{{cite news |title=Ebony honors 16 area blacks |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89283301/chicago-tribune/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=April 26, 1975}} Cary's three-year term as NCC president ended on October 11, 1975, when the governing board elected William Phelps Thompson who was the chief executive of the United Presbyterian Church at the time.{{cite news |title=Thompson heads church council |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89284837/fort-worth-star-telegram/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=October 12, 1975}}

After his presidency, Cary continued in his role as the Illinois conference minister and continued his calls for Black churches to combat racial injustice.{{cite news |title=Black Ministers Warned To Remember Main Goal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89285695/news-journal/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Mansfield News Journal |date=November 20, 1976}} In 1981, he was elected chair of the Council of Conference Executives of the UCC.{{cite news |title=Oak Park man gets church post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89288192/chicago-tribune/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=February 17, 1981}} Cary was one of six finalists considered by a nominating committee for UCC president in 1989, though he was not ultimately selected as the nominee.{{cite news |last1=Cornell |first1=George W. |title=New United Church head nominated in transitional time |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89288595/journal-gazette/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Journal Gazette |date=March 3, 1989}} He retired in 1994 after two decades as the Illinois conference minister.{{cite news |title=Federated Church |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89288880/the-daily-chronicle/ |access-date=November 20, 2021 |work=Daily Chronicle |date=June 17, 1994}}

After a long illness, Cary died of heart failure in his home in Flossmoor, Illinois, on November 14, 2021. He was 94 years old.{{cite news |last1=Tareen |first1=Sophia |title=William Sterling Cary, pioneering Black pastor, dies at 94 |url=https://apnews.com/article/sterling-illinois-chicago-race-and-ethnicity-religion-cf2d38924a7009de6ee49b55e47518cf |access-date=November 19, 2021 |publisher=Associated Press |date=November 15, 2021}} He was survived by his wife of 68 years, Marie Belle, four children, two grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cary, W. Sterling}}

Category:1927 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States

Category:Activists for African-American civil rights

Category:Activists from New Jersey

Category:African-American Baptist ministers

Category:Christian clergy from New Jersey

Category:Morehouse College alumni

Category:Plainfield High School (New Jersey) alumni

Category:People from Plainfield, New Jersey

Category:Union Theological Seminary alumni

Category:United Church of Christ ministers