Emmy-Award Winning Talk-Show Host Phil Donahue interviews Retiring Pastor of Historic Church, Rev. David Dyson October 4, 2011

Emmy-Award Winning Talk-Show Host Phil Donahue interviews Retiring Pastor of Historic Church, Rev. David Dyson

Presented by the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church and the Irondale Center,

with Brooklyn Historical Society

What: Emmy-winning talk show host Phil Donahue interviews Reverend David Dyson
When: Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 7:00pm
Where: Irondale Center, 85 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY (between Lafayette & Fulton Street in Fort Greene)
Cost: $30 admission
Tickets: irondale.org / 718-488-9233
Subway: C to Lafayette; G to Fulton; 2/3/4/5 to Nevins St.; D/N/Q/R/W to Atlantic/Pacific
Bus: B25, B26, B38, B52; LIRR to Flatbush Avenue; Parking: Street parking
Presented by: Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church and the Irondale Center, with Brooklyn Historical Society

Brooklyn, New York: Journalist and Emmy-award winning talk-show host Phil Donahue will interview Reverend David Dyson, leader of Brooklyn’s historic Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church on Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at the Irondale Center in Fort Greene at 7PM. This public event celebrates and honors Reverend Dyson as he prepares to retire after almost two decades as a central figure to the church, the community and beyond.

Only the seventh pastor in Lafayette Avenue’s 150 years, Rev. Dyson has spent 18 years leading an inclusive congregation long identified with the abolitionist and civil rights movements through present day struggles for justice, both in the community and within the national church. Lafayette Avenue’s story goes far beyond its walls and is embedded in the living history of Brooklyn.

During Rev. Dyson’s tenure, Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church revitalized its place as a bastion of community activism and progressive ideas and built up a diverse congregation. Phil Donahue, a long-time friend of LAPC, is the ideal interviewer to engage Rev. Dyson about his countless stories of rich local and church history, as well as his own experiences as a labor organizer with Caesar Chavez.

In September 2009, Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church transferred its collection of historical documents, photographs, hand-written sermons, Sunday bulletins, newsletters, scrapbooks and other records to Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS). Among other treasures included in the LAPC collection is the handwritten sermon delivered by founding pastor Theodore Cuyler in the
aftermath of the assassination of President Lincoln. Nearly 100 boxes of materials were entrusted with BHS for care and proper storage. Funds are being raised to catalog the collection and make it accessible to scholars and researchers. President Deborah Schwartz says: “We are grateful to have this historic collection in our archives so the story of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church can be made available to the public.” The partnership is on going as BHS has recently recorded several oral histories of long-time members of the church.

About Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church is a dynamic multi-racial, multi-cultural church in historic Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Its doors are open to all. Named by the Lilly Endowment as one of the 300 outstanding Protestant churches in the United States, Lafayette Avenue is home to the largest collection of Tiffany windows in Brooklyn.

About the Irondale Center
A vibrant, 7,300-square-foot center for creating and presenting inventive theater housed in the soaring former Sunday school space of Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church. Irondale creates and presents theater, performance and educational programs that challenge traditional assumptions about art, and help us to better understand today's challenging world.

About Brooklyn Historical Society
Founded in 1863, Brooklyn Historical Society is a nationally recognized urban history center dedicated to preserving and encouraging the study of Brooklyn's extraordinary 400-year history. Located in Brooklyn Heights and housed in a magnificent landmark building designed by George Post and opened in 1881, today's BHS is a cultural hub for civic dialogue, thoughtful engagement and community outreach.

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