Services May Be Held For Alabama Ministers

The Divinity School will probably permit its chapel to be used for a special day of prayer devoted to the Negro ministers and laymen arrested on charges of encouraging a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.

If the day of prayer should be established, this would represent the first official stand taken by the University on the current battle over desegregation.

Douglas Horton, dean of the Divinity School Faculty, said yesterday that he would present the proposal to the Social Action Committee of the School. "I think it is a good idea," he said, "to open the chapel for prayers of intercession on this issue." The decision on this proposal will be announced in the next few days.

Similar action might follow in Memorial Church. However, George A. Buttrick, chairman of the Board of Preachers, was unavailable last night to comment on whether such plans are now actively being considered.

Active pressure from the Society of Minority Rights will be exerted in order to obtain a large attendance at the chapels, William E. Bronson '58, newly elected president of the HSMR, said last night.

The day of prayer may correspond with a similar day already established in Boston by the Council of Churches, the Rabbinical Association, and the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. The groups have designated March 28 as the day for prayer.

The Negro leaders were arrested in Montgomery on February 22 on charges of violating a state law prohibiting organized boycotting.