Cameron Presbyterian Church

09/01/2026

This past Sunday’s Sermon.

08/23/2026

Gracious God, giver of every good and perfect gift, thank you for calling us to your service. Help us to be cheerful in using your gifts to us for the common good of others, to your glory.

08/23/2026

Vera Swann (1931–2022) was a Presbyterian mission co-worker and educator whose family helped secure the end of segregated public education. Alongside her husband, Darius Swann, she served as one of the first African American Presbyterian missionaries to India. After serving at Ewing Christian College for a decade, they returned to the US in 1964 to work at Johnson C. Smith University.

In the period after Brown v. the Board of Education, the city of Charlotte developed a court-approved school integration plan—but upon consolidating the city school district with the majority-white Mecklenburg County, neighborhood schools were effectively resegregated. When Vera and Darius signed their son James up for a neighborhood school, the school district assigned him to a majority-Black institution far from home. With support of the NAACP legal defense fund, the Swanns sued the district, initiating the landmark 1971 Supreme Court desegregation case Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.

Vera Swann worked as a leader in women's ministry, taught at various public schools, served as director of the Southern African Student Program for the Robert R. Morton Institute, and was a national observer of the first elections in South Africa. In semi-retirement, the Swanns organized the Maria Fearing Fund, supporting spiritual growth and cultural exchange between Africa and the United States.

In honor of Public Education Day, and in memory of Vera, we invite you to share the name of a teacher who made a difference in your life in the comments.

04/19/2026

Please join us next Sunday, April 26 at 4:00 pm for a fun afternoon of music!

04/01/2026