« UPDATE: Rat-Proof Trash Cans To Arrive In Fort Greene | Main | In Architectural Record, a reflection on a decade and an Atlantic Yards asterisk »
October 8, 2011
Rev. ‘Call me Dave’ Dyson retires at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian
The Brooklyn Paper
By Kate Briquelet
A spunky Fort Greene pastor and labor organizer who transformed his church into a center for social justice is retiring — and locals are devastated to see him go.
Residents and churchgoers honored the Rev. David Dyson of Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church on Tuesday at an event that was supposed to include Phil Donohue. The famous talk show host didn’t show up, but no one cared — Dyson, who led the church for two decades, was the man people came to see.
“Don’t call me Rev. Dyson,” he opened, characteristically. “It’s Dave.”
The Pittsburgh-born leader of the S. Oxford Street church — only the seventh pastor in 150 years — pushed his members to fight for gay rights and worker’s issues and against the Atlantic Yards mega-project.
Posted by steve at October 8, 2011 9:35 PM