Rev. George Docherty; Urged 'Under God' in Pledge

He was a pastor in Glasgow and Aberdeen, Scotland, before he was invited to New York Avenue Presbyterian, which was known as "Lincoln's church."

During his 26 years as pastor, he became better known for his liberal social activism than for his quest to alter the Pledge of Allegiance. He promoted racial equality and led outreach efforts to feed and educate the city's hungry and poor. His church was often a staging point for civil rights and antiwar demonstrations, and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached from its pulpit. Rev. Docherty was with King on the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the "Bloody Sunday" civil rights march in Selma, Ala., in 1965.

Rev. Docherty often spoke out against the Vietnam War in his sermons, even when Robert S. McNamara -- defense secretary in the 1960s -- was present for services.

One of his church's regular parishioners in the 1970s was special prosecutor Leon Jaworski, whose efforts to investigate the Watergate were often thwarted by the Nixon White House. On "Lincoln Sunday" 1974, with both Jaworski and President Richard M. Nixon present, Rev. Docherty pointedly titled his sermon "Whatever Happened to Courage?" Six months later, Nixon resigned.

Rev. Docherty retired in 1976, lived in Scotland for 13 years and published his memoirs, "I've Seen the Day," in 1983. He settled in Pennsylvania in 1989 and continued to work as a guest pastor and teacher until three years ago.

His first wife, Mary Watson Docherty, died in 1970. Two children from that marriage, Mairi Gate and David W. Docherty, died in 1989 and 2006, respectively.

Survivors include his wife of 36 years, Sue M. Docherty of Alexandria, Pa.; a son from his first marriage, Garth Docherty of Alexandria, Va.; two children from his second marriage, Julie Jancosko of Pittsburgh and Bridget Fouse of Alexandria, Pa.; and five grandchildren.

When the newly revised Pledge of Allegiance was being celebrated in a Flag Day ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in 1954, "Everybody who was anybody was present except me," Rev. Docherty told The Washington Post in 2002. "They forgot to invite me."