Newspapers / Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / Nov. 5, 1925, edition 1 / Page 1
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VOL. XLVII. CHARLOTTE, N. G, THURSDAY, NOV. 5, 1926 SOME NEEDS OF CATAWBA PRESBYTERY By Rev. F. C. Shirley (Sermon delivered as Retiring Moderator at the recent Fal meeting of Catawba Presbytery in the Church at Belmont.) My Fellow Presbyters: In St. Matthew's gospel, th< 9th chapter and the 36th verse we have these words': “Bui when he saw the multitude, h< was moved with compassion oi them, because they fainted, anc were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” This 9th chapter tells about Jesus’ busy ministry in Galilee. As He moved about from place to place His fame spread, the crowds surged around him and pressed in upon Him to hear His mes sages and to be healed of divers diseases. Jesus saw as He min istered to the multitudes that they were in great need both physically and spiritually. Their condition deeply affected Him and He was moved with com passion or’ pity for them and suggested to the disciples reme dies to relieve the situation. There are evidences of physi cal and spiritual needs in our Presbytery and it is to some of these needs that we want to di rect your attention this even in or In this discussion I wish to ask that you look at me not as a Sunday School Missionary la boring in your midst, but as a member of this Presbytery, who is vitally interested in its wel~ fare, and who desires to see it take its rightful place of leader ship among the 16 Presbyteries representing our group in the Church, U. S. A. un personal observations I have made during my 3 years as a member of this Presbytery; and in this effort I am simply trying to prescribe a remedy for a sit uation, which, to my mind, needs our serious consideration. The first need of our Presby tery is a ministerial member ship and eldership that is more informed and more deeply in terested in the organization and program of the Church. On the surface it seems that the fore going statement is superfluous, for are not the ministers and elders the “Keepers of the Rec ords and Seals,” as it were, of the Church institution ? Are they not the leaders to whom the members in the pews look for sruidance and instruction? Yet, in the face of this respon sibility, the rank and file of the ministers and elders in our Pres bytery .are not informed as to the program of our Church. The Presbyterian Church is a pro gressive piece of machinery and to keep up with its program one must read and study. Accord ing to my observations we have not shown in our gatherings that we have been keeping abreast with the development of the Church’s Program 01 Religious Education, Evange lism, Church Extension and of its Program of Missionary Ac tivities. Of course if we have not a grasp of the program we can not take the proper interest in having the communicant mem bers to put the program into execution. What is the remedy for this lack of information and inter est? I would like to call your attention to an article from the office of the General Assembly in the Presbyterian Magazine for June, calling church officers’ attention to the necessary books that they should possess in or der that they may keep in formed as to the work of the Church. The first book that is listed is the Presbyterian Hand Book, a little yearly publication that sells for the small sum of 10c a copy and yet it is packed full of information. The next book mentioned is the Constitu tion, then the Law and Usage, and for one who desires to spe cialize in Presbyterian Law, the Digest is cecommended. In ad dition to these books an up-to i date churchman should reac , regularly the Presbyterian Mag ; azine, and, in addition to the » Africo-American Presbyterian, i he should read one of the stand ard weeklies. These periodicals will keep one in touch with cur rent thought such as the meet ings and findings of the General Council, the various staff coun cil meetings of the Boards, the monthly letters from the Mod erator and Stated Clerk of the General Assembly as well as the general work of promotion conducted by all the Boards. I think as ministers and elders we ought to provide ourselves with these sources of information so that we may properly interpret the will of our Church to our constituents. “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” lhen we need to take a deep er interest in the routine work of our Presbytery. As I have viewed the situation, many of us are only ihterested in Pres tery to the extent of getting there long enough to get before the Committee on Supplies to get our application for stipend endorsed*. At our last meeting I know of members who did not arrive until the morning after Presbytery convened and these same brethren departed for their homes before sunset of the first day of business. Elder after elder came to the Moder church be called so that he could report and go home. As a result, when Presbytery ad journed there were scarcely enough members present to hear the reading and adoption of the minutes and to transact the several items of business in cident to the closing of the meet ing. Our Presbytery meets only twice a year and our min isters and elders should look upon these meetings as gather ings where, in addition to assem bling for the purpose of review ing and forecasting the year’s work, we should value the meet ings because of their opportuni ty for fellowship and spiritual retreat. But how can we get that fellowship and spiritual benefit unless all come with sin gleness of purpose to abide un til all the work is done? .me aecuuu neeu ui uux rica bytery is a more business like grouping of the churches in our bounds. The present plata pf grouping is, at beat, haphazard and reflects very much upon the judgment of an intelligent group of Presbyters. I wonder if we have ever thought how ridicu lously some of our churches are grouped. For instance, we have a minister living in a certain town 25 miles S. E. of Char lotte. He has one church about six miles from this par ticular town; his other church is at a distance of over 40 miles away. Another minister lives in a town in the western part of the Presbytery. He has one church in that city; his other church is about 60 miles away. A certain minister lives in Charlotte ? one of his church es is seventeen miles north of the city, the other is 10 miles east. Still another lives in Charlotte with one church 10 miles north, the other 10 miles south. There are many other instances that are equaly ab surd. Why do we have this situa tion? It is because the Pres bytery as such has not asserted .its rights and performed its du ty. It has rather catered to the whims of local selfish interests. The Presbytery and not the lo cal church is the one to decide how and with whom another church is to be grouped where a grouping is‘ necessary. Furthermore, brethren, we are trustees of certain sacred funds that are appropriated yearly for the maintenance of certain work in our bounds. These funds are dispensed by I the Boards in most cases only upon the recommendation of this Presbytery. The Boards handling benevolent funds spent in our Presbytery last year over $112,000; aside from the amount that was spent on the two educational institutions in our bounds the Presbytery of Catawba recommended the ex penditure of the balance. Some day we are going to be called upon to give an account of our stewardship. Have we wisely supervised the expenditure oi these sacred funds ? In my judgment we have made poor administrators of these funds that have been given by conse crated men and women who are interested in the spread of the Kingdom of God, and will con tinue to be poor servants as long as we continue to allow such an unbusiness like grouping of our churches ? There ought to be a regrouping of our churches: 1. For greater efficiency in service. 2. For larger cooperation on the part of the churches. 3. To establish pastoral units. 4. To show that we as a Presbytery have the courage of our convictions to do the thing that is right. Another need of our Presby tery is more pastoral oversight. The term shepherd or pastor is an oriental metaphor that car ries with it the thought of abid ing cSfg?. .or a threefold service of tending ' nfteeR. feeding and guarding. What a 'itfrcy con ception is given of the term ifc isJM Mm ^heceDavid rrrr-1 speaks of the Lord as “My Shepherd,” and in the 10th chapter of the gospel of St. John where Christ speaks of Himself as “the Good Shep herd.” Many of our churches do not have the constant oversight of their ministers. The only con tact some have is that which they experience from 10 A. M. to 4:30 P. M. two Sundays out of a month. Of the 48 church se in our Presbytery there are only 13 that have resident min isters. My friends, if the prob lems of the rural communities and the rural churches are to solved they must be solved by changing the policy of our min istry in these groups. If it takes a city pastor seven days in the week throughout the year to carry out a program for a parish that is compact togeth er, I do not see how we can ex pect to minister to the scat tered rural groups on the basis of visiting them two Sundays a month for a sermon. We must work out a plan that will give a more adequate ministry to our rural churches. And it seems to me that the time is ripe for Catawba Presbytery to begin work on the problem of its rural churches. Why not select two or three fields for an experiment; select them so the fields can unite jointly in the building of a manse. Get two or three min isters who will be willing to try the plan. When we have com pleted the arrangement so far as the Presbytery is concerned, submit the plan to |the Division of Missions for Colored People as a project that Catawba Pres bytery desires to try out as an experiment. Get the Division to give a large enough supple ment to begin with to enable the minister to get a decent liv ing by giving his full time to the development of the project. Try the plan for three years. If it works, then let the Presbytery adopt it as its standing policy towards its rural churches; if the plan fails, it can not be any more of a failure than the hap hazard methods of the past 40 years. I am aware of the objections that our ministers offer to liv ing in the rural districts. One objection is that there is no so cial contact for the minister'! family. I do not think that ii a valid objection. The Negrc minister and teaecher set th< minister and teacher set the Therefore there is need for th< miniraer to live in the commun ity tf set the standard of up lifting the home life among hie people. The rural manse should be tljie center of the social life of tm rural church and as the members come and go from the manp their visits should in spimthem to model their homes j and |heir surroundings sifter the retainer of the manse. Fur thermore, this is the age of the aUtAobile, good roads, tele phojaps and radio. With these modern improvements life in the rural sections can be made as imriting as in the city and through them we can keep up any social contact with our city friends that we desire. A {second objection is the poor^v educational facilities. I admi% this is a, strong objec tion, and yet it is a selfish one. Why are the conditions of the rural: schools so deplorable? It is due in part to the fact that in tfi§ country districts we have no ministers living among the people to help look out for their interest along the line of better schools. Another objection is that the people in the rurals are too backward and crude in thefir manner of living. This is the very > reason we should be constrained to live among them to help in their cultural devel opment. A minister who feels that he cannot live in the rural district certainly must not be called to minister to rural peo ple and should cease crippling the rural churches by long-dis tance service. The itinerant stumbling blocks to our rural communities and the sooner the country church and school wake up to a realization of this fact the better it will be foi them. I have been making a com parative study between Meck lenburg County in North Caro lina and Mecklenburg and Brunswick Counties in Virgin ia. In the two Virginia coun ties one finds from 75 to 80 pel cent of the Negro farmers own ing their own farms. The pre vailing type of farm house is from 5 to 7 rooms nicely paint ed, with barns and out houses nicely kept; yards symmetrical ly arranged with yard flowers and shrubs. In these counties the ministers and school teach ers for the most part are resi dent. They nave inspired manj boys and girls to go to Hamp ton, St. Paul, Virginia Norma! and other schools. These young people, in many instances, have returned to the old homestead and have become assets to the communities because of theii superior advantages. vjn toe outer na.au, m mcvn.' lenburg Gounty in North Cara lina barely 10 per cent of th< Negro farmers own their farms the (prevailing type of hous< being a three-room shack, un painted, with dilapidated o\H houses and barns. Eighty-fiv< to ninety-five per cent of th< teachers are hirelings who hav< no interest in the community aside from receiving theii monthly pay check. Seventy five per cent of the ministers who serve in the rural church es in this county only see theii members once or twice a month few of the boys and girls ii this county go off to school an< the few that go, as soon as the; finish go to other localitie where they have outlet fo their training. Putting it ii the words of Joseph T. Holle man, speaking on the probler of the tenant farmer in Meek lenburg County in North Care Una: "They build no homes they live in rude huts, no flow era about their dwellings, n trees to shade them from th sun, consumed by summer’ heat and chilled by winter1 cold, nd lawns about their hous es, no garden fences; and wit (Continued on page 4) SWIFT MEMORIAL COLLEGE Everything' is bright, cheer ful and encouraging in and about Swift Memorial College. Much has been spent and done to make it more attractive and to increaseits comforts and con veniences. Both buildings have been painted and otherwise improved, screens have been put on the doors and windows of the din ing room and the kitchen. The dining room has been refreshed and many of the rooms through out the buildings have been painted and calcimined. The bath rooms have been remod elled and the better heating of the buildings has been given attention. The music depart ment has been made more effi cient by the addition of two new pianos in the last two years. It now has five pianos. Swift has this year an excel lent and splendid body of stu dents. Many of them have come from other States. The South has been the largest con tributor. Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Missis sippi have sent us a goodly num ber. The people in those States have learned that superior in struction and training can be had at Swift. That there, em phasis is put on what is real, thorough and essential; and that those who come under its care and tutorage are taught to live righteously and nobly and encouraged and inspired to seek after the best and the noblest ideals and to practice them iL their daily Hves ^nd associar KB tions. The students whose lives are touched, moulded and built up by such methods and principles and actuated by such ideals, ad vertise the school and extend its power and influence in ever-widening circles, wherever such students are seen and known. Swift has built up and sent out a constituency which is bound to increase in numbers and power. This constituency, by example and precept, is at tracting attention and winning students for their Alma Mater. A minister of the gospel and a man of ability who has had long experience as a missionary ; and educator in the South, said to me during our last com mencement, “We have plenty of ■ schools in the South, but the children of the South need the atmosphere, the ideals, and the inspiration of Swift. That is ' the reason that I am sending all i I can to Swift.” ■ I A recent graduate of our Nor 1 mal Department wrote me from ' Atlanta that he had spoken at a celebration in his home town along with others and he was besieged with inqurires asking him where he got his training and education. Swift opened the first of Oc tober, and yet they have come in such numbers that they have about filled all of the space in the Girls’ Dormitory. That dormitory is taxed to accommo date those who have already en tered. Three and five are be ing put in one room. Our * great and immediate need of an • other dormitory for girls is ap parent. ! It is interesting and signifi 1 cant for us to know that the stu l dents now coming to Swift T enter the higher departments. 3 The intermediate department is r going begging for students. 1 If Swift continues it onward ■ and upward course these things 1 point out a great and remark " able future for her. It looks to - ward the realization of the high ‘> and noble end for which it was " designed and established. 0 If the Synod of East Tennes e see, the rich and powerful Pres 8 byterian Church, U. S. A., and 8 its great Board of National Mis sions get behind Swift, as they h should do, it is destined to b< an institution of learning thal "[ill rank with the heat institu tion* of the South. I believe that Swift Memorial College has the foundation, the reputation, and the location to be made one of the most potent and- impor tant factors for becoming such an institution, and that the Presbyterian Church has the ability and the resources to make it such. I also believe that they will act wisely and divinely follow the directing hand of Providence W. H. F. Rogersville, Tenn. Oct., 1926. THANKSGIVING HtO CLAMAHON President Coolidge Designated November 26 Day of Thanks. S Washington, Oct. 27.—(AP) > —President Coolidge today pro claimed Thursday, Nov. 26th, as Thanksgiving Day, when gratitude should be expressed for “many and great blessings" which have come to the people during the past year. The nation has been brought with safety and honor through another year, the proclamation said, with peace at home and abroad, with the public health good, with harvests and indus tries productive and labor well pleased. The Proclamation follows: By the President of the States of America, A proclamation.. “The season approaches when, in accordance with a long estab * Ushed and respected -__ ^Atm!^ity-Xkjd~Tor'-the^nfimrt/ fold blessings which His gracious and benevolent provi dence has bestowed upon us as a nation and individuals. We have been brought with safety and honor through an other year, and, through the generosity of nature, He has blessed us with resources whose potentiality in wealth is almost incalculable; we are at peace at home and abroad; the public health is good; we have been undisturbed by pestilence or great catastrophe; our harvests and our industries have been rich in productivity, and our commerce spreads over the whole world, and labor has been well rewarded for its remuner ative service “As we have grown and pros pered in material things, so also should we progress in moral and spiritual things. We are a God fearing people who should set ourselves against evil and strive for righteousness in living, and observing the Golden Rule we should from our abundance help and serve those less fortunately placed. We should bow in grat itude to God for His many fa vors. “Now, therefore, I Calvin Coolidge, President of the Unit ed States, do hereby set apart Thursday, the twenty-sixth of November, next, as a day of general thanksgiving and pray er, and I recommend that on that day the people shall cease from their work and in their homes or in their accustomed places of worship, devoutly give thanks to the Almighty for the many blessings they have re ceived and to seek his guidance that they may deserve a contin uance of his favor. “In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be fixed. Done at the City of Wash ington, this twenty-sixth day of October, in the Year of our Lord, One Thousand Nine Hun dred and Twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the One Hundred and Fiftieth. CALVIN COOLIDGE.” Seal: BY THE PRESIDENT. FRANK B. KELLOGG, Secretary of State.
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Nov. 5, 1925, edition 1
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