Africo-American Presbyterian
\rOL. Lli.
“AND YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH. AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.”—John viil 32.
CHARLOTTE, N. C., THURS DAY, DECEMBER 4, 1930
NO. 47.
THE CHURCH FACES THE COLLEGE KNOXVILLE LETTER
GENERATION
By Rev. Francis J. Grimke, D. D.
i noticed in tiie program oi i
me rourieenm rs.nnuai convo-
cauon 01 me acnooi ox nengion
OI iiowara umversiiy, vvasn-
ingion, L>. L., me aoove-namea
Buojeci;, wnicn arresiea my ac-
lemion.
me nist tnougac ihat came
10 my mma was; vVnatj^ meanc
Dy uouege eteneration; i sup
pose it leters lO me laige num-
»er 01 young peopie wno are
now acxenaing colleges, larger
man ever Oeiore in me iiisiory
01 me world.
wen, wnat aOouc 'ciiese
young people m our colleges 1
me purpose oi tlie sunject, i
suppose, is 10 call attention to
mem—to tne lact mat, as a
goup, tney are m loucn witn
mociein science, anu wim all the
vast ranges oi Knowledge mat
have oeen uncovered hy mod
ern research.
well, i said to myself. What
of it 7 Will tnis innux ot Knowl
edge in possession ot this (Joi-
lege Generation alter m any
way the mission of the Church 7
What is the mission of the
(jiurch V It is to preach the gos
pel of the grace of God as it is
revealed in Jesus Christ, ft is
to call men to repentance and
faith.
it assumes that all men are
sinners in need of salvation.
The amount of secular knowl
edge that a man has' has noth
ing whatever to do with the
fact that he is a sinner. His
sinfulness is not determined
by how much or how little sec
ular knowledge he has. He may
have his head full of the gar-
iiereif wisdom'‘of the
yet be a poor, miserable sinner,
without God and without hope
in the world. The world by wis
dom has never been able to find
God; and never will.
What, therefore, I asked niy-
self, has the Church to do with
facing this College Generation
any different from what it has
to do in facing any generation ?
Fundamentally, if is the same
problem everywhere that the
Church has to deal with, the
problem of saving men, of
turning them from their evil
ways to God. And there is only
one way by which that can be
done; and that is by the plain,
simple preaching of the Word,
backed by the presence and
power of the Holy Spirit. Noth
ing else is going to do it; noth
ing else has ever been able to
do it. Some times we get the
foolish notion into our heads
that because young people are
being educated that they must
be saved in some other way. It
is all nonsense; and it is vain
to attempt to save them in any
other way.
No man has ever entered the
ministry better equipped men
tally than was the Apostle
Paul. He was a man of unusual
gifts, big brain, capable of
dealing with the most intricate
and complex problems, a mas
ter logician, a profound think
er. And yet, after meeting Jes
us on the Damascus Road, and
after having been commissioned
by Him to call men to repent
ance and faith, never once did
he seem to think about his
great mental gifts, or as to
whether he was to deal with
the ignorant or the unlearned;
He had but one gospel for all
alike, rich and poor, high and
low, bond and free, ignorant or
uneducated, wise or foolish.
He so reasoned before Felix,
the governor, of righteousness,
temperance and the judgment to
come, that he trembled. And
before the great court at Ath
ens, representing the assembled
wisdom of Greece, his words
were; “And the times of this
ignorance God winked at; but
now commandeth all men
everywhere to repent; because
he hath appointed a day, in the
which he will judge the world
in righteousness by that man
whom he hath ordained;
whereof he hath given assur
ance. unto all men, in that he
raised him from the dead.”
He not only had but one gos
pel for all; out only one hope
of success in presenting it.
“Not by might, nor by power,
out by my bpirit, saith tne
Lord of Hosts.” And it was m
depenaence upon the Spirit
that he went forth on his great
career, and through whom the
mighty results that attended
his preaching were brought
about. He took no credit to
himself, but always spoke of
what the Holy Spirit had done
through him. The kmd of
preaching Paul did, in demon
stration of the Spirit and of
power, is all that the Church
needs in facing this College
Generation. All it needs is to be
true to its mission, is to preach
the plain, simple, unvarnished
truth of God; and do it in de
pendence upon the Holy Spirit,
and not upon fine-spun theories,
or' learned and eloquent dis
quisitions, to win men from
their evil ways,
Let us be done with all this
foolishness, and get back to
God’s way of saving the world.
It is the only way; and the
sooner the Church wakes up to
that and gives itself wholly to
the way pointed out in God’s
Word, in the Scriptures of the
Old and New Testaments, the
better it will be.
The building of a new church
is often attended with a despir
itualization of the membership.
Money is ever in the forefront.
Programs upon programs hav
ing as their chief object the
raising of money take preced
ence. Too often the main objec
tive of the church is submerged
in a multitude of things irrele
vant to the principles for which
the institution stands. Then af
ter the structure is completed,
there is grave danger of be
coming so engrossed in the
;eauty and spaciousness of the
building that we become un-.
mindful of the fact that the
church exists to do a work, not
to make a show. The obvious
duty of a minister when_ con
fronted with such a situation is
to strive to convert thesj Unde
sirable traits into something de
sirable—the spiritualiza’ion of
the institution. To t..at ; nd the
Rev. Benj. F. Glasco, T D., of
Pittsbburgh, Pa., came :-to the
Shiloh Presbyterian chmch at
Knoxville to assist the Lev. A.
H. George in a series ot meet
ings. Dr. Glasco preached each
night from November 10th to
the 16th. He brought to us
messages that diffused a spir
ituality that quickened the re
ligious life of he peopi Min
ister and congregation were re
vived. The spiritual thermome
ter of the church is way up as
a result of his preaching.
Not only was there a quick
ening of the spiritual fervor of
the chur-h ; souls were brought
into the Kingdom. There were
twenty-two confessions and
twenty additions to the church.
What is It about Dr. Glasco
that has clothed him Ivith a
compelling charm that.'iaakes
THE TRAGEDY OF
PREACHING
fliis’ 'Coriegd -•(SeneYaTS5H^T®5ffW-B«-^itlr bKtw%^^
needs no new gospel, but the
same old story of J’esus and
His love. You can’t make men
better, you can’t save them by
cramming their heads full of
secular knowledge. The heart
must be changed. It is still true,
even in this College Generation,
“Except a man be born again,
born of the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of heaven.”
And nothing that this College
Generation can do will alter
that fact.
Washington, D. C.
HOW SHALL WE SAVE
OUR FACES
Ministers and churches of the
Synod of East Tennessee: We
beg you to permit us to remind
you of the enthusiasm and
high resolves with which we ad
journed our Presbyteries and
depaited to our respective fields
last Spring, promising to pros
ecute two main objectives dur
ing the present Church year:
namely, the raising of our be
nevolence quotas, and the build
ing up and increasing the mem
bership of our several church
es.
As to our first objective, we
note the Chairman of our Syn
od’s Program and Field Activi
ties Committee writes in the
Africo that of the $2,051 allo
cated to our Synod, only $360.-
10 had been -received at head
quarters at the end of seven
months. This, brethren, we
need not tarry to say, is a very
poor showing for the Synod of
East Tennessee.
We used to have an honor
roll published in the Africo
of churches meeting their be
nevolence quotas each quarter.
It was a good custom, and
should be continued in spite of
some modest objections.
As to our second objective,
in the absence of any informa
tion from our headquarters at
Pittsburgh we have no means
(Continued on page 3)
listen to his message and
throws round them an impelling
force that bids them follow in
his train. In the city of Pitts,
burgh, where churches are
plentiful, pepple travel seven
teen miles to hear him preach.
His young people’s organizations
have an enrollment of over 300.
His Junior church, which meets
every Friday afternoon, has an
average attendance of over
86. His bulletin reveals that
there is something going on in
his church every night in the
week except Saturday. In stu
dying this extraordinary char
acter one immediately comes
to the conclusion that he does
not make an appeal to the pop
ulace for effect or to tickle
their fancies. He does not use
soothing and palliating terms
to solace the conscience of the
sinner. He proclaims the great
fundamentals in plain, una
dorned language. ^ There is
something about him that de
fies analysis. Some call it per
sonality. One is impressed
with his crystal-like sincerity,
seriousness of purpose, depth
of convictions, radiant faith
and a passion for souls. He is
God-conscious and filled with a
consuming desire to share Him
with others.
On Sunday morning, Novem
ber 23rd, Dr. A. B. McCoy, of
Atlanta, was the special preach-
er.
The pastor has prepared a
series of sermons entitled: "The
Bow in the Cloud.” The follow
ing is the order in which they
will be preached: Nov. 30th,
“The Message of the Bow;”
December 7th, “Facing the Is
sues of Life;” December 14th,
“In Spite of Trouble;” Decem
ber 28th. “Caught in a
Squeeze;” January 11th, “An
chors for the Storm;” January
18th, “The Discipline of the
Valley:” February 1, “Consider
the Lilies.” The aim of this se
ries is to give strength and
guidance, and to bring messag
es of comfort, encouragement
and hope for the days of de
pression.
“THE SCRIBE.”
By Rev. John A. Savage. D. D.
The whole scheme of re
demption is wound around a
tragedy, but the modern inter
pretation has made it a trage
dy of another sort. The Negro
is passing through a transition
period. Thousands of boys
and girls are in schools, and the
gayety of the season attracts
them. The seriousness of living
is not an impelling force, and
the churches seem not to know
how to reach these conditions.
God’s word, when properly
presented, is always uplifting
and inspiring, but the way in
which the Scotch Presbyterians
presented the gospel to a
Scotch people whose senses and
peculiarities are well under
stood—the measured tones,
the incisive logic, and the use
of words understood by the
parishioners, may not be Used
as a model for the presentation
of the gospel to the Negro. It
would be amusing, if it were not
30 sad, to see a cultured Negro
minister preach the gospel of
Christ as a Scotish divine. The
real model of preaching is
found in the gospel. The com
mon people heard Christ glad
ly because they understood his
parables. Because we have no
correct minutes of all his ser
vices, we may not conclude that
but a handful of people were
converted to his sayings.
The Negro is a Negro with
his peculiarities and instincts,
just as a Jew is a Jew with his
peculiarities and instincts. It
is a tragedy to make the Ne
gro sing nothing but strange —
the »Lprd.’jiJand-..]s! NaDoT^fa/%omjjfeitt^^ .pu I?
a sin to mix up a dear under- ploymeiii ’’iSariii^', tnp oiRaXi
OFFERS ASSISTANCE TO
PRESIDENT HOOVER’S
COMMITTEE
HAYMOUNT PRESBYTERI
AN CHURCH, b AYETTE-
VILLE, N. C.
standing of God’s 'Word and in
cisive logic couched in a -lan
guage which the common peo
ple understand? Is it a sin to
encourage our people to sing
some of the songs which appeal
to the hearts and experiences of
colored people ? Is it better to be
dignified and aloof, or to be
come all things to all Negroes
in order to save their souls? It
is a tragedy to prepare fine ser
mons and sing fine songs to
empty benches. It is like throw
ing salt in order to catch birds.
The hand touch and the heart
touch are essentials.
It is true that many of our
people have migrated, but
thousands of them are still
here. Let there be a big gath
ering of our people and you can
not miss the numbers who have
gone. We just must get these
people under our influence,
and then hold them and mold
t hem for a great cause in a
great Church. Christ Jesus
came to seek and save sinners
and not righteous people. Our
business is to make bad people
come and seek to save their
souls. Large numbers of people,
well organized and trained, will
give large support to our min
isters and will pay our benevo
lence in full. Since our old plans
have fallen down, why not try
something new and go after the
people and bring them in?
Brother ministers, trust the
Lord, and you will be fed.
What is th.j reaction of mr
Presbyteries within the bounds
of ‘^he Sym.i of Catawba” Are
the colored people worth sav
ing? The success of any busi
ness is volume
Albion Academy,
Franklinton, N. C.
The Forty-first Annual O'der
Boys’ Conference of Massachu
setts and Rhode Island Y. M. C.
A. will assemble m Lynn, Dec.
5-7, under the auspices of the
Y. M. C. A. State Committee.
This is the pioneer State Con
ference for boys in this coun
try, the first gathering having
been held in Everett in 1881.
“While we recognize that the
whole country is suffering from
unemployment the evidence
coming from many places North
and South to our office shows,”
announces Dr. George E.
Haynes, Secretary of the Com
mission on Race., Relations,
“that Negroes lare ifurnishing
a larger portion than others
in the army of unemployed.”
This is another one of the ways
color prejudice werks.
The Commission on Race Re
lations has a Committee on Ec
onomic Life which has been or
ganized to stimulate the inter
est of the Churches in justice
'.n economic life as it affects the
Negro. At the meeting of this
Committee last week it was
voted to send a letter to Colonel
Woods offering such assistance
as it can render to the Presi
dent’s National Committee on
Employment. The letter, signed
by Dr. Edward T. Devine,
Chairman of the Committee of
Direction of the Commission
on Race Relations reads as fol-
low'S:
“As you know, the Federal
Council of Churches of Christ
in America represents the
Protestant, churches of the
country. The Council through
its constituent bodies has ac
cess to all communities in the
United States. It has a Com-
miss'on on Race Relations
which has t^en working for
some time on justice in econom
ic life, through the standing
committee
“At the last rheeting of the
Commission’s National Commit
tee on Economic Life it voted
to offer such assistance as it
can render, co the Pre- ’dent’s
Em
taXIoT
of the unemployment crisis,
“The Commission on Race
Relat'ous is in touch with about
fifty communities in different
sections of the country. While
these committees are autono
mous both in their programs
and organizations they look to
this Commission for sugges
tions and guidance.
“We shall appreciate your
letting us know as soon as pos
sible the plans of the Presi
dent’s Committee and sugges
tions you'have to make regard
ing any service we can render.”
The Federal, ' Co.uncil of
Churches through the Social
Service Commission with which
the Committee on Economic
Life is working co-operatively,
has issued a set of recommen
dations to churches throughout
the country on the unemploy
ment situation and has especi
ally drawn attention to the Ne
gro as follows: 1. Negroes and
other racial groups should be
accorded equitable treatment in
the distribution of work and re
lief. 2. Any payment of lower
wage rates or maintenance of
longer working hours which
would tend to break down pres
ent labor standards should be
discouraged. The government
and leading business men have
gone on record in favor of
maintenance of present wage
rates during the depression pe
riod. In the case of emergency
jobs created for the purpose of
relief, when only a given
amount of money is available,
it is better to employ men or
women for part time than to
employ them full time at re
duced wage rates. One of the
worst nossible results of the
unemployment period would be
a permanent impairment of
present standard of wages and
hours..
Waces of workmen a^’e more
important to the country than
dividends to stockholders —
Henry Ford. ,
Science is an attempt to set
in order the facts of experi
ence.—Sir Arthur Eddington.
We have been at work dur
ing the past few months and
are still endeavoring to push
forward all- phases of our
church program. On Sunday,
November 16th, we were
pleased to have Rev. H. H.
r'ields, of Baltimore, deliver a
wonderful sermon to us. Rev.
Mr. Fields was in attendance at
the A. M. E. Conference which
rt'as held in this city.
Sunday, November 23rd, our
pastor, Kev. H. S. Davis, gave
us a message which we shall
never forget. The text was
Acts 9.-6, and the subject,
‘Cnrisiian Service.” We were
i-old that a follower of Christ
will be active; that the failure
-)f an active membership caus
es failure in the church; that
the chief expression of our de
votion to the church is through
service. The large audience
present felt a desire to be re
unsecrated for service after
;hat inspiring sermon.
The various organizations of
Jur church are making an ef
fort to accomplish definite
goals this church year. The
nembership of the Brotherhood
■las increased and a fine enthu-
iiasm was expressed at the
.■7ovember meeting, held at the
home of Bro. J. A. Smith. A
ollection of $15.65 was re-
;eived, toward an effort on the
.3art of the men to improve the
lasement of the church.
The Women’s Missionary So
ciety held a splendid meeting
chis month with Mrs. E. Stev
ens. The misisonary society
ind circles are busy raising
funds, to carpet the church. The
Pioneer and Tuxis clubs start-
:d their Fa]l programs with new
,ial given them by Mrs. L. S.
Seabrook last month. The Pi-
meer Boys’ Club has a mem
bership of twenty, and they are
low working to purchase a
;amping outfit.
The church school Workers’
Conference was held at the
borne of Mrs. E. Crump, Thurs-
la night, and plans were made
'or a Thanksgiving program.
Eight young people of the
church school came into the
church on Decision Day.
We have welcomed a number
if visitors at our services each
Sunday morning. During the
month we were privileged co
have Mr. Frank Wilson, a stu-
lent Y. M. C. A. Secretary, who
gave us some very inspiring re-
narks.
We are sorry to mention
the passing of Mrs. Arthur
Manly. Mr. Manly and children
ire very faithful members and
workers of our church. The
funeral was held Sunday after
noon at Maddox Memorial A.
M. E. Zion church, of which
Mrs. Manly was a member.
The impressive services were
conducted by our pastor, Rev.
H. S. Davis, who had visited
her constantly dui'ing her long
leriod of illness.
Mrs. Emmaline Williams is
mending some time with her
chi’dren in Phila-^elphia, Pa.
Dean J. W. Seabrook is at
tending a Ch’ld’s WePare Con
ference in Washington, D. C.
Our Normal graduates last
vear were successful in secur
ing good work, and we are de-
ighted to have them spend
some week-ends in our servic
es. Misses Janie Slater and
Frances Council are at White
Oak: Miss Inez Aery is near
Raeford; Miss Thelma Black
man at Whiteville, and Mr. and
Mrs. Howard Montague at Hope
Mills.
PUBIACTTY COMMITTEE
A man in rublic office 's
measured by his accomnlish-
ments. not by the time he
srsends in the office.—James J.
Walker.