CHARLOTTE. N. C~ THURSDAY, AUGUST 13,1936. - VJ VOL. LVII. .V ’ YOUTH TO THE FRONT AND THI OPPORTUNITY By Mrs. M. V. Marion (The address of the Presdent dent of the McClelland Presby terial Sunday School. Convention and School of Methods.) . Fellow Workers, Friends and Young People of McClelland Presbyterial Sund&v School Convention and School of Meth ods: • ' Father Time has brought us together after twelve months of separation and I am wonder mg if the things we learned last year have been put to ser vice °r left to waste. Jeremy Taylor says: "Make use of time," if thou valuest eternity. Yesterday can not be recalled; tomorrow can not be assured; today only is thine, which, if thou procrastinatest, thou los . est; which loss is lost forever.” Youth urges |time to (hurry and bring sooner the longed-for hour of good times and pleas ures. I have chosen this theme for your consideration and hope it will bespeak my heart’s desire to have the best Conven tion and School of Methods. "Youth to the Front and Their Opportunity.” ‘Wliat is opportunity? Some describe opportunity as a phantom thing that comes rap ping at the door but once in a life time. Others speak of op portunity as something that follows a man and makes him healthy and successful and wise. Such definitions are mis . leading; they turn youths' minds away from constructive work. ..Opportunity is the divine re ward for good thought, good work and good deeds. Have you evef' seen a whole tree? The • roots go deep down in the ground and spread underground as wide as the branches do above the ground. .A tree is an excellent P&t*ure of which I a”1 attempting to discuss. The the adults; th© branches repre sent the youth of today. The tree represents also me historic Christian Church. Its roots g Convention and the * School of Methods they want to go back and work, but I am afraid that we older ones are putting stum bling blocks in their way. youth is not content to sit by and let the other folks do the jobs that have to be done. The ue mans wsil always be a strong, robust and healthy na tion because they begin early to train the youth. Across thi seas, in other lands, youth is mobilized and united on the march. The modern youth of the Christian Church is ready to mobilize and march to the front and when duty whispers, “Lo thou must,” they will reply, “I can.” The piece of youth in the work of the church is wherever he or she fits in. Men and .wo men of the church, we must do our parts in the church so that the youth may see how we fi4 in and they will follow. “Be a man,” was the admoni tion given by a parent to a sor years ago, and these three words carried! an (incentive t' the lad to be his best. To be « man was a goal, an ideal, a wor thy ambition. The same appea could be made to an adult who is slipping. A friend could en courage him with the same words, “Be a man.” Have th three words lost their potencj in modern life? Can we appeal to the best in youth by holding before him Hie goal of man hood? Does modem youth want to be a man? Is the typical man of today a worthy example for yputh? The men must answer these questions. Some of os have lowered our standards, losj: ;>Qur ~ idealism become cynical alfd hard-heart ed. We are no longer, living oui thereourtSfr to slap a lad on, the back and ask him, to-be Hk# us; yef in our hearts we know we ougt to be living inspiring lives foi the sake of the younger gener ation. If these are our prseent moods, let us snap out of them Those of the oncoming genera tion have enough battles to fight without carrying older men and women on their shoulders a* dead weights. Youth needs the incentive of Christian manhood to live courageously and up rightly. Let us be men and wo men. The younger generation needs us. The church needs them. The church wants theii lives. It wants young men and women brave enough to stand in the face of pagan ways of mod ern life and dare ito follow Christ. What are you buying in the market of life? Are the things you buy worth while? Are you purchasing things that the world can view and pronounce them free from guile? When you make a purchase, get the very best. Select what will beautify. Remember whenever you are doing a thing, some one is watching close by. I want you to hear what Sweitzer, the great German philosopher and musician, heard; for at the end of his great book, one of the most scholarly books of recent Chiristiian .times, he wrote ot> Christ: “He comes to us as one unknown, as, of old by the lake side, He came to those men who knew hm not. He speaks to us the same words: Tollow thou me,” and sets us to the task which he has to fulfill for our time. He commands, and to those who obey Hiin, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself and they shall learn in their own experience who He is.” Sweitzer heard that com mand and left (Europe, where fame and fortune were, and went down to a mission hospi tal in dark. Africa, to obey. Maybe Christ will want you tp stay at home; but to Africa or America, at home or in the country, the church wants you to hear, to heed and to obey the Voice of Christ. The church Wants you to give yourself in school, in business, at home, at work or at play, to Him. It wants you to dare to live his way. It wants a new America, a Christlike world through you. The church wants your talents! It wants you to take the abfli ties and training you have to your ministers, your leaders and offer them for the work of the church. What a church you Would have, if you, the youth, would do enthusiastically mar of the tasks about the church that are done listlessly now! “Father, where shall I work to day? And my heart flows warm and free; Then he pointed me to a tiny spot and said, ‘Tend that for me.’ “I answered quickly, ‘Oh, no, not that little Place for me.’ And the word He spoke, It was not stern, He answered me tenderly, ‘Ah, little one, search that heart of thine, Art thou working for them c me? Nazareth was a little place, And so was Galilee.” . Do you catch the meaning of that thought? It is the little hings that count in life. Your talents in the work of the church are not to be confined to the four walls of the build ing. For wherever a church member goes, there is the church. You have a talent for wholesomeness and purity, an the church wants that talent exercised in the foul, tainted social life of this day; you have a talent for courage and faith and the church wants that tal ent for rugged honesty, for fie ry hatred of social wrong, for the self-control which forgets personal rights in the glow of divine duty, and the churcl wants that talent used in the hijgh places and the low today: you have a talent for ideas and ideaHs And (the church wants yOttv*to uae .these talenis idea-less and an ideal-less work fc^day. The church wants youth tpgive its best in worship, and in service to wayward youths. The church wants youth to en list in the budget plan. The church wants youth to act as a team in its giving, and, there fore, we, as leaders, must ar range the church’s program so that the youths may have a share in raising the pledges of the church and plan the pro gram in team work. The great work of the church today is your work, a young people's work. But victories for Christ can be won only as vic tories on the foot-ball gridiron are won—by team work. The church is calling you now \to Play the game. It is calling now for a great youth team? Are you willing to do your part, to consecrate yourself to the Peer less Captain, the Head of the Church? Will you join the youths of the church in putting into deeds the words of this hymn: “In the glad morning of my day, My life to give, my vows to pay With no reserve and no delay, With all my heart, I come, I come.” CONGRATULATES ATH ' LETES ON OLYMPIC VICTORIES . New York, Aug. 7.—Congrat ulations to Jesse Owens, Johr Woodruff, Cornelius Johnson, David Albritton, Ralph Met calfe, Matthew Robinson and Fritz Pollard, Jr., were cabled to Olympic village at Berlin, Germany, this week, by the Na tional Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People. ■The N. A. A. C. P. cable also offered' congratulations |p the .other athletes who had not competed up to the time the message was sent, but who were expected to win. These included Archae Williams and Jas. Luvalle, quarter milers. Society can not exist without all of Us sacrificing some per sonal liberties. WORKING TO PRESERVE PEACE John Dillingham, an assistant director of the Emergency Peace Campaign, spoke at the young people's service, sponsored by the Zicfr A. M. E. church at Woodbury, New Jersey, Sun day, July 26. Among other things Mr. Dillingham pointed out that: “.To argue for world peace in the midst of intensely increas ingly strained international re lations,||s not to ignore the fact thgt world peace agencies are obviously weak at this time. Nor is |$ie urging of Negro youth tjo give their lives to the cause of Peace, to forget that an increasing number of Amer ican Negroes is bitter, cynical, and pessimistic. Any one who thinks'* at all can undersand and appreciate the bitterness of the Negro and the weakness of the world peace forces. There is, nevertheless, not a single new argument that we Negroes can use m opposing the principles involved in the “Sermon on the Mount.” They are all oid argu ments. Zealots who take the short range view of history have always used them. The c/dv junification lor thj use of violence is the abandonment of the Principle of love for which Jesus'lived and died. As George Lansbury says: “There is no Christian way to kill a man.” There are many reasons to be lieve that pacifism or non-co operation on the part of the Ethiopians, for example, cer tainly! would have made Musso lini’s entry into Ethiopia more difficult, both from a military standpoint and from a diplomat ic standpoint.” Mr. Dillingham has spoken rceenily to the A. M. E. Sum mer School of Missions which was held at Bordentown, New Jersey, the A. M. E. Women's Mission Study group at Devon, Pennsylvania, and the A. M. E. and the Baptist Alliances in Philadelphia. His fall itinerary South among all denominations and groups. Mrs. Addie W. Dickerson, Mr. Joseph V. Baker and Dr. W. A. C. Hughes are the local cplored Philadelphians who are serving on the Council of the Emergen cy Peace Campaign. The Cam paign’s national headquarters is at 20 South Twelfth Street, Philadelphia, Pa. — SAY NEGROES SHOULD HAVE FULL EQUALITY New (York, (August 7.—Col ored Americans should have full equality as American citi zens and be guaranteed all the rights in the U. S. Constitution,' writes Hugh Bradley, sports columnist for the New York Post in his column for August 6th. Mr. Bradley, commenting upon the Victories of 4es»e You see descend srts of some of tin first African slaves. who were brought here from British Gui ana because of their adapt ibili ty to the rite and indigo form* These products were the Islanc’ arStocrats’ principal means Mof exchange for large money in th( early days uf white heat slav ery. The aristocrats of South Car olina lived in Georgetown, Berkley, , Charieitott), , Oolletori and Beaufort counties, anc espdcialljr in the islands of the coast of South Carolina. John'* Island, being the first to be set tled by English aristocrats, am being the largest of the coastal islands, stood out as the blue aristocrats’ island. The only religious denomina tions that existed on any. ol these islands in those days anc even now are the Episcopa and the Presbyterian; that is white denominations. And all the Negroes in the days of slavr e*y were either Epicopaliam or-Presbyterians. But the first denomination with a church edi fice on Edisto Island was Bap tist! it was built by Mrs. Hep zibah Townsend in the carlj 18th century. It was a very small church edifiee-^-about 4C by 40. It stands today as port of the colored Baptist church here; for she gave it Jtrfhe cob ofer fSptists; here Civil War. She and several co lonial white Baptists are buried in this church yard. With this exception, Baptist and Method ist denominations had no place in any of coastal South Caroli na. If they did they; soon per ished and were forgotten. . . ‘ The termination of the Civil War in favor of the 'Union caused many strange things to find places ini unrecorde American history. Many slave owners, soon after the Civil War, told the Negroes to find another church and “Get anoth er name;” for all Negroes went by their masters' surnames; and if they were sold to Col. Bob Jones, they went by thej hame of Jones. So you will find i many Negroes in Sumter county through Williamsburg, Berke ley, Georgetown,, ^(Charleston. Colleton and Beaufort with sur names that are generqjly Chris tian names; fdr an example, you can meet many Negroes in these counties with such sur names as Ben, Tony, July, Sam, Sugar John, Singletree, and thousands of other names that were at first Christian names, but were turned into surnames preceded by such Christian names as Monday, Friday, and such abbreviated names as one commonly hears as Jack, Bob, Dick, Buck, and other familiar names. One gruff slave master said to his slaves as they left to seek shelter and _ bread: . Let the damn yankee give you names and churches;” and the Negro got “names” and “churches and he is to be commended. A merchant in Sumter said to me thirty years ago; ‘“Rever end. every time we have a bad crop year, the Negro changes his name.” This may be .true and there may not be a thread of truth in the accusation; but you shall have to move about to excell Negroes in naming their children; and if you do not believe it,“ask’ some Negro min tister who has baptized a large ! number of babies in his parish. People of Distinction visit Edisto Island as they visit other places. Sunday, while the | pastor off Edisto Island Presby terian church was del.verng a sermonette to the Sunday School, just before the services. Prof. Mason Crum, Ph. D., of puke University, dropped in. All were glad to have him; and he preached for us an edifying sermon from the Beatitudes. | More about Edisto Island ih the next release. --- TOLEDO, OHIO, LETTER ; By Mrs. Ethel L. Maxwell Grace Presbyterian church, Toledo, Ohio, is in the news in Pus paper about once a year. Uneventful indeed must be the history of a church that has nothing of interest to report over a twelve-month period. Our friends, therefore, may be interested in some items that a(re recorded here. For years Grace bore with re markable patience a furnace that economized in heat giving units and majored on consump tion of fuel. Finally, patience ceasing to be a virtue, the old furnace was junked and two furnaces were purchased. The coldest weather now finds the church warm mid com fortable. Best of all the bills for these furnaces have been paid. It must be admitted that paying the bills kept us some what warm. Art glass windows in church es seem to be the special tar get for small boys with air guns and rocks. Basement win dows are the special prey of au tomobilists who are “three sheets in the wind” or who are jUst learning to drive. Our church building suffered in both Ways. Repairs constitute quite ah item, but we are thankful ;hat we have no broken windows through which the wintry ^inds can find their way. Outings, picnics and rx>at *ides are the vogue this sum mer. We have had and continue 4$ have our share. The young famous in Ohio history, under the auspices of one of our • clubs, was notable. Eating toasted weiners and drinking “Coolade” at the base of Fort Meigs monument, while the stars twinkled overhead and the river nearby sang its way to the sea, held a measure of romance for the young people. All too soon the blare of the au tomobilfe horni announced finis to an evening of fun and fel lowship. The moonlight boat ride up the historic Martimjee and jou>t into the still more historic - Maumee Bay, despite the down pour of rain, was outstanding. Many persons took advantage of the trip and voted it an en joyable evening. The Daily V acation Bible school closed a fe*/ weeks ago. An exhibit of the literary and c.'aft work was largely patron ized i'j’d favorably spoken of by the congregation. The Mon day following the closing, the teachers and pupils were served ice cream, donated by the Sun day school. During the hottest weather Ohio has ever experienced the school continued to function and is a tribute to the enthusiasm and loyalty of teachers and pu pils. There were no paid teachers, but they scored high in loyalty * and efficiency. The usual sub jects were taught, including story telling and crafts, 'pie mu sic hour secured high interest. Our pastor, the Rev. C. A. Ward, D. D., will take his vaca tion during the month of Au gust. During this period the Rev. Forrest Mitchell, Baptist divine, will be in charge of the pulpit. Come now, backsliders, tell me, are you happy? Have you had one happy hour since you left 'Christ? Does the world satisfy you, or those husks that you have got in the far 'country? I have traveled a good ; deal, but I never found a hap py backslider in life.—Sel.