OR Q:F AFRICAN METHODIST iSIPISOOP.AJLi ZION CHURCH IN ATifBTRTnA VOLUME xyi. CHARLOTTE, N.C., THURSDAY, APRIL 1,1IS97. NUMBER 13. CHAIR OF THEOLOGY Short Expressions Relative Thereto From Yarious Sources. ZION INTERESTED IN HER OQLLEOE. REV. R. K. HEARNS, Put me down as one of those pre siding elders who are willing to help sustain the Jones’ Theological Ohair of our Livingstone College. CaHisle,S. C. REV. A. 3. RODGERS. Pat me down as one of the minis ters willing to pay $5 from now un til next General Conference- to re-es tablish our Theological Department in Livingstone College. Montgomery, Ala. —o— REV. 3. H. MCMULLEN. Dear.Brother Smith : I will five $5 a year from now until next Gen eral Conference for the support of Jones’ Theological Chair. We must stand by our Livingstone College. Washington, D. C. KEY. H. Jj. MCKIKKET, You call for volunteers to the sup port of the Jones' Theological Chair created at Livingstone College by the General Conference of 1892. While I desire no special publicity, I will promise and pay the amount of $3 per annum for its support. As one of its Alumni I feel deeply in terested in all things making for its future glory and of Zion Connection in the elevation of her pulpit. Athens, Tenn. \ - » - —o— REV. G, S. ADAMS, D. D. ~ It seems to me that it would be a great help to Livingstone College if the churches that did not observe Children’s Day would hold some kind of educational exercise and lift col lections all day some Sabbath and send the money to Prof. B. A. John son. I mean “The Livingstone Col lege District.” Zioif will not hold her place while the Jones’ Theologi cal Department is inoperative. Washington, D. C. BEV. W. 3. MOORE, D. D. Brother Smith: I will be .one of fee 200 five dollar men for the re opening and sustaining of our Theo logical Department of Livingstone College. As one of the lovers of my Zion I cannot stand under the dis grace of seeing this department dosed* Now is the time to show our huroh pride. Let us come to the rescue at once. Let the Board of Bishops and College faculty appoint a Dean when they meet in Charlotte and rally the men of their districts. Wilson, N. O. 11 I take pride in enrolling ray name among those mentioned in last week’s issue to sustain the Theological Ohair. I don’t think the ministers giving this fi nancial aid should have anything to do with the! selection of Bean. That seems rather selfish.' It ■will seem to the Trustees and Board of Bishops that some only ga ve help po that' they might favor their friend Nevertheless, we’ll sustain the Chair the allotted time, and the Board Bishops and Trustees may select the Bean. *«. KEY. A. H. ADAMS. Mr. Editor: Let it he known throughout the Connectional limits that we are in deep sympathy with our chief institutions of learning. There are no Alps between us and our pofcklt-books. We are not grum bling as to who shall fill the chair, but at the ministers who are doing nothing for them in the way of rais* ing money. Presiding Elder J. W. Cooper will put words in their prop er places on his district for Living stone College, jPinckard, Ala. —o— BEV. JOHN A. D. BLOICE. I have read with much interest the [articles touching the Theological Be partment at Livingstone College and would be pleased to contribute $5 per annum until, the meeting of the Gen eral Conference. iks to Rev. B. 0. Covington lention of m; tawididite for th* position, I Me no on# win could more ably fill it then Her. T. B. Fenderson of Boston Univeriity. Camien, If. J. MV. W. H. ILT. I second the motion of Rey. E. M. Stanton, presiding elder of the New Jersey Conference, foyoring Rey. Wm. E oward Day, D. D,, as Dean of Living! itone College, and I will give i all I cnn until next General Confer ence fo r the support of the theological chair. I spent twelve years in school i the first eight in Philadel phia, n y home; three years at Hamp ton j Vi,., and One year in Indianapo lis, Ind. I am a loyer of all of Zion’s schools and especially of Livjngstone College, the great center light of our great 2 ion. It must have money and not sin ply conference resolutions to run it. Ton, <*r«, N. Y. inr ME. MOSES S, 8PEATT. l£ v ’ould be more then a shame upon our great Zion to let Jones' Theological Chair go down at Liv ingator e College, our chief school, which vae the pride of the late Dr. J. 0. Price. Ministers of the Arkan sas Co iference, let us rise from our lethargy and come to the rescue of this C )llege of ours. Some of you Stop fetching your congregations that it is to > far away to do anything for it. Pi t me down among those who will gi ire $5 a year from now until next 6 moral Conference for the sup* port o ' this chair. As a layman, my mo ley is ready any time. Let the ab Lest theologian in the Church be sele sted as Dean. War'fin, Ark eew. S. MOSS. I d< not think there is a single minister belonging to our grand old Zion vho has her interest at heart but .wh it, if called on, would do all in his pov er to sustain the Jones* Theo logical Chair in Livingstone College. Zion es nnot, and will not, suffer this departi aent to go to the wall; for it would le an everlasting shame on her loyal alherents; and we might hear the lan ented Dr. J. .0. Price speak-* ing to our consciences in thunder tones ondemning our slothfulness to a cause he so loved and worked for. Let it not be truthfully said that this Chair is vacant; hut that it will soon hi re-occupied. Let the much needed work of training men theolog ically {o on. Class me with the $5 men.' Chailottfi, N. C. ;»Y BIV. 8. DERBY, D. D. Dr. £ mith: Seeing your appeal to the Connection on behalf of our The ological Department at Livingstone College I consider that the General Conference held at Mobile, Ala., May, 1196, committed a great blun ier wht in it failed to make an appro priate for eaid department. It was i treme ndous blow at the back-bone >f the future ministry in Zion Con lection By. all means the Chair nust bi filled; and Rev. Wm. How ard Da/, of Harrisburg, Pa., is the nan. "Old men for counsel, young nen foi war.” If all the presiding ilders (f all the annual conferences would | ;ive ten dollars. a year, each, lon’t you think you'd have nearly he req iired.amount ? Alabama an,d Florida alone could give over $135 a rear. Suppose all the P, E.’s try it. Put me down for $2, or more, a year. Milti n, Fla. BSV. E. 3. MILLER, D. D. Editor: I am deeply inter red in the welfare of Livingstone College the institution which was the pride o' the late Dr. J. G. Price, and ‘or whi :h he gave hie life. Oan we who ar 5 living become indifferent to ts succ 588, sinoe his death ? As al ■eady s aid by. many, some one should >ccupy Jones' Theological Ohair j and hat it should be well supported is he pre railing sentiment. Rev. William Howard Day, D. D., >f Hari isburg, Pa., is the very man 0 fill that Chair. His prominent lualific ttions as a scholar, an$l his peculia r fitness as a teaclaer make, or would nake, him master of the situa favor of him and will or more permanently is in a prosperous condition—both spiritual and temporal. Several have bqen added to the choroh sinoe un der my charge. Sag-Harbor, N. Y. BY BEY. W. L. CLAYTON. Dear Editor: I am truly glad that you have sounded the alarm so loud in the interest of the Oonnec tional claims. You have opened the eyes of the supporters ot Zion; and now “hustling will be done” along all lines, because the Stab is shining bo brightly, and no one can fail to see and know his duty. You should be commended by the whole Church for throwing the twinkling rays of the Stab down bo many lines of interest. '•The school of the prophets must be opened.” Bishop Hood in 1893 caused the Virginia Conference min isters to vote to sustain Jones’ Theo logical Chair. Since 1893, in every annual session by roll-call, every ac < £ v REV. J. C. TEMPLE. tive member of this conference has paid $1 for the support of that Chair. We think there are a large majority of our preachers who are loyal enough to pay $5 per annum until General Conference, but are not able because of email salaries, etc. How ever, every active preacher in Zion oan pay $1 per annum; and by so do ing, the Theological Chair will never again be without a teacher. Put us down for $1.00 per annum, ever and anon. Plymouth, y. C. A POLITICAL SHAME. BY ISAAC H. SMITH. Editor Stab : Permit me to make a brief statement. It is currently re ported that there is a self-constituted committee at Washington, D. 0., and that three A. M. E. Bishops-and Mr. J. 0. Dancy are standing between the Committee and these three bishops. These, it is reported, are trying tQ get niae of the .finest and most pol ished Christian gentlemen known to bo any Church Militant to do a mean, Low thing. It is currently reported that they are actually trying, begging and per suading these holy Christian gentle men to come off of my petition and go on Mr. Dancy’s. Now, if thiB be true, and it is eo true till you will never see any denial, is rot this pre sisely a case of undermining ? If this be true, shame on all concerned in it; yes, ignominious shame. Why did not Mr. Dancy call on the ZioU Bish ops before this? He thought he would not need them. I am getting rat a circular letter. Newborn, JV. 0. The last issue of the Stab of Zion was superb. Its supplement containing the cuts of bishops and other church digni taries was a most creditable production. Under the editorship of Dr. Smith, the Stab is fast forging to the front.—San Prantiteo (Gal.) Elevator. ■—o— We are m receipt of a beautiful souvenir supplement to the Stab of Zion. It is an elegant specimen of the printer’s art and is commemorative of the EVENING IffUSINGS. A Brief Sketch Of The Life Of Rev. J. C. lemple. Bt &1V. JA8. a. KAIOK, D. D., 7. a. As I am doing doable duty—being Presiding Elder and Conference Fi nancial Agent, ny days are so folly occupied, I have only a few moments each evening for correspondence. Hence, under the above title, it is my purpose to write sketches of indi viduals, discuss living issues, etc. "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? " was m important in»er rogatory propounded centuries ago. The same question was suggested rel ative to the cit es of Schenectady and Utica, N. Y., when contemplat ing the religious i tatus of the colored population up to a year and a half ago. About that time during the sit ting of Central and Western New York Conference 11 Gloverville, N. Y.; an important transfer was made t this district. B.e entered the churc1 edifioe late one afternoon daring tb< session. He was a little above th average height, slender, of dark com plezion, pleasant face and intelligen countenance. There was an ease an> grace of manner thafc indicated self reliance, and a familiarity with sue) assemblages. At length he was in troduced to the conference by Bishop A. Walters, D. D , and the name o' Rev. J. 0. Tempi e is now familiar tt thousands throughout this section. When the conference terminated be was Appointed to Schenectady, N Y., numbering 30,000 inhabitants, about 200 of which are colored. Th< population principally consists of the Batavian Germ* i stock. This city has the unenviable distinction of be* ing the only place in the great em* pire state, that sympathised vith, and contributed to, the suocess of the Confederacy, until Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. All the conference wished Elder Temple suc cess ; but not one believed in so short a time he would be able to Burmount the many barrier i and unify the peo ple of cblor into a working religious organization. However, from the first Sunday the interest increased. The dilapidated briok building was soon renovated a id beautified—cost ing several hund red dollars. Early in the conference year revival meet ings were held, resulting in an organ ization of over tiirty members and. a Sunday-school, of over fifty schol ars. The receipt* increased to over $100 per month. Hundreds of the best white citizer s as well gs colored waited upon his ministry with inter est and delight. At the last annual conference his superior executive ability and orgtniziog power were fully demonstrated by his report. These, supplemented by his striking eloquence, influenced the Bishop to ohange him to Utica, N. Y., the most difficult mission appointments north of Mason and Dixon’s line. Utica is a city of nearly 50,000 in habitants. The iou8 Btat as of the people very low, there being no colored church organ* ization. Hope chapel, although sup ported f >r over twenty-five years by the whit a churches seemed hopeless in its mission. Ihe denominational differentiations existing among the colored’ people ms ie religions harmo ny apparently impossible. But with a sublim 3 faith and hope irrepressible, Elder T tmple entered upon the work. Methodii ts, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopt lians and Catholics attended the serv.ces. All were fnlsome in their pra se of his magnetic eloquence, his natai al, sympithetic, and unas suming mannerisms. “Why," said seme, "h 1 sees anil speaks to every body ; visits everybody, and has a good woi i for all.” The congrega tion increased weekly. Watch-meeting night he com menced special meetings, and after the moB; tireless and exhausting struggle re have <. Zion Society of 76 members and a St nday-school of 70 scholars. All the officers and teach ers are cc lored, an unprecedented ex perience. Elder T ample is now looked upon as i sort of Moses. All desses of citizens are happily surprised with the marvslous mcral revolution oc curring during th possesses the elements of adaptabil.ty—having a knowledge of Negrooloj y. He is a successful pas tor, a lucid and eloquent preacher, and an in pressive orator. May th 3 good work in Utica con tinue, unlil the colored citizens take their plac is beside the white-robed throng wl o are pressing with irre sistable tr lumph 1 award the oity of the living God. Rochest r, N. Y. A MPT T1IS PLAN. BY BEY. A. B. 8MYEB. Mr. Ed tor: Ii; has been a loop ime sine 11 have asked for space ir mr great Ohnrch paper; bat as I -ee the gr tnd old Ship approaching a inancial crisis I come to the front. rf 27 yea*s of faithful servioe, ex perience and clcse observation in •very pi ase of pal pit life in the Methodist Charol 1, except that of bishop, (e rery one of these years I nave been elected a ministerial dele rate,) count for Anything, then I come virh this :£uch qualification, at least, no suggest a plan which will produce •‘atiefaotor f resultn, any one of which [ think nc one will oppose. I do no like Eev. Gaskill'a plan for raisieg monoy. It savors too much of bi yiDg ap nointments; indeed it seems t< lose sig;ht of every thing hut gettin $ money. I have known him from iis youti. He is a worthy young ma 1 with commendable aspira tions and i loble qualities, but his plan is no gpod. I am cot surprised at the suggestion of dangerous plans to ee cape the c risis thc.t is about to oome upon us, t rought-about by hasty and nnsatisf&c ory legislation, by some legislators who wculd find it difficult to show ty correct record that they had been nembeni of the Connection three yeai s. What ii really needed is the, collec tion of more finance and a fair and equitable distribuaon of it among our several lepartmente respectively. How can we best collect the amount needed ? Not by threatening, bull dozing and abusing the pastors. They are cot all oowards. Some of them bel.wve themselves to be men even if nc capital letters follow their names. '?he thrsatening and bull dozing m ithods have been pursued to very little credit and much hurt to the holy < iause. We see and hear so much abc at how the bishops should use their Mgh and holy office to drive the men to the pegs set, or wreak vengeanc i upon us, until holy, fathr erly, con: toiling work of that high eccleeiasti c dignitiry’s office seems al most changed frcm what it was in tended., I prefei that we should not use taring so freq uently which convey talk year in and out of our grea schools and departments. They col lect very nearly all and sometimes all of the general fund whether the bub op is present or absent; and all of th< other Oonnectional claims. . The] lead in every great movement of th< Church, and organize boards, club: and committees, lay the plan and ool lect $90 out of $100 from the member: and the congregation. I anix prettj extensively acquainted with the.pas tors- in Zion from the icy regions o the North to the sun-burnt cottor fields of Alabama and Mississippi; t< the rice banks of Louisiana and the saltry plains of Florida; and I ven ture the assertion, without fear o successful contradiction, that there ii not a class of men who are proudei of Zion and her bishops and genera' officers than Zion pastors. lit. Let each annual conference steward report every montt to the Star of Zion the amount of genera! fund that each pastor sent in the pro ceding month. By this means it car be seen what pastors are doing theii duty. 2nd. At the end of the year 1st the Steward report to the Star the amount paid that yean by each pas tor. 3rd. Let all Departments report to the Star the moneys they received from each pastor. 4th. Let the General Secretary oi the General Steward report on the last Wednesday or some day in the last week in January or the first week in February the whole amount o: general fund collected the preceding year. 5th. To whom and to what it hai been paid. That way, Mr. Editor we can see who collects, how moot war collected, and to whom it wat paid. This is nothing but fair. Just te&Wi who gets the money tnd how much eaoh gets, and bo* each Department gets. Don’t keef 'is in the dark for four years as tc how much is being paid to this and that one. We will collect the moneys Treat us as men and brethren and we will keep the wheels of Zion rolling January 30, 1897.) Rot. Editor J. W. Smith: 1 Yotrs dated November 14,1800, in an swer to my letter, is before me—came ' the lust of December. Glad you an ‘ cwered so promptly. My husband and L because of the little encouragement and aid received, have been hindered in ' our African work. The Board of Bish ops aie fully acquainted with our work, ’ for wc make a yearly report to them. I ■ hope everything concerning this work , will toon be settled and good feeling prevail; and that our work will hath more encouragement than ever. ; * Our work here is not a “supposed’* one. It is a fact. Remember I have been here near ten years. Remember I am an American; North Carolina born, 1 raised, educated and a married daughter of the A. M. £. Zion Connection. My . husband is of tbe same birth. Through misrepresentation, my husband and I for the laid six or seven years have had to swallow many big and bitter pills. To morrow morning, if life lasts, will flad -v, . me enroute 50 miles to Powersville to our second Liberian annual Union Chris tian Endeavor Convention of which I am a delegate from the local Y P. 9, 0. E. of our Church of which I am also president. In our local 0. E. we have 87 members, some belonging to other Evangelical Churches here. Our Zion was the first in this town to take hold of the Y P. 8. C, E. We have here, too, an I. O. G. T. of which I am Lodge Dep uty. My husband is interested in both of these societies. This journey of 50 miles which l am to take to-morrow morning is to be footed over half way; the other half is to be by eanoe. We cannot do otherwise on this route- We need your white, black, yel* 1 low, fTizzle or gray donkeys. You see you follows in AmeHca would not earn very much to preach here because of the mode of travel.. The donkeys would not suit you. In these parts of Africa we have :io street cars nor railroads; and these jackasses are so fkr apart-drW|e Now and then a person has - Star of Zion Bays:- “Since the Bethel and Zion’ diacussion, The Ghrii tian Recorder says the history of the A. VI. E. Church is defective; that there are broken links in its narrati ve chain. Host true! If Bishops Allen. Payne, Tanner, Arne;t and Tamer in their books oonld, not make this crooked history straight and f nd and unite the broken links, how can t ie nresent set of Bethel divines do so ? They will have to work their im aginations to do'it. The Recorder wants another historian to complete the work. Dr. J. M. Henderson is the ablest Bethel historian in sight. Why pass him by? Eh?” Our files are in evidence that we have held ;his position prior to the discussion referred to. While the Recorder thanks its ccnnectional neighbor, the Star, tot the importance attached to the verdict respecting the inadequacy of the present history of the A. M. E Church by twice referring to the same, our gratitude ends wher. our contemporary strains a con clusion or parts company both with our statements and thefacta in the case. As tl ere ir a possible difference between needing and wanting a thing, we wonld like lo be understood as saying what we mean and meaning what is said regard ing a better history of the Church. The A. M. E. Church may be as satisfied with its written history as its sister denomi nation appears to be with her published recoid, despite its crookedness and brok en links, bat that does not alter the facte in eit her case that a better Church history is sadly : needed. The great barrier in the way of race progress in and out of Choich lines, is th?t trfb many of us, ilk* his Satanic Majesty, despise the lencies wp fail to have or take not