Newspapers / The Star of Zion … / July 14, 1898, edition 1 / Page 1
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»«-«.».-«—s ORGAN OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL ZION CHURCH IN AMERICA. Volume XXII. Charlotte, N. C., Thursday, July 14, 1898. Number 30. SOME EPISCOPAL DOTS A Visit To Fort Macc n—Homes For Pastors—Nctes. . i BY C. R. H. Negro regiments with Negro of ficers are the logical outcome of Negro | Churches ard Negro schools—the necessity that is laid upon America at the pi esent stage of its civilization. The American white, ! like the Norman in Great Britain several hundrec years ago, thinks himself the lord of crea tion, as indeed, from a worldly point of view, he is. Witness the partition of Africa. So other races or 'societies of the human race content themselves, for a Jtime, with enforced separation. When patience and other Christian graces shall have wrought their perfect work, when pride has been hum bled, and love and humi lity exalted, these petty anti-Christian distinc tions will be lost, and man will be treated as man, ‘!‘for a that.” A visit to the cam] 3 of Negro volunteers at Fort Macon near Beaufort, N. C., was cmte enjoya ble, especially as the Bishop was an invited guest in a party of visi tors. The camp is well-arranged and kept; and the men well fed, happy and contented. Only a part were fully uniformed and equipped, but they made a fine show at battalion drill conducted, as it seemed to an onlooker, by Rev. E. E. Smith, lieutenant and acting chaplain. Major Young, the commander, looks to be the stuff soldiers and colonels are made of. I shall rejoice when he reaches the highest rank open to the Negro soldiery. My old friend Charlie Taylor, captain of Char lotte’s crack company, and his well drilled men are a proof of the wis dom of the State in time of peace preparing for possible war, by foraging Negro military compa nies! which will be to the hastily formed troops what the regular army is to the volunteers. I was told that the battalio 2 would be in creased to a regimen;, with Negro officjers. All hail to the auspicious day ! The Y. M. C. A. and its friehds have provided at the 'camp a tent where are furnished sta tionary, and Bibles and other re ligious literature, free of cost to the soldiers. The tent is yet un paid for, but contributions are so licited and will doubtless be made in sufficient quantity by a patriot ic, Christian-hearted public. To what extent a minister’s or pastor’s duty is to overshadow his personal and family duties may be a mooted question, but the North Carolina Conference seems to have awakened to the fact that every circuit and station should provide a house for the use of its pastor. This is a healthy sign, and indi cates decided progress. Rightly, the erection of churches must first ■ engage the attention of ministry and membership. Then, as soon as practicable, and svhen no church debt hampers, should follow the erection of parsonages. This is the more necessary when pastors have homes of their own, and their families prefer to stay there rath er than follow the preacher from one annual appointment where in convenient and poorly furnished houses are usually provided at high rental paid from a small sal ary, to another of the same, or worse condition. Hence, it is worthy of note that in addition to the number of parsonages hither to reported, Clinton Chapel, New bern, and the churches of Wilson, Tarboro, Jumping Run, Wil mington and possibly others not now in mind, are finishing raising funds for the erection of comforta ble, neat and commodious parson ages. Congratulations are in or der. In the meantime churches throughout the district, in need of repairs or remodeling, are being subjected to the desired changes, all of which goes to show that the church-going Negro is not spend ing all of his scanty earnings in whiskey, tobacco nor railroad ex cursions. Salisbury, N. C. BUILDING A PARSONAGE. * BY REV. M. L. BLALOCK. I am now at Wilmington, in charge of St. Luke A. M. E. Zion church. I noticed in the Star of Zion a few weeks ago, that Rev. P. L. Cuyler had been appointed to Galbraith, Washington, D. C., and'that his appointment was con sidered Providential. Well, I don’t know about my lot, but despite the condition of things at Wil mington, we have begun to build a fine parsonage of nine rooms on the church lot. The frame is up and we are now enclosing the build ing and expect to have it ready for dedication about the middle of August or first of September. The building when completed and furnished, will be worth about $2,000. So you see, Brother Smith, I am building up Zion everywhere I go. Wilmington, JV. C. WE ARE HAPPY. BY BROADWAY S. MINTER. For 18 long years we have had the name of a church place called Paradise. Now it looks like Par adise indeed. It is singular how some ministers can go to a place where little if any thing has been done and take the same people and do so much in a short time. We have such a successful pastor with us—Rev. S. H. McKay. He never leaves his congregation blind to duty. He works and he and his people are helps to each other. He is a clear-cut Zion preacher^ a fine thinker. It has been quite a while since a Bishop has passed through here, but we pay our gen eral fund all the time. We hope the Bishop will visit us soon. Norrington, JV. C. IN AN AWKWARD FIX. Snowden Badly Mix&I On Law. No Case Legally Before Him. BY BISHOP jj. W. HOOD. The effort of Rev. W. H. Snow den to get out of an awkward fix reminds me of tlie young woman who said Jesus had taken her feet out of the miry clay and stuck them down in the mud. He has not at all improved his condition. He seems to think that Dr. Wheeler, who reported the Bish ops’ decision, was not present at the meeting. In this he is mis taken. Dr. Wheeler was present, was elected assistant secretary, and made a correct record of the Bishops’ decision respecting the membership of Mrs. Small in the church at York. It was not a mere opinion of a portion of the Bishops, but a decision rendered, without a dissenting voice. They also deci ded by unanimous vote that BWer Snowden had no authority to render such decision because there was no case legally before him. If the pastor had de clared her not a member, and she had appealed, the case would then have been property before him. He says that hfe decided that she was not a member of the local church. What business has the Presiding Elder with any one’s local membership? If he initiates proceedings against a member, he violates the law which says a Pre siding Elder shall not assume pas toral functions where there is a preacher in charge. In deciding a case which was le gally before him, no matter how erroneous his decision might have been, it would have been no viola tion of law. But when he went out of the way to decide a question which was not ’.legally before him, he rendered himself liable to be tried for maladministration. He quotes the law correctly when he says the application is with the quarterly conference. But he violated that law when he made a decision which included the ap plication. When Elder Snowden questions the authoritv of the House, that is, Board of Bishaps, to decide ques tions of law, be simply shows his ignorance of the polity of his Church. The A. M. E. Zion Church, it is true, is governed by the general laws of Methodism, where they are broad enough. But as an independent body, she has frequently made new depart ures. She has originated ideas. She has frequently made laws which have been followed by other bod ies. Respecting the authority of the Bishops, u law was enacted in 1872 which I have not seen in any other Discipline. As the author of that law, .1 think I know what it means. By it, the Bishops were given the “general supervision of the entire Connection in the inter val of the Greneral Conference.” See Disciplin<e, page 122. They have' no authority to do mischief; but their authority to do good, to miintain peace, harmony and the prosperity of the Connec tion is unlimited, j- They have au thority to put forth every possible effort to secure to the humblest mem ber his rights. They are the su preme authority in the Church in the interval of the General Con ference. Any one in the Church, whether minister or lay member, who disregards their decisions is guilty of rebellion. In accordance with this law which gives the Bishops general supervision, Bishop Jones brought to the meeting of the Bishops a case in which a number of mem bers had been excluded without trial. The pastor who excluded them presided at the quarterly conference and ruled against them there; and, like Elder Snowden, he assumed the functions of the quarterly conference and made the application himself; and hence they were shut out. There seemed to be no remedy and the church was nearly broken up. But there should be a remedy for every evil and the Church which does not provide a remedy for such evils will fail of its calling. In that case the Bishops declared the ac tion of the pastor null and void, and permitted the members to re sume the enjoyment of their rights in the church and assured them that their rights should be respect ed, and ;hus order was brought out of confusion, and the church has prospered ever since. Elder Snowden asks: ‘‘Did she appeal from my decision to the quarterly conference?” What non sense! Is there any such appeal? This is simply adding insult to in jury. He says Mrs. Small ignores “her” quarterly conference. My! I thought he said she was not a member. How can he call it “her” quarterly conference, when he has decided that she is not a member, and therefore has no quarterly conference to appeal to. He bars her out of his court and then complains because she does not force her way into it. He says she ignores the Bishop of the district. The annual Con ference had not been in session and therefore the Bishop of the district had not been on the bench. He says she ignores the triers of appeals. What have the triers of appeals to do with one’s member ship in the local church? They are to try appeals from the action of an annual conference. Elder Snowden’s decision, so far as it had any effect, put Mrs. Small out of every ordinary court in the Church. It was an extraordinary decision, and only a court having jurisdiction over miscellaneous and extraordinary cases was prepared to meet it. And the court formed for the purpose of meeting such cases in composed of the Board of Bishops. For 26 years such cases have been coming before that court, and it’s a little late now'to question its authority. Fayetteville, W. C. CHURCH AND CLERGY. Succinct Reports Indicative Of The Progress of Zion. DOING A GREAT WORK. The Sunday-schools are doing well all over my district.—Rev. A. B. Smyer, Citronelle, Ala. —o— I My church is doing its best to be in line this year. We shall try to keep away failure. A nicer paper than the Star in its latest style is hard to find. 'Let it go on to perfection.—Rev. E B. Hibber, Mt. Pelier, La. —o— Our work is moving nicely. People happy. We have taken in over $200 since Conference. Bish op Walters preached a great ser mon for us recently. He is indeed a great religious philosopher.— Rev. C. D. Hazel, Paterson, N. J. We are preparing for a big rally . the third Sabbath in July to re pair our church for the entertain ment of the Central North Caro lina Conference in November. Our work is in fine condition.— Rev. R. M. Thpmpsoii, Carthage, N. C. I My church is very prosperous; have added 7; baptized 4 adults and 21 children. I have three V. C. E. Societies that' are getting along nicely. Sister Lizzie Ray and Mr. George Fursoum were happily married May 22nd.—Rev. B. B. Brown, Bakersville, N. C. The Lord has put new zeal in my people and I have some of the best members in the North Geor gia Conference., Bishop I. C. Clinton and Presiding Elder L. W. Taylor visited us recently and we had great success. They are grand men. I am cancelling my Connec tional claims as fast as they come. —Rev. J. H. Ellison, Minlo, Ga. The Children’s Day exercises at the St. Paul A. M. E. Zion church on North Willow Street yesterday were very interesting. The pul pit, chancel and the interior of the church were very handsomely decorated with palms, flowers, floral crosses, flags and bunting. A large anchor of roses and other flowers was suspended above the pulpit. A number of canaries added to the interest of the occa sion by their sweet songs. In the morning at 10:30 Dr. White preached on “ True and False Edu cation,” followed by a service of song by the choir and congre gation. In the evening at 7 :45 a fine musical and literary program was rendered. Addresses on edu cation and mission work were giv en by Rev. Dr. White and Mr. A. J. Gibson, of Lincoln University, Oxford, Pa. The exercises wero conducted by the superintendent, James H. Brown, and assistant superintendent, Kelly Hinton. Mr. George W. Sebastian, leader of the church orchestra, assisted in the exercises. — Trenton {N. J.) American. _ - ’ii 1 ifiiMiii*
The Star of Zion (Charlotte, N.C.)
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July 14, 1898, edition 1
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