Newspapers / The Star of Zion … / July 14, 1898, edition 1 / Page 3
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HERE AND THER5. REV. J. R. ALEXANDER. Dear Sir: It has been many moons sihce I have written to the Star. Now hear from Her Maj esty’s domain. Rev. M. R. Wil liams, our efficient presiding elder, has held his third quarterly conr ference and he preaches soul-stir ring sermons all the ti ne. The people are well pleased with him as he is the right man in the right place. We have been blessed with a revival at ButlerIs Chapel.! Sunday-schoo s are or ganized at each place, a \ . C. E. at St. Mafks and the debt greatly re duced. We expect to r^ach Con ference^ D. V., clear of debt. I have read with pleasure the suggestions of several brethren in reference to Price Memorial and the lifting of the debt off of the Varick Building. Every loyal Zionite and race pride f 1 iend ought to contribute at least ten cents to the Price Memorial fund. If put in action, I can vouch for every member in the Michigan and Can ada Conference that will contrib ute. The Varick Memorial Building or Publication House. I see it is said to be (by them tha t know) the best Negro Publishing House in the world. If so. why not let us free it from debt? Rev. J. W. Thomas says let each minister give By one dollar. I say so too. turning to the Official Directory of ’95 we find Ave had ministers and preachers, 2,880, and from the same work Ave find the increase in elders from ’81 to ’90. a period of nine years, to be 278 or 30 a year; deacons, 219 or 24 a year; preach ers, 09 or 11 a year. . As the sta tistics were taken from ’93 and '94, at the same ratio for four years from ’94 to ’98 would give her a gain of 260 or a tatal now of 3,140. That would be $3,140. Nowt, I am getting small salary to Avhat I hear some ire getting. I havb been in this Conference since its first organization, October 3, 1877, and have never received over this $300 salary any year; and year without a big change I will not get $200; yet i will give $1. WHat say you brethren? All who will give a dollar on or before the first of September, drop a postal card to Rt. Rev. T. H. Lomax, stating that you are in the band wagon. Zion mils*; own her own Publication House ::ree from debt. I read with interest the Practi cal or Timely Ta ks and Alarm Cry by Bishop Geo. W. Clinton. It was certainly the right talk with the true ring and ought fo be printed in pamphlets and be in the library of every minister and member in Zion. We often sing, ‘ Help us to help each other, Lord. ’ All Method ists loAre to sing this. Now I tell you what will help us out here on the mission field where our people a^e few, namely, a visit occasion ally from some of our general offi cers. I know whereof I speak. We have only hal one visit from a General Office]’ outside of the presiding bishop since this Con ference was organized and that was from Dr. J. H. Manley, while he was Missionary Secretary. I see from the Sta:i that other Con ferences have tuem. We are small, but we are not the North pole. I think though that we might be discovered. Bethel has visits from their General Officers Just one instance of some of the work out here. How thick our people are in four townships? We have about 800 Negroes and three Bethel, two Baptists, one B. M. E. and two Zion churches—the two that I have charge of. You see we just have standing ground and have to contend for all we get, still we have some good fields in the district. Detroit is a city of about 300,000 inhabitants, with an Afro-American population of obout 12,000. Bethel has three, Baptist one, Episcopalians one and Zion a small congregation wor shipping in a rented house. Now dear General Officers, if you can not tarry, pay us a flying visit and it will encourage our hearts and will greatly help the work. The Star is truly a bright light. Now dear Editor, as this is the first regular correspondence from me since you have entered the edi torial chair, I tried to cook it ten der. I trust it will not need much boiling down. Colchester, Ontario. WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN ZION. This church had its usual large attendance on last Sunday. The congregation was a good one and was glad to see its pastor out as he has been ill and unable to preach for nearly two weeks. Rev. Pur year showed the people that he was little weak physically but was not weak spiritually. The Elder was inspired with the Holy Ghost and he well proved that in his sermon. He spoke on the “Mer cies ofJGod,” and made an impres sion that will be everlasting. In the evening he spoke on “Immuta ble, Everlasting and Springtime Harvest,” taste and see, being his first topic. He showed that to taste was to see, and seeing and tasting the holy things w’as ever lasting life. Devout prayer is admittance to the kingdom and a place around the throne. The people were revived and showed their approbation by giving a liberal collection. The Sabbath school was largely attended and many visitors were present. PEARLS OF INFORMATION. BY REV. H. W. SMITH. Jesus is the sweetest name that has ever been known by men or angels. To be deceive d by a friend is a wound we do not wish to receive. Many churches and pastors would fare better if the unruly were ex communicated. Rulers are blessings when the rights of the ruled are regarded. Some men are so low that they need blocks of D. D’s sometimes to stand on to make them tall enough to be seen. There is only^one Star of Beth lehem, our Saviour, and only one in our Church, the Star of Zion. God is all goodness, justice, mercy and truth. The absence of fraternal courte sies is the sign of brutishness. Suffering for Christ is a part of the promise-ladder to the crown. The good often suffer because of their opposition to the world, the flesh and devil. Union, S. C. WILfllNGTON DISTRICT. BY REV. D. T. MTCHELL. Marching is going on. St. Luke Station is now enjoying the second pastor for this year. Rev. P. L. Cnyler with the aid of his faithful followers bas made quite a change in the appearance of the said church. His ^successor, Rev. M. L. Blalock, I have not met yet, but I am informed that he starts off nicely. At this^ point we have one true and tried stone that start ed with Zion in its infancy it this city and to-day he is just as strong as ever. His advice is always val ued and in keepirg his command ments you will not have much trouble in that city, viz., David Williams. May he live long to bless Zion. Price’s chapel, Rev. E. M. Wil liams, pastor. He is a straight forward Christiai minister. His success has been great this year. Any true lover of Zion will feel good when they see the beautiful work inside of said church and hear them report how the long standing debts are being wiped out. The Sunday-school is on a strong financial level. Rev. D. A. Kelly, pastor of Greenville Sound circuit, is mov ing on slowly. He has two very nice churches and a fine people right by the sea where he can get fish to eat. But his wife has been sick and that kept him on the road. They tell me it’s a fine boy. South Port is. on a boom. Rev. D. L. Maultsby, the scholarly pas tor, is carrying things like a charm. He has placed a beautiful steeple to the church at a cost of $100 and added 50 members this year. Here wb have a fine people. The father of <the late Rev. John Davis yet lives here and a better man is hard id find. It was a lucky hit when the Bishop sent Rev. A. R. McKay to Brown’s chapel circuit. The peo ple love him and they are moving on in first-class order. Brother Mc Kay can make it any where if you will give him foot-hold. We have one Mr. A. B. Hawkins on this work that never thinks he has done enough for the church. Oh for more such men. Rev. P. W, Lawrence seems to be just the rr;an for Summerville circuit. He is going ahead build, ing, planning and completing churches this year. He is a straightout pastor. It is pleasant to see the success ful and smooth sailing this year on the Mount Pleasant circuit under the command of Rev. D. L. John son. This work is up-to-date and they only need larger churches so they can accommodate the grow ing congregation. The people on this work will make any minister feel at home, and when you are at their house you are at home. Lake Waccamaw circuit is pas tored by one of Zion’s faithful sons, Rev. H. J. Blanks. He seems to be getting better in his old days. He will soon have all of his general fifnd, besides he is building a nice church at Bolton. A more loyal people in Zion you cannot find than here. Our district conference meets here in September, Rehobotli circuit is marching under the flag of that fearless minister, Rev. B. D. Mclver, de spite the bad advicethat was given by the e:*-pastor to one of his churches, Zion Hill which caused * it to split. It has given the pres ent pastor considerable trouble. These things ought not to be from a Zion minister, yet ’tis true. Biit the Lord has been with Broth er Mclver, and he is doing better, having larger congregations and getting more; money than any min ister has received on that work for years. He is preparing to build two new chu relies, one at Rehoboth, the other at Christian Plain. It was a blessing when the Bishop sent this Christian gentleman to these people. The report in Con ference will show that it’s the man and not the people. Whitevilie circuit is under the care of one of Zion’s hustlers. Rev. E. S. W. Simmons. He is a schol ar, musician, preacher and builder. He has nicely painted the church and added many souls to it. He keeps things in such fine trim that it never takes more than an hour to hold this conference. We have an up-to-t.me people here. Lumber ton circuit is overjoyed with their new pastor, Rev. N. D. King, and his bride. They are a fine looking match. He is hold ing the fort in that tow n and mov ing the new church on to comple tion. He is one of our coming divines and will make you think of the |ate Rev. R. H. Stitt. He is just the man we need here. Many souls ha\ e been brought into our ranks this year. HERE AND THERE. Did you notice our increase on Easter collection? We are going to raise our full assessment of gen eral fund this years. The Star came out a brand new paper last week. Mr. Editor, much is being said about you for Bishop and I have no objection to serving under you; but experience tells me that we have more Bishop timber than we have Editor frames. I think the Connection ought to keep you in the Star office just as long as you are active. The ministers and pre siding elders can give some aid to the bishops. The Editor should be a* man that can use his own sword just like you. If we must do something, let us make your salary better and let you stay, but don’t move you off to hunt it. Ther e never was a time in the history of our Connection when missioi money was more needed than now. The time has past when you could send a man out with eo experience, money, house nor land and do much at spread ing Zijn in our large cities. Let each minister pay from $1 to $5 mission money this year and we will not lose a single church. I am going to send Bishop G. W. Clinton one dollar to start with. Who will follow ? Oh ! yes, one member was added to my church May 26—Florence Mace d Mitchell. Fayettveille, N. C. The great missionary and educa tional Jubilee of the A. M. E. Zion Church will take place Tues day, August 16th, 1898, at Asbury Park:, N. J. The Board of Bish ops will meet in the A. M. E. ZioE church here August 15th. WiL. alb of the Bishops and Gen eral Officers and ministers who propose attending both meetings please notify me at once so that suitable accommodations can be provided ? Drop me a card. Rev. J. E. Rodgers, Asbury Park, N. J. A CORRECTION. BY B. F. WHEELER. In your comments upon the re cent meeting of the Board of Bish ops’ meeting, in Peterburg, you said that “Secretary Wheeler failed to report the action taken by the Bishops’ meeting in the case of Mrs. Small etc. I did not intend to write to the STAfe to correct the statement for I thought your statement might be overlooked. But seeing that Bishop Small in a recent letter in the Star quotes your statement, I feel that it is necessary for me to correct it. Whatever action was taken on the case of Mrs. Small was taken in the House of Bishops. I was not only not the secretary of the House of Bishops but was not allowed to enter the conference chamber while the House of Bish ops was in session. No General Officer was allowed in that meet ing. So that I know absolutely nothing of what was there done. I was the assistant secretary of the Bishops’ meeting in place of Dr. Day who was absent. There was nothing whatever done by that body in reference to Mrs. Small. Ithaca, N. Y. [Mr. Secretary, we said you failed to report the action by the Bishops’ meet ing in the case of Mrs Small, etc. You didn’t report what we mentioned, there fore it was a failure and no correction of our statement. If we see a few more stones flying at us from the hands of bishops and ministers because of this statement we shall take a hand in this great discussion. Don’t, keep giving us “the tired feeling.”—Editor.] I WILL GO. BY KEY. W. M. STEWARD. I see that Rev. Dk C. Covington has turned his eyes down in Cuba and has made such a talk about it that he made me look down the road. He said he would like to know if there could be some one found to go down and plant Zion in Cuba. Yes. I am willing and ready to go at any time if the Church will send me. I am will ing to die for God and Zion. Little Rock, Ark* WHY THIS SHORTAGE? BY M. A. HAMNEK. I am compelled to w rite in an swer to the article by Rev. S. C. Harris, P. E., in the paper of the 26th ult. His statement is fine. He claims when he went to the Canton district it was in bad con dition. From the D. J. Adams left time that Elder it, our Zion in this country has tfeen several hun dred members sh0rt. In 1895, each ^district had 775 members, making the membership of two districts, 1,550. This num ber Doctor Adams reported and showed up. In 1895, Conference met at Zion’s chapel and only 1,445 members were reported. In 1896, Conference met at Durant and only 1,385 members reported. Confer ence met at Meridan in 1898 and only 1,200 members reported. Now something is wrong when the district has lost 350 members in that time. Valley, Miss. Our pastor at Biloxi writes that yel ow fever quarantine restrictions and oth }T existing circumstances will prevent he Mobile District Sunday-school Con tention from meeting there, hence, the neeting is postponed until a suitable ime and place can be selected.—Rev. A. B. Smyer, P. E., Citronelle, Ala.
The Star of Zion (Charlotte, N.C.)
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July 14, 1898, edition 1
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