ORGAN OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL ZION CHURCH IN AMERICA. if ' - | . ■ * h - ■- - | f ‘ T Volume XXIII. Charlotte, N. C., Thursday, March 30, 1899. Number 13 NEW ENGLAND WORK. The Labors of the Faithful Zion Workers in the Northeast. BY BISHOP J. W. HOOD, D. D., LL. D. Since the presiding elders have been writing up the work I have sot thought it necessary for me to cover the same ground. An occa sional article, however, touching upon observations may not be out of place. At New Haven 1 found presiding elder, pastor and people all active in the preparation for the annual conference which meets there on the 3d of May. Rev. Hill and wife were so much concerned for my welfare that they invited me to remain with them till my health was better and the weather more favorable. But not withstanding the comfortable ac commodations offered, and the care that I should want for noth ing, yet the feeling that I must be at the place ^appointed, if at all able, compelled me to decline the generous offer and pursue my journey, At nartioru a truiy great wont is being done. The church they have erected will be, when com pleted, not only a credit to the people, but an ornament to the corner on which it stands. Un like many of our churches, it is in the very heart of town, about half way between the State Capitol and Union street, and within five minutes walk of the splendid Union depot of the main railroad lines running into the city. Rev. J. S. Cooper deserves great credit for the -manner in which he has pushed this work over great opposition. For two years I have been urging the building of a new church in this place, but the work has been hindered by inducements not very creditable to some in dividuals. The lot is a very de sirable one. If we did not own it we could not buy it for a hundred thousand dollars. There were per sons who wanted it and were will ing to use any possible means to get it. Great efforts were made to persuade the congregation to agree to sell. Some, however, have been inclined to yield, and while they could not get the congrega tion to agree to sell, yet they kept them from starting to build. Brother Cooper succeeded in get ting a building committee, headed by Brother Jackson Ross, a man of considerable means, of strong will, and having the confidence of the best citizens, also having with him men who are tried and true. The work was begun under very favor able ■' conditions, and has been pushed as rapidly as the weather has permitted. The basement story is a little too low, but the audito rium will be equal to the best in the Connection. It is 47 feet wide and 90 feet long. At this place I was tendered a model reception. Some years ago there was a minister who through his self-conceit had divided his congregation so that about one third were so decidedly against him that he decided the Bishop might be inclined to move him. So he got up a sham reception for the Bishop in which every speech with one single exception was a laudation of himself. And some of them were insulting to the Bishop, for he was told that if he did not send that man back he need not send any one, and it was strongly hinted that he need not come back himself. The speeches seemed to be inspired, and the pastor was the lion of the occasion, and the Bishop, who was supposed to be the honored guest, 1,6was not in it.'1' The reception at Hartford was the exact contrast to the foregoing. Here the pastor had done and was still doing a great work, to call him down from which would seem to be a crime, and yet at this— one of the greatest receptions ever tendered me—he was not men tioned in any speech. Every word uttered was an expression of re gard for the Bishop or loyalty to the Connection. I said to myself: How could this man keep himself so completely out of tips thing? He evidently intended that Coop er’s work should speak for itself. [to be continued.] I am .Satisfied. BY REV. C. E. BAKER. When I resigned Hilliard Chap el station in Montgomery, Decem ber 24, 1898, and accepted the church at Forest Home, going from the city to the country, some of my friends laughed at me and said I made the mistake of my life. Of course I found the water a little muddy at my present charge from the fact that my predecessor, after receiving* $14, two turkeys, hams and a lot of other things for Christ mas, left without notifying the members. This for awhile made the odds against me. One month after my arrival Rev. T. A. Weathington, P. E., held my first quarterly conference. Although it was rainy and cold, I raised $20 for him, $5 for pastor, and $5.10 general fund. I have about 300 members on the circuit and, God being ray helper, I ex pect to collect 50 cents from each of them on general fund. I have a finfe church in course of building whose foundation was laid by Rev. J. J. Taylor. We want to com plete and dedicate it this year. The Star of Zion is so newsy that no true Zionite can afford to do without it long. Forest Home, Ala. Rev. H. B, Tilghman, Eaton town, N. J.: Year by year we are reminded of the brevity and un certainty of life. Alternately do ! we share the cups of joy and sor row, the experience of meeting and parting, and the consciousness that while we live, we die. Death has taken Bishop Holliday from us. He was a grand man. Death reminds us that “God buries His workmen, but carries on His work.” ON TO WASHINGTON! That City is Fully Able to Enter tain the General Conference. BV REV. C. FAIRFAX. I was surprised beyond all meas ure in reading the Star of the 2nd inst., articles from three well known and authoritative ministers in the Philadelphia and Baltimore Conferences, intimating doubt re lative to holding the next General Conferences in Washington, D. C. Rev. Logan Johnson, the pol of a century, but must stand and view the land from a distant mount of faint hope, without going over and possessing.the land ? Can it be possible that the Afro-Ameri can Council, a body composed of I representatives tinted by various denominational proclivity, saturat ed with society affiliation, and po litical aspiration, were welcome to hold profitable sessions in a notable denominational edifice, and there transact business and pass resolu tions pertaining to the social and political status of the race, and that the four handsome A. M. E. _■ ... .1 WESLEY UNION A. M. E. ZION CHURCH, Harrisburg, Pa.---Dedicated Sunday, !*lar. 5, 1899. ishecl debater, church organizer and builder, writes : “I really be lieve the ability to entertain the Conference is here, but not the will, unless something, is done.” This seems to me doubt and fear bordering upon final disarrange ment of present designs. The Rev. W. H. Snowden, one of most progressive presiding elders in the Connection, ahd a Church disciplinarian of no little fame, says: “As the time for the Gen eral Conference draws near I fear we have made a mistake in loca ting it here.” This to me is tremb ling on the brink w ith a pessimis tic view of future development. Now let the gallant Elder Dan iels be heard, and he will show the interpretation of this matter by not only answering for himself but exhume the seeming defunct for proper resusitation. / “If” he says, “each pastor and church will do their duty, the General Conference can be nicely entertained. ” Here is the voice of a true prophet with an optimis tic ring. Nearly four years ago, at the sit ting of the General Conference, the watch-cry was, “On to Washing ton” in 1900. Can it be possible that the A. M. E. Zion Church, one of the greatest Negro organi zations extant, cannot hold a Gen eral Conference there in a quarter Zion brick churches of local promi nence, and a live and intelligent membership will not entertain the General Conference in 1900 ? Out of Washington the law should come forth that will gov ern our Church for four years or more. Let the pastors and the members of those churches co operate upon this important mat ter and let the entire district be aroused to immediate action along this line. Where is Brother B. F. Grant and his armed cohorts; Brother Baltimore and his vigilant fleet; and the good people and Brother Calvin Brent of John Wesley and of Galbraith ; Where are they ? P