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THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL ZION CHURCH
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NUMBER FOUR
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 1923.
VOLUME FORTY-SEVEN
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Watching
the
Breakers.
SIDELIGHTS OF THE BISHOPS’
MEETING, ETC.
By W. H. Davenport.
Newark, New Jersey.—All \ the
bishops were there when the gave’
fell except Bishop Geo. L. Black
well, of Philadelphia. Bishop J. S;
Caldwe'3, who is deeply interested
in the rebuilding of St. Peter’s church
at New Bern, N. 0., and who made
a feasible proposition for helping the
people (emphasis is placed upon the
word helping) was elected chairman,
and before we fairly caught our
breath, wound up the business of
the Bishops’ meeting.
tnsnop ueo. <j. uiemeni, liuuis
vile, Ky., maturing in years and
wisdom, as was evidenced in his re
sponse to the address of welcome,
was elected secretary, and Bishop
L. W. Kyles, who is happy in his
commodious home in Winston-Salem,
and in the successes of his district,
was elected assistant secretary.
Bishop J. W. Wood, Indianapolis,
Ind., grave, dignified and suave,
’“doing fine,” and bringing things to
pass on his district, was in his place.'
Bishop W. Li. Lee, because of his
daring originality and massiveness,
was the cynosure of all eyes. His
nearest rival in that respect was
Bishop P, A. Wallace, who ^dis
tinguished himself fnthe1 ISpiscdpdviyr
because of his knowledge of parli
amentary law and the impartiality
of his rulings. Bishop Wallace’s dis
trict is largely missionary, but there
have been substantial improvements
along al lines under his administra
tion.
Bishop B ackwell appeared upon
the' scene the second day of the
meeting. He was sick. He was fresh
from a bed of illness, fresh from, the
anguish and heartache of sudden sep
aration from his talented wife, Mrs.
Annie W. Blackwell. Mrs. Blackwell
was a woman of natura1 gifts and
endowments. She was a fluent tak
er apd a constructive genius. Her
work as corresponding secretary of
the Woman’s Home and Foreign Mis
sionary Society has. never been equal
ed and her voice in the affairs of the
department was strong and convinc
ing. Mrs. A. L. Anderson, of Pitts
burgh, Pa., succeeds her. Bishop
Blackwell has the sympathy of his
brethren everywhere in his illness
and in the keen loss he has sustained
in the death of his wife.
The Breakers accept and appre
ciate 'the high compliment of the
bishops implied in their move to have
iiim take charge of a certain situa
tion.
Had the Revs. S. L. Corrothers,
C. C- Alleyne, and W. C. Brown con
spired together they cou'd not have
treated me with more uniform cour
tesy. I preached for a1! of them in
the order named. All of them are
candidates for the bishopric, but at
New Rochelle, where Dr. Alleyne
reigns they did not hesitate to dis
close their enthusiasm for what they
said were his very bright prospects.
Dr. B. G. Shaw, connectional
evangelist, was in one of his ways
at the Bridge St. A. M. E. church,
Brooklytn, where he was conducting
a revival. Great enthusiasm was
Manifest in the services and scores
of persons professed salvation.
I forgot to mention that the Rev.
A. A. Crooke, our missionary to
South America, reported to the Bish
ops’ meeting, eloquent, hale and hap^
py and very optimistic of the future
4>f Zion Methodism in South America
' XContinued to page 5)
An Episcopal Address
FREIGHTED WITH FOOD FOR THOUGHT.—TOUCHING EVERY
PHASE OF OUR CHURCH LIFE AND A GENERAL REVIEW OF
RACE RELATIONS—A PROFI- TABLE DOCUMENT;
Delivered by Bishop John W. Wood/ ^D. D.
My dear co-workers and fellow ser
vants, after another year of toil in
the Master’s vineyard, I greet you
in the name of Christ the Lord:
First of all it is evident that we
come to this god y heritage favored
‘ by the hand of divine providence
and under the merciful protection
of our heavenly Father. It is through
His tender kindness and most favor
able benedictions that we assemble
here under these wholesome sur
roundings. Being thus blest and
kept it is our privilege, in the chief
sense, to pay homage to the supreme
Father and then proceed to count
and recount our fai’ures and success
es.
If we were disposed to follow the
ana'ogy of St. John, or even of St.
Paul, (and no doubt they both were
correct), we would count our failures
BISHOP JOHN i W. WOOD, D. D.
Bishop of the Seventh Episcopal District of the A. M. E. Zion Church.
successes and all losses gains, but
when we look back and view the way
over which we have come; a, way
with manifold difficulties; those that
..ave tried our souls and- darkened
the s^es under which weTiave passed
—our minds are set to wondering
how any other than a God who rul
eth the universe with love and ten
der kindness could have borne with
the frailties of human creatures, such
as we represent in this sin cursed
and unfriendly word. Yet, in the
midst of all, we find ourselves the
happy recipients of heavenly bless
ings too numerous to express.
The Church of our Fathers, as we
are sometimes wont tp say, is now
more than ever, a bfeacon light to a
war-torn and distorted world. Na
tions aryl races have dipped their
arms full well and have soaked their
e'bows in human gore vCaiil there is
presented before us at this time a
spectacle of human madness and dis
respect for civil justice, such as the
history of past ages fail to record.
This condition of affairs bids for
something, and that something can
be nothing other than a change. Ob
servant minds, those that are reli
giously inclined, are waking up to
the truth, that humanity must sub
scribe to the teachings of Christ, ‘‘As.
ye w<ould that men would do unto
you, do ye eveff so unto them.”
This thought carries our minds
back to the dark ages. Back yonder
in the day of adversity through
which the church came. Those mar
tyrs and fathers of the faithful gave
their ives for a single purpose. They
accepted nothing in common with the
Pharisaic opinion iphich sought to
smother (and complete y annihilate
the doctrine of our Lord. Regardless
of the name of the king that ruleth
upon the throne, or the character
and manner of life to which he was
devoted, they still felt it their bound
ed duty to cling tQ.'righteousness as
taught by the Saviour of the world.
It may have been a Caesar, a Nero,
or any of those whilst and out most
prominently in helping to destroy th/e
Church. Neverthe ess, yonder from
the clifts and dens of the mountains,
the devoted fo towers of Christ came
forth to tell the story of salvation.
Listen! the world war has passed
off our threshold but yesterday morn
ing. The parting good-bye has hardly
d’ed away in our ears. Following hard
by its heels, the nobles of the na
tions assemb'ed ‘themselves in Ver
sail es to make peace for all nations.
They wrote elaborate documents, out
lined restrictions, pointed out obliga
tions and rose to «tell the world of
their accomplishments, but in the true
language of the scriptures, they are
stir crying, “Peace, and there is no
peace.’’ Later, by invitation, our
president, feeling confident lie could
bring the minds of men to a proper
understanding, assemb'ed them in the
Capitol of our nation. They as t>e
ore, consulted one another, ^chang
ed ideas, talked matters over, and
finally rose from the table without j
such information as an expectant
world most needed. With conditions
as here mentioned, conditions that,
have well nigh estranged the social
and political intercourse of peoples
and nations* can there be any won
(Continued to page 5)
WATCHING THE TREND OFN
THINGS, ETC-A CHANGE
WANTED.—BIG MEN.
By E. Malcolm Argyie.
Coming down from the mountains
where the “Echoes?,’ /grow faint, an£
the slanting sun rays flit from peak
to peak as the day dies, and where
we have spent ten years amid those
mountaineer^ commingling with
them, climbing peaks, looking off in
to the distant, verdant valleys, and
musing with the gods in the hi s,
with a sadness indescribable, we bid
them good-bye forever and come over
in the “Piedmont Section,” and again
take up the work of the pastorate.
We therefore, decided to change the
caption of future scribblings from'
“Echoes from the land of the sky”
to “Watching the trend of things,’’
etc.
We can only watch and pray th't
the trend will be to a bigger and
broader Zion. To be a bigger and
broader church we have the lesson
to learn tha* w- niusi lie bigger and
broader men. No set of little make
shifts can expand the church. We
must divest ourselves of secret ani
mus and petty jealousies, and aT’
of us struggle to be God’s biggest
man, and one of the reasons that the
writer was anxious to return to the
pastorate, was that there were so
many litt e men filling big men’s
shoes—place hunters and office seek
ers, men inflated with self-conceit and
Kiaa
dhurch to8ay wantd big men, who can
lose sight of self eenteredness and
do some big things that will com
mend them to the religious word.
God wants more of us to get out on
the firing line and let the devil get
a good shot at us. He will take care
of the shot.
Nearly every big man in the
church and some of them who are
not so very big—are running for an
office? The church seems to have
gone crazy for power, earthly pow
er; few seem to be thirsting for spir
itual power, and hence many of our
churches have become spiritual re
frigerators,4 and spiritual revivals are
things of the past.
(Continued to page 5)
FACTS UPON FACTS.—AMERICAN
RACE QUESTIONS CANNOT BE
SETTLED IN EUROPE.
By S. A. Chambers,— Cannon Ball.
Dr. R. R. Moton, principal of
Tuskegee, in going to Europe
to discuss the race question of the
United States gains nothing for his
race, his -cause, or himself, or the
white than, when he insu'ts the facts
or should he unwisely speak the
truth. There are times we shou’d
hold our peace. The race question
n America cannot be settled in Eu
rope, and there is nothing to be gair "
ed by discussing it over there.
• The civilized world knows what is
going on and when you tell them
of certain good conditions that they
know d> not obtain you do not lif
yourself in the estimation of thosp
who know better. If Europeans want
to know anything about the race
question in the United States, let
tnem came here and study it.
not wise for a colored man to tel
all that he knows about it and they
-know it.
The white people of the United
States know that there is an unrest
among the colored people, and they
know what causes that unrest, and
they know what it takes to cure this
unrest, and ’they know that they are
not willing to grant the cure, and
when they hear a colored mail or a
colored wtoman say that the United
-States.is a paradise for the free
black race they know that he Is not
(Cdntinued to page 5)
Shaking the
Plum Tree.
WHAT WE NEED AND WHAT
WE DO NOT NEED IN\ ZION.
®y E* D. W. Jones, Minister."
Zion needs a program. Not a pro
gram of receiving, but a program of
giving. Not a program of money, but
a program of service. Our efforts and
energies need an objective and to
reach our objective we need a defi
nite, consecrated direction.
Zion Church is in the pot of a pro
gressive caldron. We are seething
for progressive expression.
Bishop L. W. Kyles says: “God
Himse f has thrust expansion on £ion
Church, and if we do not meet the
issue of extension and systematic pro
gress with assurances that we are
equal to our God-given opportunity,
we will fail to measure up to God’s
confidence in our organized Method
ism.” Nothing truer has ever been
uttered. Fields are everywhere Open
ing up to us. Sections are calling
for us apd the very ^spirit of our
Church is demanding thsftt, we break
away to hitherto untried endeavors.
A larger program, a larger faith in a
greater God and in ourselves, a very
passion for service should now seize
every element of our. church life.1
We need a goal. We must have a defi
nite objective.
t no mere
alone is made pre-eminent,
are vitiating. They are unsuccess
ful anti do not contribute to genuine
sanctity of purpose and effort. They
are spurts which arouse to spasms
of illusive hope which does not jus
tify the exertion and urge we put
into them, but weaken^ rather than
strengthen continual effort and stea*
dy growth. All of them in all the
Churches have failed. They have
never been supported by the rank:,
and file of our membership and have
tended to divisions of interes-t ajld
fatal clashes. Those who supported
them fe t that unjust burdens had
been placed upon them because of
their willingness, and those who did
not and would not set, to
work a contagion that ' was
infectious. They may have had par
tial ministerial support, but we have
never in a sing'e mere money drive
touched the saerifitkal resources of
our membership. It still lies await
ing our tapping, not dormant but
volcanically beating upon our rock
bound system for an out'et. We
must give the whole church an item
ized schedule of otir proposed designs
and activities and enlist them to meet
the requirements of maintaining our
coveted purpose and sustaining our
intended improvements. What do we
need money for, is by far a mqre at
tractive proposal than to inaugurate
a mere propaganda of money rallies.
ThV cause must be worthy of the
expense. The expense must not out
weigh the importance and necessity
of the cause.
Second; the church needs to use
more and-unsparingly printer’s ink.
There is nothing in our work, no con
tributions to pressing conditions, no
plans! of connectional import, no rev
enues that are exacted from the peo- .
pie hut that should he reported to
the people. It is suicidal to have a ,
member, or a pastor ignorant of our
church program. You might as we’l
nbt have a plan as to conceal its
workings and its advantages from the
thought and investigation of the
people who are expected to rally to
its support. T^e day is too high for
f blind sacrifice. Authui.^y s-i—
garde d wl^ere it i& gi^~~
tyranny where it is usurps. 'WS GiSBk
not make people do just beofiffEU?
(Continued to p*
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