Newspapers / The Star of Zion … / Jan. 31, 1924, edition 1 / Page 1
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/ VOLUME FORTY-EIGHT NUMEBR FIVE CHARLOTTE NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1924. THE OfriCIAl ORGAN Of THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL ZION CHURCH AFTER THE TERCEN TENARY, WHAT? Rev. C. S- Whitted, Secretary of The Ministerial Brother hood. The Tercentenary is about over. What next? You may ask, has tne Tercentenary Rally been a blessing to, the Church? My answer is yes. It is true that the money did not get into the hands of the four depart ments, as was agreed upon. The mon ey was used by the Church Extension Department, that is the larger part, we are told. We do not know just how much. Bishop G. L. , Blackwell’s plan should have been carried out with one exception. The amount collected was to be reported to the bishop of the Conference, and the Bishop report it to the Treasurer at the Commence ment of Livingstone College, at the Cottnectianal Council meeting m Au gnst of each year, and at the Board of Bishops Meeting each year. He should have said, Report the amount raised to the Bishops and send the amount to the Treasure. Before I go farther let me say, x%me men think strange if you dis agree with them when in office. Al low yne to say office never exalted a man. Top have heard people'say, such a man was botfft great- Birth never made any one greet. Position never made any one great. Character does that. How subtle the temptation to seek preeminence through office. I admit it is a nice thing to be an offi cer in Zion Church, hut abov^ every thing else be a man wiith a heart large enough for the Eastern and Western Continent; and then leave room for God to set up His kingdom therein. Little men are touchy about their dignity, real great men are not con cerned. They go about doing their best for the cause of right. Any great man can render lowly service, but no little man can render high service. Real men, men of God, men who love the Church, can stoop and do their duty without losing the un seen halo. We have laws to govern our Church and those in authority should not break them. Before government can be dispensed with, men must be in fallible in understanding as well as immaculate'in purpose. Whether government shall be a blessing or a curse or both by turns, or both with subtractions and mitigations depend much on ,the provision of the civil constitution. Ik dictates how much power public officers shall sway ■ In the absolute monarchy wttiere the will of the sovereign Is law, and where the most cruel mandates are in ques tion, tyranny cannot always occupy the throne. It wjill now and then leave an interregnum to be filled by a gentler spirit unto whose God the oppresed may breathe the air of free dom. Our office is to preserve, not to cre ate. Sacred by the work of our hands. I will disagree with anyone if I think he or She is wrong. Let him be high or low in the council of the Church. When right comes to the scaffold, wrong is ready to congratulate it self on the triumph, but there is cer tain to be another chapter written in characters of sold, which puts a dif ferent color upon the matters. One of the favorite sayings of Mr. Ingersoll was, “The Church must go. ” And so far as the statement goes it is true. One of the largest things •about the Church is its dynamic quality. It must go and keep going, else it is hot a church. Our church has made rapid progress in the last eight or ten years of its history- No so much as it should have, yet it has done well, but we must do a greater work for the cause of human ity. Every man should feel and know that he is part of this great Church Very few things in this world have a fixed value. The trivial becomes j important and the important becomes trivial, by the mere shifting of cir cumstances . When v the Church awakes to the fact that its mission is that of saving souls, she will know moire about God, and about the duty to; her fellowmen. Let us go back to the Tercentenary' Rally. We started out to raise $1,000,000. We could have raised the said amount but we had too many changes, too many bosses and too many to re ceive the money. Men sometimes re sort to the spectacular because it is easier to get people to look at that which is unusual and startling, than to appeal to them! by logic and ex hortation. In these five years I have received for the Relief Department $2,750. Many thanks for the said amount, but please tell me what has been done with the one fourth due the said De partment with the exception of the $2,750.00*. . - What’s Next? We must raise a larger amount for all of the Departments of the Church, and report the entire amount semi annually. Not the Board of Bishops reporting one to another, but report to the ministers and laymen of the Church, so each and all will know the progress that the Church is mak ing. ' < Continued on page 5) WHO KNOWS? By Rev. D. H. Sansom. To venture out upon the Church sea. at this time, is no little undertaking, and to attempt it now, one must have equilibrium and precaution. These are needed tc, steer well amidst the convoy of vessels; nol^ that we would crash amidship into another’s hulk, but rather that, the waters are so being stirred that the billows would engulf our barque. At this point of our church life, those who speak should have a mes sage. Those attempting to advise should need to have had a vision. Not a message coming out of an hal lucination or the kin, but that which is the outcome of knowledge, experi ence and the capacity to discern tht great fundamentals of human cul ture . From the various wings of our Zion is constantly heard, “The making of Chief Pastors is not the most impor tant at the ensuing General Cunfei ence.” This upon its surface may oe accepted, but it - is a matter of much concern. A matter which will have reaction unto the lowest place in our system. There is involved, in the quality of men to be elevated, the success or hindrance to be met in the next quadrennium • - The constant parading of candi dates in the columns of our period icals does not elect neither does it close the door in the fact of any. .Where the election take® place and where the door is closed, is within the heart of hearts, of each person eligible to suffrage. It is in *his secluded place where each man is measured, weighed and given rating ; according to the capacity of the per (Continued to page 8) SANHEDRIN ARRANGE MENTS COMPLETED. Chicago, Jan-— (By The Associat ed Negro Press . ) The Chicago Com mittee arranging for the Sanhedrin session has completed arrangements for the local entertainment of ££e delegates. The sessions will be held in the Wabash Avenue Y. M. C. A., according to adjusted arrangements. Committee rooms have been provid ed there and in nearby ^cations for the various group conferences. There will be a reception Monday evening February 11th at the Hotel Vincinnes, (Continued to page 8.) STOP-LOOK-LISTEN! By Rev. T. J. Moppins. As time moves on, the forthcoming General Conference, the highest law making body iti; Zion Methodism, drawdth nigh- T^ofce of us who have been honored by our respective an nual conferences to represent the in terest of the whole people in this great conclave, should stop and think, think seriously for their wel fare and encouragement. Our recent galpiering at Winston Salem, N,4 C., gave to some of us the opportunity pf gaging the mind of the leaders df thought and the spirit which guides men. After vying with each ,cither in thought and sug gestion, some left with a smile of satisfaction, whilfe others of a more serious vein viewed with deep appre hension certa'n ^elfish activities, if persisted in and? carried to its final analysis, -will leave us in no better shape than before the rise of the General Conference. In the approach of the solution of any problem, whether in Churdh or State, we will always have two schools of thought operating under popular terms, j viz.--—conservative, and progressive. ’Under these head ings it looks as If we shall meet at Indianapolis in Mby to work out an adjusted programme for future de velopment. Whoi we consider how much is involve^ we see no room for light thinking, indifferent action nor complacent acceptations. Some things to be considered should be thought out and |thoroughly digest The great need for closer Episco pal supervision is apparent tp all* thinking minds who keep up with the movement of the A - M • E. Zion j Church; and this involves the ques tion of districting and a real residen tial influence. It requires no prophet to forecast the future of our Church in certain sections of this country should the forthcoming General Con ference fail to provide for closer Episcopal supervision. Some how we seem to view the field as made for the bishop rather than the bisibop is provided for the field; amj so you , hear more about the individual need | and desire, and’less and less about; the needs of the field. I, for one,' believe we should . redistrict the Church, making I the conferences over which a bishop presides, more contiguous and assign the bishops. I see no reason why a. bishop should feel discrim inated against because his confer ences are somewhat smaller than his colleague’s, especially when the sal ary and other provisions are made equal by the general law. There are greater reasons for sending cur strongest bishops to the weaker field than that which sends our strongest preachers to weak mis sions; for the salary as an element, always presents itself when a man of great responsibility is asked to go to a small parish; while in the case of a bishop his salary is fixed and guaranteed, and it is equal to the rest. » > I am afraid this question of how much I am getting,, has literally smothered out the consciousness of how much I am giving? Any man amongst us should count himself highlyAfavored of God, toi he called to service in such a capacity, and never feW, that, in ' himself, he is worthy of God’s best. Zion Methodism must do more than mark time in the great west and southwest; the General Conference should settle for Tall times whether we shall use this, great area as mere proving ground for our new guns, or go on with a programme laid out, and one or two strong bishops out (here on the Pacific Coast, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Unless we change our proigramme in relation to these area’s intolerable condi (Continued to> page 8*) tions will definitely change our sta tion as a great. Church out here. The great State of Alabama de mands that we locate , an Episcopal residence in her lk>rdei*s. Our in terests are too great to be trifled with in that state- I happen to know something of our needs in- Alabama. I I know the state. I wais bom in her. I am familiar with the growing state of affairs and do not hesitate to say, that, I hope the entire delega tion from Alabama will come to In dianapolis with their minds made up to stand like a stone wall for the so lidarity of their resources under one directing head, and not permit their influence to be divded, thereby kill ing the interest of the Connection and Alabama’s own interest in de tail. We should consoflidate one or more of our conferences, re-unite the South-east with Central Alabama, di vide Cahaba between North Alabama and Central, give us five good con ferences in the state with Pensacola district attached to South Alabama conference, set a thorough-going bishop right down in the midst of them, with such laymen 'as Drs. , Belsaw, Peters, Morris and others of Mobile; Adams, Washington, Woods and others of Birmingham; Aaron Brown and others of Pensacola; Tu layne, Newstell and many others of (Continued to page 8) EARLY LIFE OF RO UND HAYES. One of the World’s Greatest Singers, ; New York, N. Y., Jan.—(By the Associated Negro! Press). Roland Hayes, whose brief American con cert tour has been accepted gener ally as the musical sensation of the present season, probably would still have been a moulder in a southern stove factory if he and his mother had had their way,! according to A. Arthur Calhoun, who discovered the famous tenor’s voice and started the Negro lad on a career which has already included a command recital in Buckingham Palace, engagements as soloist with the Boston and pe troit Symphony Orchestras and unan imous recognition from the foremost music critics of America and Europe. Mr. Hayes will give his first and only recital in Brooklyn in the Opera house of the Academy of Music on Saturday evening,; January 19; and a farewell concert in Carnegie Hall on Tuesday afternoon January 5. He will sail the following day for his fourth European tour. His programs for the two local concerts include some of the most famous songs of English, French, Italian and Csrman composers, as well as one* section entirely devoted to the Negro spir ituals, Perusal of the foreign press notices shows that the European critics are about equally divided be tween astonishment at his master> of the European tongues and musical traditions and enthusiasm over the fo)k songs of the American Negro. (Continued on page 5)v MUSICAL PHILADELPHIA. Noted Musicians Visit City. Philadelphia, Pa.', Jan.—(By The Associated Negro Press). The out standing features of the week were the appearance of Harry Burleigh, baritone-composer, Marian Anderson, contralto; before the. Matinee Musi cal Clut). Miss Anderson gave two numbers. Mr. Burleigh, as has been stated, could not sing because of a throat affliction, but gave his hearers an interesting talk about the music of Negro composers. He paid glow ing tributes to S. Coleridge-Taylor, to Roland Hayes, and said of Miss Anderson that the race might well be proud of her and said that her truly remarkable voice was like that (Continued to page 8.) ' EFFICIENCY AND NOT PARTIALITY. SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN THE FORTHCOMING GEN ERAL CONFERENCE. By Rev. R. L. Briscoe. While the entire Church is look ing forward to the most important conference in Zion's history, there, are many important things to be con- « sidered, and should receive serious and prayerful attention. We are aware of the fact that the A. M.E. Zion Church is a great Church, made^ up of great men—men of whom the • Church should be proud. What ;the" Church is today is what the men of » God have made it. Such as those who ■ have gone before us, anil our present * men of stern qualities- " ■ My main thought that I want to convey to the Church through this* letter is “Efficiency’’ and hot—Par tiality. Partiality. I feel the sooner we abandon the spirit of partiality, when it comes to the making of the Church, and turn our attentive© to efficiency, the Church will grow stronger and better. Effl: eiency is what we need, 1. W© realize that efficiency'means one possessing the ability to accom plish any task necessary for the. ad vancement of the cause he represents, whether church, state' or country. Persons must be prepared for the task, no matter where or what insti tution he received his training. There are men who are candidates for va rious offices in the Zion Church, tfho represent Livi ngstone, Shaw, Wilber fuTce, Lincoln or Howard Universi ties. They are efficient fnen. The time has come when men should not confine themselves to the narrow channels of denomintttionalism When it comes to effic ency or Education, save doctrine and polity. I am not in favor of a statement Which appeared in an article of last week’s issue under the heading- of “The StMl Small Voice,’’ that the man elected to the office of educational secretary shruld be a man Who has spent some time at Livingstone Col fcge, that he would be more interest ed in oiur denominational schools, than men from other 'institutions of learning. I think that Zfcn is too modern to confine herself j to such a narrow view. No Church can advance if she crops her wings and will Sim ply fly .in her own circle of learning. I would advise that all y:^ng men in the A. M. E. Zion Church who are seeking to enter the ministry should, if possible enter Liv'ngstbne .Col lege. But should a man who has re ceived his training years ago, and is now in the field .activity afready, be barred advances, simply be cause he is npt a Livingstone'man? I would answer, noN Efficiency is what the Church needs and not partiality. And again we note that there were’ and are men of the A- M. E: Zion Church who have done much for the maintenance of this grand old Church of ours wihoi were and are not living stone man. Vet they have, been and are today men of the hour, and are keeping abreast with the times. For instance: Dr. J. C. Price, the father and Prince of . Livingstone College, gave us that great institution,’yet he received his training elsewhere'. Dr. W. H. Goler, successor to Dr. Price, as President of Livingstone College, the late Bishop Alexander * Walters, Bishop George W. Clinton, Bishop L. W* Kyles and Bishop P. A.'Wallace, who completed their, .education- at Lincoln University and oth^r insti tutions haye done much for' Zion be cause of their efficiency: Now it is true that the C. hf. E. Church and the A.. M. E./Church, are advancing by leaps and hound s.^ Sa is- ^ion. She is not a whit behind' other churches. (Continued tfr yeget ,
The Star of Zion (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Jan. 31, 1924, edition 1
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