THE OFFICIAL ORGAN
COPAL ZION
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CARO UN A, THURSDAY, APRIL' 10, 1924
NUMBER FIFTEEN
VOLUME FORTY-EIGHT
WALKING ABOUT
ZION.
\ By Bishop J. S. Caldwell,' D. D.
,Mr. Editor:
From some things we Bee and hear
-nowadays respecting the brotherly
feeling between ministers p tit all
• ranks and the laymen throughout our
Church, one would conclude that
these good old days will pass never
to Return with their sweet fellowship |
after the rise of the next General
Conference.
I have just finished reading an ar
ticle iu the Star of Zion written by
the Rev. J. H. McMullen of Sewick
ley, Pa., in which he deals a stun
ning blow to the development of
brotherhood in our communion. Quot
ing from. one of the paragraphs in
the letter, the following^ statement
is made:—“This thing of certain
leaders arranging Episcopal Districts
in advance of the Episcopal Commit-!
tee meeting at the General Confer
ence, even to the placing of bishops
is wrong in principle and a usurpa
tion of authority. I know t\$o men
not yet elected who have been tenta
tively assigned to arranged districts.
,Not only legislation in advance, but
hand-picked men for districts.” He
further states, ‘‘The Episcopal Com
mittee that will act on any plan
handed them is not worth the name,
for in so doing they are the tools in
the hands of the bishops.”
Brother McMullen objects to the in
fluencing of legislation in advance of
the General Conference. He is prob
ably right in this, but I would like
to ask him what view must be taken
, of the'circular letters he is sending
throughout the Church to the various
delegates? This letter .beautifully
sets out the splendid work done by
you, and ends up' by soliciting their
. support for your promotion to the
bishopric. Is not this an attempt to
influence legislation before the con
vening of the General Conference?
Why did you not wait to be sought
out by the delegates rather than you
seek them. I have no word of con
demnation for your course, because
self-preservation is the first law of
nature. Brother McMullen further
avers “that he knows two men not
yet elected whom the leaders have
made up districts for and assigned
,them even before any election has
been held.” !
I wish herein to disclaim that any
thing of the kind has happened to my
, knowledge during my whole tenure
as a bishop in the A. M. E. Zion
Church. This statement is misleading
to say the least- If the bishops among
themselves should agree as to what
part of the field they would like to
work in, and even make this known
to their constituency, how does that
differ from those amog us who uesire
certain favorable consideration on
the part of the delegation. Who is
the most concerned in this matter?
t Continued to page 81
“Zion To Profit In The
Election of Oscar W.
Adams.
Birmingham, Ala.,
April 5, 1924.
Dear Dr. Walls:
I want you and the Church to
know that I am greatly encouraged
over the many complimentary letters
and expressions that I am receiving
from delegates, friends, laymen and
ministers, on my candidacy for the
office of Secretary of the Extension
Department of our great denomina
tion, and take this method of express
ing my thanks and assuring the
fathers, ministers, elders and lay
men of the church that I appreciate <
their expressed confidence. -
It is my hope that no ministers ofef yon would nse them with tailing
onr defamation will got the im- >*><* tor tho canoe ot God and Zion,
pression that I am making the fight (Continued to page 8.)
against ministers, in this race - I am
running for the office. It is now do
ing held/ by a layman and a layman
has been entrusted with the office for
many years. My information is that
they have honored the office and
their work has been congenial, help
ful, and constructive. I believe that
the denomination will leave this of
fice in the hands of a layman and
-with the Idea and with a desire to
serve the Church in the best possi
ble capacity in keeping with my
ability, I am standing for election.
Among the many expressions com
ing to me in recent months is a let
ter from Prof. Robert W. Taylor, a
leading educator of this State end a
S. M. DUDLEY, Esq.
Candidate for Secretary of Church Extension.
s
member of Zion. Because of the il
luminations > made and the frank ut
, terance of Mr. Taylor of our fitness
for the office, I feel that our Church
should have his interpretation.
Here is Mr- Taylor’s letter:
Sipsey, Ala.
March 29, 1924.
Mr. O. W. Adams, Editor,
Birmingham Reporter,
Birmingham, Ala.
Dear friend Adams:
I congratulate you upon your can
didacy for Secretary of Extension
Department A. M. E. Zion Church,
and I congratulate that great Con*
nection upon having so efficient. a
son as yourself to seek to serve in
that position.
If I have been correctly informed,
the duties of the Secretary of the
Extension Department, in part, are
to look into the value of church prop
erty, to advise upon location find
kind of churches to be built, and to
assist in raising funds with which to
build those churches.
, Because of your business experi
ence in building up one of the great
est race journals in this country, be
cause of your success as a private
real estate operator, and because of
your wide acquaintance among men
of wealth and influence, you are ad
mirably fitted to perform the duties
of such office.
In addition to these business qual
ities, you are known as a fearless
writer, and a gifted orator. Each
of these accomplishments is a won
derful asset to. anyt'cause; and those
who know you' believe that, if e!ect
'orthcoming- General Conference she
will reverse her proud history and
^ast the laymen, aside for a position
that has always been held by ;Tay
nen at least for the past two dec
des, even if some of its foremost
ninisters are candidates for the lay
nen’g traditional position.
The laymen of Zion Church irre
spective of section, for this man
does not need to circumscribe him
self by geographical lines to prove
his worth and win the suffrage of his
brethren, present Lawyer S. M
Dudley for the Secretary of the
Church Extension Department of the
A. M. E. Zion Church. We are
herein prepared to give twenty-five
reasons why Mr. Dudley is so well
fitted for the office and measures up
to the requirements of the same by
a sturdy Christian manhood that
should be the glorious possession of
every man.
1st. He is a Christian, deep-dyed
in the fundamentals of Zion Meth
odism .
2nd. He is a layman. Early in life
he connected himself with State St.
Church, Mobile, Ala.,- that renown
and famous society* of religionists
whose Cathedral-like Temple has
stood for over a half century as one
of the towering watch shafts of our
Zion, noted for its moral teachings,
■ts influential citizenship and its high
spiritual zeal and example.
3rd. He is loyal and this means
much in these days of flickering and
flittering here and there from one
church tp a^n+t’er seetinrr social
preferments and emoluments.
4th. He Is a friend to the minis-^
try. Every pastor 'he has ever had
loves him. because he was true to
Twenty-five Reasons
Why Lawyer S. M.
Dudley Should Be
Elected Church Ex
tension Secretary.
By Augustus W. <5ray, Esq.
Zieir Church has always had a high
sense of justice. She never stoops'
to selfishness nor besmirches her
fair record with unfair discrimina
tion. In every General Conference
she has given place to the laity in
the distribution of offices and offi
cers. We cannot believe that at the
- ——g---;—.— .
their interest and future as well as
devoted to the highest welfare of the
church. In this particular he is truly
without contradiction "the John
Dancy" of Zion Laymen.
5th. He is the originator of the
plan to buy a Metropolitan church
’.n Washington, D. C., and hir ini
tial steps led to the purchase of the
great John Wesley Church of this
city. In the minutes of the annfial
conference of May-20-25, 1914, held
at York, Pa., it is stated that in a
speech Mr. Dudley brought to the
attention of the conference a church
building with a seating capacity of
1500 people, a $5500 pipe organ all
for $69,000.
5th. Bishop Walters dratted Mr.
Dudley frongu Union Wesley Where
Dr. E. D. W. Jones is now pastor
lug, to join ^John WeBley to lead the
forces in buyings this finest of all
church edifices.
6th- He is a gentleman of clean
untarnished record. No voice of
scandal has ever been raised against
him. - t
1 7th He is no ^self-seeker.
8th. He is defferential, modest,
. obliging, and no ..bishop or pastor has
had to rebuke him for forwardness
or negligence.
t Continued to page 5)
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
STANDS FIRM AGAINST
DACE DISCRIMINATION
IN DORMITORY.
(Special To Star of Zion)
New York, April 4. Columbia Uni
versity through Dean Hawkes has
declined to accede to the request of
a Southern white that a colored stu
dent, F. W. Wells he ousted from
Furnald Hall, One of the dormitories.
the attenlf^ td have WeUs ousted,
Walter White, Assistant Secretary
of the National Association for, the
Advancement of Colored People
called upon the Columbia Dean.
Dean Hawkes told Mr. White that
he had informed the white trouble
maker he could leave the dormitory
if he wanted to, that his*room could
very easily be rented as there was a
long waiting list.
‘‘One man in the Hall,” said Dean
Hawkes, “a trouble-making disagree
able fellow tried to stir up feeling
against a colored man who had been
given a room in Furnald Hall. When
he came to me about the njatter, I
told him that colored men had stay
ed in that Hall before and that in the
future, as in the past, there, would
be no discrimination of any sort al
lowed. I told that as long as a man
behaved himself, there would be no
objection to any man, whatever his
race, being given quarters at Co
lumbia, and I urther informed this
man that if he or any other did not
want to stay in the Hall he couid
move, as we have a waiting list with
hundreds of names on it and could
easily fill the rooms of those who
moved.
| “When I told him this he made the
remark, ‘Well, I will give you some {
publicity and see how you like that.’
He then got newspaper reporters
and gave them the material on which
the stories in today’s newspapers
were based • I say again th&t any
person or persoss who do not want ^
to stay in Furnald Hall can move and
may the Lord bless them.”
According to the account in the
New York World of the protest
against Mr. Wells, residing in Fur
nald Hall, the objectors were led by
J. B. Rucker, of Norfolk, Va.. and
L. H. Hill, who comes from neftr
Atlanta. Ga., both of them southern
whites.
On Thursday morning, * April 3>
following a Ku Klux Klan demonstra
tion on the Columbia University
campus, the N. A. A- C. P., wrote
Mr. Wells urging him to stand firm
and offering assistance if it should
be needed.
GENERAL CONFER
ENCE HOROSCOPE.
By Bishop G. L. Blackwell.
- \
Department*—Financial System*
Our departments of church are all
conducted by a fine set of men from
my wjMvobfa* dorpot see that tb$ra
is need for any radical changes in
them, but of course, we might im
prove on them perhaps a little. We
can scarcely make a radical change
lA any of our major departments .
without interfering serio^ly with
our financial system, Our financial
system Is not perfect, neither will
any radical changes be perfect.
There is one thing1 in which we
should take pride and that is our
present financial system is essential
ly a ZION METHODIST SYSTEM '
It has been developed within our .
church by those Who have made the
Church what it is, and our ancestral
leadership should carry weight with
it. I am not a reactionary neither
am I a radical; I am a progressive
Zionite; I stand ready to vie and co
operate with the most progressive of
our men, but I am anxious to
serve the historic ideals indigenous
to our ZIONISM.
I am proud of the growth of our
Church and the development of her
departments. I have had a hand (ft
helping her grow and have featured
in the syndication of her departments
in an official way for forty-three
years. Would it be wise^to remove
the landmark of the fathers and thus
'destroy that which accentuates the
identity of lion’s own FINANCIAL
SYSTEM? Is it not better that we
lead in a system of our own rather -
•than to mimic what others have
tried and. now revising? Our
2ion &aS~ fertile soil. She . can im
prove her own.system and make,it
produce the desired results without
importing foreign elements incom
patible with the training and estab
lished custom of a quarter of a cen
tury. By this I do not mean that we
should remain in a rut. Certainly
we need to revise and impftve cur
present system, but not to change
its constituent parts, but evolve out
of it the features necessary to give
us an improved plan commensurate
with our present needs and portend
ing possibilities.
Growth of our Financial System.
A' recital of the. phenomenal
growth of our financial system for
the past forty years may be ^Illum
inating to the minds of the General
Conference delegates- The amount of
Gen- fund raised in 1880 was about
$5,000 for the whole Church. By 1900
it had increased to $18 000; by 1904
it had gone to $27,000; in 1908 it was
$39 000;, in 1912 it was $45,000; in
1916 it rose to $75,00$; in 1920 it had
gone up to $97,000; and it is now
$108,000. Is not this marvelous
growth in an essentially ZION FI
NANCIAL SYSTEM? And yet it is
thought b^ some that the system is
antiquated. You will observe that the
system hag yielded the greatest in
crease during the twenty years we
have had the regular departments.
The departments from the time they
were inaugurated in a regular way
(1904) have had similar growth in a
system essentially ZION, with the
single exception, namely, during the
time the money was centralized in
the hands of one man.
Central Clearing House.
We have already tried the centrali
zation of the funds making the finan
cial secretary’s office the plearing
house, and it was a flat failure. It
would be more of a failure now since
each of the benevolent departments
is functioning in a first class way,;
When the plan wag being operated
quite a deal of money due other de
partments never did reach them, not
because of the unfaithfulness of the
secretary, but because it was neces
(Continued to page 5)
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