Newspapers / The Star of Zion … / Oct. 15, 1925, edition 1 / Page 1
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THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE Af RICAN METHODIST EPISCOPALZION CHURCH i' '' ■ ~ ■ ' ' — mm VOLUME FORTY-NINE. CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1925 NUMBER THIRTY-TWO light at evening TIME By E. R. Dilie There is one port toward which all! of us are sailing, though comparative ly few reach it, and that is the port of old age. One-half the human race die in infancy and of the remainder another half die before the age of fifty. Now we all have a right to old age. We are deprived of it, some by ig norance, some by inherited weakness, some by their own indiscretions or sins, some by overwork or the casu alties of life, and in the last few years millions have been robbed of it by war and the famine and misery which war produces. But on the other hand the achieve ments of medical and sanitary science and the better observance 'oi the laws of health are working together in times of peace for the prolongation of life. In fifty years the expectation of human life has increased from 33 to 55 years, and the time is not far away when three score and ten will be the rule and not the exception. Old age is not necessarily nor nor mally to be associated with infirmity or decreptitude. As O. W. Holmes said. “To be seventy years young, j is some times more cheerful and hope- j ful than to be forty years old.” Old | age is often a matter of the harden ing of the spiritual rather than of the physical arteris. It is not, a mat-; ter of the almanac but of the heart; j it is not measured by what is behind ns but by what is within us. Some people grow old prematurely, while others like Moses, Caleb, , and Joshua, John Wesley and Wm. E. Gladstone pass four-score and their bow still abides in strength. Bishop Warren at j 80 was as sprightly in mind and body i as some men at 50. ’ In the late Dr. William Osier’s valedictory address at Johns Hopkins, he expressed his belief in the com parative uselessness of middle-aged men and jocularly said that they ought to be chloroformed though he himself worked on till long past mid dle age. He afterward declared that that famous utterance was only an after dinner joke, and that what he serious ly said was that most of the effective work of the world is done between the ages of 25 and 40 years. But my friend Dr. Earl Barnes, Chancellor of the University of New York, shows that 64 per cent of the greatest things of history were done by men beyond their fiftieth year. Why, Milton produced Paradise Dost after 50, and Franklin began his scientific studies after he had passed the same dead linel at 60 Thqmak j Chalmers was the glorious field mar shal of the Free Church of Scotland; John Wesley at 80 was still preaching and holding a steady hand on the helm of Methodism; Gladstone was prem'er of the British Empire at 85, and Cle menceau, the old tiger of France, is Past 80. Longfellow at four-score wrote to his classmates- at Bowdoin on the fiftieth anniversary of their gradua tion. ‘Too late at 80? Nothing is too late, till the tired heart shall cease to pal itate. Chaucer at Woodstock, with the ightingales, at 60 wrote the Calnter ury Tales. Goethe at Weimar, toil 's to the last, completed Faust when ight years were past. There are.in eed exceptions, but they show how ie Gulf Stream of our youth may ow into the Arctic region of our ves( y “For age is opportunity no tefiB __ Than youth, though in another dress And as the evening twilight fades away The sky is filled with stars invis ible by day.” At 23 it is half-past seven of our i orking day of life; at 60 it is 1:30 i the afternoon, but there may be a mg time between that, and twilight, ud one can do much in the evening it or a glow. As Dickens said, “Father Time is not a hard parent, for though he tarries for none of his children, he lays his hand gently oh those who treat him^jvell;” and Tennyson, “God lays His hand upon the heart of one of his children, as a harper lays his hand upon his |harp, not^ smiting it, but gently to soften its vibrating. “The good gray head is like the snow peak that^first catches the morning light, because it is nearest Heaven, and every wrinkle upon the venerable brow is but a notch in the calendar of a well-spent life! Old age is a scriptural blessing. Of the wicked, God says that “he shall not live out half his days,” but of the righteous “with long life will I satisfy him.” Of the heavenly wisdom it is said, (“In her right hand are length of days.” The Christian virtues all tend to longevity and an approving conscience and the peace of God i,n the heart 4tre bett&r elixirs of youth than any that Koch or Pasteur ever invented. Continued to Page Seven. N UNCHAIN THE OTHER HAND By Bishop W. J. Walls. D. D. I am far from being an agitator, but certain tendencies in our group force me to the line of contention, and upon one of these matters, I in sist upon a hearing how. The bishops and general officers decided at Norfolk, in August, to ■ take the Bishops’ Meeting to Cali- j fornia. This was concluded after it was remonstrated that the Council should go to Philadelphia, because it would meet during the Sesqui Centennial Exposition there. Those of us who were favoring California for the Council consented to an ex change with those who favored Phila delphia upon their consent that we go on to California in the early Spring with the Bishops’ Meeting. We ^iad not more than left the seat of the Council before Star-ar ticles began to agitate against the Pacific Coast meeting. Then an at tempt was made to assemble the Bishops for attention to various mat ters, among them being “to decide definitely the place of the Bishops’ meeting.” The place of the Bishops’ meeting is definitely decided. Wherefore this vacillation about it? We make no charge, but it appears as if some who did not want to do a big Thing for Zion, but preferred to look afteij themselves first began the propaganda that the gteat A. Mj' E. Zion Church is too poor to hold an official meeting across the Rockies. Invidious comparison was expressed in the paper between Zion’s and Bethel’s ability to finance its officers on a long distance trip. This is a sad procedure for a Church that operates among the same people, has a history older, has sent its representatives to every world ga thering and held forth in every way as the leading denominations have done a century and nearly three dec ades. ~ \ I deprecate that we have just now learned that Zion is the weak sister among race churches, so weak that we must destroy and defeat our col lective decisions made in deliberation, and these insinuations made by some of our own officers and representa tives -who were present and • express ed no opposition in the meeting when the decision was made. This has aroused suspicion and resentment from the people on the Western Coast. They,, believe that they are being unfriendly treated. They cross the continent to attend meetings East and pay theuyfares without Asking it of the General Church. They do not see the .fair ness in General Officers a nd "leaders who have the heart of the Church and its departments to support them, WALKING ABOUT ZION Bishop J. S. Caldwell, D. D. _i_ Editor of Star of Zion: Under the question “Who is Who in Philadelphia,” as it relates to re ligious denomina/tions, I desire to make a statement about our Zion for the enlightenment of any or all who may be concerned. The city of Philadelphia, nestled on the banks of the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers, is a happy mean between the North and.the South. Its winters are not too long and cold nor its summers too warm to deter our people’s coming in great num bers. The situation of Philadelphia has made it a very prolific field for Christian denominations to work in, hence /the' competition for preemi nence has been sharp through all the years, and is n^ less so now. fcion Church, as a denomination, made its appearance here something like three-quarters of a century ago. For the firfft 40 years, its growtl? was slow, only one church building and congregation during that stretch of years. This was perhaps due to the fact that our churchmen did not concentrate or center any of its ac tivities or agents in or upon this city. In 1900 coming out of the Gen eral Conference at Washington, D. C., three General Officers took up residence in Philadelphia, namely, W. H. Coffey, Church Extension Secretary, G. L. Blackwell, Mission ary fnd General Secretary, and J. S. Caldwell, General Steward or Fi nancial Secretary. In 1902, these three General Officers applied to the Board of Bishops for permission to pur chase a Oonnectional building in which to house the departments which we severally represented. The re quest was granted, which marked the first step-in a Connectional ex tension progrfm in this city. / In 1904, the General Conference accepted the property and made it the Financial Headquarters of the denomination. The second effort in the interest of our denomination was made in 1908, when the General Conference was in session1 in Philadelphia. There may be those still lining who will recall* that an rppeal was made by this writer on a certain day on be half of a church which Dr Coffey, then Church Extension Secretary was making an effort to purchase. Sixteen hundred ($1,600.00j dollars was the answer, which was turned over to Dr. Coffey, who announced there and then that in the afternoon of the following Sunday, this church would be opened ahd dedicated, which was done. This church proving to be too small, negotiations for a> larger and better building were be gun in 1909. Our third effort was made in 1910, when 'the property at 19th anjl Catharine Streets was tak£n over ft a cost of sixty-six thousand ($56,000.00) dollars, including Jegal services, conveyancing and back se ries , of building and loan. For two years, the local congregation and the several conferences throughout the Ghurch contributed a sufficient amount to hold the propertv until (he General Conference met in 1912 atv Charlotte. N. C., and made sn an nual allowance of four thousand ($4,000. (V*) dollars to supplement the efforts of the local congregation to the end that this property might got be lost to Zion. This appropria :n fir twelve years, ;o about $42,240, inter on\ has lounting ; and building ppd loan charges r the period amounting apnrovi itelv to five thousand, seven hun ;d ($5,700.00) dollars .which is not hided in the amount s+ated applied on the principal. During same period, the local consrre ion con amount paid on the property of ap-1 proximately fifty two thousand, sev-J ,en hundred and forty ($52,740.00) dol lars. > The church property at 15th and Christian streets was purchased for about twenty-two thousand ($22,000.) dollars, in 1922, in which we have an equity of about twelve thousand ($12,000.00) dollsrs. We own a church property at 18th and Dickinson streets for which we paid fopr thousand ($4,000.00) dol lars. We have an equity in this prop erty of about two thousand five hun dred ($2,500.00) dollars. We own another church property at 19th and League streets, for which we paid two thousand five hun dred ($2,500.(|3l) dollars. We have afi equity of .one thousand dollars in this property. At 57th and Ludlow streets we own church property for which we! paid fourteen thousand, five hundred I ($14,500.00) dollars. We have an I equity a little over frwe thousand ($5,000.00) dollars. \ Our congregation at 10th and Gi rard Avenue is worshipping in Rent ed building. Wesley church, located at 15th and Lombard streets,, is engaged in building a new edifice at a cost of more than two hundred thousand ($200,000.00) dollars. They Had sev enty thousand dollars ($70,000-.00) in hand when they began building, and think by the time it is complet ed they will have paid in something (Continued on Page 5) i ACTIONS DIVINELY CONSIDERED AND WEIGHED By E. George Biddle, D. D. “Talk no more-so exceeding proud ly; Let not ^rrogancy come out of your mouth; For'Jehovah is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions ■are weighed.” I Samuel 2:3. That our ACTIONS ARE WEIGH- J ED in Divine scales should not only claim our casual attention, but should command our most earnest thought. We sing: “And must I be to judgment brought, And enswer in that day for every vain and idle j thought, And every ward I say?” If we believe what we sing, we should act accordingly. When we remember that our God is greater than' man, and that science has demonstrated that even rays of light may be Weigh ed, and thst the invisible electron v can be weighed^ and measured, we should “stand in awe” in the pres ence of the Divine Weigher of our | “actions.” How “arrogant”" man naturally is; how “proudly” he talks, even in the presence of Him “who weighs the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance,” apparently forgetting that He has said to way ward men, ‘Thou are weighed in the balance, and found wanting.” This song of Hannah’s (I Samuel 2:1-10) might well be called the Old Testament Magnificat. It is He brew poetry, not prose like the other part of the 1st Book of Samuel, but a -wonderfully beautiful ' song of praise. As the song reminds us, we should remember that our every act is weighed by the Almighty God, though possibly unnoticed by,' or unknown by our fellow men. They are not only known, but weighed and measured by Jehovah, even the “seed thoughts” we sow, we shall reap, for though we are “saved” our ‘ac tions” will “weigh” over, there, this is clearly taught in I Corinthians 3:12-15. CRepd it.) It is a sad state ment; “suffer jloss” though saved. Every minute act Will tell in eterni ty. For our God reeds our thoughts, possibly before we think them. Prof. Harrow, in an illuminating . book ^titled: “Newton to Binstein,” , says, “Matter is made of&toms, ©f , a ydze s"> smalTthat 300 million of ( THE METHODIST MACHINE 1 We do not call it a machine in a bad sense. The Methodist Machine that has- made appointments these many yeafljrhas proven itself the best Church machine yet designed to carry the gospel to the people. It can and does give every church a pastor and every pastor a church. Not that every church has an ideal pastor nor efery pastor an ideal church. For as long as churches are human and preachers human some folks somewhere will fall below the ideal. Nor do we mean this machine cannot be somewhat imS proved in some matters. It is hardly to be expected that any system that suited a hundred years ago could con tinue without changing itself to meet the changing needs of *a changing world. So if any Methodist rises-wh? > and proposes Some changes in the machine do not count him a heretic. He may love the Church as much as those who believe in remaining in all things like the fathers a century ago. ' V' The Methodist system differed from others in that the preachers like sol diers placed themselves in the hands of commanders and went wherever they were ordered. Likewise the * churches placed themselves in the same place. It was* supposed that those in charge after prayer and counsel made the appointments with out any outside interference. The preachers and the people for a time took it stfTBut as the years went by a man out in Texas, started a rumor that there was a suspicion that some butchers and bakers and candlestick makers were quietly giving the Lord and ihe cabinet the benefit of their expert wisdom and mildly suggesting the preachers they'wanted. There a:e some now who even think that many of the strong churches know who they want and go forth to get what and whom they do want as well as to turn elsewhere, those they do net want. Let us not get alarmed over this. In this democratic age there is no use to blame the laymen for wanting to have a part in selecting the pastors who are to serve their churches. They think they must be looked to for the money and they thizik they know the condition under which they work. Therefore they think they know the kind of map that would suit them and they think they have' a right to help select him. Not that they do al ways know, for they have been known to make bigger mistakes than the elders make. If some laymen are not better judges of real estate thap they are of preachers they better not go to Florida. But Just the same, we con cede to them the right to have a voice in selecting their .pastors—provided—' mind you—PROVIDED— Provided that after trying honestly to get the man they think suited to them and1 failing to do so they re main loyal Methodists to the system under which we work and stand by the man who is sent to them. If an other man goes as a.dark horse you* should not make him a goat. He had nothing to do with going and perhaps did not want you any more than you wanted him. Provided also that this privilege does not breed in the churches bosses who rise up to speak for the whole church when the church knows noth ing about it at all. Thegreatestdan ger of our Methodism comes right here. We cannot afford to have bosses In high life or low. Any sort of a ma chine can be used to the hurt of peo ple and no church machine is more subject to rabuse than the Methbdist machine in the hands of bosses! r'-;* Having said this much for the lay men, to whom we owe so much in Uje' Church, a word should be said for tho pastor. If the laypan is to be con sulted why not give the preacher the same privilege? If we are to ask Col. irlme^ whom he would like to havp
The Star of Zion (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Oct. 15, 1925, edition 1
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