‘AND YE SHALL KNOW THfeTRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.”—John viii, 82. 1 : . . •' •. — • • -.*.» . CHARLOTTE, N.C, THURSDAY, OCT. 29, 1925 HOLDING THE INTEREST OF THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF THE TEEN AGE By Dr. E. 0. Woodward. (Paper read before the last Western District Convention of Southern Virginia Presbytery at Ridgeway, Va.) in every position m me from the highest to the lowest there are certain requirements that must be met if any degree of success is to be obtained. The boys and girls in the teens con stitute or make up a class to themselves. They are the con necting links between childhood and manhood. This is the time in their lives when the pent-up energy begins to manifest it self in many ways and under va ried* conditions which often tax the patience of the most learned scholars of psychology. For the most part they are inattentive to instructions, boisterous in their behaviour, and are never ready and willing to accept and do their full share of service in the Sunday school work; but rather choose to sit up and look important. This, I acknowledge, is an awful indict ment against those who are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh; but it is true, neverthe less. x ucoc kj\jj a auu guio ui v uvv responsible for the present con dition of things,—not by any means; but the trouble lies at the door of the parents. An over indulgence on the part of the parents in dealing with their children, and an utter neglect of their own as well as their children’s spiritual welfare is responsible for the present con dition of things. Worldliness has taken possession of our homes; ence is felt in the church, for as the home is, so also is the church. This, to my mind, is the true •condition of things. How, then, may we hope to handle well those of the teen age? To my mind the first and essential qualification is that of good moral character, and, second, re generation, and the third, a spe cial preparation for teaching. For one to assume the role of a teacher without moral charac ter is a failure to start with. Character is that quality which gives poise, grace, ease and stamina to the life of anyone who may possess it. When a man or a woman is elected a teacher of a Sunday school class then he or she is discussed around the fireside of every home connected with that church, and if there is an established opinion against him or her, their doom is fixed and sealed. The successful teacher must teach both by precept and ex ample. There are some who may seek to dodge the responi bility as teachers by saying, “Don’t do as I do, but do as I say.” That is an impossibility, for as one writer truly said, “What you do sounds so loud that I cannot hear what you say.” Character carries with it an influence which always tells; it always enables the possessor to get a hearing. It exercises a power greater than wealth and secures all the honor without the jealousies of fame. Charac ter is a quality which one un mistakably can see in another. It is this which attracts others, and makes it possible for its possessor to accomplish those things which one less fortunate could not hope to do. The next essential and the crowning feature of any useful life is regeneration. And when I say regeneration I mean all that the word implies. I feel safe in saying that many of those whose names are on the church records have never been changed from nature to grace. No wonder, then, that those of the teen age seem so very dif ficult to handle. When Jesus met Saul in the way, the latter said to Jesus, “What wilt thou have me to do?" Jesus said, ‘"Go thy way unto the city and it will be told thee what I would have thee to do. Saul obeyed, and through the preaching of Ananias he was converted, and returned to Jerusalem, not as a persecutor of the Church of Christ, but as an ambassador. Later still, we find Paul going over into the country of Arabia where he spent some seven or eight years preparing for his life’s work, and it was, perhaps, during this period of seclusion and meditation that he was caught up into the third heaven and saw and heard things that would be unlawful to utter. I mention the above incident that I may at least illustrate what 1 mean by regeneration. Too many of our people who have no knowledge of Jesus, but, with a little education, dare at tempt to teach others the way of righteousness, a thing that is impossible. Just as an un converted minister of the gospel of Jesus is a handicap and a destroyer of a church, so also an unregenerated man or wo man as teacher is a great draw back to any Sunday school class. .book learning is all rignt, and a thing to be desired; but I fear that in these modern times in which we live there is to© strong a tendency to lay all the stress upon education of the. head and too little on the spiritual devel opment of the heart. A teacher who has not a message for his class from a prayerful censid harmony with the plan of salvar tion, and the sooner such an one gives up the job the better it will be for all concerned. Along with the foregoing re quisites must be mentioned also a knowledge of the Bible. If it was good for Paul it is also good for us. The colored teachers must recognize the fact that the average Negro home does not contribute much in the way of help to the success of the Ne gro teacher, for the reason that those family altars which still exist are being slowly torn down by worldliness; and unless there is a return to the God of our fathers and mothers and to true worship then we may at any time expect to find ourselves liv ing in a time like that of Ahab and Jezebel. The boys and girls about this time of life usually begin to form ideals of their own. One’s appearance in dress, his ability to command respect from oth ers, his knowledge and ability to hahdle the various subjects, all come in for a large consider ation in influencing the young minds. There are many today who claim that this scheme of hand ling those in the teen years will be accomplished only through social functions. That may be so, but it seems to me that the same Christian life lived by Jesus and His followers is all sufficient today as it was in the drifted centuries of the past. We know that with the ongoing of years everything becomes more modern except religion arid we fear that there is a disposition on the part of some to modernize religion itself. With all the changes that have taken place in the world since the purchase oi redemp tion by Jesus, the plan of salva tion has not changed an iota ; but stands today as it did eight eep hundred years ago with-all of its beauty and freshness when uttered by Jesus Himself. Solomon in his writings said, ‘Train up a child in the way it. should go and when it is old it will not depart from it.” I be lieve if that is not true today, then it was true when uttered; many centuries before Christ’s' time. If this be true, and I be lieve it is—then all I have to do and any other true follower of { Christ, is to live the life and prtayepfully recommend it to ray family^With me. i (One Of the .mostI beautiful pic tures" of ill my life was noted ini connection With the demise of the late William Jennings Bryan when I read of the young Bryan” of California coming to assist; his father at Dayton, .Term./ against those who would dairi'assail the Writings of the Old ind the ' New Testament Scriptures. J; Bryan lived for. something. Let'mr go and do likewise. Now, iri conclusion, I wish to say that if those of the teen age are ever .made to see and un derstand the real purpose of life they, must see it through us. We must live the life our selves; establish the family al tar, and see.to dt that we and our families rigidly, observe the Sabbath day; and aS sure as the night/follows the day, God will bless, ;Our efforts. LK l iMS TO THE TEACHERS Or THE STATE Superintendent of Public In struction, State of North ' “ " T. Carolina . . ' n Raleigh September X2,. 1925. To North-Garolina Negro Teach ers : I hive lust learned that the North Carolina Negro Teachers’ Association will meet in Greens boro qp... November 25, 26 and 27. As xpi^ know, this Associa tion *a»„v "^tremendously in Wlflfan .wflKEtr ' Pjffo the last four or five years and is lhore and more becoming a professional body. Please let me urge all Negro teachers in North Carolina to attend this meeting if possible and to take part in the discus sions. There are many things which the Association can do from time to time in helping to perfect a system of schools in the State for the Negro chil dren. I hope you can make your plans to be present. With best wishes, l am, Very sincerely yours, N. C, NEWBOLD, n_ Director Division Negro Ed ucation.., .V September 14, 1925. r To the Negro Public School Teachers in North Carolina: in The Association of Negro Teachers in North Carolina has been of great service in improv ing the conditions under which instruction in the Negro Pubic Schools has been given. A large number of patriotic and earnest ‘teachers have been attending 'this Association for many years. Whether a teacher is able to attend the meetings of the As sociation or not, she should be come a member and thereby lend her influence and strength to the professional improvement ,®f all the Negro teachers in the State. -Membership in this As sociation might be considered a fair test of one's loyalty to the cause of public education. A tfrOiig attitude on the part of one teacher reflects upon the whole body of teachers and •weakens, to softie extent, the power and influence of all the others. It appears to me, therefore, that it is incumbent upon every teacher, who has accepted work in the public schools, to join thfs Association at the first op portunity. It is a duty she owes, not oftly to her own pro fessional iniprovement, but also to the good of the entire teach ing force. I am, Very truly yours, A. T. ALLEN, State Superintendent of Pub Kt Instruction. itial hi V DR. HARRIS WRITES AGAIN TO CHURCHES IN SOUTH ERN VIRGINIA PRESBY TERY. Crewe, Va., Oct. 21, 1925.— Relative to the article appear ing inphe Africo on the date of August 13th under the head of “A Fund For Ministerial Re lief,” l|wish to say that the re sponses have been everything but en< ouraging. The chairman of the Lay men’s Committee is asking for a report on what has been ac complished so that the commit tee will be enabled to develop plans for its future activities. To Ipis time, I have heard from less than half the church es in our Presbytery. The thing the committee asks us to do ought hot to be considered a hard task. We are asked for a tabulation of names and ad dresses of those members or friendsf of our congregations who are wiping to subscribe to this very important program, or even probable supporters. We are not asked • the amount of sub scriptions. This seems plain and easy, j i ao ?noi Deueve we can ao a more creditable thing in the way of “Lifting the Level” than by supporting this timely move ment in our Church. I believe most ministers and many laymen are subscribers to the Africo, but to be sure of get ting in touch with all the ses sions I sent to every minister and clerk of session a copy of the issue in which the article ap peared. Some of the ministers, I find, are a bit timid about presenting such matters to their congrega tions. Where the congregations rSSl rrrrfyur al problems of the Church either the minister or some other per son possessing the ability must give the needed information without hesitancy. If the min ister has done his whole dutv among his members why should he hesitate in presenting to them any program of the Church soliciting their support? Don’t let us fall down on this matter. To recapitulate: tabulate the names and addresses of those persons of our congregations or friends of our congregations who are willing to contribute to the program,—mot only known contributors, but probable con tributors. We are not asked in this report for any amount of subscriptions; so do not bother your heads about that. Now, 1 beg of you, please let me have these lists asked for, if you can, not later than Novem ber 15th, or you may send list direct to the chairman, Mr. Will H. Hays, Room 800, 522 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Yours for the success of this program, EDWARD B. HARRIS. Box 584, Crewe, Va. In whatever light we view re ligion is appears solemn and venerable. It is a temple full of majesty, to which the worship ers may approach with comfort, in the hope of obtaining grace and finding mercy; but where they cannot enter without be ing inspired with awe. If we may be permitted to compare spiritual with natural things, re ligion resembles not those scenes of natural beauty where every object smiles. It cannot be likened to the gay landscape or the flowery field. It resem bles more the august and sub lime appearances of Nature— the lofty mountain, the expand ed ocean, and the starry firma ment, at the sight of which the mind is at once overawed and delighted; and, from the union of grandeur with beauty, drives a pleasing but a serious devo tion.—Blair. Give us that calm certainty of truth, that nearness to Thee, that conviction of the reality of life to come, which we shall need to bear us through the troubles of this.—H. W. Beecher. YADKIN WESTERN DIS TRICT CONVENTION. The 35th annual Sunday School Convention of the Wes tern District of Yadkin Presby tery met at Mount Vernon Pres byterian church near Woodleaf, on Thursday, August 20th, 1925. The Convention opened with a short song service. The opening prayer was by Mr. Wal lace Gibson. Then there was music by the choir, after which the welcome address was deliv ered by Mr. C. F. Phifer, who, in a most cordial manner, wel comed the Convention to the church and to the homes of the people. This address was re sponded to by Mr. Jno. A. Smoot of Mocksville. The annual address was de livered by the retSring Presi dent, Mr. Wm. A. Cowan. He selected for his subject, “Why I Attend the Convention.” He spoke of the many benefits to be received by attending the ‘ Convention, and why each Su perintendent should attend. The roll of the Convention was called by the Corresponding Secretary. The superintendents and delegates were enrolled. The olio wing ministers were pres snt: Revs, J. A. Ramseur, W. Hawkins, W. T. Byrd, J. M. Norton, B. F. Murray, D. D., md Rev. J. G. Murray. Rev. ind Mrs. Mayberry were ac :orded seats as corresponding nembers. Short, but very in cresting addresses were made iy each. The following persons were sleeted as officers: Mr. Jno. A Smoot, President; Mr. W. A. Soward, Vice-President; Mrs. Samuel Massey, Recording Sec retary ; Mrs. Senora Payton, As sistant Secretary; Mr. Joo.^^ ry; Rev. W. A. Hawkins, finan cial Secretary; Mrs. S. M. Mur ray, Treasurer. After the report of the local committee the collection was taken by Mr. L. W. Ellis. The amount was $5.25. The meeting adjourned to open Friday morning at 9 o’clock. The Convention opened on Fri day morning at 9 o’clock with a sjiort song service. Rev. J. A. Ramseur made a short talk on the “Good Shepherd.’’ After this Bible Study was conducted by Rev. B. F. Murray, D. D. He selected the first chapter of Gen esis as a chapter for study. This was a very interesting and helpful study. Rev. Murray made a brief but interesting talk on evolution, outlining the origin of man, and showing that man did not come from the ape nor the monkey, but was created by God in His own im age. This seemed to be a very profitable meeting. At 10 o’clock the business of the Convention was taken up. The appointment of committees and reports from the schools were made. Some very inter esting talks were given by the Superintendents. Friday afternoon the music for the meeting was furnished by Mt. Tabor Junior choir. Their music was enjoyed by all. The first on the program for the af ternoon was the departmental Conferences—Children’s Divis ion. Mrs. J. L. Hollowell being absent, Mr. Jno. H. Smith made a brief talk on the Children’s Division. Mrs. A. D. Lord spoke on the Young People’s Di vision. She stated the ages that are included under this heading and the principles by which she thinks a Sunday school might be improved, mentioning loyal ty and spirituality. Mr. W. A. Howard made a very interesting talk on the Adult Department showing how the adults of today are being improved by the Sunday school ana the necessity of having the adults in the Sunday school. Short talks were made by Mr Smith and Mr. Marsh on forms of Organized Classes. “How to Keep a Constanl Supply of Workers in the Sun day School” was the subject oi a splendid paper by Miss Lore na Stevenson of Freedom Sun day school. “The Importance of the Devotional Service in the Sunday School" was the subject of a paper read by Miss Anna Rankins. A D. V. B. S. demonstration, conducted by Mr. L' W. Ellis,* was very interesting and help ful. Mr. Ellis is well experi enced in the D. V. B. S. work and his service deserves com mendation. Rev. A. B. Moseley, of the A. M. E. Zion church, was accord ed a seat as a corresponding member and made a short talk. A collection of $6.00 was tak en for Miss Lorena Stevenson whose home had been destroyed by fire. " Paper, “The Value of an Or ganized Class,” by Miss Mattie . Harris and an open forum con ducted by Mr. Jno. H. Smith, followed. Many Sunday school problems were discussed and suggestions as to how to solve them were offered. Friday night’s session was opened with music by the Mt. Vernon choir. Prayer was of fered by Rev. J. G. Murray. This being a popular meeting some interesting papers were read. The subjects of the pa pers were as follows: “What Is the Main Business of the Sun day School?” by Mr. James Waddell. Miss Esther Conner beautifully illustrated The Qual ifications of a Good Teacher. Mrs. Senora Payton read an in spiring and helpful paper, “Can the Sunday School Reach Its Goal Without the Religious Training in the Home?” Paper by Miss Edith Tatum, “Why Should Special Attention Be Given to Our Catechism ?” Solo by Mr. Jno. H. Smith, 1 **rl^T Vfm • wjgfflei1 tiwem-'r&ac TO • TT JK3p'CI*'P WWW to Your Soul,” his own composi tion. Address, “Enlisting the Young People in Christian Service,” by Rev. J. A. Ram seur. He said that the Church needs young men volunteers who will work willingly and who will csme to the church be cause it is the house of God. We also need cultured men. Mr. G. R. Marsh made a very interesting talk on the work of the School of Methods. Dr. A. D. Lord and Rev. Dr. Dockery also made short talks. A collection of $6.20 was tak en by Mr. H. C. Cowan and Mr. W. A. Howard. Saturday morning the Con vention opened with a short praise service. The Bible Hour was conducted by Dr. Murray, subject, “The Birth of Christ,” Scripture, Matt. 1:16-25. The talk Kiade by Dr. Murray was very interesting and helpful. Mr. G. R. Marsh made a very helpful talk on “Standard Rec ords and How to Keep Them.” The Catechism contest was conducted by Mrs. Murray. The winner was Miss Helen Phifer, of Cameron Sabbath School, of Elmwood. Sunday morning, August 23, at 9:45 the Model Sunday School was conducted by Mr. G. R. Marsh. A large number of delegates and members of the church and school were pres ent on time. The officers for the whole Sunday school were as follows: Supt., Mr. G. R. Marsh, S. S. M.; Assistant Supt., Mrs. Se nora Payton; Secretary, Mrs. Samuel Massey; Supt. Adult Di vision, Mr. Jno. H. Smith; Supt. Young People’s Division, Mrs. Lucy Dulin; Supt. of Children’s Division, Miss Mag gie L. Knox; Usher, Mr. Enoch Knox; organist, Miss Martha L. Smith. The teachers were Mr. Jno. H. Smith, Mr. W. A. Howard/ Mr. J. A. Smoot, Mrs. Lucy Du lin, and Miss Maggie L. Knox. There were 95 persons pres ent at school and the collection was $3.10. The lesson was re viewed by Mr. Jno. H. Smith and Mr. W. A. Howard. At 11 A. M., the annual ser mon was preached by Rev J. M. (Continued on page 4)

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