Newspapers / Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / June 23, 1927, edition 1 / Page 1
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If oitr id ,il|lt aawt ,7.choaS CHABUWTB.N. C. BfKOX- ».'S t no- *i*iqadb rfj iBrak ibrTzovAa ex n w nJmsMxmi m ! JgTTTiTgg L ’PJUIX )AJ ^5i . j£*-*s i ■ V .< m< JMg LB ii .1 ■ ;; V^KmJWBkI.'S ■ m Wj W wl ' LI § -• ..it* ■n i k* lL]f ■■ » 1U i hi m ' ■ ■ f>df n. COMM (A paper read’at the Twelfth Ai ference,' held at Johnson C. Smil ; <‘r :‘;f. fiyRevi To correctly discuss this s^, ject we must first, know what the community is «nd what the Church is. . , r'\ . . , .it. The community is a group of people living m the same local ity, governed by the same laws and customs, ' and having the same interests. The Church is an organization or society founded by Jesus Christ for the purpose of carrying op His work in the j world; the chief j work being the redemption of the souls ofmen, pr* if we ex press it in the every day lan guage, making men and F°men Christians. Canon Wood has said, “Fur nishing the world with Chris tians is the chief business of the Church; and this is blue in re gards to the community. It is the church’s business to keep the community supplied with Christians. It is not.only a busr iness; it is more than a busi ness; it is an obligation that can not be shirked because the community needs the Christians to help it splve the many prob lems that confront it daily. We have stated the proposi tion as to the duty , of the Church? let us . see. if we can prove it. / 3 In tue nrst place, xne com munity needs Christians to deal with her problems, because all the problemsi are i related to the needs &t humanity, visile«e •* brought about. the S^eB^^ule: CH^Teame into the world for man’s salva tion. He came to remedy the needs of humanity. He came to save men not from hell but from sin and the .evil results of sin that was sending them there. In the community we have many evils that are destroying the property, safety, = peace, and happiness of its citizens. For years great ' efforts have been made by those who have the in terest of their fellow men at heart to combat these evils, but without any permanent success. The reason is that, every evil that threatens f: humanity, is either the direct or indirect re sult of sin. Thus if we get rid of sin we get rid of every prob lem not only that the commun ity has to deal with, but the world everywhere. This is the work of - the Church—cleansing the world of sin. 3 ,s... This is done by the use of the Gospel of Christ, the power of God unto salvation, It is by in fluencing men to become Chris tians, ^accept Orist as their personal Saviour, that this is ac complished. “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the? world,” saith the Scripture, and “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sra. Then the. foremost business of the Church is evangelistic or soul-winning. It must recognize the fact that every one needs Christ. Men must be taught their divine value. They are'well acquainted with earth’s values but with their souls’ value so few are familiar. Christ asks, ‘*What will a man give in ex change for his soul?” The Gospel is meant for all; there should be none within the sphere of any church’s influence that has not become a Chris tian. John &: 16 gives us God’s will in thirmatteivond says that God is ready to welcome any one who comes. There are those in every community who are left alone because the church thinks they cannot be reached. It feds that they are wicked, too poor, too rich, too proud or too hardened. Now, this is not God’s way of looking at it. God would have none lost but that all would come to repentance. , ; , In the second place, when a man becomes a Christian be be w H" mual Presbyterian Workers’ Gon h University^''* »dJ «t Wt< mmmL M. Onque creature, his comei a thoughts are new, hisidealsnre new, his character is new. . 8*i is net of the world, in that fie no logger draws Mn inspiration from the world but from Christ and God, and sweh.a naan is an asset # any community, iin which he lives. Every citixenitt a community owes the commun ity a fluty. That duty to Help to promote those elements which make for safety, prospeHty arid general welfare.' New wh<kis in a better position and more able to do; this than the Chrjstian? Personally he is fitted* for this work (because of- 'tlhe ‘fofluettefif that he exerts -in his dally li*h ingr iHe is regenerated- and re1 deemed. He is a cjhfld of God and possesses a Godly nature, therefore his influence is g and godliness wWv;fnake_„ commuiiity a place worth living iiV. On the other hand, fhis:id his special duty or wbrk. By Ms redemption ’fie automatically be comes the “light of the worfd” and :“the ealt of the earth*’ by the decree of the Master. Then ft is plain. Since the worM fa to be Bav;d thioagh the g of the Gospel, that the jrork of the rH £ ® us notice briefly another phase of me Church’s duty, ftnd this is the teaching or .thfi edu greater service ... . the world, and to inspire them with desires to excel. The cen tral thought of life Is service; it is the key to success and for tune. He who serves most is honored most and he who serves best receives the best, and what agency is more fitted to teach men the true form of service than the'Church? The very es sence of the religion of Jesus Christ is service. The cost re quirement for discipleship is service. “If Any naan would be my disciple,1 let him take up his cross1 and follow me.” The ex ample of the Master is that of service. “For the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister, add to-give his life a ransom nanny)" The service of the world is- a selfish service; it is ai service for per sonal gain and ease; the Chris tian service; is a service of use fulness; it is for the -good of others. It is the only service worth giving. It can' not be measured in dollars and. cfptS; neither can it be put away in vaults and safes* but if is felt nevertheless in the world, and if men would; write their nafnes in the undying/ memories of mankind, let them serve, the world with the great truth that every man owes.the community he lives in his due portion of Service; that the Welfare of the community depends upon how well 'he. pays that service to it Not only must he be taught that he must serve his community, but he must be taught how to do so, and that it is only when prompted by the Spirit of ChristMat a m^ cmi give his Kpqf I ‘ * It is the responsibility of the Church to aee that the commun ity learns the great, truths of religion. Too many churches are spending; their time with a propaganda of denominational' E™, .mrhadW thl wc ism instead of truths of dhristia: Ser roU S^SL. lowing, lot Iier declare teach, the truths of religic. tainted with creed or secta ism, and her courts #lled. fti.;ttie,**e in are living men we, di 'Sf'tte m tne add ler fol Mi valor; stalwart, old, iconoclast,* and $o we," too, must meet the demand of our age for the truth with ,ti*dth. Christ says, *1 am the truth,” and the Christian Church is the only agency that h^is the power and the right to proclaim the great truths of God to the world, the knowledge oI which Whl S^re and assure the community of^an unending se Through the teaching of the erf retaliation Is done away with, and that men are to love their enemies as well as their friends, to toarn the law of neighborliness, they are to learn that: all men are brothers and that God is the common Father of us all, and that fie expects us all to govern our actions by the Golden Rule. • The church is to be the great inspirational source and agent of the community/ and to do this ft must fill the community with the Spirit of Christ. This means that the Holy Spirit will become the motive power of men’s lives, shaping and molding ' their characters, governing and influ encing their thonghts and ac tioiis, .. r... -sn-J . v The Church has always been the maker of ideals. The fol lowers of Christ have always had a vision. The principles tanght by the Christian religion are such as to inspire men to higher;and noblerj, living. No man rises higher than biajic^U no community rises any nigher than the ideals ?* of. > those who -compose it, and as water can 4ot ri® any- higher tjian its B*ce,i SO man’s ideals can not Maher Shaa ths source world are selfish and self-cen tered. There are many other re ligions and cults, some of them thousands of years older than Christianity, that have sought to be the world’s source of in spiration, but they all have failed to relieve the world of its ills. The only inspiration that has led to the culture and de velopment of the race with any lasting effect has been that giv en by the Christian religion. Then it rests on the Church, as one of our daily newspapers says, “To be a busy, humming powerhouse of spiritual ideals, fighting the minds of men, en ergizing ther hearts, and moving their steps toward a higher so cial order.” ill uic rUlA vFA bllv Church, it must not be forgot ten that upon its shoulders falls the burden of protecting the youth of the land. Hie Church must see to it that the great truths of religion have their place in all (education of the young. The future, not only of the Church and community, but the whole world depends upon it. ' Nowhere can we find the fun damental elements that go to build up character and produce souls that are inspired for the service of usefulness that are found in the principles as taught by the Christian religion. It is a Sacred trust imposed upon the Church that it must take care of/the education of the youth of tie land. * The third phase of the busi ness of the chiirch in the com munity, is that of community welfare or sodal service work, In the early days of the Church, it was thought that its only du ty Was to take care of the spir itual interests of men and foi the Church to interfere in the temporal affairs of men was « mistake, as would tend to draw the Church away froin its mail business, tbat of evangelism anc education. But the Church if coming to reahze-more and mor< that the religion of Jesut Christ touches every part o1 man's life—body and soul, mine and spirit, and that the fullesi development of one depend) upon the development of th< others as well. And if man is t< be at his best and fulfill the ent lie i^uj^the , _ God created him must impartially build world of his being. Jesus Christ came 'into the "Wfrld to save the whole man. This is made dear in the doc japteiof the resurrection, “Now risen from the dead the first fruits of slept." We cannot ve of men inhabiting with pure souls hi hu es. If the bodies of pre reunited with their that both are to be made, in righteousness, then lies must be redeemed as the souls, the Bible to the fact, The whole groaneth and travail jn pain together until now, [ting for the adoption, to wit, redemption of the body." soul is influenced by its stir ndings. We are all creatures environments. “We form of all we meet," says one Our characters are the :ts, more or less, of the nds of influences our Juct isai come in contact with, and! the body is only the . of the soul; yet we know the soul Is largely influ by the appetites of the and the emotions of the Then if the Church is to keep men’s souls straight it must k#ep their bodies straight also. must not only tell men not to pld to temptation, but must al|o help to remove temptation otft of their way. Jesus tells uct that we must prove our re ligion by our works. Christ makes idle second command* metn equal with idle first, and forming our whole Christian duty. Christ bears out the right for the Church to devote herself to social service, in that He sets the example. He begins His public life with a miracle, not to heal a soul, but to aid in recreation of a community, which was taking the form of a wedding feast. He healed a pal sied man to prove His claim to the Godhead, and sent as a proof of His Messiahship the evidence “that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Cfospel preached unto them.” What more authority do we need than this to prove that one phase of the Church’s business in the community is to concern itself in those things of the community that lie within the circle of its social interests. Some say that for the Church to do this it is leaving the field of its regular activities and med dling with things that it has no business to interfere with. That such work will tend to make the Church less spiritual and lose its power with men. But this is not to be feared. There is no conflict between the spiritual and social activities of the Church, and it is not departing from our Christian ideals to in terest ourselves in the securing of steady employment for men, and helping them to make ah adequate salary, in order that they may supply their famines, not only with the necessities but also some of* the pleasures of life; that they may not be either tempted to steal or envy. Did not Christ say, “Give ye them to eat?” It is not seeking an other's wealth, but obeying the Golden Rule, when we busy our selves with promoting those in terests that will bring about sanitation and housing for the community, that health may be 1 safeguarded and the morals 1 taken care of, and is it not giv 1 ing a drink of water on a large 1 scale when we help a commun ■ ity to secure an adequate water ! supply? Faith without works is dead, 1 and the religion that only cares | about a man's soul and lets his 1 (Continued on page 4) HODGE ACADEMY, WASH INGTON, GA. Commencement and Other Ac tivities. Hodge Academy closed one of the most successful years in its history May 1st, and the com mencement was a grand sue seas. The commencement sermon iras preached by Rev. DeWitt ralmage Murray* pastor 6f Lad son church, Columbia, S. C. Rev. Murray was at his best* using for Ms text Proverbs 22: 6, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." His theme was, "The Right Kind of Training.” A large and appreci ative audience turned but and ill enjoyed this sermon. I On the following Tuesday night two beautiful plays were. given, "A Day in Fiowprdom,” and "The Lost Comet.” The pri mary grades under the direction )f Miss Amada Harris made a great impression. Wednesday night the upper grades came out ready. .The au ditorium was filled to its capac ity with both, white and colored. This play was a Chinese play, “Crimson Eyebrows,” and to took upon the stage was almost like being in a city in China, for the costumes, scenery and music were all oriental and beautiful. Mrs. Hargrave at the piano was mistress of the situation. Great praise was given the manage ment and students of Hodge for putting over this beautiful play. Thursday night the graduat ing exercises were kr^ly at Porter “ tel mencement address. His sub ject was “Building a Life.” The address was very rich in thought and was appreciated by all. The graduates were at their best. Miss Emma Edwards, of Union Point, Ga., read the class proph ecy. Another feature which was impressive was the placing of the mantle upon the succeed ing class by Miss Mary Simpson and the beautiful response by Miss Edith Winkfield. Prof. W. A. Simpson (white), of the City High School, present ed the diplomas. Our white friends spoke highly of the school and the work our pastor is doing here. Evangelistic Services Our pastor, Rev. Hargrave, is a busy man. Just after com mencement he left for Danville, Va., where he spent the .third Sunday. He reports a pleasant trip. He also spent a while at tending Johnson C. Smith Uni versity commencement. On his return all plans were made for a great revival. All the minis ters in town were asked to take a night and the fire was kin dled. As we have had a drought for the past two years and were facing another many prayers vent up for rain. On June 12th, Dr. S. D. Thom, Synodical evangelist, began to >reach under a large tent and ril the churches in town had re presentatives in the choir. We isked for a choir of fifty voic es and all the churches rallied. Sirs. Hargrave and Miss Amada Harris as well as others have vorked untiringly and the spirit las been great Dr. C. J. Baker and his son, Charles, spent a few days with Rev. Hargrave and entered intc the spirit of the meeting. Oui prayers have been answered, for the heavens opened and the rain has not stopped this week yet our meeting is still going on. We must mention the hospital ity of our members. Mrs. Huff Mrs. Verdetle, Mrs. King, Mis: Amada Harris and her sister Mrs. Johnson^ also Mrs. Stoni ker have killed the fatted call for us and we have enjoye: great dinners at their homes Elder Grant brought his gift: to the manse as he has not ye taken his lady friend to wed, but we hope he will soon. We have had two to join our church and the anxious seat is full each night we can escape the rain. The town is worked up and Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians and all have worked together without seeing self in it and a beautiful 'spirit is felt. Our rally is on for benevolence end' Dr. Baker has done much to inspire us, We promise to pay our entire quota before fall fpr we do not believe in Waiting and killing ourselves at the last moment. Our program is to continue the revival as long as we can keep Dr. Thom and I am sure that before the meeting closes every church will have her member ship increased. REPORTER. NEW CALVARY PRESBYTE RIAN CHURCH AND SCHOOL, ASHEVILLE. All of the different depart ments of the church are trying to do their bit. The 11 A. M. services are regularly attended and the sermons are helpful and instructive to all who listen. We have had to join recently and be connected as members four new persons. We are glad to have them and hope that they will carry the banner of Christ as they walk through life. Evening worship is well at tended and the sermons by our minister, Rev. W. G. Hamilton, are soul-stirring. The Sabbath school having been newly re-organized, with Blys. C. Birchett as Superinten dent and Mrs. C. J. Williams, Assist., is doihg great work and there has been no falling off. from the various colleges and schools our young members who are making themselves useful in the Sunday school, Christian Endeavor and in their places in the choir. Misses Blanche Hammond, Lucile Mc Cormick and Mr. Israel Garri son made splendid records in their schools graduated from this past term—Swift Memorial College and Ingleside Seminary. The baccalaureate sermon for the class of 1927 of New Calva ry Parochial School was deliv ered by the Episcopal minister, Rev. H. A. U. Powell. A splen did and great one it was. The church was full both gallery and auditorium, before the pro cessional. Special music was was rendered by the class and others. The graduating exercises were May 20. A greater crowd than on Sunday witnessed these exer cises. There were fifteen gradu ates. The class was larger than any oth6r during the time of Rev. W. G. Hamilton’s adminis tration. The young women and young men delivered their ora tions with great care and enthu siasm. Miss Hermie Dizard, valedictorian, made the highest average for four terms. Mr. M. D. C. Kennedy, the salutato ian, made the second highest average for four terms. Mrs. J. R. Jones delivered the annual class address. Dr. Robert Hendrix presented diplomas and awards. Those who received medals were as fol lows: Miss Hermie Dizard, from Whitted-McCoy* Undertakers; Mr. Willie M. Down, from Wil son Undertakers; Miss Alice Poston, for Ambition, from the school; Miss Mamie L. Towns, for highest average in deport ment for two terms. Mr. M. D. C. Kennedy received a medal from the teachers of New Calvary Pa rochial School. Lastly, but not the least, to the great surprise of the Principal, Rev. W. G. Hamilton, R. D., A. M., was pre sented a handsome Loving Cup” from the school children for the service rendered during his administration Not only was it a happy surprise to the Prin cipal, but to the throng of wit “““• W. M. S.
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 23, 1927, edition 1
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