'X,
VOL. L.
I THE CHURCH S CHALLENGE TO MEN
(Address delivered at the last session of the Catawba Synodical
Sabbath School Convention and School of Methods held at
Mary Potter Memorial School, Oxford, N. C.)
By Dr. E. R. Dudley.
“Follow me and I will make
you fishers of men,” was Jesus’
challenge to the meek and lowly
fishermen of Galilee.
“And they straightway lejft
thoir nets and followed him.”
What magic power! What abid
ing faith! What nobility of
character! And they did become
so
ey
great fishers of men, and
earnest and zealous were th
in meeting the challenge, in ply
ing their trade, that Jesus im
pfeed upon them the covtsed
honor and devout distinction of
becoming the head of the great
Christian Church, which has
come down through these un
hallowed ages, unsullied and un
soiled as. the great bulwark of
hope, faith and love, reachihg
into that richer, fuller life that
alone in due season shall bring
about $he Fatherhood of God
and the Brotherhood of all man
kind.
“Follow me.”—There is a very
peculiar fascination and charm
in that challenge; notwithstand
ing it often carries with it hard
ship and privation, yet men
have picked it up and become
conquering (heroes; they liaVe
changed the destinies of nations,
made the desert flourish Jtfke the
rose; they have established di
vers inanitions, have brought
light ouHtf darkness, yea,
and peace comfort out of
chaos. .
“Follow me” has been the
challenge heard a$i heeded by
the patriots, sages and pioneers
ITye blazed their trails
'-in discoveries, mventmiw,-ex
plorations and achievements and
written their lives indelibly upon
the pages of history down
tftrougn tne ages.
“Follow me” and get thee up
out of the land of Ur of the
Chaldees and I will make thee
the father of many nations. I
will number thy seed as the
stars in the heavens and as the
sand upon the seashore; and I
will honor thy blood and rela
tionship through the earthly ad
vent of Jesus Christ Himself.
And Abraham heeded the chal
lenge; and became the Father of
the Faithful and the patriarch
of olcL
“Fbftbw me” and go back down
into Egypt arid tell Pharaoh to
“Let my people go,” was Jeho
vah’s challenge to Moses as he
was recovering from a life
mixed with strife and bitter
memory in the land of Midian;
and as Moses sat there herding
the cattle, he chanced to look up
across a shoulder of Horeb’s
rugged peaks and there caught
the inspiration through the
burning bush. Throwing down
his crook, he acepted the chal
lenge and arose to heights sub
lime as a leader and law-giver to
be finally swallowed up in the
convexity of Pisgah’s lofty
mountain, there to repose with
i he patriarchs and sons of God,
who had gone on before,
And what shall we say oi
Jeptha, Gideon and Samuel, or
ef Nathan, Elijah, Elisha, Jere
miah and Daniel and a host of
others who caught the inspirar
t on and saw that it was good
rnd accepted the challenge to
lead men;|A$rd the oncoming
Prince of Peace?
♦'Follow me!” Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do? was the
reponse of Saul of Tarsus as he
accepted the challenge while on
his way to Damascus, and Paul
must have ireaUy meant bust:
ness, for besides the Master
Himself Paul gives us more* in*
r.oiration and desire to cling to
the hope in the promise of eter
nal life than any of the other
Apostles. His miraculous
change, his indomitable jyfll
power, his fearless and consci
entious attitude all stand out in
bold relief as an intense inspira
tion like an oasis in a dreary
land to the weary, footsore
and thirsty traveler on his way
to Canaan’s fairer and happier
land.
“Follow me” as we come
down through the ages was
caught up by Knox, Calvin, Lu
ther, Wesley, Lovejoy, Sumner i
and our own Chapman and be
beloved Worden and a host of
others, who have faithfully ac
cepted the challenge and have
maintained the line of continuity
of the great Christian Church
when arid'wherever it has been!
threatened by the spirit of intol
erance, selfisness and violence.
“Follow me" has echoed far and
wide siricS it was first uttered
by the Master to that little band
of fishermen on the shores of
Galilee, gaining spiritual impe
tus and numerical strength and
breaking: down the barriers of
strife and might arid letting in
the sunshine of good will and
fellowship. ^ ‘
And yet with all df the won
derful and marvelous Achieve
ments of good will and peace on
the earth that Christianity has
wrought throughout the world
the harvest is Still great and the
reapers very. few. Then do you
feel astonished to learn that the
Church is still ehadgnging men
to'“Foil# roe?” .
Men Whose shadows have
never beep permitted to, disap
pear acrofi the vestibule of the
Church
Men whose ears have never
caught the significance of the
melodious peals of the church
bells.
Men whose minds have never
been attuned to the two-edged
sword-power of the gospel.
Men who have never been
trained into the fellowship of
the family altar.
Meif who have overlooked the
refreshing refrain of the prayer
meeting; and
Men whose souls are so
warped they can only see the
Bible school as a kindergarten
for the little children.
“Follow me” rings out in
clarion tones not alone to the
layman in the slums, who per
chance has never heard the
sweet deep refrain, “0, where is
my wandering boy tonight,” nor
to the rum sot who continually
robs his family trying to sati
ate and satisfy his fitful appe
tite with boot-leg liquor, but the
challenge comes with a cyclonic
like clash to the Elmer Gentrys
and the Rev. Mr. Dinsdales,
who are moral lepers like wolves
in sheep’s clothing, who are
preaching the unsearchable
riches of the gospel and practic
ing their prostitution with the
modern Delilahs,
Others have lost their spirit
ual’prestige taking a sip occa
sionally from the mint julip
wine cup.
Some who are morally straight
as the proverbial arrow,
have nevertheless lost sight of
the significance of the chal
lenge to “Follow Me,” through
their intolerant, arrogant; nar
row, selfish, whip-driving meth
ods, and have lost the sweet
communion and fellowship with
their congregation; and have
the brazen effrontery to tell
God they don’t know what the
trouble is, they are doing all
they know how. Pray for them
that they may accept the chal
lenge to “Follow me.”
And there is another lazy, in
dolent, lounge Hazard, dishonest
type,—and God forbid that they
shall survive much longer, for
they, above all others, are stay
ing the time that His Kingdom
shall come Into the hearts of
men. \
Then we are faced with the
question, wherein lies the diffi
culty of the Church's challenge
to men? What shall we do to
cause men to accept the chal
lenge? Why do men not rally
loyally to the challenge?
Down through all ages of the
Church God has seen fit to use
men, and those who have ren
dered the most proficient and
desirable service have been
chiefly among those who have
first practiced the application^
the Golden Rule in their o$m
liVes; not satisfied to. give
measure for measure—not de
sirous alone of doing their legal
duty, but like Zaccheus of old,
who, when he accepted the
challenge to “Follow me” by the
Master Himself, was willing and
anxious to make restitution: to
those with whom he had dealt
-o th extent of four-fold.
Dr. Simpson, a celebrated
dentist of Richmond, Va., with
a national reputation of merit
among dentists, and, by the way,
he is a Scoth-Irish Presbyterian,
gave us a clinic at our State
meeting last Spring; and I
wasN peculiarly touched and
thrilled by his earnestness and
his sincerity. lie began his
clinic by telling us a little story
of his early life, which wag so
edifying to me that I am telling
it to yon. He was born among
the rugged hills of Virginia, not
far from Roanoke, and, unfortu
nately, while a small boy, lost
both of his parents by death
and was hence left in the care
of a devoted Aunt Susan, who
was herself a blue-stocking
Presbyterian and , who applied
her religion to her daily life.
When he was a small, boy about
twelve he earned, his first dgj
]&£ rendered and for
which he was'Bubbling oyer with
joy and gladness. Hastening
home to tell Aunt Sue that she,
too, might share his happiness,
he was greatly disappointed
when, on showing her his first
dollar, saying, ‘‘See, Aunt Sue,
l have earned my first dollar;
isn’t that great?” she merely
answered, “Well, John, did you
give a dollar and a quarter’s
worth of service for it?” And
Dr. Simpson added that while
he was disappointed then over
Aunt Sue’s quiet, calm disposi
tion, yet the moral has followed
him through all these years to
try to give more than he re
ceived for his services.
Is not that a wonderful exam
ple of the Master? Are we al
ways trying to give more than
we receive? Or do we follow the
world like the greedy swine and
take everything in sight* trust
ing to the survival of the strong,
est? “Follow me” is the chal
lenge that comes to us today.
The Church’s challenge is to
recruit men to become fishermen
of more men.
Men who have made a Bril
liant success in the business
world to fill the vacant' seats
next to their wives and children
during the church services.
Men who will play well their
part in the maintenance and up
keep and by his presence in
the Bible School.
Men who will make the
Brotherhood a strong arm of the
church by their fellowship, ser
vice and prayers, and
Men who are not afraid to
let their lights so shine that
more men may see their good
works and glorify our Father
which is in heaven.
Sometime ago I read in the
Adult Quarterly supplement
that the little brown church in
the village (had on a rally to
recruit men for the Bible
School, and one devout brother
knew of a friend who had woe
fully neglected his church obli
gation. So he went to see his
friend telling him about a rally,
and saying, “Come over and
help us and we will do you
good,” but was given the old
pped answer,“Why,yes, t
with you some Sunday”;
sreafter the devout friend
who said, “See here, yoii
tell you now that I do not intend
to: go unless some one should
compel me with a drawn guh.?r
'The devout friend went his way,
but the next- Sunday morning
he called again and knocked ,on
the door, and when the door Wag
opened he drew his 'gun from
his Jhip pocket and said, “Well,
friend, I have come prepared to
take you to the Bible school, 1
have at least taken you at your
word*v The friend answered,
“You Win. Since you are so ear
nest and serious about it there
must be something of more than
casual interest at your Bible
that the Church might
havet more men with the inter
ested courage and persistency
to go out into the byways and
hedges and compel men to ac
cept the challenge to “Follow
me.’f
LM He went.
T £n, again, the Christian
Church in its challenge to men
its cantonments to encourage
me«|its recruits. Statistics and
data state that practically 80
percent of the church members
tfrpw* their numerical strength
from=the Bible Schools; then it
follows if that is true, that re
ligion, like other creeds and m
ely
can generally be a con
summation in the challenge to
“Follow me,”
Dr. James T. Gaskill, a min
ister in the Eastern part of
North Carolina, has written a
most excellent book on tithing
and religious and home train
ing. Among other things he
claims that man is endowed with
a dual personality, that of the
spirit and that of the intellect,
and while the intellectual per
son, generally, has been intense
'y trained from early childhood
to manhood daily, .through the
public schools and, in many cas
es, through colleges and univer
sities, taking degrees in science,
mathematics, psychology and
philosophy, the spiritual person,
whose mind is as perceptive as
that of the intellectual, has been,
in too many cases, left a dwarf,
a mere pigmy, because he has not
had spiritual training commen
surate with that of the intellect
ual person; hence, wherever
these dual persons meet in so
cial, business and religious
functions, the spiritual person
will hardly cope with the intel
lectual person.
Religious training should go
hand in hand with our, daily
task arid intellectual' training,
especially during the adolescent
period of our lives when we are
in the most pliable stage of de
velopment. This calls for a
launching out program of the
Church, to establish recreation
al centers, training centers, as
well .as religious centers, for in
vestigation has disclosed the
fact that boys, no matter wheth
er from the blue-blooded scions
of the patricians or from the
common masses of plehians,
must be taught a- deep-seated
reverence for the Holy Trinity,
the application of the Golden
Rule, the unselfish /spirit, the
honest policy, and the living of
dean lives or else sooner or later
they will follow the line of least
. resistance, which will eventually
land them in the slums and gut
ters of life.
The Institutional church is in
dedi the response to the call
(Continued on page 4)
HAINES INSTITUTE NOTES.
Mias Blanche Henderson, Re
‘r ; porter. :•
On Sunday, February 26th, a
mass meeting was held in
Haines Chapel. This meeting
was held to challenge Hie colored
people of Augusta tb roister
for the betterment of tiefir pet*
pie and community. :
Bishop Williams was asked to
preside. Rev. Mr. Mack, of
Elim Baptist churdbt,. gave an
interesting talk emphasizing
how necessary it was to raster.
We ware pleased to have Walker
Baptist church chorus with us.
They gave a selection which
was sung with much enthusiasm.
Rev. A. C. Griggs, pastor and
teacher of Haines, was called
upon to speak. He carried us
back in the historical world and
enlightened our knowledge to
many thingaof the colored man.
He pleaded those who had
not registered to do 39 at once.
We could have heard the power-,
ful speaker many minutes long
er, hut only a few minutes were
allotted each person. Haines
Chorus gave a selection, entj
fHSd, ~Hark! Hark! My Soul,"
which Was beftutifully sung.
The last speaker was Rev.
Anderson, v of the C. M. E.
snurcn, wno, w nis most interest,
ing talk, reminded us m brief
words of our prominent and out
standing men and women of Au
gusta. fie refereed to the great
service, they ’ are rendering
among their' people in various
cities and communities. He, too,
pleaded to the audience to regis
ter at once. We hope that this
meeting has affected many.
Mme. DeLyon • Leonard, of
New Yprk City, sang Friday
night in. Haines Auditorium.
the ear—it is so artistic and ap
pealing. I am sure that those
who witnessed this recital en
joyed every minute of it.
Mrs. Emma Ford Brooks, the
Misses E. Gray, R. Gray,. Sara
Brinson, Ivy Butler, teachers of
Haines School, are spending the
week-end jn Abbeville, S. C., at
the home of the Misses Gray.
We hope for them a pleasant
stay.
Haines Girls’ basket ball team
will play their last game Mon
day, March 5th, with the fast
sextette of Schofield Institute,
Aiken, S. C., on Haines campus.
This game will bring together
two of the best teams in the
League and the lovers of bas
ket ball are in for a real thrill
ing game.
Rev. and Mrs. Page and Mrs.
Ethel Coles Shaw motored from
Columbia to spend the week-end
on Haines campus.
Sunday, morning, February
19, we were delighted to have
with us Prof. Dillingham, Inter
national Secretary of the Y. M.
C. A., ,a graduate of Shaw Uni
versity and who took a post
graduate course at Yale Univer
sity.
He gave a very interesting
talk in; which he described three
types of students, namely:. The
rich man's son as cash register.
Next the student that wished in
dividual honors, and last a girl
student who was very poor. She
had to work . her way through
school, but in the end proved to
be the greatest character. The
students and faculty were very
much, impressed.
Sunday afternoon at 5 o'clock
we enjoyed another interesting
and helpful talk by, one of our
white friends, Dr. Kerr, pastor
of; Shady side Presbybyterian
Church, Pittsburgh Pa. He had
with him his wife and several
friends. By request Haines
chorus entertained them with
several spirituals that were
very well led by Mme. Mamie
Crawford Bryant, and Edward
Moultrie, a member of the Junior
class at Haines. ,
Our white friends were so im
pressed with the leaders of the
spirituals that
to gtapd that
them. Indeed
voice rang awi
Haines Auditorium, and every
one was thrilled with Mr. Moul
trie's bass voice. Afterwards
Dr. Kerr gave to us a splendid
talk on Happiness and Service,
which was uplifting and inspir
ing to the teachers and patrons,
and especially to the student
body. Our beloved Principal,
Miss Lucy C. Laney, completed
the program by giving us a talk
on slavery in which she stated
was the origin of spirituals. She
spoke of the great work of her
former ^graduates and liow
proud she was of them. This
was encouraging to the students
of'Haines, for they are deter
mined to do greater things in
the future.
The Japanese players chew a
large crowd at the Lenox
Wednesday evening last. Many
braved the downpour of rain to
witness the performiance. We
wish to express our deep appre
ciation to the public for its sup
port ; to the manager of the the
atre for* his kind consideration
and to Dr. T. W. Joseph, who
gave his time and service to help
make it a success. The students,
teachers and friends are to be
congratulated for their untiring
seal and splendid work. There
was a keen class rivalry in the
high school, but the intrepid
warriors of 1931 captured first
place, selling the highest number
of tickets. This class has fre
quently borne the laurel. .
..
they might see
T>.. i ,il’
■Dime. Bryant's
»etlv throuffhnut.
BARBER COLLEGE
The last week in February was
also the last week in the college
quarter. Exams were prevalent
in all classrooms. There was
much studying, cramming and
puckering of brows* There
were no frivolities or leisure
hours available, just one contin
ual round of pouring over books,
getting ready for the final Gx
ams. This lasted through
Wednesday; then Deian Fores
man announced that Thursday
might be an all-day holiday for
the college group. The an
nouncement was followed by up
roarious applause and cheers.
On Thursday there was nothing
but fun;* All day a continual
stream of girls went to the Big
City—Anniston. tin; <the early
evening the group “hoboed” up
to the woods to enjoy a supper
among the hills and*’ trees.
Everybody was exceptionally
jolly. A bright fire crackled
pleasantly and produced warmth
and was also an efficient stove
for cooking the weiners. Eliz
abeth Foster discovered a love
ly spring and we christened it
“Foster Spring.” “Never did
coffee and salad taste better,”
the girls said. It was noticed
that tiny nowers were Degin,
ning to peep out among the
mosses. They were welcomed
many times. At seven o’clock
the group returned to the col
lege.
It was said by many of the
visitors^to the last concert given
by the chorus that the February
program on the fourth Sunday
was the best of the year. Miss
Fox, directress, is to be com
mended. With her skill and the
cooperation of the chorus girls,
each month in its turn may be
considered the best.
The city photographer has
been doing quite a bit of work
at Barber. Classroom views,
separate special groups, besides
the school group and faculty pic
tures were made.
Miss tfaomi Ramsey, High
School Senior, who is just re
covering from an appendicitis
operation, has returned to the
(Continued on page 3)