'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;