CHARLOTTE,
J .."*
UH8 DAY, JANUARY 1, 1931.
REMEMBERING ALL HIS B
By Rev. Halley B. Taylor, D. D.,
of the Fifteenth Street Predbyt^rian Church, Washington, D. C.
• (A Thanksgiving Sermon de
livered in the Lincoln Temple
Congregational Church on the
occasion of the 1930 Union
Thanksgiving Services held by
the Lincoln Temple, Plymouth
and People’s .Congregational,
aid the Tdbttr and Fifteenth
Street Presbyterian Churches,
at the request of whose minis
ters it has been printed in
pamphlet.)
“Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all His bene
fits.”—Psalm CIII :2.
In keeping with our custom
and in response to the call of
the President of the United
States, we have assembled here
today to show, by the holding
of these special services, that
we are thankful for the mani
fold blessings that have come to
us through the kind providence
of God, our Heavenly Father.
We could do no more fitting
a thing, on this occasion, than
to join with the iPsalmist in
singing the second verse of the
one hundred and third Psalm.
“Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and
forget not all his benefits,” and
we could not engage our minds
in a more helpful way than in
that of “Remembering all his
benefits.”
I have no doubt but that we
have listened already to splen
did, helpful sermons in our sev
eral churches, in which were
set forth reasons why we, as
Christians and Americans,
should be full of the spirit of i
thanksgiving; and we, there
fore, think it not inappropri
ate to confine our remarks this
i morning’ to-? row* "f-ih** ^q*"*^**^
whv we, as a racial group,
should be thankful for the good
ness of God to us as a particu
lar people.
The fact that we have gath
ered ourselves together here in
this sanctuary to join in a ser
vice of thanksgiving means un
questionably that we believe
that God, our Provider, has
dealt with us according to the
promptings of infinite love,
agreeably to the decisions of
illimitable wisdom, and that He.
has expressed His boundless
goodness, through the exer
cise of His infinite power, ac
cording to His unconditioned,
sovereign will.
In our public and private de
votions we usually thank God
for health and strength, for
food and raiment, for peace and
prosperity, for splendid achieve
ments and beckoning hopes,
for courageous hearts and glo
rious victories. But we need to
remember that the God whom
we thank todav is a God of in
finite love, wisdom, goodness,
power, justice and truth; and
that since there is none to stay
His hand or question His decis
ions, does it not necessarily fol
low that the cups of bitterness,
disappointment, failure and
hardship, as well as all of the
tempestuous storms of life,
come to us either from His
hand or by His permission, and
that through all of these
things, regarded by us as evils,
He still discovers Himself to
His teachable children, as the
God of infinite love, goodness,
power, justice and truth.
' As the Apostle Paul wrote,
“Whom the Lord loveth He
chasteneth, and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth.” “Now
( no chastening,” said he fur
wther, “for the present seemeth
flkyous, but grievous; neverthe
k Mss, afterward, it yieldeth the
• peaceable fruits of righteous
\ness, unto them which are ex
ercised thereby.”
- Neither as individuals nor as
a people are we prepared for
the living of the fullest life un
less we have worked out for
ourselves a philosophy of life
that reveals our struggles as
developers of strength, that
teaches us in defeat how to tri
umph, that shows us through
failure how to succeed, that
leads us to self-improvement
because of the scorn of men,
that makes us confident that
the valley of tribulation guides
us to the plains ‘ of joy and
peace.
And it is because we blend
our voices with that of the
Psalmist this morning in call
ing upon our souls to “Bless the
Lord and forget not all His ben
efits” that we have decided to
call attention to a few of the
reasons why we should thank
God for some of the manifesta
tions of His love, which we
have been prone to regard as
evidences of His ill favor.
“God moves in a mysterious
i way.” When we fail to walk in
the right way, of our own free
will and accord, He, at times,
uses methods to coerce us into
His way that cause no little
pain and confusion.
Several years ago a series of
incidents transpired in a city
in which I was pastoring that
illustrated, to my mind, this
particular truth; and since
those incidents teach in a con
crete way the truth that I have
just uttered, I shall, in a few
words, relate them.
A Baptist church and a
Methodist church strove cov
ertly and unihtermittently to be
recognized as the leading
church in the community. Both
had programs that called for
new church buildings. The Bap
tists announced their ambitious
raising a thousand dollars in a
financial rally. They gave them
selves whole-heartedly to their
undertaking and at the end of
two months they heralded to
the world the fact that for the
first time in history a church
of our race in that city had
raised in one effort a thousand
and three dollars. Their jubila
tion was pronounced and the
inclination to boast became ir
resistible. The minister openly
declared that the members of
no other church in that city
had the ability to raise a thous
and dollars in one effort.
When the boastful words of
the Baptists were conveyed to
the Methodist minister, he
called together the members of
his church and made known to
them what he had heard. “Is
it true,” he prodded them “that
you can’t raise a thousand dol
lars? Let us show them,” he
challenged. The result was that
they set tneirrany aay, ana ai
the end of three weeks they
reported the astounding sum of
fifteen hundred dollars—nearly
five hundred dollars more than
their Baptist brethren had been
able to gather.
What the Methodists would
not attempt because of their
love of their church they ac
complished under the sting of
brotherly contempt, and after
wards thanked God for having
led them to the discovery of
their actual ability.
And so, may it not be
true today that, when race
pride and self-interest have
failed to move us to think as
we ought to.think, of the cor
recting. of some of our short
comings, . that God, either
caused or permitted the. much
denounced entertainers, Amos
and , Andy, through their
searching ridicule, . to jstir up!
our drowsy, sleeping spirits to,
praiseworthy indignation; and
should we not thank God, .who
controls all things, for this cor
rective punishment, under
which so many of us are vinc
ing and smarting?
We are. emptying our vials
of denunciation .and wrath up
on these two comedians be
cause they are
that multitudes of i
susceptible to me
secret fraternaEsm.
But is it not
sound of the gavel
to order a national
some of our
heeded by a more
cross-section of our
any ot^er sound
the eaS of 6iir
country?,
$$e gavel sounds
disfranchised South
the Northern office-h
all but illiterate rustic
polished doctor of phil<
the ^humble common
~h& the most reno
fessionals—those y
from hand to mouth
who revel in the
life—the respectable
bootlegger and the most
monious appearing r
all press shoulders t_„_.
listen with bated breath
sound of the voice of
Excellent—called by
Andy, the King Fish.
Now we may announce
themas against these
morists to our hearts' con
but when we have finish
must admit in all sobc
that there are many true
in this ludicrous picture
they have drawn of us.
We find ourselves
also under their represents
of us as being willing to ace
as final and satisfactory^
opinions and promises of
oroxner in wnite.
Now whether it is
a lack of confidence in
dom, or power, or int«
our own racial adtfisei
not here and how
say; but we do say tl
ever 'the reason
pie do believe in the word of
the white man as they do not
in that of our own people.
If by ridiculing these and
other admitted weaknesses of
ours, Amos and Andy lash us,
3s it were, across the face and
drive us to show to the world—
That we are not worshipping
at the footstool, of the worth
ies .higlj society, as it is repre
sented’by Henry VanPorter;
*' That we are able to do busi
ness among ourselves in a bus
igess-lik/w^y;
"That our common race inter
ests can call us together from
all walks of life, more readily
and in larger numbers than can
the gavel, of the secret frater
nity:
And that we have confidence
in the wisdom, power and in
tegrity of our own racial broth
ers, as we have in others;
We say, that if their sting
ing, biting ridicule can drive us
to do these things, then it must
be regarded, though bitter for
the moment, one of the great
est blessings that God has per
mitted to come to us in the last
half century, and we should
thank Him for* His goodness.
Sanballet and Tobiah ridi
culed the efforts of Nehemiah
and the Jews as they labored
to rebuild the broken-down
walls of Jerusalem. When they
laughed and cried in derision,
“Even that which they build,
if a fox go up (against it) he
shall even break down their
stone wall,” they but increased
the d€terntfnation of Nehemiah
and &is co-laborers to finish the
task; and so the wall was built,
the: temple reconstructed and
dedicated, into which came
eventually the long looked for
Shiloh"
And again we should appre
ciate the goodnesss of God in
allowing to rise to places of
eminence and power such Ne
gro-hating defiers of Constitu
t enaf guarantees and human
decericy as Senators Coleman
L. Blease and Thomas J. Heflin
and others of their ilk.
Because they were not salt
speaking, hand-hiding face as
< —..,.
sailants, bat were brutally out- j
spoken in . their hitter opposi
tion to our people, we have
been led to understand some
truths.
We now know that the per
; sonal love and friendship of the
Southern whites would not save
us from degradation plotted by
such political demagogues and
through their hostile activities
we have been brought to real
ize that,our Northern friends,
as politicians, place a higher
value upon an unholy sectional
peace than they, do upon the
sanctions of justice, whether
human or divine.
- Through their persecutions
they have made-us see that Jthe
Republican Party no longer
stands out as the champion of
our cause and defender of our
rights, but that it basely ac
quiesces in the humiliating and
handicapping of our people and
fawns at the feet of our tra
ducers.
The,- applause their anti
Negro tirades have received
from all quarters of the coun
try has compelled us to realize
that our only unfailing sources i
of help, are to be found in God
above'and our own resolute
htsrts.
Aue iguumnuous aeieai sui
fered by these two arch-haters
in the last election, simply pub
lished to the interested world
the fact that they did not un
derstand the minds of the peor
ple whom they, represented,
who demanded of them blind,
unreasoning party regularity.
Because their judgments were
condemned at the polls by their
constituencies the world is
bound to realize that they were
given to faulty reasoning and to
tiie. reaching of ill-founded con
elusions and finally that their
attitudes^ .towards our pggpple
If the persecutions of these
men have driven us to oui
knees in prayer before God, as
the persecution of Haman drove
Mordecai and the Jews, and if
like Haman, Blease and Heflin
had to mount the scaffold to
meet political death, because of
our prayers, then we should
thank God for their persecu
tions, because, like Mordecai
and the Jews, we are due to be
gin our march to favor and to
power.
Another thing that causes us
pain for which we should
thank God, is that we are com
ing to see the truth that, for
the most part, as our classes
increase in material wealth,
through the good favor of our
masses, they decrease in their
practical interest in the things
that are of vital concern to us
as a people. > .
It is our belief that no battle
could be pitched in any city in
this country against the pow
ers that are crushing the life out
of our people that could attract
the brains, the wealth, the in
fluence, and the culture that
the contest for athletic honors,
to take place this afternoon, has
attracted to this the Capital
City of the Nation.
Most of our people of com
parative wealth, we have been
forced to realize, have money
for country clubs and golf
courses,, but not for institutions
for the saving of the lives of
our morally injured, delinquent
buys and girls.
They have money to. maintain
exclusive clubs and circles, but
not for the decent support of
the organizations that are
battling for our citizenship
rights. '
They have money to satisfy
every whim of their acquired
luxury-loving tastes, but not to
invent in enterprises that would
give to their weaker brother a
chance to earh ordinary bread
andmeat:
We say that we should thank
God for permitting us to real
ize ' through experience this
truth because the realizatior of
(Continued on page 4)
~r
THE WEEK OF
PRAYER
X
m.
In accordance with a custom
reaching back for many years
the first full week in January
has been designated by the
Federal Council as a “Week of
Prayer for the Churches.” The
plan is carried out in co-opera
tion with the British section cf
the World’s Evangelical Alli
ance by which the same devo
tional program is circulated in
all parts of the English-speak
ing world and, also translated
into many other tongues.
In issuing fhe. call to the
churches to observance of this
Week of Prayer, the Federal
Council’s Commission on Evan
gelism, over the signature of
Bishop A. R. Clippinger, Chair
man, and Dr. C. L. Goodell, Ex
ecutive Secretary, emphasizes
the- possibility of .building upon
the, impetus received from the
1900th anniversary of Pente
cost. The statement is. in part
as follows; A
“If we were right in celebrat
ing the last Pentecost as the
i aneteen hundredth anniversary
j of the first; we are now keeping
the anniversary of the first
Pentecostal year. Let us re
! member that after the gospels
in the New Testament come,
not the Epistles, but the Acts.
Those Acts were preceded by
the enduenlerit of pbwer through
the Holy Spirit.' r That power
must manifest itself. There
may be sortiid' religion in which
God only aAfl- the individual are
concerned; but Christianity re
iquiresthree—-God and the indi
vidual and somebody else. The
: ndividual must ; work out his
^ustgive in older to receive.
That is a lesson which we need
to take to heart today. It is a
witnessing church that will be
a gro^i^ chnr?h. Tt is the car
rying of the Good News which
is to change the face of the
world.
“For the coming of the Holy
Spirit, the first preparation was
one of prayer. It is not, there
fore, fitting in the highest de
gree that we should begin the
new year with a week of pray
er—a time when we carefully
examine our own hearts ? Are
we troubled with doubts? When
we have told them to God with
open heart they seem to melt
away. Are we confused about
our duty? When we practice
the presence of God we face
duties and the world’s need in a
manner pleasing to Him. Is not
the first attitude of prayer the
‘waiting before God?’ If we
wait for His voice, we shall be
more likely to utter the peti
tion which He has indited and
which He waits to answer. Thus
shall we come to feel the pas
sion for the souls of men whicl
•Jesus felt; thus will our fielc
of service be as wide as humai
needs the world over.
“Like the first disciples, we
must begin “at Jerusalem.’ IJ
the Christian forces of our owr
land become imbued with th<
Master’s spirit, the ends of the
earth will be made to rejoice.’
The general topic for the
Week of Prayer is “World Evan
gelization,” and a special sub
topic; is indicated for each daj
of the week as follows:
Sunday, January 4, it is sug
gested . that sermons b<
preached on one of the follow,
ing themes: “The Lord’s Com
mand,” Matthew 24:14; Mat
thew 28:16-20; “The Divine
Dynamic,’’ Acts 1:6-8; “Es
sentials to Success,’ Luke 24
49; Acts 2:1-4; “The World’i
Only Hop?,” Acts 4:12.
Monday, January 5, “Thanks
giving and Confession,” Luk
24:36-53; Psalm 72; Acts 2
1-18.
Tuesday, -January 6, “Th
Church Universal,” Ephesian
4:1-13; Colossians 1:1; Corin
hians 12:12-27.
Wednesday, January 7, “In
ternational Fraternal Co-opera
idn,” Luke 2:1-4; Psalm 67;
saiah 2:1-6; Acts 17; 24-31;
-iomans 13.
Thursday, January 8, “For
eign Missions,” Isaiah 52; Isa.
11:1-9; Matthew 9:36-38; Mark
1,6:14-20.
Friday, January 9, “Family,
School and University Life,”’
Deutjeronomy 6; Psalm 84;
Proverbs 4; Mark 10:3-16; It
Timothy 2:1-15.
Saturday, January 10, “Home
Missions,” Luke 24:44-49; Ro
mans 2; Romans 11.
RACE CO-OPEKA'fiOM
THE SOUTH
IN
On a recent visit to Memphis,
James D. Burton, Executive
Jecretary of the Commission on
nterracial Co-operation, of
Jakdale, Tenn., in preparing his
annual report of Race Co-opera
Jon in Tennessee for 1930 made
:he following statement with
•egard to the work of the
Memphis and Shelby County
nterracial Committee:
By James D. Burton
In Shelby County, co-opera
ion has been given to the erec
tion of a .number of school
.uildings, and today this coun
;y,-has a larger number of Ro
3enwald schoolhouses than any
jther county in the United
States. Co-operation has been
iiven to the eity and county de
partment^ of health, holding
Meetings and building pvgblic,
entiment in favor of educa
tional and health agencies.
Crime prevention campaigns
lave been conducted in schools.
Many causes of irritation and
’rictiop have
md Negroes if years ago were
'ar from satisfactory. Foliow
ng the Armistice and return
jf the soldiers, suspicion, prej
idice and misunderstanding
re vailed. Ominous possibili
ties of the situation loomed
arge on the horizon. Memphis
vas organized with George R.
James as first chairman. Among
>ther members of the Commit
ee at this time was C. P. J.
Mooney, late editor of The
Commercial Appeal. They suc
cessfully withstood and out
ived reactionary forces and
. , ^ i _J
esiorea cuiinucuue anu
zed public opinion. The Mem
phis Chamber of Commerce
rave splendid co-operation. Tn
the beginning meetings were
I characterized by complaints
md criticisms, but these ele
ments soon vanished, and the
committee became an earnest
objective working group, deal
ing intelligently with specific
-situations. Public sentiment
has improved, and suspicion
and distrust are giving way to
understanding and confidence.
The commission believes
hat 'f white and Negro leaders
[ understand each other, and ?f
Tiven the facts about any situ
ation, they will do right about
; 't. They believe that Negroes
have a right to be heard in
! their own cause, and that white
oeople can be appealed to suc
,■ cessfully on the basis of good
will, justice and fair dealings.
White leaders find the con- ,
" act in the Interracial Commit
‘ tee valuable. It acquaints them
with the best types of Negroes,
of whom, for the most part,
• they are ignorant. It brings to
* their attention conditions of
n justice and neglect, often un
- suspected, that challenge their
■ sense of personal and civic jus
s tice.
As a future program, it will
: be the effort of. the Interracial
5 Commission, through its Mem
phis and Shelby County Com
mittee, to conserve the best ele
» menta in the 12 years' experi
[ ence. finding new and better
methods of approach to old sit
a uatioos. It will follow up its
5 (Continued on page 4)