Newspapers / Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / March 10, 1932, edition 1 / Page 1
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p - ‘AND YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH. AND THE TRUTH SHALL tfAKE YOU FREE.” —John viii, 82. CHARLOTTE. N. O, MARCH 1$ 1932. __;_* ■ ' ANNUAL MEETING OF SABBATH SCHOOL MISSIONARIES By Rev. L. B. West, D. D. The annual meeting of Sun day School Missionaries Tn the Synods of Atlantic, Canadian, Catawba and East Tennessee was held March 2 to 4 at Geor gia Normal and Agricultural College, Dr.' J. W. Holley, Presi dent, Albany, G'a. King’s weath er prevailed—warm sunshine, balmy breezes, starlit nights. The presiding officer of the Conference was the genial, op timistic and hard-working Di rector of the Department of Sabbath School Missions of the S' Foard of National Missions, Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., Dr. John M. Somerndike. All of the missionaries except those who are in school, were present and are as follows: Dr. Albert B. McCoy, Superin tendent of Missionaries, Atlan ta, Ga.; Mr. S. L. Young and Miss Mamie Taylor, Virginia; Mr. G. R. Marsh, North Caro lina; Mr. C. N. Cundiff, Mr. J. T. Jones and Miss Aileen Har per, South Carolina; Rev. W. C. jjones, Georgia; Rev. H. M. 3Scott, Florida; Rev. L. R. Tay lior, Alabama; Rev. Van Horn Murray, Mississippi; Mr. Wm. Garner, Misses Ethel E. Go mes and Ruby Leabough and Rev. W. D. Edington, Tennes see; Rev. C. N. Shropshire, Ar kansas, and Rev. H. C. Cousins, 4 Oklahoma. Greetings Dr. Somerndike in well chos en words -expressed gratitude for the privilege of meeting in smother annual session. ^ Dr. Holley, in his easy and pleasant style, tpld the mis . Jhow glad he and Mrs. ^Solleyltnd th^*fattilty ah^ stu dents were to have them hold their sessions in their midst. Dr. S. D. Thom, Atlantic Syondical Evangelist, brought the greetings of the Workers’ Conference, of the Division of Missions for Colored People. Devotions The devotional feature of the Conference stands in the fore front. This year the Conference looked forward with eagerness to the privilege of hearing Dr. S. A. Downer, pastor of East Vine Presbyterian church, Knoxville, Tenn., who was booked to conduct the devo tions. But at the last morrient Dr. Downer found it impossible to be present because of sick ness. He was confined to his bed under the care of a physi cian. The devotional period was therefore divided between the following brethren: Dr. J. M. Somerndike, Rev. A. S. Clark, D. D. Rev. J. B. Barber, Rev. A. W. Rice, Rev. Franklin Gregg and Rev. L. B. West. Dr. Somerndike spoke on stir ring up the gift within us. Rev. Earber stressed the fact that God can use men to consecrate and inspire other men. 'Dr. Clark magnified the love of God for us, and .challenged us to keep our love warm toward God. Rev. Rice showed the im portance of choosing God to lead and help us in all the va ried aspects of life- Eev- Gregg called attention to the fact that there is still a vast terri tory to bo conquered' for Christ, and urged us to go out and make the conquest under the leadership of the great Captain of our Salvation. Rev. West made a plea for more per sonal work in the matter ot winning souls for Christ. Reports and Discussions Supt. McCoy read his annual report. It was comprehensive and encouraging. The mission aries had set themselves a task for the year 1931, and the re port showed that that task had been well done. In almost every case the missionaries had done more than had been planned. New schools had been organ ized. churches established, Dai ly Vacation Bible and Week Day schools organized, and there was a general forward move ment in every phase of Sab bath school work. Special mention should be made of the number of conversions which the report showed, also the splendid Religious Educational program as carried out by Mis sionaries Shirley, Goines and Young. There was only one dis cordant note in the report and that was with reference to fi nances. ’While all the other goals were reached there was a shortage in the amount of mon ey the missionaries planned to raise. The report was vigorously discussed and new light thrown upon it as the missionaries were called upon to give details relat: ing to their part in the report. There were moments of laugh ter as well as of deep serious ness as the missionaries told of their experiences in pioneering r. the Kingdom of God. The problems confronted during the past year were frankly dis cussed, and an earnest attempt was made to solve them in the best possible way. The follow ing is a summary: Schools organized -159 Schools revived- —. 36 Cradle Rolb organized -- 134 Home Departs, organized -186 Teacher Training classes - 67 Vacation Bible schools-413 IVeek Day Bible schools--1538 Young People’s Societies -103 Offerings, Bible schools $152.C0 In addition to the above, the missionaries had traveled 200, If 5 miles, visited 22,504 fami IicSr.set4i£4,6U?famil^krst. conducted 684 Workers Con ferences, held 95 institutes, either conducted or helped to conduct 14 evangelistic meet ings, supervised the programs of 27 Presbyterial and Synodi c: 1 conventions, established 3 new Presbyterial Leagues, graded in part 33 Sunday schools, made 528 visits to mis sion schools, and 348 visits to church schools, erected two chapels and developed five churches. prejSDyienai ^nairmen A new feature of the Confer ence was the inviting of the Chairmen of the National Mis sions Committees in the differ ent Presbyteries tot “sit in” and take part in the delibera tions. The following chairmen were, present: Rev. A. W. Rice, Birmingham Presbytery; Rev. P. A. Flack, McClelland Presby tery; Rev. C. A. Edington, Rog ersville Presbytery; Rev. A. S. Clark, D. D., Knox Presbyte ry ; Rev. Franklin Gregg, Hodge Presbytery; Rev. G. E. Caesar, White River Presbytery; Rev. J. B. Barber, Le Vere Presby tery, and Rev. L. B. West, D. D., Catawba Presbytery. This proved to be a very profitable and popular feature. Eoard Representative The Conference was blessed with the presence of the dynam ic personality of the Rev. H. N. Morse', D. D., Adminisrative Secretary of the Board of Na tional Missions. Dr. Morse ex pressed his pleasure in being able to be present. He spoke of the close relationship he sus tained to Dr. Somerndike. He took an active part in the dis cussions and made several val uble suggestions. Because of the vast unoccupied territory Dr. Morse was of the opinion that an aggressive church ex tension program should be pushed to help evangelize Amer ica for Christ. This program can only be carried out by churches and leaders who are ahve with spiritual power. New Goals The missionaries adopted the following goals for 1932: New Sunday schools-100 Cradle Rolls ---125 Home Departments-125 Teacher Training classes — 70 Week Day Bible Schools 2,000 D. V. B. Schools-450 Young People’s Societies 50 Institutes ---— 125 Offering (D. V. B. S.) --$450 Revs. Murray and Shrop shire and Mr. J. T. Jones are to concentrate on a program of development rather than exten sion Ntew Missionaries The. Rev. Thos. A. Jenkins and Mr. U. L. Brewer joined the staff of missionaries. Rev. Jen kins will serve in Cape Fear Presbytery. Mr. Brewer goes to Atlantic; Presbytery. The fol lowing shifts were made: Mr. Marsh goes to Yadkin Presby tery, Miss Leabough .goes o Florida, Knox Presbytery; Miss Taylor will work independently in Southern Virginia Presbyte ry, and Mr. Garner will go to Kentucky to work in L ncoln Presbytery. Definite steps were taken n regard to Presbyterial and Syn odical Sabbath School Conven tions. announcement of which will be made later. Entertainment The entertainment was ; 11 that could be desired. The del egates were comfortably housed and every convenience placed at their disposal. The sessions were held in the com modious auditorium of one of the new buildings of the college. The meals were served in the spacious and beautiful dining hall. The service was excellent under the capable dircetion of Mrs MacDonald. The climax of the entertainment came on Fri day evening when the Confer ence and faculty were guests of Dr and Mrs. Holley at a ban quet in the refectory. Coveis Were laid for about 100 people. 4t -was^ ar-happy^cefnsioJK-Mtt sic was furnished by a quartet from the school. Dr. Holley was net only glad to have the mis sionaries present, but wanted them to come again. He said that when the new library goes up a room would be dedicated to the missionaries. Mrs. Holley in a m ost gracious and charm ing manner assured the m's aries that their presence was a benediction to the school. She, too, hoped that they would come again. Dr. Somerndike expressed his heartfelt appreciation of what had been done to make the Conference a success. Dr. Morse was delighted with his trip to the Conference, and enjoyed immensely what he had seen and heard. He was glad to 'be linked with those who are moving forward with faith in God in the midst of these turbulent times. Dr. McCoy was toastmaster and helped to enliven the occa sion with his inimitable wit and humor REVIVAL AT ANNISTON, ALABAMA—GOOD RESULTS Ever since last year when our evangelist, Rev. T. B. Hargrave, visited this field and conducted 3uch a successful revival which brought 32 conversions and 28 accessions the members and people of the city have been anxious for his return. This year we made our u«u ai preparation by holding a ten days’ cottage prayer service prior to the revival. When the meeting opened the session and a special committee of work ers were rededicated and each day the workers were busy praying from house to house, and each night they assembled in the church (as the upper room) for special prayer. This year we find it hard to stop ohe cottage prayer meetings after 24 such meetings and with such good results. Our beloved pastor, Rev. A. W. Rice, worked untiringly to make the revival a success and to see him and the evangelist working together is to see a (Continued on page 4) IMPEDIMENTS TO CO OPERATION AMONG NEGROES r 'T 1§:, - Jr i —-i—£- • fg By Dr. Carter G. Woodson In the fpution of the prob lem of enferprise to lift the colored people to the higher ec onomic level the chief difficulty is the lack of co-operation. Po tentially tjhe colored people 'are strong although they are actu ally weak) They have paid such a little attention to their own possibilities and have prefera bly spent so much time on tri fles that in this respect the out side worn considers them a joke. The unwise leadership of the race is responsible for this undesirable situation. We often say that the great est need of the Negro is educa tion. If' this asssrtion means teaching or developing in the Negro ordinary common sense there is much truth in it. If it connotSes mere book learning to pass examinations to get jobs to show others how to do the sam<! thing, the assertion has no particular significance, for our ho-called most highly educated Negroes in the Unit ed Sitatas show less common «;ense thin the illiterates. Co-opdration, the most es sential thing in the develop ment of a people socially and economically, is all but impos sible among our miseducated.. highly educated Negroes. The^ do more to keep the race in 'a state of turmoil and to prevent it from serious community ef forts than all the other ele ments combined. The one has a job that the other wants; or the one is a leader of a successful faction,* $pd the other is strug -Every?.; thing in the community, then, must yield ground to this puer ile contest. The present state of affairs in Washington, D. C., is a case in evidence. The team sters and hod-carriers, of\ the city have paid no attention to the throat-cutting bout, but practically all college-bred Ne groes in the District of Colum bia are hot in the collar and clamoring for the war on their superiors. Kecentiy l nave visuea v<ur ous parts of the country, where I find this same condition ob taining. In one city of a few thousand Negroes there is no chance for community co-oper ation because of the antagon ism of the Methodist and Bap tist preachers in charge of the two largest churches. The one is determined to dictate the appointment of the teaching corps and the social welfare workers; the other is persistent ly struggling to undo every thing accomplished by his op ponent. The one is up today and the other in ascendency to mdfrrow. Sever.al efforts have been made to start business en terprises there, but none have succeeded because one faction tears down what the other Hiilds up. In another city the cleavage is along political lines.Preach ers are there, but a lawyer and a professional man plunging in to politics has dispossessed the clergy of the stage. The leader of one faction is so bitterly op posed to the other that he even warns strangers against going to the home of his adversary. To present a sane proposition to the community through one of these leaders means local warfare rather than an effort to work together for the common good Consequently, although there are thousands of Negroes living together in one quarter they have no grocery, no drug store, no haberdashery, no the atre, and no other enterprise of worth. The selfish struggle for personal aggrandizement which has not yet brought either fac tion more than an appointment cn the police force or a clerk ship in one of the city offices, this blocks the social and ec onomic. progress of thousands of unoffending people. \ In another* State I found that the ambition of the highly; ed ucated Negro is restricted to becoming principals of the high schools. The neglected State school hag not developed suffi ciently to beteome attractive. The warring area, then, is in the cities. In one of them, where several Negroes own con siderable wealth, which if pooled and properly used, wcu d prpducie \all Wut woneitful Re sults. the petty strife has, been most disastrous. Little thought is given to social uplift, and ec onomic effort is crushed by so onomic uplift is crushed by fac tional wrangling. Before I had been in one of the towns an hour a stalwart of ofte faction sounded me on becoming a can didate for the position held by the principal of the high school. A few minutes thereafter an other approached me for alvice as to how “to get him out." The high cost of this insan ity to the community can be estimated only by taking into consideration the fact that this strife is all but endless. If it were a matter that developed now and then only to be forgot ten by people directing their attention thereafter to more important things it would not do much harm; but this confu sion continues for years. Some times it grips a community for a whole generation, vitiating the entire life of te people. The ruling classes have set aside such a few positions for the NegroesHo^spire fcr±hat the competition is “too often cruel and vicious; and this very state of affairs is the chief rea son why Negroes have not made larger opportunities for themselves.- * "1 wonaer it a systematic drive" to make the chronic knocker unpopular would not be a solution of this problem,” said a friend to me the other day. “Of what value is a Ne gro who is too disagreeable to work with or under some other Negro? If one Negro can not subordinate himself to another, the race is doomed. The run-or ruin Negro must be silenced. We must do something to pre vent these agents of disorder *rom blocking the path of our progress. We few who know better have stood by watching these men destroy us when we should have been exposing them as the worst enemies of. the race. The people who follow them will listen to reason; but, having overestimated their in fluence, we have not had the courage to call them down. Evidently something must be done, for in this foolhardy p' o cedure lies the explanation of the failure of the Negro to de velop toward social and eco nomic efficiency. This is the thing which ke$ps the Negro dependent and accounts for his tendency to become delinquent. He is thereby impeding his own progress and must bear the blame for the disproportionate number of the race now in the bread line. The remote cause, to be sure, is slave# and the per sistent influence of the reg me in the present day education of the Negro; but three genera tions of freedom have been long enough for the American Negro to learn better. If he does not improve, the world will be justified in turning its back on him._ '' FAIRFIELD PRESBYTERY The Presbytery of Fairfield will convene with the Westmin ster Presbyerian church, Alco lu, S. C., March 23rd, 1932, at 8 o’clock P. M. AH' Sessional Records are required. M. J. JACKSON, S. C. HimCHN —-^SBYTERIAN RIDGEWAY, S. C. Lennon church activities during the month of February Jave.leen quite brisk despite the fact that inclement weath er has interfered to some, ex tent. At no time has there been any slacking in efforts to put over the church’s pro gram. Op Sunday, February 7, all services were well attended ?rnd highly enjoyed. These ser vices included Sabbath school, two ^preaching services, Wom en’s^ Missionary Society meet ing and the meeting of the Youhg People’s Christian En deavor Society. At the* morn ing preaching hour the pastor, Revji J. R. Dungee, delivered an able sermon from two texts: Matt. 18:3, and Matt. 5:20. The sermon presented contrasting pictures, showing what one must be like if he would gain admittance to the kingdom of heaven. He must divest himself of the false pride, the cynicism, suspicions, dou'bts, prejudices and hardness of heart which hp has acquired through his wpridly experiences, and which characterized the Pharisee, and must become again as a simple, credulous, guileless and unso phisticated child ere he pan at tain the faith essential to sal vation. At night the pastor chose as his text, Luke 7:5, “For he lov eth our nation and he; hath built us a synagogue." The message paid a glowing tribute to the life of the late Julius Rosenwald. A similarity was shown between the philanthro py of the gentile centurion and {that of Mr. Rosenwald, the Jew. Each showed generosity to people other than his own. J’he.^eptjlj showed benevolence to Jews, and the Jew* was a benefactor to gentiles. In eacn case the benefactor received the genuine gratitude of the bene ficiaries and was commended by them to the favor of Him who said, “Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these, my brethren, 'M. ye did it lunto me.” Sunday morning, February 14, the session visited Mr. Law rence Boulware who is afflicted at the home of his foster moth er, Mrs. Ella Boulware, after which he was received into full membership of the church. Lincoln Day was observed with appropriate exercises in the afternoon. An interesting program consisting of exercises prepared by the Board of Na tional Missions and local supple ments was creditably rendered before a delighted audience. An offering was raised for the Eoard of National Missions. The evangelistic services for which the church has been pre paring for some time began Tuesday night, February 1'6, with a fervent prayer service. On Wednesday and Thursday rights the Rev. J. H. Holman, of Columbia, preached most ac ceptably to splendid audiences who braved the elements to hear him. Friday night, the Rev- H. N. Sullivan, of Cleve land, N. C., preached with such effect ithat five person* were added to the church. Sunday morning, although the weather was more inclement than it had previously been this winter, a wonderful service was held, in which Rev. Sullivan was at his best. Baptism was administered to Misses Irene Bynum and Ernestine Simon, and to Messrs. W. L. Shannon, Leroy and W. M. Bynum. The remain ing services scheduled for the day were rained out, but the campaign was concluded with rejoicing, having netted seven additions to the church at a season of the year when local church activities are usually at their lowest ebb. PUBLICITY COMMITTEE. If you want work well done, select a busy man—the other kind has no time.—Elbert Hub bard
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
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March 10, 1932, edition 1
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