Newspapers / Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / March 31, 1932, edition 1 / Page 2
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The Africo - American Presbyterian CONSOLIDATED WITH THE SOUTHERN EVANGELIST Rev. H. L. McCROREY, D. D„ LL. D, Editor W. E. HILL, Associate Editor Rev. C. P. PITCHFORD, Business Manager. Devoted to the Educational, Mate rial, Moral and Religious interests of our people in the South, and pub lished at Charlotte, N. C., every Thursday. All questions arising under the various subjects aboVe indicated are discussed from a Christian point of freshest and best news from the Southern field and from the Church at large. There is carefully selected raeding matter suited to all classes of our people—the farmer, the me chanic, the artisan and the profes sional man. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: Single copy one year -$1:60 Six months_.76 Three months -.60 Send all money by P. O. Money Order, Registered Letter or Bank Check, otherwise it might be lost and the sender alone will be respon sible. Entered at the Postoffice at Char iots, N. C., as second class matter. THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1932 WOMEN AND MISSIONS The April number of “Wo men and Missions/’ the month - ly magazine published by the Woman’s Committees of the Boards of National and For eign Missions, is always devot ed to some phase of the Pres byterian Church’s work among Negroes. For the most part the story of what is being accom plished by the Church is told by the Negroes themselves. The first article in the current issue of this very interesting maga zine is by Dr. Thomas A. Long, of Johnson C. Smith Universi ty, who writes of the Negroes’ achievement in land-buying, home building, in education and in business “After Three Score Years and Ten” of freedom. His review and summing up make a glowing picture. Rev. Arthur H. George tells of “The * Negro Church and Its Service.” “The Negro Church is not with out fault or blemish,” says Mr. George, “but it is easily the most potent force in the civil izing aspects of the group. The Christian Church is putting new soul into men of color.” Miss Marjorie E. Wellborn Smith, the brilliant young As sistant Secretary of the Divis ion of Missions for Colored People, writes interestingly of “The Dawn of a New Era” in the educational work of the Church for Negroes. Several of cur schools have advanced to “A” rank within recent years, and an enlargement ot tacin ties at Johnson C. Smith Uni versity is forecast for the near future. Mrs. Agnes Bell Snive ly, field representaitve of the Division, gives!observations ^nj incidents of her travels here and there, which show sympa thetic understanding and appre ciation. Miss Memolia Turner, a product of Barber-Scotia, tells of a summer of evangelis tic work in Atlantic Synod. Her cfory of “Sharing Christ" with others is thrilling. There are also articles dealing with mis sion work in Africa. Many oi our Church women read “Wo men and Missions” ibut lit is not as widely circulated as it should be. Those who do not ri°ad it miss a great deal of in formation and inspiration that would be of incalculable help to them in carrying out the work of the women’s societies. “UNCLE BILLIE” MAKES EXPLANATION “Uncle Billie” writes on & question that is of deep. con cern to every loyal Presbyteri an. He offers explanation of the falling off in membership in many of the churches on our Southern field and gives figures in substantiation of his pre sentment. The situation which con fronts our ministers at this time calls for renewed faith and courage.“The mill can not grind with the water that has passed.” The members who * have gone away are not likely to return in any appreciable numbers. We should face this fact and set about to get oth ers. It is no doubt discouraging to “watch the things you gave your life to, broken,” and be called upon to “stoop and build ’em up with wornout tools, but this is a challenge to Chris tian manhood. As the great Apostle admonishes, “Forget ting the things that are be hind.” which would discourage us if dwelt upon, we should press on, and if possible re trieve our numerical losses. If our leaders will listen with hearts and ears “in tune with the Infinite,” they will hear the command of Jehovah, “Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward.”. \SK PRAYER FOR ALBION Albion Academy, • Franklinton, N. C., March 30, 1932. Dear Friends: The eighth of April we are on the prayer calendar and we propose to pray for the success of Albion Academy at that time. Will you and friends join us in prayer on this occasion? We need a combination school and chapel building. We need scholarship funds fcfr worthy students who are sorely in need of help. We have planted more than ten different kinds of seeds and vegetables. We have hundreds of little chicks and numbers of little pigs. We are doing our best so far as human agencies go, but we need Divine help. Our special prayer this year is for God’s blessing upon our crops. We shall need the sun shine and rain which God can send us. If our chickens and pigs are healthy, and if our crops are good, we will do much toward self-help and self support at Albion Academy the coming year. Do not fail to pray for us. Very sincerely, JOHN A. SAVAGE. CLARENCE CAMERON WHITE TO HEAD MUSIC AT HAMPTON _ By George A. Kuyper Hampton Institute, Va., Mar. 31: An announcement of su preme interest not only to the alumni and friends of Hampton Institute but to all those inter ested in the development of the Negro musician was made today by • President Arthur Howe when he stated that the new head of Hampton Insti-( tute’s School of Music is to be Clarence Cameron White, not ed Negro violinist and compos er. He is at present studying in Paris on a Rosenwald, fellow ship and will return to the United States in the summer to begin his new duties on Sep tember first. Mr. White first attracted at tention as a gifted violinist at the Oberlin, Ohio, Conservatory of Music. He then spent several years abroad as a private pupil cf M. Zacharewitsch, one of Russia’s most famous violin ists and studied composition with Coleridge-Tayjlor, noted Negro composer. On his return from Europe he settled in Bos ton, where he became one of the leading musicians of that city, both as concert soloist and as teacher. Since then he has gained an enviable reputation in this country both as soloist and composer, being acknowl edged the most finished violin ist nis race nas produced m America. For distinguished achievement as violinist and composer he was awarded a first prize and a gold medal by the Harmon Foundation of New York, and Atlanta University conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. At the present time Mr. White is at work on an opera, “Ounga,” based on Haitian history, which is ex pected to be presented with a complete Negro cast in Paris in the fall prior to the Amer ican production. The opera deals with Haitian history dur ing the period of Dessalines, first king of the island. His ar rangements of the Negro spir ituals, for voice and piano, are widely used in both America and Europe, and his composi tions have been programmed by Fritz Kreisler and many other world famous violinists. He has also contributed articles to the “Etude,” “Musical Courier,” and other well known maga zines MISSION ON EVANGELISM IN ATLANTIC SYNOD. By Rev. D. Talmage Murray, B. D. One of the most interesting meetings held in Atlantic Syn od on Mission and Evangelism was conducted at Brainerd In stitute, Chester, S. C., Marco 13-19, under the Division of Evangelism in the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. The sessions were uplifting and highly sea soned with the Spirit of Christ. Rev William F. Klein, D. P., of New York City, Director of Evangelism in the Presby terian Church, U. S. A., presid rnuch grace and dignity, love and sympathy for the future development of the work. The first session sounded the keynote of the conference, “Prayer and Confession.” Dr. S. D. Thom, Synodical Evange list, spoke from the text, II Chronicles 30:22, “And Hez ekiah spoke comfortably unto all t he Levites that taught the good knowledge of the Lord, and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offering and making con fession to the Lord God of their fathers.” The speaker said. 1. These are days when we ought to think of the condition of the world. 2. Hezekiah was a man of vision, (a) He gave himself to prayer. (b) He called the people to consecrate their lives to the service of God. (c) He called them to action. Follow ing the message all joined in singing, “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” At 3:00 P. M. President J. D. Martin gave words of welcome. This conference will not only be a great help to the workers, ministers and elders, but espe cially it will be a blessing to these students here in Brain erd Institute, being trained for future service. At 3:15 the principal address was delivered by Dr. William F. Klein on “Rebuilt Shrines.” In a most effective manner the speaker pointed out some of the sacred duties in the home, State and Church, and said if America is to come back into her own these sacred institu tions must be safeguarded acrainst sin. 4:00. The subject, “Consecra tion and Life Enlistment,” was well discussed by the Rev. C. W. Francis, of Anderson, S. C. Rev. Francis said, (1) To be consecrated to the service of God is a personal duty. (2). All that we have, all that we do should be consecrated to the service of God. (3) The speak er made a strong appeal to the student body to make a decis ion for life’s work while in school. Evening Seslsion 6:45: Pastoral Evangelism was outlined by the Rev. B. F. Russell, D. D., of Blackstock, S. C. Dr. Russell has done this fine type of work covering a period of more than forty-five years in one place, and has erected many family altars. He declares if our churches are to grow the ministers must do more personal work among the pecnle. n iOA A n Lwm-P n i nr c Of vice Dr. G. W. Long introduced the speaker of the hour. Dr. Klein spoke from the Gospel of St. Luke 17:6, “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto yon sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root and be thou planted in the sea and it should obey you.” His theme was: “An Adequate Gospel.” I. We must anchor our faith in Christ. II. The just shall live by faith. III. We must have faith in ourselves.' This mes sage had its desired effect up on the entire conference. Saturday Morning’s Sefllsion 9:00 Prayer and confession were well discussed by the Rev. W. L. Metz, D. D., of Edisto Bland, S. C. In a m ost effective way Dr. Metz showed how the Church has drifted from many of the old landmarks. He asked, I. What is prayer? II. Confes sion is the result of prayer. III. The man who prays injects confidence into the man who does not pray. 9*30. Bible study was con ducted by Dr. G. W. Long, of Cheraw, S. C. Dr. Long used as a suggestive guide, “What (Continued on page 3) BY THE WAT (Continued from page 1) the Methodist or to the Baptist Church. But in what State in the South are the majority of the people—do not mention the color of their skin — not Baptists and Methodists? Take Virginia (once the home of the Church of England in the New World); North Carolina( the State whose ancestral extrac tion runs back to Scotland among soldiers who died on the battlefield of Bannockburn); South Carolina (whose master class were Presbyterians Epis copalians and French Hugue nots) ; and Georgia. In the days before the civil strife, two of the wealthiest churches in the South were Lee Presbyterian church on Edisto Island and Mid-way Presbyterian church in Liberty County, Georgia. But today white Baptists and Methodists outnumber other denominations in Virginia; the same is true in North Carolina; she is equally as guilty. Lee Presbyterian church on Edisto Island can not raise twenty-five members including babies and visitors. Midway in Liberty County, Georgia, has a home coming once a year and closes her doors for the next twelve months, I was told three years ago when I stopped there to look over her lost glory. But white people live hardby this once large and wealthy church in dense numbers; but „hey are Methodists and Bap tists. Just like Lee church on Edisto Island. No, I think it v/ould be in keeping with the facts to say: “Just like Ne groes.” But this is the “et tu quoque” argument which is an admission of guilt on the part of the defense. And, as our sta tistician says, we are quite guilty of falling off in mem bership in the South. Our col ored Presbyterian church in Midway, Liberty County, Georgia, has or reported last year 160 members; but years ago when I was a boy or a col lege student in Biddle the col ored Presbyterian church at Midway had over 800 members, It does seem at this rate that while we are taking into the church daily such as1 should be saved, we are losing annually :n large numbers. A Stubborn Fact The Church should not lose sight of the fact that the col ored group, somewhat like the Jew. is a migratory group from sheer necessity. In cutting down overhead expenses in all business activities the Negro is first to be relieved of his poorly paying job on account of his color. Then he must needs to seek other parts of the world many miles from his church and place of his birth. This often breaks up his entire con gregation. This has been going on with rapid speed and with radical results since 1914, when the World War breathed the spirit of migration into South ern black men and white alike and closed the doors of many churches. Rut note this remarkale fact i If our Church membership has greatly decreased in the South it has greatly increased in the North where the membership of the colored group was very small where it did exist in 1914 according to the Minutes of our General Assembbly for last year. This is the relative member ship qf a few of our colored Presbyterian churches from, Washington, D. C., and beyond in the years of 1914 and 1931: Gloucester, Boston, Mass. Year Member ship 70 1914 -- 1931-- --- Grace, Toledo, Ohio 1914- r - V - - : 1931 - - - 166 Bethany, Columbus, Ohio 1914 __ --- 45 1931 _ -.----- HI St. John, Detroit, Mich. 1914 -- - .. 1931 171 Westminster, Los Angeles, Cal. 1914.. — — - 39 1931... 150 Fifteenth St., Washington, D. C. 1914 .. 397 1-931-- 512 Tabor, Washington, D. C. 1914 .- -.- -- 1931 101 LaFayette, Jereey City, N. J. 19X4-1-- 77 1931- 615 First African Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pa. 1914-— —-— 317 1931—- 567 Bethesda, Pittsburgh, Pa. 1914 1931- 314 Bidwell, Pittsburgh, Pa. 1914- — 1931 - — —-_-492 St, James, New York, N. Y. 1914. 302 1931- — -- 1536 Rendall, New York, N. Y. 1914___ _ 1931 - — - 278 An accurate checking will show that more than 90 per cent of the membership of our colored Presbyterian group in the North and West migrated from the South, and that the charter members are from some one of our colored Pres byterian churches in the South. Seventh Street Presbyterian church in Charlotte gave West minister in Los Angeles, Cali fornia the late Frank Alexan der and his wife, 1903, when this church was being discussed as a possibility. It was my priv ilege to be there at that time. If space would allow me I could call many in these churches in the North and West by name, who were Presbyte rans here before they were Presbyterians beyond Mason and Dixon’s Line. And in this connection I have to say that this looks as if some Negroes can be Presbyterians like some white folks. Not a Boast But a Fact I heard, among other things, Dr. Henry Van Dyke, one of our great men, nationally known say at| our General As sembly last May in Pittsburgh, Pa., “I am a good Presbyteri an.” No doubt this great man has much in his favor to cause him to say in this instance what he feels ana to ieei wuat he says, but I, like all of my group and race, am yet about the hole of the pit whence I was digged, and I can yet touch the stone whence I was hewn. Our alncestral extraction pro duces no family tree'of which we can boast. But I feel that I can say with Dr. Van Dyke: I am a good Presbyterian, if a church meant anything to a Negro in Pharaoh’s brickyard; for my great paternal grand parents were Presbyterians and ®o were my mother and father. My maternal grand parents were Associate Reformed Pres byterians. And as Horace says about nature, or how true it is t0 its course, I say about my self: “If you drive” me “out of the door with a sharp stick I “will come back through the window.” There are many oth ers of color who, if you drive them out of the Presbyterian door with a sharp stick, will come back through the window and stand up among the mem bers, if they have to stand up in their “own hired house,” like the man who preached in Mars’ Hill. Edisto Island, S. C. WHITE RIVER FRESBYTER1AL Dear Presidents and Co workers of White River Presby terial: It is with earnest prayer and thought of our duty to God, our Church and our own lives that we are now in the closing period of our work for 1931 1932. We are herewith look ing forward to our Spring meeting with great expec tancy of having each local President with her representa tives from the Women, Y. P. mhd Children’s societies, pres ent. Perhaps we will not all come with full reports as we would desire, hut let us come with prayerful, consecrated hearts lo gather more information and inspiration to do more an other year. We hope, however, that as March 10th rolled into oblivion each local was able to say: I’ve paid my full apportionment on the quota this year. Let us remember we are God’s stewards and we must do His command. Our work cannot be accomplished unless each society does its share. We are making this appeal to every minister as well, to help foster this auxiliary of the Church. Hoping to meet a full co-oper ative body of Christian workers ■ COLLEGE Easter was celebrated in 3arber-Scotia College first by everal of the chapel exercises luring the preceding week. On Sunday morning the worship ervice was conducted by Bes :ie Meaiis, Catherine Mitchell, tfiriam Litaker, Lucy Jones md Ollie Johnson, represent ng the Teacher Training class n Sunday School Methods. A special feature of the program vas a solo by Evelyn Simpson. Church service was attended at Westminster p'hurch, Rev. H. Wilson conducting the service, md as there was no Christian Endeavor meeting., a number ?f students attended also the evening Service, which included i moving picture of some of some of the events of the life md death of Christ. The event 3f the day was the Easter can tata. “The Risen Lord,” given by the Glee Club of the col lege department, under the di rection of Miss Ouson. The cantata was preceded by the ringing of spirituals. Plans for Easter Monday include attend ance at the Johnson C. Smith Shaw g^tne fby\ » number of students, and an egg hunt at Sunderland Hall for everybody. Negro Health Week will be tuservea April o to iu, unaer the direction of a student com mittee, the chairman of which is Claudia Hargrave. Plans in clude special health talks in the chapel services by students, and, if possible, by a! visiting nurse. One day will be set aside for a clean-up campaign on the campus, participated in by the students who will work in groups. Celebration of the week will be concluded by the presen tation of pageants of an appro priate nature on Monday night following. April 9 has been set as the date for the Junior Prize Es say Contest this year. We think that the subjects chosen will be especially interesting to the audience. Work has been going forward on the preparation of the essays for some time, but has been greatly impeded by illness among the participants. We hope that there will be no more cases of bad colds or other illness in order that the speak ers may be at their best on this occasion .The gjirls are being trained by Miss Yoran, who also had charge of the “Negro in the World War” contest. On Tuesday night we had the honor oi having miss unapman and Miss Cathcart as guests of the faculty at dinner. The evening was spent in conversa tion and by music which Miss Cathcart was kind enough to play for us. Thursday night the band of A. and T. College, of Greens boro, appeared at Logan School under the auspices of the Young People’s Forum of Westminster church, and a number of the student body at tended the concert. The pro gram was well balanced with popular numbers and marches from Sousa and other compos ers. Brief remarks were made by Prof. James and officials of the group. They stressed the idea that one should get a col lege education if at all possi ble, and that A. and T. was there for the purpose of serv ing the people. County commencement exer cises were held at Logan School on Saturday, and were attended by Dean Foresman, Miss Worrall, of the Teacher Training Department, and a number of students from to same department. AJl ^ were greatly interested in what they were able to see and hear. _ April 16-19 at Westminster Presbyterian church, Cotton Plant. Ark, I am Yours for the cause, MRS. L. STINSON, President kiamichi presbytery The Presbytery of Kiamichi will hold its Spring meeting at Eagletown, Okla., with St. Paul Presbyterian church, April 14, 1932, at 7:30 o’clock P. M. The opening sermon will be preached by the retiring Moder ator. A full attendance is ex pected. The Presbyterial is ex pected to meet in connection with the Presbytery. G. A. MORROW. Stated Clerk.
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
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March 31, 1932, edition 1
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