Book: The American Missionary, Vol. 43, No. 7, July, 1889
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Various >> The American Missionary, Vol. 43, No. 7, July, 1889
Well, the General Assembly has met again and the action taken by an
overwhelming majority of the Assembly fills us with gratitude to God.
The ticklish part of the report on co-operation was that, of course, on
colored evangelization. Here the report first stated what had been the
policy of the Southern Church for a separate Negro denomination, and
then gave that of the Northern Church:
"The Northern Assembly, on the other hand, has pronounced itself as not
in favor of setting off its colored members into a separate, independent
organization; _while by conceding the existing situation, it approves
the policy of separate churches, presbyteries and synods, subject to the
choice of the colored people themselves_."
Only one of the seventeen, Elder S.M. Breckinridge, of St. Louis, signed
a minority report.
It was fully expected that this report, so overwhelmingly recommended,
would go through with a rush. The managers had so planned. The
ex-Moderators, Smith, Crosby and Thompson, were in its favor. Dr. Crosby
said he would as soon be in the Southern Church as in the Northern. All
the prestige of good fellowship was in favor of the report as it was
presented, and the Southern Assembly had adopted it by a large majority
the day before.
The Rev. John Fox, of Allegheny, Penn., opened the opposition, opposing
the report generally, and supporting Elder Breckinridge's minority
report. It was a useful speech, and, though the sentiment of the
Assembly was plainly opposed, it stemmed the tide awhile and prepared
the way for what was to follow. Ex-Moderator Smith, of Baltimore,
Chairman of the Northern Assembly's Committee, then defended his report
and showed how much the Southern Assembly had yielded in accepting it.
Then came the event of the day. The Rev. M. Woolsey Stryker, of Chicago,
a young man of thirty-five, whom our readers will remember as one of our
correspondents, arose and denounced that portion of the report which in
the paragraph given above we have put in italics, and moved its
omission. He denied that the Church ever had "approved the policy of
separate churches, presbyteries and synods," and he declared such a
policy to be utterly unchristian. It instantly appeared that he had the
sympathy of the Assembly, if not of its leaders. Dr. Niccolls, of St.
Louis, supported him vigorously, but briefly, for speakers had been shut
down to five minute speeches. Dr. McCulloch, of Alton Presbytery, Ill.,
defended the report and asked, "Do you mean to tell me that if the
colored people themselves prefer separate churches, presbyteries and
synods, you would deny them the right to have them?" "Yes, by all
means," shouted Mr. Stryker, whose clear head and bold answer was
rewarded with loud approval. Dr. Crosby said he understood that the
Negroes had last year indicated their desire for separation; but Mr.
Sanders, the colored editor of _The Africo-American Presbyterian_, of
North Carolina, arose, and said they had many of them consented to it
last year rather than seem to stand in the way of re-union, but that
this year there was no reason for such a sacrifice, that they did not
wish it, and that while the presbytery of which he was a member had no
white ministers in it, they would be glad to welcome them if they would
come. After other addresses, the motion of Mr. Stryker for the excision
of the paragraph favoring separation of the races was put and carried by
an overwhelming majority, not less than three to one, and the report,
with this amendment, adopted.
It was a glorious victory, due to the conscience of the rank and file of
the Assembly, a victory of the Christian heart of fellowship with the
humblest over the pride and ambition of greatness and power. The
Assembly has done its duty by its colored members, and every colored
member's face was radiant with delight. We have never doubted that if
the subject once came fairly up for discussion, the Conference Committee
would learn something they did not know before about their denomination.
Encouraged by the indorsement given by the Presbyterian Assembly to the
position we have maintained against the separation of Christians in the
Church of Christ, we shall not neglect the same conflict going on among
the Congregationalists and Episcopalians.
_From the Christian Union._
The question whether the Church of Christ shall recognize the color line
is coming up to vex in turn each one of the great Protestant
denominations in the North. We say Protestant denominations advisedly;
for we do not believe that the Roman Catholic Church would for a moment
entertain the notion of excluding a man either from its sacraments, its
worshiping assemblies, or its priesthood, on the ground of color, or
would recognize in its worshiping assemblies any distinction except the
broad one between clergy and laity. To do so would be to violate all its
traditions and history.
In the Protestant denominations of the North, the question is
complicated by two considerations: a strong anti-caste prejudice in the
Northern constituency, on which the missionary organizations are
dependent for their support, and a strong ecclesiastical ambition and
spiritual desire, commingled in various proportions, to push on the work
of church extension in the South, where it cannot, apparently, be pushed
forward with early success, if caste is ignored and colored Christians
are admitted to white churches, and colored clergymen to white
ecclesiastical assemblies, on equal terms with their white brethren. In
the Diocesan Episcopal Convention of South Carolina it is, therefore,
proposed to amend the diocesan constitution so as to provide for two
Conventions, a white and a colored. In the Presbyterian Church the
difference of opinion on this subject constitutes one bar to a union
between the Northern and Southern churches, or even to co-operation
between them. This has been for the time removed by a sort of concordat
by which the relations of the colored and the white members in the two
churches respectively are allowed to remain _in statu quo_, and the
settlement of the problem is relegated to the future. In the
Congregational denomination, the question is likely to come up before
the meeting of the American Home Missionary Society at Saratoga early in
June, and again before the National Council at Worcester in October. In
the State of Georgia, there has been for some time an Association of
Congregational churches mainly composed of colored people, and largely
under the fostering care of the American Missionary Association. A
Congregational work has latterly been started among the whites under the
fostering care of the American Home Missionary Society. And recently a
body of independent Methodists, really Congregational in the principles
of their government, and having a considerable number of churches in
Georgia, and some in other Southern States, has become also
Congregational in name. Both bodies will have representatives,
presumably, at Saratoga, certainly at the meeting of the National
Council at Worcester in October, and the latter body, if not the former,
will have to determine whether it will recognize two Congregational
Associations in one State, the sole difference between them being that
one Association is composed wholly of white people, and the other
chiefly of colored people; unless, indeed--and of this there is some
hope--the Congregational Associations of Georgia solve the problem by
coming together and forming one body. There have been some
correspondence and conferences to consider the possibility of such a
union.
We find ourselves on this subject occupying a position midway between
the radicals on the one side and the conservatives on the other. In some
parts of the South, the whites and Negroes must for many years to come
be educated in separate schools and worship in separate churches. They
need, to some extent, a different education; they desire, to a large
extent, a different kind of religious worship and instruction. The
preaching which appeals to the Anglo-Saxon race appears cold and
unmeaning to the warm-blooded Negro; the preaching which arouses in him
a real religious fervor appears to his cold-blooded neighbor
imaginative, passionate, unintelligent. To attempt to force the two
races into a fellowship distasteful to both, to attempt to require the
two to listen to the same type of sermon and join in the same forms of
worship, is a "reform against nature." Even if the erection and
maintenance of two churches where one would suffice for the worshipers
of both classes involves some additional expense, the expense may not be
greater than the resultant spiritual advantage.
But to close the doors of any church on any Christian is in so far to
make it an unchristian church. To go into the South to establish white
churches from which, whether by a formal law or by an unwritten but
self-enforcing edict, men are excluded because God made them black, is
to deny one of the fundamental tenets of Christ: All ye are brethren. It
is to introduce into a church already divided by sectarian strifes a new
division. It is to rend afresh the seamless robe. To say to any man
asking for Christian fellowship on the simple ground of faith in Christ,
"Stand back: for I am whiter than thou," is simply a new and
indefensible form of Pharisaism. The church exists to proclaim certain
truths, among which the brotherhood of man stands pre-eminent. It is
difficult to see with what consistency a Christian minister can preach
on the parable of the Good Samaritan if his church refuses to recognize
a Christian brother in one of another race because he belongs to another
race. There is no reason for an attempt to corral all men of all races
in one inclosure; but for any church, especially for a church of the
Puritans, to enter upon missionary work in the South, and initiate it by
refusing to admit to its fellowship a black man because he is black, is
to apostatize from the faith in order to get a chance to preach the
faith. To assert equality and brotherhood at the polls, to reaffirm it
in a public school system, to reassert it by courts of law in the hotel
and the railroad train, and then deny it in the church, would be indeed
a singular incongruity, and would make the Nation more Christian than
the church.
The principle, then, by which the color-line question is to be settled
is very simple, though its application may in some cases present some
difficulties. The whites and Negroes are not to be coerced or bribed
into uniting in one and the same church organizations. If they prefer to
worship and to work separately, they must be allowed so to do. This is
within their Christian liberty. But it is not within their Christian
liberty to refuse the fullest and most perfect Christian fellowship to
each other. The doors of every Christian church must stand wide open to
men of every race and color. The only reason of exclusion must be in
moral or spiritual character. And in the higher representative bodies
these churches must be one. To organize, for example, in the State of
Georgia two Congregational bodies, one white and the other colored,
would be to organize a church to perpetuate divisions which the church
should aim to obliterate. It were far better that the Northern Church
should not go with its missionary work into the South at all, than that
it should go with a mission which strengthens the infidelity that denies
that God made of one blood all the nations of the earth for to dwell
together.
* * * * *
THE SOUTH.
* * * * *
MOUNTAIN WORK IN TENNESSEE.
BY DISTRICT SECRETARY C.W. HIATT.
I have found the man of iron. In one short day, he travelled one hundred
miles by rail, walked twelve miles over a steep and rocky mountain, rode
fourteen miles horseback through a pouring and drenching rain, and at
nightfall preached an earnest, telling sermon to an audience of railroad
employees, besides performing the duties of organist and janitor. The
next morning he was up at four o'clock and away for other tasks of
similar sort. One who watches Brother Pope, must do it on the run. One
of the fairest spots on the Cumberland Plateau is Grand View. Here the
American Missionary Association holds a strategic position. The wild,
magnificent scenery and the cool, bracing air, tingling with ozone, make
it an ideal spot for a great religious and educational centre. Already
eyes are turning upward from the surrounding valleys to this mountain
school. The first words I heard on landing at Spring City, six miles
away, were in its praise: "They've got a mighty good school up thar."
Such is the fact. What is needed now to balance things is a "mighty good
school" _building_. If the insignificant frame structures which are
hidden among the trees, and only half supply the needs of the
institution, could be exchanged for a good, roomy, handsome edifice,
placed on the summit of the mountain, where it would be visible for
miles along the line of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, besides being
a benefaction to the cause, it would be the best, cheapest and most
attractive advertisement of our mountain work, conceivable. It is to be
hoped that someone will visit this beautiful spot ere long whose
enthusiasm will not all run to words.
Within easy reach of Grand View are various churches flanked by their
educational departments, which will one day become tributary to the
great central institution. At one of these points, Deer Lodge, a fine
church building is just nearing completion. The community is all loyal
to the American Missionary Association, whose help it has received and
appreciated. A good many Northerners are coming into this section,
induced by climate, whose co-operation in his work Mr. Pope is very
prompt in securing.
Glen Mary is a mining settlement hidden in the oak forest about a mile
from the above mentioned railroad. Here, Mr. Pope recently found a small
Sunday-school battling against great odds. Intemperance and profanity
were rife, and the demand for gospel labor was very urgent. Meetings
were held with blessed results, so that shortly ago a church was
organized, now one of the strongest in this region. One consecrated
young man is at the bottom of the whole movement. Two years ago, he
started a Sunday-school with no assistance. At first, he met his pupils
in the colored people's meeting house, but was obliged to change after a
time, because of the prejudices of color which started among the blacks!
He then took an axe and cleared a spot in the woods to which he invited
his school. Here Mr. Pope found him. After the interest began to grow, a
subscription was started among the miners, resulting in money sufficient
(including help from the mining company) to erect a comfortable little
church edifice. This building has recently been enlarged by one-third,
to accommodate the crowds. The membership of the church is less than
forty, and yet it has raised one collection for the American Missionary
Association amounting to _twenty-four dollars_!
These people have no pastor. They are dependent on the scattering
ministrations of two or three of our overworked missionaries from other
points, who have undertaken to supply them by turns. There are one
hundred and fifty families in the community, fifty being colored,
_without pastoral training_. I am assured that it would not be hard to
raise money enough in the community to nearly, if not quite, support a
minister. The people are hungering and thirsting for teaching in
spiritual things. After repeated and urgent invitations your pilgrim was
prevailed upon to suspend his trip for a day or two, that he might tell
these people of the "good news" of Jesus Christ. It was evidently of the
Lord, for last night at the first exhortation, eight persons, two men
and six women, gave themselves to the Master. The entire congregation
seemed to hear the word with gladness. It is a great field. And so it is
in many places, I am told. Glen Mary is anxious for a resident minister
and a Christian teacher. The influence of an educated, godly woman is
sorely needed in these homes. The gospel has already done much for the
place, but there is still a great work to do. Thank God for such
tireless, self-forgetful men as Mr. Pope. With the brain of a general
and the zeal of an apostle, he is planting the cross of Christ so firmly
on this plateau, and in such commanding positions, that it cannot be
dislodged, but will shed its saving influence far and wide forever.
After preaching once more I hope to move on to Nashville in time for the
commencement.
* * * * *
WILLIAMSBURG ACADEMY, WHITLEY CO., KY.
BY MISS EDITH WILLIAMS.
In this land where the people live by their crops, it was most
encouraging to see the number of older boys who remained in school till
the last of the term. Two of our boys remain with us during vacation, to
do the needed work. They are earnest Christians and faithful workers,
and appreciate the home influences here.
Many of the girls tell me that their fathers used to be "moonshiners,"
and they say that at that time they thought it all right; did not
realize the evils of alcohol until taught about it in the school. We
believe, however, that the morals of this part of Kentucky are steadily
improving, and feel confident of it in our own little town.
Last week I visited a country school house about four miles from town.
It was made of logs. Three small holes were cut in the logs for windows.
The benches were split logs, and the floor was the earth. The great
stone chimney, (the only spacious thing about the building,) was
beginning to crumble away. This is a typical log school house of the
past, but much better ones are going up all over the country, giving
brighter hopes for the future.
With the better school buildings through the country, our Academy will
be ready to furnish them with better teachers than they have had in the
past. Our hope for the future among the Mountain Whites is great.
* * * * *
SCHOOL AT MARSHALLVILLE, GA.
BY MRS. ANNA W. RICHARDSON.
Our school is very large, there being enrolled two hundred. Our great
trouble is a lack of teachers. There are only three of us.
New facts regarding the people among whom we work are brought to us
constantly. Yesterday four pupils entered school who were perfect
wonders. The oldest of them is seventeen years of age, and the youngest
perhaps ten. The oldest has been to church three times during her life,
the others have never been. They have never been to Sabbath-school, and
know nothing about Christ and God. They have never in their lives heard
the word Bible. The _oldest_ one has seen a preacher three times--the
same man each time. They made their first visit to town, and beheld the
first railroad car yesterday. They do not know who made them! Ever since
their arrival I have been saying over and over, "Surely we have Africa
at our very door." I cannot realize it. The responsibility is so great
that it makes me tremble.
Many of our pupils have little or no religious training at home. We have
a good many pupils whose parents are "_Hard Shell_ Baptists," and do not
allow them to go to Sabbath-school, and teach them not to pray for
forgiveness of sins. A few afternoons ago, the pupils were all asked
what they desired to be. One little boy raised his hand to say that he
was going to be a "Hard Shell" minister, for they were already saved,
and had no praying to do. This answer was a result of his training at
home.
We have many features of encouragement connected with our work here.
Especially are we pleased with the work that is being done by a class of
our advanced boys and girls. There are ten of them out in the wooded
country, teaching for three months those who cannot find their way to
our school. Every two weeks, these pupils come in to give a report of
their work. It is understood by them that it is a part of their duty to
tell us just what work they do and _how_ they do it. We supply them with
reading matter for their pupils--especially are we careful to let them
have Sunday-school books, etc. These pupils will be out of school three
months, and will then return to their school work. Every one who is out
is a Christian, and we feel that their influence for good is very great.
It is a joy to us to feel that our little school here in this town is
spreading its influence out into darker portions of the State. Each one
of these pupils has no less than forty pupils in his school, so that the
work of the school here at Marshallville reaches over six hundred souls!
This is indeed a dark portion of the field, but God's loving care is
about us, and we are content to labor here.
* * * * *
ALBANY, GA.
BY MR. W.C. GREENE.
Our school is overrun with pupils this school year. I was compelled to
turn away a large number because I didn't have room for them.
The people on their part are manifesting a deep interest in education
They are trying to take advantage of the opportunity as it is given
them. Many are going hungry to get a chance to send their children to
school.
This last week has been one of profit in this part of the State. The
people have been made to see their duty to the colored man more plainly
by the lectures delivered by Dr. Lansay and others in the Georgia
Chautauqua. There were some fine speeches made in behalf of the Negro.
Judge Hook was down one day and visited our school, and said that he was
surprised and glad to see the rapid progress we had made here.
* * * * *
GREGORY INSTITUTE, WILMINGTON, N.C.
A densely packed church of white and colored people witnessed the
closing exercises of the Gregory Institute, a school of high grade for
colored people founded and supported by the American Missionary
Association, and aided by Mr. Gregory. This school has been in operation
some eighteen or twenty years, and has done a most excellent work among
the people it was designed to benefit. The writer of this article has
attended public exercises of the Institute three times, and has been
each time impressed with the dignified and self-respecting deportment of
the scholars and visitors.
The neat programme called for graduating essays from six girls--there
were no boys in the class--and there were six songs rendered by the
whole school, or by the class, and every one present agreed with Dr.
Pritchard when in his address he declared that such was the musical and
literary excellence of the occasion that it would have done credit to
any institution of learning in North Carolina.
The address of Dr. Pritchard was humorous, practical and highly
complimentary to the school, and was received with much favor by the
audience. After the conferring of the diplomas by Mr. Woodard, the
pleasant occasion came to an end. The Institute is an honor to the city,
and certainly reflects great credit on the officers who conduct
it.--_Morning Star._
* * * * *
SENIOR CLASS AT LE MOYNE NORMAL INSTITUTE.
MEMPHIS, TENN.
The Senior class of the present year is the largest graduated from the
school, numbering eleven members, seven young ladies and four young men.
Tennessee is the native State of all but one, who was born in Virginia.
The youngest is seventeen years old, the oldest twenty-eight; average
age, twenty and one-half years.
The tallest member of the class is five feet, eight and one-half inches
in height, the shortest in stature measures five feet; average height,
five feet, six inches.
The heaviest weight turns the scale at one hundred and sixty-five
pounds, and the lightest at one hundred and twenty; average weight, one
hundred and thirty-seven pounds.
The longest attendance at this school is ten years and the shortest,
four; average term in school, six and one-half years.
* * * * *
ITEMS.
We have received No. 1, Vol. 1, of the _Academy Student_, published and
printed by the students of the Williamsburg Academy, Williamsburg, Ky.
The little paper is large with promise. It is as bright as a new dollar.
* * * * *
A teacher asked her class in geography where the Turks live. The
remarkable reply was, "In the woods." Thinking the pupil had confounded
the Orientals with the Aborigines, the answer was pronounced to be
"incorrect." The pupil rejoined, "Well, I have seen them there roosting
in the trees."
* * * * *
The following extract is from a composition on "The Blacksmith."
"Man in his state of incarnation has various ways of making money to
supply himself with nutriment so that the body may be able to
exhiliarate its immortal tenant, 'the soul.' The one about which I shall
speak is the Smith. This trade is of momentous importance.... It is
quite amusing to hear him when he is mending a piece of malleable work;
he has a way of striking the iron that makes it sound harmonious to the
ear, and children very often stop to hear him."