Publishers
The Rev. and Mrs. Melvin L.
Shakespear have been in active
pastorial work in the African
Methodist church since 1939. Rev.
Shakespeare, who is now attend
ing Cotner College, a religious
college of the University of Ne
braska, is organizer and builder
of the First A.M.E. church at Has
tings, Neb., where he pastored
for four years. He has pastored
churches in Nebraska and Kansas.
Mrs. Shakespeare received her
education at the University of
Nebraska where she is an active
member of Zeta Chapter of Kappa
Phi alumnuae organization. She
is vice president of Quinn Chapel
lay organization and a member
of the Order of Eastern Stars. She
was a delegate to the General
Conference held in Kansas City
’48 and to the second quadrennial
missionary society held in Mem
phis.
Mrs. Shakespeare and her hus
band, publishers of The Voice,
have received national recognition
for their accomplishments. Both
are members of the Lincoln Urban
League and the NAACP.
DR. LEWIS S. GOOLSBY
Dr. Lewis S. Goolsby, pastor of
St. Paul A.M.E. Church, Colum-(
bia, Missouri, aspires to editorship
of the Western Christian Re- J
©order. A Georgian by birth and
training, an African Methodist of;
pure stock, he has given forty.
years of unbroken service and
success as pastor and presiding
eider. He was delegate to last j
General Conference and is a trus
tee of Wilberforce University; a
graduate of Morris Brown Col
lege, Atlanta, Georgia, and of
Turner’s Theological Seminary.
Also studied at the University of,
California, in Berkeley, received
his D.D. degree from Western
University. Thirty years spent in
the West, this has given him the
personal belief that the East and
West can meet. In‘harmony with
wishes of friends he therefore
aspires for this Post.
Youth to
Conference
NEW YORK — (ANP) — Youth
delegates to the 42nd annual
NAACP convention in Atlanta
elected Miss Claire M. Johnson,
secretary of a Berkeley college
chapter of the NAACP, alternate
delegate to the World Assembly
of Youth conference, which will
meet on the campus of Cornell
university August 5th to 16th.
Miss Johnston is a graduate
student at the University of Cali
AME Laymen Meet
(Continued from P 1)
groups will begin their delibera
tions.
Heading the body will be At
torney Herbert L. Dudley of De
troit, Mich., whose rise in A.M.E.
lay circles is phenomenal, accord
ing to George J. Jones.
Speakers for the two district
meetings include: P. G. Porter,
Olathe, Kas., grand master of
Kansasa Masons; Lloyd Kerford,
Atchison, of the famed quarry in
dustry; Dr. J. Louis Ransom, To
peka, president of Kansas lay
men; Mrs. Gertrude Clark, Law
rence, Kas., a member of the
executive board of laymen.
Clayton P. Lewis, Lincoln, Neb.,,
grand master of Nebraska Ma
sons; Mrs. I. S. Smith Morgan,
Denver, Colo., secretary of Su
preme Order of Woodmen; C. A.
Stafford, Los Angeles, Cal., presi
dent of Southern California Con
ference of Laymen; Dr. Alfred
Farrell, Jefferson City, Mo., Eng
lish instructor at Lincoln univer
sity; Clarence Owens, Kansas
City, Mo., president of Southwest
Missouri Conference of Laymen
and N. W. Thatcher, Sr., owner of
Thatcher’s Mortuary, Kansas City,
Kas.; Mrs. Robert D. Aikens, prin
cipal of Mme. C. J. Walker Beauty
school, Kansas City, Mo.; J. T.
Ancell, Macon, Mo., president of
Northwest Missouri conference of
Laymen and James H. Browne,
vice president of Douglas State
bank, Kansas City, Kas.
Many bishops and general of
ficers wil be present and in at
tendance. Other outstanding
speakers who will appear on pro
gram according to Attorney Dud
ley will be J. Ernest Wilkins, an
outstanding attorney of Chicago,
111., and a prominent layman of
1 the Methodist church and a mem
ber of the Judicial Council of
■ that church; the Honorable Perry
.Jackson, judge of Municipal court
fomia at Berkeley, where she is
studying for a Ph.D degree in
sociology. She received her B.A.
degree from Virginia Union univ
ersity, and her M.A. from Western
Reserve university, in Cleveland.
Christian
Social Life
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
SCRIpTURE: Romans 121, 2; 1
Corinthians 8; 1 John 2:15-17.
MEMORY SELECTION—Know
ye not that ye are the temple of
God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you? 1 Corinthians
3-16,
PRESENT DAY APPLICATION
By Frederick D. Jordan
Los Angeles, Calif.
Paul makes the issue very clear
as to the basic principle for Chris
tian conduct in social life. A
Christian must be independent. It
must mean more to one to be a
Christian than to satisfy an appe-,
tite or conform to a custom.
Christianity cannot be divorced
from morality. One cannot be a
consistant Christian by being ex
act in the performance of relig
ious services and unrestrained in
the indulgence of any evil pas
sion. Ye we see leaders today
even in this our beloved Church'
who profess Christianity as a doc
trine and as a form of worship,
but not as a rule of life. Leaders,
you and I must stand for
Christian ideals and follow Chris
tian precedents in our daily lives,
or suffer the loss of our influence
as Christians and the respect of
the Community.
What to Call
The Minister
An overwhelming majority of
the laymen and, believe it or not,
a considerable minority of the
clergy, have lost some sleep over
the question, “What shall we call
our minister?” Perhaps we ought
to discuss the matter during these
weeks whdl we are hearing re
ports from the round table on
“The Minister and His Laymen.’
What are the possibilities from
which laymen choose?
Most popular is “reverend,”
which really means “worthy of
reverence,” a state of grace that
the average clergyman seldom at
tains. He probably will not object
to the title, which the dictionary
lists as a colloquialism, but he
will not think himself deserving.
“Reverent,” as many good people
insist in mispronouncing the term,
would really be more appropriate.
There is “doctor,” which cor
rectly means “teacher,” but it has
come to have another significance.
There is a medical aroma about
it, so that bewildered patients are
inclined to ask, “Are you a doctor
who preaches or one who prac
tices?” The ecclesiastical unc
tiousness of the term might be
lessened somewhat if theological
seminaries gave the only doctor’s
degrees for ministers, and only
for academic requirements ful
filled.
“Brother” is a good title, though
it hardly distinguishes a minister
from a layman, for we are told
that, “One is your minister and
all ye are brethren.” Besides, the
term has received wide currency
in the fraternal orders.
“Parson” was a likely title back
in the days when Parson Weems
was telling the story of young
George Washington chopping
down the cherry tree, but “par
son” sounds quaint today. More
over, it is scarcely accurate for
the minister because it really
means “person,” the one person
in the community who could read
and write, and also had the au
thority to baptize, marry, and
bury.
—The Christian Advocate
of Cleveland, Ohio; Dr. A. S. Jack
son, Financial Secretary of the
A.MI. church; Professor E. A.
Selby, secretary-treasurer of the
A.M.E. Sunday School Union; Miss
Eleanor J. Woodcock of Oberlin
College, and Dr. Charles I* Hill,
president of Wilberiorce Univer
sity.
Dr. Frederick D. Jordan—Los Angeles
His work among us is an enduring contributif*-’ •
• Western University School of Religion
• Bethel Church, Kansas City, Missouri
• 8th and Towne, Los Angeles
and now
• Ward AME Church—Los Angeles,
African Methodism’s most complete church plant
Of Special Interest to Laymen
Mr. Noonan O. Houston, Pres
ident of the Golden State Life In
; surance Company is an active
AME. He recently presided over
: the sessions of the National Negro
Life Insurance Convention at
1 Memphis, Tenn.
\ The chairman of the Elks Civil
Liberties Committee in Los An
geles is Mi. Augustus Clay Stew
| ard in Bethel church of which Dr.
j T. L. Scott is pastor. Mr. Clay is
also active in AFL labor circles.
I Miss Vernethia King, registered
nurse is a volunteer social worker |
in Ward AME church, Los An- j
geles, Dr. Frederick D. Jordan,
I minister. Her professional serv
ices are available where ever
needed regardless of the ability of
the patient to pay.
Mrs. Lydia Vance Harris, a
member of the Eighth and Towne,
Los Angeles is one of several
Negro women in the Public Health
Service of the city.
Mrs. Ethel Taylor, public school
teacher of Lcs Angeles, recently
received her Master’s Degree from
' the University of jouthem Cali
fornia. She is director of the ,
Vacation church scnool at Ward (
AME, Los \ngeles.
Two significant building pro
jects in Southern California which ;
are being completed this summer
are a $16,000.00 parsonage at First j
church Pasadena. The Rev.'(
Harry J. White, minister; and the
$40,000.00 church rebuilding of
First Church Santa Monica where
Rev. L. T. Thornhill is pastor.
James H. Browne, a vice presi
dent of the Douglas State bank,
and officer of the Atlanta Life
Insurance company, was named a
member of the Kansas City,
Kas., civil service board recently.!
He is the first Negro to serve on
that body which was increased
from three to five b> r. law passed
at the last session of the legis
lature.
The June meeting of the AME
Ministers’ Wives Alliance, of Los
Angeles and vicinity, was held at
the home of Mrs. Mary King, wife
of Rev. Ralph R. King. Mrs. King
and Mrs. Beatrice Johnson served
as hostesses.
The final plans and prepara
tions for the “Dinner in the Gar-j
den,” to be held in the picturesque
garden of Rev. and Mrs. Ralph R.
King, 2940 S. Harvard Blvd., was
set for August 14th. This color
ful event will be in honor of
Bishop and Mrs. D. Ormonde Wal
ker and visitors of the Southern
California Conferei.ee.
Mrs. Hayden, wile of the pas
| tor at Jefferson City, Missouri,
[ has recently been elected an of
. Ccer in the Missouri Council of
Church Women. This is a signal
honoi and it is with pride that we
report it for Mrs. Hayden is
President of the Missouri Confer
ence Branch and a prominent
! A.M.E. Church woman. Negro
women have served United Church
Women’s organizations in many of
the more liberal states for many
years, but it is only recently that
“bars” have begun to be lifted in
the ‘ border .ates This is a -
good sign, and we await further
information of such activity in
other states.
John A. Woods, representative
of the Puget Sound Conference,
joined B e t h el
A.M.E. church,
Yakima, Wash
ington in 1927.
He was lay
delegate to the
general con
ference in Kan
s a s City. He
has been trus
tee and is now
a steward and
district steward
in his church. Mr. Woods is serv
ing his 40th year as an employee
of the National Bank of Com
merce in Yakima.
George L. W. Phillips, Redlands,
Calif., member of the' executive
commi tee of
the 5th district
1 a y organiza
tion has served
25 years in
A.M.E. church
es in Boston,
Ma s s ., Allen
Chapel, Provi
dence, R. I.,
and 10 years in
Riverside, Cali
Mr. Phillips fomia, He is a 4
Mason, Eastern Star, Odd Fellow
and past Exalted Ruler of I.B.P.
OX. of W.
Joseph T. Ancell, jr., president
of the North Missouri Conference
Laymen’s League, was bora m
Macon, Mo., where he received
(Continued on P. 4, CoL 2)