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About The voice. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1946-195? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1952)
The President Speaks To the Fifth Episcopal District Conference Presidents, Officers, Members and Lay Friends: Greet ings. Let us this new year rejoice in the fact that our friend Bishop D. Ormonde Walker has once more found favor with that physical hidden power he ofttimes speaks about and we will have him at Chicago, strong in body and mind and strong for our cause. Let us continue to pray. My lay co-workers, I want to thank all who in any way have co operated with this office this past year and beg for helpful consider ation in the present year for a bigger lay-conscious service for God and the church. I want to list a few things I think we should accomplish this year. 1. Dress Up on Laymanship. That is, to be more layman con scious. 2. Laymen’s Day. I hope the conference presidents insist on several laymen’s days throughout their conferences. 3. Cooperating Laymen. We are ttife church. Let us this year estab lish lay cooperation with the bench, pulpit, and ourselves so as td ever preserve the church. 4. Our Publication, The Lay men’s Voice. It is our number one project. Mrs Rubie Shakespeare, our efficient editor, has given us a plan as follows: one hundred subscribers for each conference. This plan is workable, plain and easy to perform. I hope this year we will put our paper in a class with other organizations’ publica tions (with less membership than ours) that have proved so helpful to their cause that every house hold member is an essential sub scriber. Please think on this. •V District Support. We are far apart on this side of the lay pro gram. I am sure many were em barrassed, along with myself, at our St. Louis meeting when we had just about one-half enough funds to finance our first annual get together I hope to get from the Bishop helpful advice, and send it on to you, in this small matter. I cal] it small because I have faith in you. 6. Questions for My Informa tion. Shall we have a meeting in 1952? Shall we call an executive board together in 1952? Shall we appoint a treasurer or use our secretary as financial secretary? 7. Douglass Hospital. I am sure we all can feel a little disap pointed in our effort, but as it was immediately before the holidays, we can feel we accomplished something and it was worth the effort. I hope we can find the rea son to make this an annual affair with the laymen of the district. In conclusion, I say for myself, as president of the district, I ex pect to be more alert and give more time to the office work this year. May 1 expect a better year’s work from my conference presi dents who are the only persons responsible for much of our suc cess. I call your attention to this stubborn fact: everything I have listed to do this year depends on your activity. You can depend on immediate cooperation from my office. I will be glad to have a letter from any layman of the district who has some suggestion to make for the good of the or ganization. Yours for the church, George Jones, District Lay President So. Calif. Laymen Ready For Action To the Lay Delegates elect in the 5th Episcopal Dist. To the President, Laymen’s League 5th Episcopal Dist. To the Conference Presidents of the 5th Dist. To the Local Lay League Presi dents, 5th Dist. Greetings: The day of the Laity has come. Greed, politics and apostacy in the church of the rankest sort have ushered in the day. Today, unlike any other time In history of the A.M E. Church, calls united laymen to join with a few stalwart, unafraid ministers in the wholesale church-cleaning needed to save our zion. Prayer ful, thoughtful, painstaking action is needed to do the job, which, by no means, can be accomplished over night. True, far-seeing mem bers will sense the crying need for support and join the ranks of the few who have thus far so nobly advanced. Educatirn—yes, religious edu cation, coupled with a liberal un derstanding of the laws of God and of our church, is the weapon necessary to spur us to action. This is the task that lies before us, and, to the accomplishment of which the SOUTHERN CALI FORNIA CONFERENCE LAY MEN ELECT pledge themselves. It seems to us that the first act is to organize, and then to streng then every unit ir our organiza tion so that the league in each church may be a potential bul wark in the maintenance of self respect, courage and zeal, to carry on the great battle in which we shall be engaged. When our forces shall have been organized fully and our league strengthened and schooled, then, under God, we shall be invincible against wrong. It matters not whether the ugly image of demagoguery shows it self, or whether corrupt politics creeps into the workings of our most worthy sanctuaries, or whether greed and avarice ven ture forth in all their hideousness, lour organized forces will be a mighty fortress, and, with God’s help and the strength of our own might we shall crush evil wher ever it may be found. Then, shall not we get busy,1 today? Communicate throughout the district freely; know what your neighbor in Washington State is thinking, as well as the one next door, or vice versa. Be sure that our policies and aims1 are the same. Agree upon issues, candidates and laws. These are a few of our objectives. What are yours? We shall be glad to hear from you soon. Sincerely, Phillip M. Robinson, 4256 Hoo per Ave., Los Angeles, California. Henry H. Pettigrew, 5612 For tuna Street, Los Angeles, Cali fornia. Moses E. Webb, 115 East Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, California. Arthur E. Prince, 717 South Fourth Street, El Centro, Cali-J fornia. Ralph Jones, 1331 W. Third Street, Santa Ana, California. Benjamin Wesley Inghram, 982* Sixth Street, San Bernadino, Cali fornia. Annual Laymen’s Day At California 1st AME The Laymen of First A.M.E. church in Los Angeles, California,1 observed their third annual Lay men’s day Sunday, January 20th, with Mr. R. R. Wright III, as guest speaker. The program com mittee was composed of Joseph Ellis, chairman; Mr. Phillip Rob-1 inson, Miss Barbara Bradley, Mr. I James Deny, Mr. A. A. Thomas J Mr. Paul Greenway and Mrs. Mary Person. Persons participation on the days program were: Benjamin W. Inghram, M. E. Webb, Arthur Prince, Henry H. Pettigrew, Alfred BY JESSE L. GLOVER, D. D. Straight From The Shoulder The Laymen’s Rightful Place In The A.M.E. Church. The Lay- j men’s place is everywhere, but in the pulpit of the A.M.E. Church. They raise the money, they pay the bills. Certainly the Minister must lead the way. He is called] of God to lead the way. The true] T^aymen appreciates his own min-j -'ster being A strong leader. The' Laymen do not appreciate, pussy foot cowards, jelly fish ministers,! yes, yes, leaders. You cannot i blame the Laymen for the fight] they are advancing in our great church. They have found the min ister in many respects too weak, and fearful to stand for the rights of his people. We Musi Save the. Church The Laity must continue their united movement for protection of the church. It is always wise for both the Minister and Layman to walk hand in hand, but in many cases the minister will dodge out because of economic reasons, he fears his bread and meat, Yet he preaches to the Laity each Sunday I to stand fast, fear no one but !God, and keep the Faith. The | Laity is tired of such false preach jing when they know their pastor is the biggest coward in the con ference. What of This Gen. Conf? j What will we do at the forth-! coming General conference? Noti just go there political minded. Of course we have the full right to be concerned about the type of men and women the church elects. Of course your concern dies, when you accept large cash gifts for payment of your political actions. Such Layman, as well as minis-j ters are injurious to Christian ad-, vancement. We must see that we elect men who will j immediately reduce these heavy assessments upon the people, relieve the Pastor and laymen of over burden local assessments upon their churches? so they can render a greater com munity service. The Salvation Army, The V Si and other Christian movements, are sweeping; in our local communities, while we iust raise money and send it away to make a big con nectional name for ourselves; the Laymen can make this adjustment, they can lead out in rc-vamping the church. Protect the mission preacher, he is your best servant, when he has courage enough to be a man, see thatj th general church pays him at least $50.001 a month to serve the small churches. Demand a Laymen’s and Min-| ister’s Council at each conference, with the presiding bishop. Fix the1 law to make them hold a two hour i conference private, with the above named persons, and hear all facts concerning the complete need of the people, and demand a favor able vote before the bishop can thrust some minister upon the; people unsatisfactory. Read my latest article on If ij Were A Bishop. I mean what I have said. I would not sell out. [I would not attack my ministers and laymen and expect them to be loyal. Jesse L. Glover j Smith, Ronald Brunner and Mar-! j land Bunner. Special guests included all the lay delegates from Southern Cali-' fornia conference to the General Conference at Chicago, in May. You up; People Make Ail van ee KANSAS CITY, Kans.—For the past two years under the leader ship of the Rev. B. J. Martin, the Junior departmeni at Grant Chapel A.M.E. church, Kansas City, Kansas has been making rapid progress with their choir work and general young people’s department. The fifteen members meet the second and fourth Saturdays in each month at 6 p.m. The following officers were elected for the year' Marie Wil liams, president; Edward Hogans, vice president; Betty St. Clair, secretary; Harry Reynolds, assist ant secretary; Roj Gene Johnson,' treasurer; Thur; an Reynolds, chaplain; Marlene Williams, ser gent-of-arms, and Roy Gene Johnson, reporter. Sentence Sermons By Rev. Frank Clarence Lowry for ANP 1. Animals and men are quite different in form and habitation, but made by God from the be ginning of creation. 2. Animals remain true to the order of their species, while man of high intelligence continues to show varied deficiencies. 3. He has had nearly 2,000 years since the Christ Child came, but he still delights in the things that tine of ill-fame. 4. Corruption in high places is meeting with approval, while jus tice soft-soaped by bribes, at .tempts no removal. 5. But here and there some real men and women, though they be few, rise to fight this mad on slaught, and vow to carry their fight through. 6. Think of it—instead of spend ing considerable sums to lift th< fallen and raise the morale of th( slums; inscrupulous men whc ■ spend billions to kill their brother 'are worse than those who beat the Jtom toms. 7. Unlike animals, he is not true to his kind, or in his intellect he would be trying to lift his fellow man to heights sublime. 8. But instead, some are so vi cious for the love of a dollar, they will stick a dope needle into a Sunday School scholar. 9. The Adamic propensities of an unregenerated mar* can hardly be compared in meanness even with creatures of the animal; plane; for with normal sense, some seem to act insane. 10 Man, without God, is too; weak and feeble . . . slow toward righteousness, but split - second quick in things evil. 11. The only hope for each of us and the world as one great nation, is implicit faith in the Cru cified Christ and the God of our Salvation. 12. Until then, men lower than animals will always be, and for self satisfaction and a mess of pottage, will hang a brother to a tree. Mother Church Burns Quinn Chapel, our Mother Church of African Methodism in the city of Chicago,, recently suf fered a loss by fire. Worship was not interrupted, however, and was' held in the Sunday School assem bly room. The entire auditorium is being repaired and redecorated and stain glass windows that were damaged are being replaced. The Rev. Archibald James Carey, Jr.;1 who is the minister there, will have a beautiful church for the General Conference. Christian living pleases GotlJ blesses our fellowmen and we; ourselves grow in grace and our lives are very much enriched. * * * Christian living will bring about the peace that the world craves today. I REV. F. M. MASON Rev. F. M. Mason Presiding Elder of Columbus District of the Ohio A.M.E. con ference, 51 Jefferson Avenue, Co lumbus 15, Ohio. Candidate for Bishopric in 1952 Pulpiteer and loyal churchman. Pastor 27 years. Presiding Elder 14 years. A special friend to rising min isters. | Believe in financing Colleges. I Universities, Theological Semina ries and Church expansion. Feels that every mission church should pay, or be helped to pay their pastor not less than $25 per week. He has a program which he feels will benefit the great A.M.E. church. He craves your support in 1952. Who Is My Neighbor? By Mrs. J. E. Anderson Kansas City, Kansas Not one who does me great amount of harm; Not one who leans for Sucor on my arm; 1 But one that all the time will do me good; Clothe me when bare; when hungry give me food; That’s my neighbor One who when I’m in trouble Comfort brings and helps; tc smooth life’s road for traveling One who will come and tell me When I’m wrong and when my spirit is low Will sing a song! That’s my neighbor. He who will cheer me when affliction come will visit me help cheer my # home Who helps to make lifes heavy burden light and bring the day when dl before was night; That’s my neighbor. One who do me good his life will spend and consolate me to my journeys end Who magnifies to me Gods love and power and helps to cheer me in my dying hour. That’s my neighbor. Circuit Supplied By Rev. S. Davis The Rev. Stephen Davis was selected to supply the Hiawatha Circuit in the 5th district recently which makes his churches total five. Following is a listing of his Sunday services. HORTON, KAN SAS—Sunday School, 10:00 a.m.; morning service, li:30 a.m. HIA WATHA, KANSAS — Sunday School, 10:00 a.m.j'aftemoon serv ice, 2:30 p.m. FALLS CITY, NEBRASKA—E vening service, 6:30 p.m. SABATHA, KANSAS— Sunday school, 10:00 a.m.; Mom jing service, 11:00 a.m. FAIRV1EW, KANSAS—Sunday School, 1«:00 a.m.; afternoon service, 3:30 pm i Meeting are held monthly.
