THE LAYMEN’S VOICE
VOL. 1, NO. 5 nil v iq<«9
__ _ JULY, 1952 _ PRICE 10c
3 Bishops Elected; to
Serve in Foreign Fields
Bishop Frederick
Douglass Jordan
Ordained a preacher in 1921, a
deacon in 1922, and an elder in
1924. He pastored in St. Paul,
Minn., and Moline, 111., before
coming to St. Mary’s AME in Chi
cage in 1929. He later pastored
Carey Temple, also in Chicago.
He organized the Bishop Wil
liams School of Religion at West
ern university. His wife is Mrs.
Artishia Jordan, a Chicagoan.
For years he was pastor of
Eighth and Towne AME church
in Los Angeles. Since 1950 he has
been pastor of Ward Chapel there.
Bishop. H. Thomas Primm
Born in Brentwood, Tenn ,
reared in Nashville, and educated
at Wilberforce and ^isk univer
sities and Payne seminary, holds
B.A., B.D., and LLD., degrees.
He has pastored in Nashville,
Memphis, Alexandria, La., Port
Gibson, Miss., Little Rock, Ark.,
Hot Springs and New Orleans. He
has taught school at Tenner col
1 e g e in Tennessee and Shorter
college. He has represented the
AME church in two world con
ferences, and has traveled and
studied in England, France, Italy,
Greece, Egypt and the Holy Land.
Before becoming bishop he was
director of physical education in
the AME church.
In New Orleans, Bishop Primm
has served the past six years as
chairman of the advisory commit
tee of the mayor of the city of|
Ed Note: This is published after con
ference for thoughtful consideration.
Time fast approaches when we
shall be journeying to Chicago to
attend our General Conference.
We the delegates will be travelling
over numerous highways all lead
ing to one designated spot. Though
coming from all directions there is
one highway that stands out
plainly ever which we all should
be riding, and that is the great
Bibical Highway 66 with markers
from Genesis to Revelations. All
along the way there are laws to
keep, signposts of warnings
handed down through endless ages
known as the Ten Commandments
for our guidance.
As we proudly gather in the
great metropolis of Chicago let
us be up and about our Masters!
business. We go not for a vacation,
but to give our minds and hearts
to the teachings of Jesus Christ
and to the work of the A.M.E.
Church, that it may ever continue
to plant seeds in fertile soil that
they may grow and become strong
plants in African Episcopal Meth
odist Kingdom Building.
Many years age Richard Allen
planted a garden. In it he planted
seeds of Christianity. Through the
years these seeds have grown and
multiplied, but as in all gardens
no matter how careful we attend
or cultivate them, unwanted
weeds seem to creep in and grow.
It is up to the planter or whom
ever left in charge to clean out
these weeds that the good plants
might live and grow. We the
members of the A.M.E. Church,
especially the Bishops, General
Officers, Delegates, and Laymen
are the caretakers of this great
garden of faith of African Meth
odism. Let us keep a watchful eye
and clean out any unwanted weed
that may chance to creep in and
smother the other plants as they
try to grow.
This will not be an easy task,
but one which requires our whole
New Orleans.
The new bishop is married to
Mrs. Edith May Primm. They
have a daughter, Rita May, 12
years old. Commenting on his ele
vation, the bishop said:
“I stand ready to serve my
churth and race in any part of
the world. Knowing I have no
empty promises to make, I shall
work to establish a record of con
secration, sacrifice and service.’’
Bishop Eugene
Clifford Hatcher
Age 50, born in Eugala, Ala.,
son of Dr. C. D. and Mrs. Juli
anne Hatcher. He is married tc
Mrs. Oretha Tilman Hatcher, a
Florida A&M college graduate.
They are the parents of two chil
dren, Mrs. Ruby Eugenia Craw
ford, a graduate of Wilberforce
university and married to a pro
minent dentist, Dr. Fred Craw
ford of Williamson, W. Va.; and
Eugene Clifford Hatcher Jr., in
1951 a graduate of Fisk university
with a B.A. in physics at the age
of 19, now working for his mas
ter’s degree and an instructor at
Fisk.
Bishop Hatcher has studied at
Tuskegee institute, A&T college,
Edward Waters college and Daniel
Walker’s business college in Jack
sonville, Fla., and at Payne in
Birmingham. He is a Mason, an
Elk, and a member of Phi Beta
Sigma fraternity.
For the past 12 years he edited
the Southern Christian Recorder.
Mrs. ANDERSON
MRS CECIL C. ANDERSON
Member and Secretary of
Steward Board of Zion A.M.E.
Church, Lexington Mo. 1st. Vice
President Layman League,
Southwest Mo. Conference and
Delegate to the General Con
ference.
hearted, sincere, prayerful and
considerate deliberations. We can
not do it alone, but must take the
wisdom and guidance of the
greatest of all powers, God Al
mighty. We must work with and
through Him that His Blessings
may be manifested upon our every
thought and deed, that we may
work together in* true Christian
Brotherly Love that our Church
as does a mighty eagle may spread
out its wings of love, fellowship,
and systematic business of' Our
Father Which Art In Heaven.
We as Laymen, who have been elected by
the confidence placed In us by the members
of the Church have much work to do. Let
us bo about it in prayerful peaceful and
persuasive manner. Yes. through the yean
mistakes have been made foe all humans are
subject to do so. but it is not too late to
endeavor to correct some of these mistakes,
and wrong-doings by filling In any gaps or
[ (Continued on Page 5, Col. 3)
AME's Move Forward
With Judicial Council
Layman Victorious
After 4-Years Wait
CHICAGO (ANP)— Sparked by .
a layman, a minister and a bishop |
and prodded by two days of i
heated and explosive debate, dele- ;
gates to the 34th Quadrennial
Conference of the African Meth- }
odist Episcopal church voted ]
Thursday to form a judicial coun- ]
cil designed as a body of final ]
appeal even from the powerful j
Bishops Council.
This new body will consist of 17
members, either a layman or an j
elder from each episcopal district.1!
It will act as the highest ruling!(
body in the church. L
Other business activity during
the past week included the read
ing of reports of various general ]
officers and the election of three <
general officers.
Passage of the bill setting up
the Judicial Council, beginning
with this General Conference, cli
maxed a series of noisy demon
strations spreading over three
days under three different presid
ing bishops.
Activity for or against the pro
posal was so intense that it de
layed the elections of general of
ficers for more than 24 hours and
it pushed the election of bishops
back until possibly late Friday
night or Saturday. It also added
the election of Council members
to the program of the General
Conference.
Basically, the radical program
of setting up the Judicial Council
offers these changes in the present
organization of the AME Church.
CHANGES MADE BY NEW LAW
The Bishops Council has been
shorn of its judicial powers, and
is replaced by the Judicial Coun
cil. The section of the church
Discipline giving these powers to
the Bishops Council will be de
leted from the Discipline, and a
new section, The Judicial Council,
will replace it.
Membership of the new body
will consist of nine elders and
eight laymen, each of whom serves
terms of eight years. At this gen
eral conference, laymen shall be
elected from odd numbered dis
tricts except the 13th, and elders
will be elected from the even
numbered districts and the 13th.
Members from the 1st through
9th districts will serve eight years,
and those elected from other dis
tricts will serve four years. After
this Aiembers will be elected from
these districts in question at every
other quadrennium, thus giving
the Judicial Council a staggered
membership.
Each district by majority vote
of its delegates at the Quadren
nial will nominate one member
and one alternate (neither of
which has to be a delegate to the
General Conference). From these
nominees, the General Conference
will elect one from each district to
serve on the Judicial Council. The
alternates will serve only in case
of death to the regular member.
The Judicial Council will elect
its own officers, a president, a
vice president, and a secretary.
It shall provide its own rules of
! procedure.
No member of the Judicial
Council may hold a general office
or serve on any church board
or any administrative or connec
tional office. Members Must be
at least 35 years old and have
been a mmeber of the church in i
good standing for at least eight
years.
Recognized leaders of the move
ment for the judicial body were
Herbert L. Dudley of Detroit,
head of the AME Laymen; the
Rev. Frank Veals of .South Caro
lina, and Bishop D Ormonde
Walker of the Fifth district.
Bishop Walker, who led the
fight for the passage of Judicial
Council proposal in the 1948
quadrennial in Kansas City, com
mented after the passage of
this bill:
“The passage of this legislation
has brought freedoms to emmbers
of the church and to the bishops,
themselves.”
By freedom for bishops, Bishop
Walker said, he meant that the
prelates are now free to act in
council without a lot of political
fanagling. He said that a bishop
may act now without fear of re
jprisals from the other bishops.
I Bishop D. Ward Nichols of the
'First district, considered by many
' the “strong man” of the AME
1 church, had this to say:
; “Instead of curbing the power,
.this law protects the bishops
equally as it does the members of
the church. I am delighted with
the establishment of the Judicial
Council. It has been needed a
(Continued on Page 6, Col. 1)
i** ' 1' >
\ ^
P. G. PORTER
' P. G. PORTER of the Nebraska
Conference of the AME Church
was named to the newly
created Judicial Council, the
highest ecclesiastical authority
in the church. Mr. Porter, a
former school teacher, lives in
Olathe, Kan.
Expresses Thanks
To Delegates
To the Delegates of the 34th Ses
sion of the General Conference
of the A.M.E. Church held in
Chicago May 1952:
Greetings:
The 34th General Conference is
now history.
I think that much needed Legis
lation was enacted. It is needless
to say that both, ministerial and
lay delegates played an important
Mrs. Winston at
AME Conference
Mrs. Margaret Winston, 2616 N.
Allis, an active member of Trinity
A.M.E. church, has recently re
the 34th, quadrennial session of
the A.M.E. church.
When this conference met in
Kansas City in 1948, Mrs. Winston
served as chairman of the General
Conference Committee at her
church under the leadership of the
Rev. S. M. Pointer. She has had
charge of the church junior choir
and is now president of the T.L.W.
club and a member of the floral
committee.
A graduate nurse serving the
late Dr. D. H. Davis of Independ
ence, Kans., and Dr. E. E. Bowser
of Parsons, Kans., Mrs. Winston
has been interested in the general
welfare of people to the extent
that she is active in the NAACP
and has served as chairman of the
Women’s Division of the National
Red Cross campaign. With her
husband, Moses Winston, she
presently operates a grocery store
at 852 Walker Ave., Kansas City,
Kas.
While in Chicago, Mrs. Winston
resided at the South Central
Hotel. She attended a reception
given by Mrs. D. Ward Nichols,
the wife of Bishop Nichols. On
Sunday, May II, she was guest at
a missionary program at the
Bethel church. Bishop John
Gregg, Mrs. \nne Heath, and Miss
Alma Polk were also special
guests for this occasion.
On Sunday, June 8, Mrs. Win
ston modeled some custom-made
African jewelry which was pur
chased from Mrs. Etta Moten Bar
nett’s Afro-American Art Bazaar.
Mrs. Winston was sponsored by
Sheba chapter No. 18 of O.E.S. at
their 20th annual tea, an event
narrated by Roosevelt Butler.
O. M. TRAVIS
part in getting this legislation en
acted into law.
Now, in my humble judgment,
we should dedicate ourselves to
the task of building our great
Church and increasing the mem
bership. We must also look for
ward to adjusting many of our
departments to meet the demands
of a worthy people, in a day such
as we now live. To me this is our
great Challenge. Shall we meet it?
At this time I wish to thank
each of you who supported me in
my effort to become a General
Officer in our Great Church. We
lost a hard fight, but the purpose
for which we fought lives on.
The large vote received by me
bespeaks your interest in my be
half, as a qualified, worthy, loyal
layman. May I say, “with malice
toward none and charity for all,”
I beg to remain your humble, loyal
layman.
O. M. TRAVIS
Charles Dana Gibson created the
“Gibson Girl.”
Cape Horn is at the Southern
most tip of South America.
Twenty-eight pieces are used in
the game of dominoes.
