St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-08-21
A CoLoRED CONFERENCE.
Annual Session of the A. NJ. E
Church to Be Held in This City.

Annual Session of the A. NJ. e..
Church to Be Held in This City.
The Iowa conference of the A. M. E.
session in st. James A. M. E. church,
this city. Wednesday, 31st inst, at 10 a.
m. Bishop A. w. Wayman, of Balti-
more, will preside. This conference
embraces the states of Iowa, Minnesota,
Dakotas, Wisconsin and the northern
half of Illinois, and numbers about fifty
ministers with lay membership of
$500 and church property worth $780,
600. 1t has never met in this state be-
fore, and the churches of the Twin
Cities -four in number) are making ex-
tenSive preparations for the event. 1t
will continue in session probably a
week
The African NJ. E. church was Or
ganized in 1916 in Philadelphia. Rev.
Richard Allen was ordained Its first
bishop. The church was organized to
afford co!ored Christians an oppor-
tunity to worship without being subject
to the annoyance and humiliation often
put upon them when attending worship
with their brethren of the white
churches, 1t was protest not against
creed nGr interpretation, but against
prejudice and mistreatment. The child
of necessity it soon grew to be the
parent of host of worthy and jealous
workers for the good of human
ity. In the language of the
bench of bishops, I'VE believe that
it was the design of gracious Provi-
dence in thus uniting us to work out a
way by which the despised African race
might have an opportunity of receiving
from their own brethren that religious
instruction from which they had been
kept by persons claiming to be their SUI
periors. and thereby privileged to sit
under their own vine and fig tree; and
though opposed by the preiudiceS OF
the times, prosecuted by the tongue of
calumny, and butfeted by the great adj
ver3ary of God and man. we have had
the happiness of seeing the pleasure Of
the Lord prospecting in our hands, to
whom we appeal for good conscience
in Jesus Christ
The best leaders of race come from
its own ranks. This has been amply
verified in the marvellous growth of t his
church in numbers, in Intelligence and
influence. From that humble Begin
ming in 1916, when few poorly edu-
Gated, inexperienced negro preachers,
representing congregations poor in all
things but faith and determination, Or
ganized the A. NJ. E. church, it has
grown until it now numbers quite AGO.
600 members, spread over the United
States, Canada, the West Indies and
Africa.
Bishop A. w. Wayman, one of the
ableSt preachers of the race, has been on
the bench since 1864. 1t is his first visit
to the Northwest.
Quite number OF prominent minis
tiers will be in attendance. Rev. j. T.
Jenifer. D. D., of Chicago. fraternal del
egate TO the general conference in
Omaha last May, is member of this
conference, and will be present. Rev.
George W. Gaines, also of Chicago. is
one of the abIest preachers in the West.
Both of these divines have recently
built new churches for their respective
societies in Chicago. Rev. w. j. Laws.
of Keokuk, is one of the finest orators
of the race. Quite number Of the
ministers are able men, capable of fill
ing any pulpit with acceptability.
A pressing invitation has been eX-
tended to the clergy and laity of the
city, regardless of denomination, to visit
the sessions of the conference during
its sessions and learn of the work of
this progressive body of Christians. The
church is at the corner of Fuller and
Jay streets.