The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-11-08
Two Thousand Members Of the
Church Attended Reunion at
Auditorium Last Night
and Heard Strong
Address by DR..
Montague.

Fraternity and unity marked the great
gathering of Montgomery Baptists in the
Auditorium last night. 1t was an old
fashioned reunion and a majority of the
members of the five Montgomery
Churches were there.
The meeting was, to a certain degree,
Informal and In all its phases the reunion
resouDded with good fellowship and a
desire for a more unified forwarding of
the Baptist work in Montgomery. En-
thusiasm was high and every one of the
1000 or more Baptists in the auditorium
went there with the intention of having
q good time.
The crowd was democratic. and cordial
Stern business men showed attention to
the smallest Of the small boys present
Laboring people clasped in good fellow
ship the hands of the Baptists of the
higher walks of life. Men of prominence
In Alabama Office life fraternized with
mill hands and patted the heads of blush
ing children. They were all Baptists and
all wanted everybody else in the great
hall to know it. -
While the formal program was interest
Ing its chief feature was a strong address
by DIR. A. P. Montague, President of
Howard College, who bears striking
resemblance to President Roosevelt.
The stage of the Auditorium was at
tractively decorated with cut flowers and
ferns. The hall itself was not decorated
Prominent Men Present.
On the stage were seated DIR. A. P.
Montague, President of Howard College;
DR.. w. B. Crumpton, Secretary of the
Inx, n
DR.. o. F. Gregory vt the Adams Street
Baptist Church; DR.. C. A. Stakeiy of the
First Baptist Church; Rev. D. P. Lee of
the Southside Baptist Church; Rev. ]. A.
Jenkins of the West End Baptist Church,
DR.. Broadman of Newport, r. l.; Rev.
w. j. Elliott, Rev. H. r. Schramm of
Deatsville Rev. Frank Willis Barnett
of Birmingham, Editor Of The Alabama
Baptist, and Rev. j. w. Stewart of Ev-
ergreen.
Deacons of the five Baptist Churches of
Montgomery acted as ushers for the i'm
mense congregation.
The reunion opened with a social ses-
sion, and everybody in the congregation
shook hands around and met the distin-
gnished men and divines present
Music was rendered by Miss Nomia Car
ter and male quartette composed of
Messrs. Frank Lockwood, Joe Barry,
Marshall King and w. NJ Clyde.
At o'clock Dr. Charles A. Stakely,
pastor of the First Baptist Church of
Montgomery, called the meeting to order.
DR.. Stalk -ly in a few words reviewed the
work of the Baptists in Montgomery. He
said the little church in West End was
doing good work. the Southside Church
had taken on new life and was pushing
forward rapidly, and the Clayton Street
Church had become compact, we'll Or
ganized and strong under the direction of
Rev! H. w. Provence. who has just left
Montgomery to go into a new field.
DIR. Stakely expressed the opinion that
the Clayton Street Church was destined
to become one of the greatest. religious
powers in Montgomery. The Adams
Street Church had. DIR. Stakely said, one
of he best men in the whole Baptist
church at its head. whose name was loved
by Baptists and members of other de-
nominations throughout the South. The
First Baptist Church. DR.. Stakely said,
was in a period of great prosperity. Its
members are enterprising and he believed
that the church was doing a great work
He then introduced DIR. O. F.. Gregory,
who presided during the rest of the meet
ing. ..
DR.. Gregory thanked DIR. Stakely for
che compliment he had paid him and
without further preliminaries introduced
DR.. w. B. Crumpton. Secretary of the
Alabama Baptist Board of Missions.
DR.. Crumpton Speaks.
DR.. Crumpton said he was glad his
speech was limited to five minutes. and
he also rejoiced over the fact that he
had been called early in the meeting, be-
cause If his speech had been the last
he would certainly be called on to ask
for a collection. He was glad, he said,
TO be with the Montgomery Baptists on
such an occasion and glad to see them
looking well and prosperous. He had al
ways heard that Baptists were plain peo-
pie but he added that If this state
ment held good with his audience, they
were not good Baptists. He said he had
been travelling over Alabama for many
years and from his own experience knew
the exact status of the Baptist churches
in Montgomery and those all over Ala
bama. He declared that they were in
better condition now than he had ever
seen them. He urged the congregation
to keep up their good work and expressed
The hope that they would continue look
fng well.
A telegram was then read from Dr.