Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1903-02-07
BISHOP MACK AND CHURCH
P0LITY,
Criticises Brother Williams-A Plain
Statement.

Criticises Brother Williams-A Plain
Statement.
PTTTsBURG, PA, Feb. 3, 1908.
Special to the Richmond PLANET:
Hon. JOHN MITCHELL, JR..
Dear SIR
saw in the Richmond
PLANEr that you We're having some
trouble with Brother Nelson Williams
and the First Baptist Church of that
city: always thought that you and
Booker L. Washington were two of the
oralnlest young men we have of the
Baptist faith and 1 believe that the
baptist people throughout the universe
are proud of both of you
The new church directory which is
the statute book on Baptist polity and
government, Hiscock being the author.
ana the directory is a guide for
churches and ministers.
Too many of our ministars and
churches try tn take snap Judgment and
exclude member from the cburcl.
without taking gospel steps, Matching
up notions of their own. They should
read the church government a little
closer. L understood that you were
sued for ten thousand dollars (slO, ,OOOl
! and only had to pay ONE CENT. This
ought to be a lesson to the Baptist fami-
ly to stay out Of law. Let the ministers
stop suing the churches and the MEM
bers stop suing one another. When a
| member is excluded from one of the
Baptist Churches not legally, a sister
church has the right to take them in.
am close reader of our statute book
lt VIII tell you when you are right and
when yon are wrong, and l believe
that the Fifth st. Baptist Church had a
right TO take you i'll as full member.
The Baptist government is q grand
| one and the church is not church of
slavery and political schemes. The
! Baptist government is successful one.
with all of our ungratefulness. Our
church sls q prosperous one. / only
wish that we had more of our Hon. John
Mitchell, Jr's., and Prof. b. T. WASH
| ington's. The Baptists to-day stand
with membership ia the United
States of America of 4. 269 O73. we
| gained last year 43 900 members and
there are in the United States two
million of Negro Baptists
| There isn't Gnother Negro organiza-
tlon that has reached a million among
the other churches. Some of our mem.
bers are too eager to exclude members
from the church without any legal
charge 1t would be better to pray a
little and show some mercy. / also
noticed, Mr.. Editor, that some of our
churches are sending ministers to be
ordained to Baptist associations when
no messengers have such right. II
isn't warranted of God and by any Bap-
tlst authorities. According to Baptist
4 polity, council is called from sister
| churches TO attend to that matter. This
IS the executive court according to
Baptist polity. It seems that so many
OF our churches and ministers do not
understand what our Ba 1tists really
teach and practice. 1t is because they
do not read close enough. Our first
| guide was Hiscox Standard Manual
secondly, Hiscox Church Directory,
| thirdly, every thirty years, the COPY
| right runs out, hence the new church
directory is a statute book that we
| use now for Baptist churches Bishop
Edward I. Hiscox, d. D., LII. D., is
the author, and this guide has been &C.
| cepted in the United States, by both
colored and white churches Of the Bap-
tlst family. We have but one church,
but many independent bodies. But
each body must believe in the same
faith and the same polity. l think that
this articIe will be quite lesson to the
Baptist family in general Let us be
gentle; let us be kind and affectionate
to one another.
Yours in Christ,
ALBERT MACK, D. D.