The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-05-22

waters to the Negroes in st. Louis,
who hungered and thirsted for the
bread of life. AS soon as he was per-
mitted to do SOL he crossed over into
st. Louis and organized the A. M, f.
Church, the first Methodist among Ne
groes In Missouri and the West. As
the years passed by, Thomas ID. Ward
went to the Pacific coast and John NJ.
Brown. to New Orleans and the south
west. These fathers of the church, al
though they suffered bonds and afflic-
lions, yet with unfaltering trust in
God, they stood as the beeaten anvil
to the strike. They passed on to
the heaven of peace and rest by the
quiet waters of life in the everlasting
city of God. Their names and mem
DRY, rich with the holy spoils of peace
full triumph, come to us as a glorious
heritage and as an inspiration to carry
on to a final consummaiton the work
by them so well and wisely begun.
African M~ethodism, the one flame of
Negro religious freedom and manhood,
is the gift of these men of the west
and to the generations of to-day. Sew
enty-five years ago, a few trembling
slaves stood upon the murky bank of
the sullen Mississippi and listened to
the message of peace from this grave
ambassador of God, but today, a
mighty host of loyal sons and daugh-
ters of Allen with banners outflung,
iOin in one voice to sing,
Glorious things to thee are spoken,
He whose word cannot be broken,
Formed thee for his own abode
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With s%alvation's walls surrounded
Thou mayst smile at all thy foes
S~eventy-five years! Two genera
tions of men have come and passed
into the silent vista of yesterday.
Those of the second that remain, with
the mighty host of the third that has
entered lions gates, will meet in st.
Louis, July 4, 1915, to celebrate the
triumphs of the seventy-five years of
our religious existence west of the
Father of Waters. Our sons and daugh-
ters fro mthe shores of the pacific,
from the International line of British
America, from the arid wastes of Ari-
mi and New Mexico, from beneath
the shadow of the stately and franz
ing Rockies, will come back to our
Mecca of Western Methodism, back to
the shrine of the mother of this West
ern Religious Empire, beautiful in her
robes of righteousness, we gather July
4th, to bow at her sacred affairs and
sing together, the praise of God.
Back to the affairs of St. Paul, the
Queen of our empire! What honors
shall we bring in memory of the illus
trious fathers of the past? We be-
lieve that every loyal son and daugh-
ter of African Methodism in all this
vast territory-these twenty-five thou
sand children of Father Quinn, will
each make an offering according to
their ability. We are trying to raise
means to carry on our Mission work
in this territory and ask all who can
possibly do so, give us One Dollar. If
you cannot give One Dollar give Fifty
cents; give twenty-five, give ten cents,
give five, give as God has p%rospered
you in life. Those who give fifty cents
or more will have their names printed
in the records of the celebration.
Report to the pastor or to whom he
may designate TO receive it to be sent
to Rev. A. A. Gilbert, 4729 Ferdinand
street, st. Louis, by July 4, 1915. With
faith in your love and loyalty for At
rican Methodism.
H. B. PARKS, Bishop.
]. D. BARKSDALE, Gen. Sec.