Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1944-09-08
SIDELIGHTS OF THE
CONFERENCE

was rather pleased to be asked
by Mr.. Newman to attend the open
ing session of the Northwestern
Annual Conference of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church on
Wednesday in the St. Peter A. NJ.
E. Church and to make the report
of the conference for The Mime
apolis Spokesman and The st. Paul
Recorder. Last year / attended the .
National Baptist Convention, Incor-
porated, in Chicago and l wrote a
story about that visit and this year
l sat at the press table as
the representative of these news
papers in the great General Con-
ference of the Methodist Church for
ten days in Kansas City and in
June i attended the Central Juris-
dictional Conference in Greensboro,
n. C. 1t was truly interesting to
me to be an official reporter for
the conference now in session at
the St. Peter Church.
l have seen many bishops pre-
side, but none are more gracious
and considerable than the presiding
genius of this conference, Bishop
John A. Gregg. Bishop Gregg is a
strongly built and really handsome
man. He has an air of dignity and
culture that is not stuffed up. He
is very friendly and easy to talk to
and is really credit to the church
he represents, as well as to the
race. 1t is no wonder that he was
unanimously selected to represent
all of the Negro denominations on
a trip to all of the areas where
Negro soldiers are stationed
throughout the world. The people
of the Twin Cities will recall that
Bishop Gregg gave a dramatic ac-
count of his globe girdling trip at
an intcr-racial mass meeting spon-
sored by the st. James Church
and its progressive pastor, Rev.
B. n. Moore, in the st. Paul Audi
forum on June Is.
1t was a pleasure to meet for
the first time one of the truly great
pastors of the denominations, who
has recently been elevated to the
highest office in the gift of the
church, Bishop George W. Baber.
Bishop Baber was for several years
the very successful pastor of the
Bethel A.M.E. Church, Detroit. He
came up the hard way, / have been
told, for he pastored small churches
and made them big churches. l
shall not forget the vivid descrip-
ton of Bishop Baber given to me
as l rode a train from Detroit to
Chicago last year with Rev. A. R
Parks, of Cedar Rapids, Ia. Rev.
Parks had attended DIR. Baber's
church the Sunday before and he
was greatly impressed by the kind
ness and consideration DR.. Baber
had for everyone that he came in
contact with. 1t seemed that the
people of his church literally wor-
shipped him. Rev. Parks told me
that they had given DR.. Baber a
bushel basket of dollar bills, three
thousand in all as a gift! Bishop
Baber has been assigned to the
18th Episcopal Area, which is in
South Africa.
There are more than a hundred
pastors, their wives, delegates and
visitors in attendance at the con-
ference from the thirty-three
churches of the conference which
include Iowa, South Dakota, Min
nesota and a church in Winnipeg,
Canada.
Prominent among the delegates
are Rev. and Mrs. Andrew R. Parks
who have completed three success
full years in Cedar Rapids, la. Rev.
Parks is treasurer of both the
Cedar Rapids Branch of the Ma
tional Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People and the
Iowa State Conference of
Branches. Mrs. Parks, who is a
former st. Paulite, is District
President of the Missionary Society
and corresponding secretary of
the Conference Branch of the Mis-
sionary Society. Lay delegates and
visitors from Cedar Rapids include
Mrs. V. V. Mcneil, Mrs. Julia Reed
and Mrs. Nina Miller.
Rev. E. A. London, who was pas
tor of the Wayman A. M. E. Church
in Minneapolis a few years ago,
has done a good years work as
pastor of the Bethel A. M E.
Church, Muscatine, Iowa. A new
roof has been put on the church
and the church has been redecorat-
ed. Mr.. Thomas Lloyd is the lay
delegate from Muscatine.
Rev. Thomas W. Hightower, pas
tor Of the Shorter Chapel A. M. E.
Church, Oskaloosa, Iowa, has de-
livered twenty-five sermons and
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