Arkansas State press., 1947-05-16

fort ON the part of the pastor,
Rev, p. j, Sears and the mem
bers. thus freeing the church of
mortgage that was left hanging
over their heads by DR.. 7. M,
Chambers, Sr,
Dr.. O. b. White was chairman
of the trustee board at the time.
so it was entrusted to him to
look after most of the church
business. Instead of having the
Church's deed made to the
Church when it was redeemed,
he DR.. White. had the deed made
to the Trustees and their heirs,
when it should have been to the
Trustees and their successors
Pastor Sears discovered this err
ror, and asked the church to
have the chairman of the trus-
tee board to change the deed
to the Trustees and their sue
cessors. Judge Dodge ordered
the deed be made to the church.
Because Of this delema, a new
chairman was elected. and many
of the friends of the former
chairman started stirring up
strife. Frank James was made
chairman of the board and w, l.,
Scott. treasurer Because OF MI
SCOTS effort in helping to get
the deed Strengthened out, he
became popular and trustworthy
and highly esteemed by the con-
gregation.
In 1914, the church elected w.
l.. Scott delegate to the State
Convention which held its annual
session at the First Baptist
Church, It'll and Gaines, Little
Rock and gave w l.. Scott
$500 with which to represent
the church. This w. l.. Scott
has never done, or | may say
he has no receipt to show that
he has, and the minutes OF the
State Convention do not reflect
il. II was not known definitely
that the Church was not repre-
scented until November, 1913 dur
ing the session at Pine Blnil
when the contention arose over
Pastor Sears appearing on pro-
gram to preach in the eonVen'
ton and his church was not on
record so pastor Sears called
business meeting Dec. 4, ls45
to get this representation straigh'
tened out Rev. McFadden feel
ing assured if he would help
fight Rev. Sears and keep the
people in the dark about the
money, he McFadden. would be-
coma pastor, so on Dec. 4, 1945
in the business meeting, Kew
McFadden made a motion, sec
ened BY his wife, to turn Kew.
Sears off without any charge
against him. Rev. Sears, who
was presiding at the time, ruled
the motion out of order on the
grounds that the meeting was
not called for pastors election,
and second that the pastor ac-
cording to agreement must be
notified three months that his
service was not needed, and a
charge voted against the pastor
by the church. This the Church
has NOT done. The meeting be-
came so heated until Pastor
Sears dismissed the services,
and walked out. McFadden
then took over and put the mo-
ton that he had originally made
thus declaring the pulpit vacant.
An injunction was then taken
out by w. l.. Scott, Leroy Phil
lips and Frank James, deacons,
barring Or Sears from the
church So the church has been
in court ever since.
The Arch Street Church has
a record of mistreatine preach
ers, or getting rid Of them in a
stormy way. Most of their pas
tors have been outstanding men
and Of good report-Dr. G. A,
Washington, Or, T. NJ. Chambers,
ST., and Rev. Hicks but all left
to get out Of the storm. nr. Sears
is one Of our best preachers and
keeps busy, 1t is not he who
has carried the Church to court,