St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1948-05-07
Methodist Rule Changed,
Allows Election of
Negro to Supreme Body


address was delivered by Bishop
Edward W. Kelly of St. Louis.
Bishop Willis J. King, formerly |
president of Cannon Theological
Seminary, Atlanta, who was elected |
a bishop in 1914, presented Bishop |
Shaw for use at the session the |
gavel which was presented to
Bishop King when he first presided |
over the Liberia Conference, in jan
uary, l945. This was one Of the
most dramatic moments during this |
worldwide Methodist gathering,
and the incident drew prolonged
applause from the $50 delegates
and thousands of visitors.
There are fifty Negro delegates /.
in attendance at the General Con-
ference representing the nineteen
annual conferences of the Central |
Jurisdiction. DR.. Samuel H. Sweeny,
pastor of the St. Mark Methodist I.
Church, New York City, is one of
the eight delegates from the New
York Conference of the Northeast |
ern Jurisdiction that has several
Negro churches.
Negro delegates have been in
tegrated into every phase of the
program and activities Of this Cen !
eral Conference. DIR. Estes Lud, a
southerner, who was reelected sec
rotary of the General Conference,
named several Negroes on his staff
among his assistants. His appoin- +.
tees included DR.. J. W. Haywood, .
president of Cannon Theological
Seminary, Atlanta; DIR. Robert Will
liams, pastor Of the AsbuTy Church,
Washington, d. c., and prominently
mentioned for episcopal honors;
and Rev. W. d. Lester, of Kansas
City, Kansas. Mr.. Lester, who is
executive secretary of the Board
of Education of the Central West
Conference, was the Mems Day
speaker at the Camphor Church
in St. Paul in 1914.
The Conference was opened last
Wednesday with an impressive
service of the Holy Communion.
Assisting in the administering Of
the Sacrament Of the Lords Supper
were Bishop Shot X. MOndol of
India; Bishop Z. T. Kaung, Pekin,
China; Bishop Willis ]. King, of
Liberia, Africa; Bishop Paul Mar
tin, Little Rock, Arkansas; Bishop
Paul n. CARRIER, Geneva, Switzer-
land; and Bishop Edwin F. Lee, of
Singapore.
URGED TO END Jim CROW"
The Methodist Church was again
urged to end racial segregation by
a special committee headed by
Bishop James c. Baker Of San
Francisco. The report which has
twelve recommendation called the
race problem acute and tragic"
and declared that the time has
come for the Methodist Church
to purge itself Of any racial dis
elimination.
Strong statements are not
enough" the report stated.
There must be an educational
offensive going far beyond resO-
lutiOns, and there must be def
mite action to bring the Chris
tian Church in line with its ac-
cepted professions"
Bishop Bromley G. OMAN, of
New York, who delivered the Epis-
copal Address on the opening night
Of the Conference speaking on the
, international situation said, AT the
very moment we sit in judgment
upon totalitarian tyranny. COmmu-
mist propagandists ask, And what
does democracy meant! We, too,
must ask. Does brotherhood, does
Christianity, within the freedom of
democracy justify restricting the
vote to the white man while deny
ing it to the red and black man?
Does the declaration that every
human being is Of infinite worth
as a son of God permit US to deny
civil liberty to the American Ne
gro? Is segregation a pattern ex-
pressive Of the spirit present when,
in the name Of Jesus, we repeat
the Lords Prayer beginning Our
Father"