A LINCOLN m PROGRAM Tke Arf Society "*; "tK« Methodist Episcopal Churck E J. M&ve £ ty &nerbtce ORGAN VOLUNTARY INVOCATION Father of all mankind, we ask thy presence with us as we worship. Help us to consider our opportunities and obligations in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. As he taught that whosoever will may come into the Kingdom, may we assist in giving our fellow men of all colors, in all places, the opportunity and preparation necessary to seek thee and find thee. Amen. HYMN The Toil of Brain, or Heart, or Hand Thomas W. Freckelton Loein Webster SEjZLJ i_j=g=Ej==j^-"i i T~i==i 1 i -^1 21ESZES-j. ^=^±=i s=, = i=s=&.=l i 1. The toil of brain, or heart, or hand, Is man's ap-point-ed lot; 2. O God! who workest hith - er - to, Working in all we see, 3. Our skill of hand, and strength of limb, Are not our own, but Thine; 4 5S- 05 xrcq: He, who God's call can un derstand, Will work and murmur not. Fain would we be, and bear, and do, As best it pleas-eth Thee. We link them to the work of Him Who made all life di - vine! ■t -| «— -r—r-5!-: -b—b— =:- -4—}-f=p-: - -*—;—:^-- j * «- —L-0 J 1>- -< iH -i I ! Toil is no thorny crown of pain,Bound round mans L . r for sin; Where'er Thou sendest we will go, Nor an - y ques tion ask , Our broth-er-lriend, Thy ho ly Son, Shared all out lor and stiiir, ^ a * j. r* Kl -T- rl 1 ®" i i 3 M =Fn —I h 1 1 ■m—i M-ftM *—LS—M—-• True souls, from it, all strength may gain, High manliness may win. And what Thou biddest we will do, What-ev-er be the task. And no - bly will our work be done, If molded by His life. A-men. Copyright, 1905, by Eaton & Mains. Used by permission THEME—(Address or Reading.) "LINCOLN" Greatness of character is not an accident. Back of the life-ex¬ pression is the life-preparation which accounts for the fine nobility which wins the admiration of other men and women. And when this admiration is shared by little children also, one may be as¬ sured that the preparation developed qualities which recognized in others the weaknesses and strength, the sorrows and the joys, the hopes and the aspirations of the human heart the entire race through. Such qualities characterized the greatness of Abraham Lincoln. For he is loved to-day by untold thousands because of his manhood. Without the keen mind and the heart which shut itself to no need of his fellows, the name of the man whose birthday we celebrate would rest in oblivion with the many others who had the great chance in life, but let it go by. Abraham Lincoln could say without egotism, "I want it said of me by those who know me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow." For throughout hi life the awkward, homely son of a log cabin who rose to a place in th< hearts of the world watched for opportunity and was ready to go with it at an instant's notice. Eager for knowledge, he made the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress, the History of the United States, Weem's Life of Washington and Statutes of Indiana, his first accessible library, render such service that he never considered it too small a task to ^ place opportunity in the way of anybody, no matter what his condi¬ tion in life. Because he appreciated what opportunity was doing for him he coveted it for others. Advancement saw no breaking of old ties. The old swimming hole and its jovial crew ever retained his sympathy and love. When the years grew greater he added new ways of making the fruits of his own opportunities give opportunity in turn to others. In recognizing that he was what he "was because of education and influence, he saw the way to make his life count so that the gift of God's love might have freer play throughout the land whose flag flies gloriously over us to-day. Of the life history of this man we have been taught from child¬ hood. His sayings are household expressions with us. But we need to reemphasize continually that it was the choice combination of educated mind and love-filled heart which made it possible for him to leave us this heritage which we so much prize. "I feel that I cannot succeed without the Divine blessing, and on the Almighty Being I place my reliance for support," he said. Does our prayer "Thy Kingdom come" include the possible mind and heart training that will make it possible for every descendant of those whom he set free for this very purpose to make his confession of faith theirs? RESPONSIVE READING—Psa. 119. 9-24 Leader—Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. J Congregation—With my whole heart have I sought thee: O, let me not wander from thy commandments. Leader—Thy word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Congregation—Blessed art thou, O Jehovah: teach me thy statutes. Leader—With my lips have I declared all the ordinances of thy mouth. Congregation—I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. Leader—I will meditate on thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. Congregation—I will delight myself in thy statutes; I will not forget thy word. Leader—Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live: so will I observe thy word. Congregation—Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Leader—I am a sojourner in the earth: hide not thy command¬ ments from me. Congregation—My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thine ordinances at all times. Leader—Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, that do wander from thy commandments. Congregation—Take away from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. Leader—Princes also sat and talked against me; but thy servant did ^meditate on thy statutes. Congregation—Thy testimonies also are my delight and my coun¬ selors. The Gloria Patri _y #i-1—M—N-h -1—1- 1 1 1 1 - 0T0-0 0-0-1 -0—#— if TO _1_L -0—0—0—m- SJ S J Us* -NN L0 e Glo-ry be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Ho - ly Ghost; As it 0—0—0—0-^0—0 •-*"#— r ill was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,world without end. A-men, A-rcen. SCRIPTURE READING—Matt. 25. 34-40 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink? And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me. We have said it. Without education the ten millions of Negroes in the United States cannot do it. With education they can. The Negro educators, editors, poets, song writers, authors, physicians, surgeons, bankers, orators, bishops, lawyers, and craftsmen of every trade have demonstrated this. But they did not do it without being educated. And it is in the educating of the Negro generation of to¬ day that we may best help the Kingdom to come, as he is to be rep¬ resented in that Kingdom. PRAYER Give Us Thy Spirit, Lord Ralph Welles Keeleb PRAYER HYMN William F. Sherwin • "*■ 1. Help us, O God of love, Thy love to give In service full and free, 2. Give us Thy Spirit, Lord, Help us to live Each day as in Thy sight, -e- -«■ That men may live More love to give As lived Thy Son, our Lord, Mas - ter di- To all for whom Thy Son Came here to ±jr u- fei Ir¬ vine, So ev -'ry race of men May all be Thine, save, Help us our all to give As Je - sus gave. A men. -W— ,=-E~U: tz Music copyright, 1877, by J. H Vinceut. Used by permission THEME—(Address or Recitation.) "ASSET AND LIABILITY" There is no gainsaying the fact that the Negro is a factor in the future of our country's development. As is the case with every other race which enters into our heterogeneous life, he is both an asset and liability. And as such he is an influence for evil or good in the life of every other individual. But the deciding whether he will be more liability or more asset is with those who know how to transform the former into the latter. And this task and the vision essential for the doing of the task is largely in the day's work of those who have claimed for themselves the blessings which come through personal faith in Jesus Christ. The liability side of our problem must be paid for over and over unless we change it. The longer it remains a liability the more numerous the individual units which make it up, and hence the increasing magnitude of our task. The untaught, carefree field hand propagates his own kind, the while he remains more or less of an economic burden and one outside of the Kingdom of God. The vicious corner loafer in our cities will never provide a better condition than his own for his children. The lack of knowledge prevents the en¬ livening vision of nobler things. Liability he is and liability he will remain so long as his mind is not fired with the stimulus of thinking and his hand trained to carry out the impulses of that thought. With the acquisition of knowledge there is a prospect of his be¬ coming an asset both to the nation and to the Kingdom. The process is slow, but the results are certain. Education has the same effect upon the mind and life of a black man that it has on the mind of a white man. The fact that two and two are four is as great a discovery to the Negro child as it is to the white child. And the processes of development which follow that red-letter day of child¬ hood are the processes which may change the ten-million liability into a ten-million asset. For every mind that is enlightened so that it is capable of seeking for God and his righteousness means one more possibility of the Kingdom of God being established upon earth. The promoting of this process of changing ignorant thousands into educated self-respecting, law-abiding, God-fearing men and women is the task of the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Through its schools and colleges and professional schools this great agency of our church is reaching out our hands to those who need us so much to lift them up to a place where with character, skill, and efficiency they may themselves solve the problem which our fathers made them against their own will. This is done through four ty,pes of schools. The first is similar to the grammar and high schools and academies for white children. Here language, mathematics, geography, history, and science have their beginnings. And with this training of the mind goes the train¬ ing of the hand. Thus the boy may follow the printing business, or be¬ come a bricklayer or carpenter, or a baker or a maker of brooms. And the girl learns the mysteries of good housekeeping, our "domestic sci¬ ence," dressmaking, and the countless other womanly things which make for the establishing of Christian homes. The college takes them on further. The glorious mind-possessions of the race become theirs and the training of mind and hand unites to see and do the tasks peculiarly needed by their fellows who as yet have no knowledge and no vision. The graduate schools train men and women for service among their own people which cannot be done so well by white men and women. A Negro ministry is fitted for its task in the Gammon Theo¬ logical Seminary, at Atlanta, Georgia, and Negro physicians are trained in the Meharry Medical School, at Nashville, Tennessee. Thus pro¬ vision is made for those who will do the humbler tasks of life and those who must minister to these in body, mind, and soul. Liability if we choose to let it remain so. Asset if we will it otherwise. THEME—(Address or Recitation.) "OUR HERITAGE OF PROBLEMS" Each generation bequeaths to the next its achievements and its problems. Each generation accepts from the one just preceding it some problem which it must solve before another generation takes hold of affairs. It is in this way that progress has been made. But it cannot be done without great cost to each generation that accepts its heritage of problems as a heritage of opportunities as well. For the inspiration and enthusiasm which keep men" and women at a task which is to render greater benefits to the future than to the- years which they call contemporary come only when an opportunity for benefitting the race is recognized. One of the great problems which our fathers left to us is seen in the ^ opportunity to educate and train the present generation of Negro boys and girls. What are we going to do about it? "W hether we look at the problem as economic or religious, we are obliged to oCer some :olution. And every solution has as its basis the fundamental prop- j osition that a human being must be educated in order to be permitted the benefits of the institutions which make up our communities. The variation in the working out of the solution is due to the motives which prompt those at work upon it. Some consider the Negro merely as an economic factor who must have rational training n order that he will respond to reasonable appeal so that our com¬ munities may be protected from the violence, lawlessness, and shift- lessness of the millions of ignorant men and women scattered over our land. Others consider the Negro no less a problem, but believe that he should be served as one of those for whom God revealed him¬ self in Jesus Christ. This is the motive back of the work of the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. As individuals, our obligatir n to give the Kingdom to the Negro is partly met in cooperating with this Society in a financial way. Schools and teachers cost money. > r»d the money for the schools which represent the interest of the Methodist Episcopal Church in this problem, which is national rather than denominational, must be given by those of us who are worshiping God as the God of every nation and peoples on the face of the earth. Thus giving, both our prayer "Thy Kingdom come" and our influence as those who believe that the Kingdom will come will count as we can make them count in no other possible way. OFFERING 0 Beautiful for Spacious Skies Katharine Lee Bates MATERNA Samuel A. Waed -4—j— » ! -al— 3= m O beau-ti-ful for spacious skies, For am-ber waves of grain, O beau-ti-ful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern,impassioned stress O beau-ti-ful for lieroes proved In lib - er - at - ing strife, O beau-ti-ful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years f fe#—*—*—in \ 0. • * i > m—— m a For pur-ple mountain maj-es-ties A-bove the fruit-ed plain! A thoroughfare for free dom beat A-cross the wil-der - ness! Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life. Thine al - a - bas -ter cit - ies gleam Undimmed by human tears! j 1 ^—, -i A - mer - i - ca! A - mer - i - ca! God shed His grace on thee, A - mer - i - ca! A - mer - i - ca! God mend thine ev'ry flaw, A - mer - i - ca! A - mer - i - ca! May God thy gold re - fine, A - mer - i - ca! A - mer - i - ca! God shed His grace on thee, I -c-- 0 jl a £' t. £ ;=, 1' — £=_=, tz ; - zglz. G>\ 31 And crown thy good with broih-er-hood From sea to shin ing sea! Con - firm thy soul in self con-trol, Thy lib er - ty in law! Till all suc cess be no ble-ness, And ev-'ry gain di - vine! And crown thy good with broth-er-liood From sea to shining sea! Amen. %± A- -0- -V— t= 4L ztz I -C* Music copyright, 1888, by 8. A. Ward. Used by permission BENEDICTION SOME OF OUR NEGRO SCHOOLS Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia, which sends out twenty to thirty trained ministers each year. Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee, which trains physicians, surgeons, trained nurses, pharmacists, and dentists. Flint - Goodridge Hospital and Nurse Training School, New Orleans, Louisiana, with fifty beds and a graduating class of twenty. Clark University, Atlanta, Georgia, with an enrollment of two hundred and seventy-three students and a faculty of fifteen teachers. Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina, which trains teachers, Christian leaders, and agricultural workers. Claflin College, Orangeburg, South Carolina, where are the prin¬ cipal industrial shops of the Freedmen's Aid Society. Samuel Huston College, Austin, Texas, which trains the Negro' leaders of western Texas. Morgan College, Baltimore, Maryland, which does high-grade collegiate and academic work. Princess Anne Academy, Princess Anne, Maryland, affiliated with ^ Morgan College, which sends many of its graduates to the latter. j Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1 also affiliated with Morgan College. New Orleans College, New Orleans, Louisiana, which serves over ^ six hundred thousand colored people in Louisiana and near-by States. Rust College, Holly Springs, Mississippi, which fits most of our Negro leaders, men and women, in this section. George R. Smith College, Sedalia, Missouri, which serves the J Missouri and Lincoln Annual Conferences. Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Arkansas, with twenty-five teachers and four hundred and twenty-three students. Walden College, Nashville, Tennessee, which sends many of its graduates to Meharry Medical College, located on the same campus. Wiley College, Marshall, Texas, whose graduates are entitled to teachers' certficates without examination in nearly all the Southern States. Central Alabama Institute, Mason City, Alabama, which trains boys and girls in all the domestic industries, agriculture, gardening, and school-teaching. Cookman Institute, Jacksonville, Florida, with four hundred and seven students and fifteen teachers. Gilbert Industrial Institute, Baldwin, Louisiana, where a great industrial and agricultural institution is in the making. Haven Institute, Meridian, Mississippi, furnishes ministers and Christian leaders to the Mississippi Conference. Morristown Normal and Industrial College, Morristown, Tennes¬ see, a center of training in industrial, domestic, and normal work. THINGS TO THINK ABOUT The Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1866. The Methodist Episcopal Church has 350,000 Negro members, with 3,630 churches and 210,000 Sunday-school pupils. The Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church has under its direction twenty-one schools, with three hundred and seventeen teachers and 5,279 students. The property valuation of these schools, including real estate and equipment, is $2,007,750. During the fifty years of its work it has aided in the education of over 200,000 Negro young men and young women. During the years it has expended $10,000,000 in Christian education among the Negroes. Its funds are received from collections in the churches and by special gifts and annuities from individuals. What are you going to do to help? While this work is upon your mind, make a clause in your will in the interest of this Society. FORM OF BEQUEST I give and bequeath to the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a corporation under the laws of the State of Ohio, the sum of $ . The receipt of the Treasurer thereof shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors for the same. ANNUITY BOND Persons having funds which they plan to have go to the Lord's cause, and yet need the income while they live, may give any sum now, and this Society will pay interest upon it during the person's life. These Annuity Certificates are as good as a Government bond, with double the interest, paid semiannually. Write the Secretaries of the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, P. J. Maveety and I. Garland Penn, 420 Plum Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, for full information about this plan. ...At 1^1 # THE PAST THE past of both the Negro and the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church is history. The Negro has back of him the centuries of native development in other lands and an artificial exist¬ ence in our own United States. The Freedmen's Aid Society has fifty years of existence charged up against it. There is a vast difference in the time heritage of the one and the other. And the processes of time leave their marks on the devel¬ opment of a race. But every year of the fifty which the Freedmen's Aid Society has seen has been used in earnest endeavor to ameliorate the condition and lift up the life of the Negro. Today there are results which demonstrate that their work has been done both wisely and well. What do you know of the past of either the Negro or the Freed¬ men's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church? Write today personally to the Secretaries for leaflet information. THE FUTURE Tj^ORMER ignorance of the past ^ of either the Negro or the Freed- men's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church will not bar any man or woman from participating in the work of the future. The results already achieved in helping the Negro to his own war¬ rant the brightest hopes for tomor¬ row. The persistent educating of Negro boys and girls is going to help to solve both their problem and our own, Check up your knowledge on the entire question, Permit the Freedmen's Aid Society to furnish you with any data that may be lacking. Then, equipped with the facts, aware of the need, with faith in the process, help to provide the money with which the process may be hastened so that the Negro as a race shall know God and be fitted for his share of Kingdom development among men. THE PROGRAM FREE This Lincoln Day Program will be sent free to Pastors. Epwertfe League Presidents, Sunday School Superintendents, and Presidents of our Academies and Colleges'in as large numbers as are desired, free of cost. Write to the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, P. J.Maveety and I.Garland Penn, Corresponding Secretaries, 420 Plum Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, how many can foe .; used, and that you will take an offering for the Society. Additional data concerning the Society will be sent upon request. DID YOU KNOW IT? The year 1917 has been set apart in the Methodist Episcopal Church for the celebration of the Semi-Centennial of the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. To this end the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in session at Saratoga Springs. New York, took action as follows: Resolved, First, That the General Conference hereby authorizes the observance of the Semi-Centennial of the Freedmen's Aid Soci¬ ety during the year 1916, or later, as may be arranged by the Board of Managers; that the friends of Negro education and the Negroes themselves in the church are requested to use this opportunity to help this most worthy cause by a semi-centennial gift of $200,000—- $100,000 to come from the white people and $100,000 from the colored people. Resolved, Second, That we commend the efforts of Colored Meth¬ odists in America in their federated and co-o. erative plan of rais¬ ing one dollar per member for Christian education in the next four years, and express the hope that our 356,000 colored members may rally loyally to the plan and may have every encouragement, by con- 4 ditional gifts of funds, to do their part in raising during these four V years $350,000 for the educational advance of their own people. th -vv