THE FREEDMEN'S AID ANNIVERSARY PROGRAM
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SHOW UNTO US THE WAY OF SALVATION
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The Society began its work in 1866 among the Freedmen with one teacher.
The Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church
220-222 WEST FOURTH STREET, CINCINNATI, 0.
THE TRUE WAY
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Prepared for the Freedmen's Aid Society by Corresponding Secretary,
I. Garland Penn.
ORGAN VOLUNTARY—Selected.
OPENING HYMN—"Higher Ground."
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2. My heart has no de-sire to stay Where doubts a - rise and fears dis-may;
3. I want to live a - bove the world, Tho' Sa-tan's darts at me are hurl'd;
4. I want to scale the ut-most height, And catch a gleam of glo - ry bright;
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Still pray-ing as I onward bound, "Lord, plant my feet on high- er ground."
Tho' some may dwell where these abound, My pray'r, my aim is high- er ground.
For faith has caught the joy-ful sound, The song of saints on high - er ground.
But still I'll pray till heav'n I've found, "Lord, lead me on to high - er ground."
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PRAYER by Pastor, Superintendent, or Epworth League President.
THE LORD'S PRAYER.
RESPONSIVE READING.
Leader—Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against
the workers of iniquity.
Congregation—For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as
the green herb.
Leader—Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and
verily thou shalt be fed.
Congregation—Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the de¬
sires of thine heart.
Leader—Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring
it to pass.
Congregation—And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy
judgment as the noonday.
Leader—Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; fret not thyself because
of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked
devices to pass.
Congregation—Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself in any
wise to do evil.
Leader—For evil doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they
shall inherit the earth.
Congregation—Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
Leader—O, my God, I trust in Thee; let me not be ashamed, let not mine ene¬
mies triumph over me.
Congregation—Yea, let none that wait on Thee be ashamed; let them be
ashamed which transgress without cause.
Leader—Shew me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths.
Congregation—Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me; for Thou art the God
of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day.
Leader—Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies and Thy lovingkindnesses;
for they have been ever of old.
Congregation—Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;
according to Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness' sake, O Lord.
Leader—Good and upright is the Lord; therefore will He teach sinners in the
way.
Congregation—The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He
teach His way.
3
MUSIC—"He leadeth me."
HE LEADETH ME L. M. With Refrain
William B. Bradbury
i. He lead - eth me! O bless - fed thought! O words with heavenly com - fort fraught
What-e'er I do, wher-e'er I be, Still 'tis God's hand that lead - eth me.
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He lead-eth me, he lead - eth me, By his own hand he lead-eth me:
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2 Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom, Content, whatever lot I see,
Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom, Since 'tis my God that leadeth me!
By waters still, o'er troubled sea,—
Still 'tis his hand that leadeth me! 4 And when my task on earth is done,
When, by thy grace, the victory's won,
3 Lord, I would clasp thy hand in mine, E'en death's cold wave I will not flee,
Nor ever murmur nor repine, Since God through Jordan leadeth me.
Joseph H. Gilmore
4
ADDRESS OR RECITATION—"The Freedmen's Plea, 'Show Unto Us the Way
of Salvation." '
(This may be read by pastor, or committed to memory by some'person se¬
lected and given as a recitation.)
In the beginning of our exercises to-day, in which we gladly refresh our
memories concerning the work of the great Emancipator, Lincoln, and those
who followed him, there are three fundamental facts of history that we should
keep before us, that the hand of God may be seen. The first fact is the man
whom God used in the most crucial hour of our history. The second is that
of our Methodist Church, which God used somewhat to prepare the way for the
coming and work of Lincoln, and after emancipation used mightily to continue
the work begun by him. The third is that of the freedmen getting their first
chance to become freemen—their plea for salvation, and results.
As to the first, the utterances of Mr. Lincoln, from the time he beheld slavery
at a slave market in New Orleans until he was assassinated, show that the man
from boyhood felt that God had this special work for him to do, and that he
could not escape responsibility, nor would he shrink from the burden. We are
familiar with the declaration of the boy of nineteen, as he beheld the buying
and selling of slaves at a New Orleans slave market, that if he ever got the chance
to strike the business, he would hit it hard. Later, after his nomination for the
presidency in 1860, he said to a friend:
"I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I
see the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a
place and work for me—and I think He has—I believe I am ready. I
know I am right, because I know that Liberty is right, for Christ teaches
it, and Christ is God."
Mr. Lincoln was elected President, and signed the Proclamation of Emanci¬
pation, January 1, 1863. So strong was the conviction that he had done his
whole duty, as God had led him to do it, that he closed his second message to
Congress, December 6, 1864, saying:
"I retract nothing heretofore said as to slavery. I repeat the decla¬
ration made a year ago, that while I remain in my present position I shall
not attempt to retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation, nor
shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that
Proclamation, or by the Acts of Congress."
But Methodism had been doing much work in behalf of the black man be¬
fore Mr. Lincoln's time, which made possible a strong backing of his policies.
Among his most loyal supporters and advisers, before and during the struggle,
were Methodist bishops, preachers, and laymen. Thus the work of Methodism
and of Lincoln on behalf of the freedmen are one and inseparable, as the out¬
standing fact of history that made possible the freedmen's plea, "Show unto
us the way of salvation." That the slaves longed for the day when they might
thus cry for the true way, and that they expected the same, is seen in the senti¬
ment of their lowly songs, for they sang:
"Our bondage '11 have an end by an' by.
Jehovah rules de tide an' de water He '11 divide;
Oh, de way He '11 open wide,
By an' by, by an' by."
To know the true way was to be free in mind and heart. They likewise sang,
and are still singing, "Lord, I want to be a Christian."
5
MUSIC—"Lord, I want to be a Christian."
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to be more lov - ing In - a my heart,
to be more ho - ly In - a my heart,
to be like Ju - das In - a my heart,
to be like Je - sns In - a my heart,
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ADDRESS OR RECITATION—"Methodism Answers the Plea and Shows the
True Way—The Church and the School."
(This may be read by the pastor, or committed to memory by some person
selected and given as a recitation.)
The turning of Methodism to the freedman after the war was to answer
the plea of the brother in black, for the sure emancipation of mind and heart,
by showing him the true way. His emancipation was nothing more than being
turned loose, without a foot of land in his own right, or shelter for his head,
or food or raiment. He had, however, some ambition and aspiration. He one
day looked out and beheld the return of his friend, pointing him to the Church
6
and the school as the true way. That friend was largely responsible for the
spark of ambition and aspiration in him.
So far back as one hundred and seventy-three years from this day, or one
hundred and twenty-three years before Mr. Lincoln signed the Emancipation
Proclamation, a Methodist pioneer preacher, Rev. George Whitefield, who fol¬
lowed in the wake of the good work begun by Rev. John Wesley, was so interested
in the intellectual and spiritual advancement of the slave as to say, in writing
to a friend from Charleston, S. C., March 18, 1740, describing the effect of his
preaching, that:
"Several of the Negroes did their work in less time than usual, that
they might come to hear me; and many of their owners, who have been
awakened, have resolved to teach them Christianity. Had I time and
proper schoolmasters, I might immediately erect a Negro school in South
Carolina, as well as in Pennsylvania (fostered by Seward's liberality,
but failing because of his untimely and martyr-death in Wales). Many
would willingly contribute both money and land."
Thus the return of Methodism in 1866 through the Freedmen's Aid Society
to found schools, and point the true way, was to be expected. In its coming
it brought gladness to the heart of the Negro. To be sure only one teacher was
sent in 1866, but he was preacher, teacher, and friend. When he arrived and
pointed to the schoolhouse and the Church as the right way, "walk ye in it,"
it was to the Negro the voice of God, not unlike Isaiah of old saying:
RESPONSIVE READING.
Leader—Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen
upon thee.
Congregation—For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross dark¬
ness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall
be seen upon thee.
Leader—And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness
of thy rising.
Congregation—Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather them¬
selves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy
daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
Leader—Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear,
and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto
thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
Congregation—Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be
shut day or night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gen¬
tiles, and that their kings may be brought.
Leader—Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went
through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many genera¬
tions.
Congregation—Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor de¬
struction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and
thy gates Praise.
Leader—The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall
the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee an ever¬
lasting light, and thy God thy glory.
Congregation—Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon with¬
draw itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of
thy mourning shall be ended.
Leader—Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for-
ever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.
Congregation—A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong
nation; I the Lord will hasten it in His time.
7
MUSIC—"Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve, and press with vigor on.
CHRISTMAS C.M.
From George F. Handel
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2 A cloud of witnesses around
Hold thee in full survey;
Forget the steps already trod,
And onward urge thy way.
3 'Tis God's all-animating voice
That calls thee from on high;
'Tis his own hand presents the prize
To thine aspiring eye: —
That prize, with peerless glories bright,
Which shall new luster boast,
When victors' wreaths and monarchs' gems
Shall blend in common dust.
Blest Saviour, introduced by thee,
Have I my race begun;
And, crowned with victory, at thy feet
I'll lay my honors down.
Philip Doddeidge
RESPONSIVE READING—"The Wisdom of the Fathers Vindicated and Faith
in the Freedmen Justified—The Results."
Congregation—How and when did our Church begin to show the true way to
the Negro through the Freedmen's Aid Society?
Leader—It was in 1866 in Trinity Methodist Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, that
the Freedmen's Aid Society was organized. The record of its beginning is
that it had a borrowed capital of $500, with which it sent one teacher to
the freedmen to show them the true way.
Congregation—What has grown out of this organization in the nearly forty-
eight years of its history?
Leader—The Society now has twenty-two institutions of learning, valued at
$1,457,476. Of these institutions, one is a well-endowed Theological Sem¬
inary, one a Medical College with all departments, ranking in Class A of
the American Medical Association, two hospitals and training-schools for
nurses, eleven colleges, nine academies, and three well-equipped industrial
schools.
Congregation—Where are these institutions located?
8
Leader—Gammon Thelogical Seminary, Atlanta, Ga.
Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.
Flint Medical College and Sarah Goodridge Nurse-Training School and
Hospital, New Orleans, La.
Bennett College, Greensboro, N. C.
Claflin University, Orangeburg, S. C.
Clark University, Atlanta, Ga.
Sam Huston College, Austin, Tex.
New Orleans University, New Orleans, La.
Rust University, Holly Springs, Miss.
George R. Smith College, Sedalia, Mo.
Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Ark.
Walden University, Nashville, Tenn.
Wiley University, Marshall, Tex.
Morgan College, Baltimore, Md.
Morristown Normal and Industrial College, Morristown, Tenn.
Central Alabama Academy, Birmingham, Ala.
Cookman Institute, Jacksonville, Fla.
Gilbert Academy, Baldwin, La.
Meridian Academy, Meridian, Miss.
Haven Academy, Waynesboro, Ga.
Princess Anne Academy, Princess Anne, Md.
Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute, Lynchburg, Va.
The location in the cities and towns where we have institutions are among
the best to be found, and the property of each institution is enhancing in
• value daily.
Congregation—What have been the results in the education of the freedmen in
these institutions, and what of our mission to the entire race?
Leader—There are 325,000 colored members in our Church, worshiping in 2,100
churches. To these we are especially showing the way; but vaster still is
the mission of the Freedmen's Aid Society to the entire Negro race. In
Meharry Medical College, at Nashville, more physicians of other denomina¬
tions are being educated than of our own. In each of the schools are to be
found a large number of students not of our denomination. In forty-eight
years, 300,000 of the best young people, without respect to denomination,
have been trained in these schools—13,200 have graduated as teachers, 3,100
as ministers, 1,200 as physicians, pharmacists, and dentists. There have
been hundreds of nurses sent out from our nurse-training schools at Nash¬
ville and New Orleans. To the efficiency of these physicians and nurses the
best people of the South are witnesses. The physicians are compelled to
stand the most rigid examinations by the State Medical Boards, composed
of white physicians. Quite one-half of the Negro physicians practicing in
the United States are graduates of our medical schools. Most of the district
superintendents and pastors filling the prominent pulpits in our colored
Conferences have been educated at Gammon Theological Seminary. Five
bishops of the colored Methodist Churches were educated in our schools.
One of these, a leader of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, writes
concerning his Alma Mater:
"You correctly estimate my interest in Walden "University, not only
as my Alma Mater, which is a great thing, but for what she has done
for so many others of our race, and stands ready and willing to repeat
herself in earnest endeavors to reach out and touch many others. Be sure
that my prayers and sympathy are with you."
9
It may be said that this bishop enclosed fifty dollars as his contribution
to a fund of five thousand dollars being raised for that institution by the
Alumni. The five colored bishops referred to are now showing the true way
to three different colored Methodist denominations, in which they are out¬
standing leaders.
Congregation—What is the record of the schools of the Society for the past year?
Leader—There were enrolled 6,588, of whom 266 were in college courses, 5,436
in academic aiid normal; 78 were preparing for the ministry; 564 in medi¬
cal, dental, pharmaceutical, and nurse-training courses; 1,765 were in the
music departments, and 1,078 in the commercial.
Congregation—How do the graduates measure up to the standard in prepara¬
tion for professional or post-graduate work in the great institutions of the
country?
Leader—The graduates experience no difficulty in entering Harvard University
and the great institutions of the East. Two young colored men, now teachers
in a Freedmen's Aid School, entered Harvard for post-graduate work upon
examination, which they successfully passed. Another entered the medical
department of the same institution and is making a most creditable record.
Another entered Columbia University upon examination, and has graduated
with honor. The graduates are teaching in the great high schools of the
country, like that of St. Louis, Mo., with credit to themselves, their race,
and the Church.
Congregation—What can be said of the industrial schools?
Leader—The Freedmen's Aid Society was among the first to introduce indus¬
trial training in the schools for Negroes. This was recognized as a great
need of the race. Some form of industrial work is maintained at each school,
such as dressmaking, cooking, tailoring, and printing, while there are in¬
dustrial plants at three of the institutions doing all forms of industrial
work. The plans and specifications for the two buildings erected at Claflin
University—to take the place of the building destroyed by fire one year ago—
were carried out by heads of our industrial departments at that institution.
The skilled labor was that of the boys in the shops of the University. The
graduates from the industrial departments of the schools have taken first
rank everywhere. Only a few examples can be given. Two are heads of de¬
partments at the famous Tuskegee Institute, one is in the employ of the
United States Government as a supervising architect of Federal buildings.
Another is in charge of industrial training for Negroes in the Cincinnati
public schools.
Congregation—The religious life of a school is essential in showing the true
way. What of that?
Leader—There are organizations of the Sunday school, the Epworth League,
Young Men's Christian Association, and Young Women's Christian Associa¬
tion in each school. A course of lectures on Christian subjects is a part of
the curriculum, as is also a systematic course in Bible study prepared by
the Board of Managers of the Society. Before the students retire from the
evening meal, they remain seated in the dining-rooms of these institutions
for the reading of the Scriptures, and then kneel for prayers. These young
people, with their presidents and Faculties, remind one of worshipers around
a big family altar. Nothing has shown the potent influence of the religious
life of our schools as that so many of the preachers and Christian leaders
in the Negro Churches have been quickened to active Christian service in
their Alma Mater. Many are now in Africa; one, a trained deaconess, a
colored woman, has just returned for a brief vacation in America.
10
In the results here given, the wisdom of our fathers from Wesley to this
day is vindicated in pointing the Negro to the schoolhouse and Church as
the true way, while the Negro's faith in Methodism is justified in what has
come to him as he has walked in the way. It is for us of the present to con¬
tinue the work of the fathers with no less zeal than they, seeing that every
one up helps the other man up, and, even as God is our Father, so all men
are brothers.
MUSIC—"Faith of our fathers."
ST. CATHERINE L. M. 61.
Adapted by J. G. Walton
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2 Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,
Were still in heart and conscience free:
How sweet would be their children's fate,
If they, like them, could die for thee!
Faith of our fathers! holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death!
3 Faith of our fathers! we will love
Both friend and foe in all our strife:
And preach thee, too, as love knows how,
By kindly words and virtuous life:
Faith of our fathers! holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death!
Frederick W. Fabek
RESPONSIVE READING—"The Negro Assuming Responsibility—Another Re¬
sult."
Congregation—In the nature of the case there are two sides to the progress of
the Negro as demonstrating the wisdom of Methodism in showing him the
true way. One side has just been given. Will you now tell us in what other
ways has the Negro been helped to show the true way to his own people?
11
Leader—The Methodist Church more than any other has given the Negro charge
of his own schools which show them the true way. There are ten of the insti¬
tutions of the Freedmen's Aid Society with Negro presidents or principals.
There are two ^ hundred and twenty Negro professors and teachers. One
thing greatly to the credit of the Negro is the fact that while Meharry Medi¬
cal College is in Class A of the American Medical Association, and the gradu¬
ates of that institution in most cases pass the critical medical boards of the
South, the professors making up a Faculty of forty-four are colored men
with only two exceptions.
Congregation—What was the voluntary gift of the Church last year for the sup¬
port of the schools, and what proportion did the Negro give?
Leader—For the year July 1, 1912, to July 1, 1913, the Church gave $159,276.32
in Conference and special collections. Of this amount the Negroes gave
$48,000. This is an increase of $15,000 in one year over anything they have
ever given.
Congregation—What, then, is the per capita giving of the freedmen for these
schools as compared with the remainder of the Church?
Leader—The total membership of our Church is 3,600,000, of which 325,000 are
freedmen. The per capita giving of the freedmen is a little over fifteen cents,
while that of the whole Church is about four cents.
Congregation—Is this the only way the colored people are helping themselves?
Leader—At many of the institutions walks on the campus have been laid, build¬
ings supplied with furniture, and improvements made during the past year
aggregating many hundreds of dollars, all of which has been paid by
students or patrons and friends of the schools who are freedmen. More¬
over, of the $428,000, the total amount required to operate the schools,rthe
Negroes, in their voluntary giving and in tuition, room rent, board, and
other items, gave $327,000, while the Church outside of the colored Con¬
ferences supplied the remaining $101,000.
It will be seen that the freedmen who have been shown the true way,
and who are walking in it, are assuming responsibility for their own edu¬
cation in a remarkable degree, and have thus become valuable aids in the
work of the Society. No part of the work more than this so proves the wis¬
dom of the fathers in thus beginning to show the true way to the freedmen.
Moreover, it is to the credit of our institutions in the South that they are
storm-centers in the great fight for prohibition of the liquor traffic. A few
yeas rago, when a fierce conflict was on in Marshall, Tex., to rid that city
of the saloon, the five hundred students of Wiley University marched through
the city, singing, praying, and pleading with their race to aid by their votes
the elimination of the liquor curse from the city of Marshall, for the sake
of the youth of the race. The town went dry, and remains so to this day.
Such good work upon the part of these young people is worth continuing
and encouraging.
ADDRESS OR RECITATION—"Methodism of the Present and Its Responsi¬
bility."
In view of such facts as we have had in the results given, which have been
but a small bit of the story, the duty of Methodism of the present is plain in
pointing the true way to the freedmen. The demand of the freedmen for in¬
struction in the true way is now greater than the supply. The twenty-two insti¬
tutions have come of necessity. They are needed as never before. There is ir¬
resistible argument for the maintenance of each of them. The incentive for
the Negro to know the true way was never so great, nor the inducement to live
12
the way sc> strong. In the great fight of to-morrow for an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States to rid our fair land of the saloon, the Negro
will play a most important part. Our schools will furnish the leaders for that
greatest of all battles for home and country. Our institutions are the shelters
in the time of storm. Will we make them more so?
The public school facilities are meager with but half-school privileges here
and there. To provide .adequate buildings, with proper sanitary conveniences;
to make needed repairs that we may preserve our million and a half of property;
to provide equipment necessary to meet the educational standards of to-day;
and to secure endowments that these instutions may forever do the work of
God in showing the true way, is Methodism's present and future responsibility.
For that purpose the General Conference of 1912 authorized a Jubilee Offering
of $500,000. The freedmen were to raise $100,000 and the general Church $400,000.
Of the $100,000 the freedmen have raised in cash $35,000. Of the $400,000, the
members of the General Committee subscribed $31,000 at its meeting in No¬
vember, 1913, while cash collections amounting to $8,000 have been reported
from the white Conferences. Methodism of to-day should do nothing less than
raise the $400,000. It is assured that, through the friends of those of the race
to whom we have shown the true way, the $100,000 will be secured among the
freedmen in this year. If each Church in Methodism would give on the basis
of twenty cents per capita, the Jubilee Fund for the whole Church would be
secured. Let us meet our charge.
MUSIC—"A charge to keep I have."
BOYLSTON S. M. Lowell Masom
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2 To serve the present age, And O, thy servant, Lord, prepare,
My calling to fulfill; A strict account to give!
O may it all my powers engage,
To do my Master's will! 4 Help me to watch and pray,
And on thyself rely,
3 Arm me with jealous care, Assured, if I my trust betray,
As in thy sight to live, I shall forever die.
Charles Wesley
THE PASTOR'S STATEMENT—"The Society's Plea To-day—The Needs."
(This statement should be read by the pastor or leader before the offering
is taken.)
When the Freedmen's Aid Society began to show the true way to the freed¬
men, there were four million of them. Now there are ten million, and in an¬
other fifty years there may be twenty million. Our Church is clearly led of God
to prepare leaders for these millions of to-day and to-morrow.
The needs, as we have heard stated in the last address, are many. New
buildings are in process of erection at Wiley University, Marshall, Tex.;|Walden
University, Nashville) Tenn., and Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Ark.,
13
and are not completed for lack of funds. Increased dormitory space is needed
for students at each of the institutions. The Commission of educators sent
South recently, on the part of the Freedmen's Aid Society and the University
Senate, to look into the work now being done at these schools, and to make
recommendations for the strengthening of them, will surely report the lack of
laboratory and library equipment, which so seriously handicaps the institutions
in meeting the required standards of our own Church, the United States Bureau
of Education, and the Educational Boards of the States in which the schools
are located. There is also an investigation in process of all the schools of the
country for Negro education, promoted jointly by the Bureau of Education of
the United States and the Phelps-Stokes Foundation of New York City.
It will be seen, therefore, that the needs of our schools are of the most press¬
ing kind. The offering of to-day is twofold. The first is the regular fund, on the
basis of which an appropriation has already been made for the operation of the
schools and the administrative work of the Society for the current year. The
second is the special Jubilee Fund of $500,000, authorized by the General Con¬
ference of 1912, which is to be used to cover the acute needs referred to, and
which can not longer be deferred. The Jubilee Commission has divided the
Conferences of the Church, giving to each institution the Jubilee offerings from
a given number, and to each group of Conferences an institution as the special
object of their benevolence. (See list in November Educator). This does not
prevent any contributor from designating his Jubilee offering for the institution
he desires. Subscriptions may be made on the Jubilee Fund, using the blank
form in the program. These subscriptions may be made payable in three install¬
ments between now and the General Conference of 1916. We have heard what
the freedmen have already raised, and what proportion of the amount the
general Church has raised. Is it too much to ask that Methodism everywhere
to-day will help to provide in a larger sense the true way for the black man,
saying unto him, "This is the way, walk ye in it?"
OFFERING.
MUSIC—"America."
AMERICA 6. 6. 4. 6. 6. 6. 4.
Henry Carey
jh. t/ijfijiis
1. My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of lib - er -ty, Of thee I sing: Land where my
• A m ~0~
fathers died, Land of the pilgrims' pride,From ev -
Hif
ery mountainside Let freedom ring! A-men.
/ f, f, ef
m
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2 My native country, thee,
Land of the noble, free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.
3 Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song:
DOXOLOGY.
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.
Our fathers' God, to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King.
Samuel Francis Suits
14
HELPS FOR PASTORS AND OTHERS.
The True Way" contains the most recent facts as to the Society's work.
There are, however, additional helps published. The February number of the
' Christian Educator" has been prepared, with special information concerning
the general progress the freedmen have made in fifty years. This has already
been mailed to pastors, and may be sent to any one desiring the same upon ap¬
plication. We have also a booklet, entitled "Is the Negro Making Good?" by
Dr. Charles Edward Locke, pastor of First Methodist Episcopal Church, Los
Angeles, Cal. This may be sent to any address for ten cents, which includes
postage. If there is any special information desired not found in these helps,
and the Society can furnish it, we shall be only too glad to do so.
FORM OF BEQUEST.
While this work is upon your mind, make a clause in your will in the in¬
terest 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 suf¬
ficient 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 semi-annually.
Write the Secretaries about this plan.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR
LINCOLN SUNDAY.
The Program.—The Lincoln Anniversary Program for this year, entitled
"The True Way," has a special design, as did the program of 1913, entitled "The
Red Road." "The Red Road" intended to put before the Church the sacrifice
which most of the teachers and students, as well as many of the givers, have
made in these forty-seven years to secure the results in the trained men and
women now to the credit of the Church. In another way "The Red Road" in¬
tended to make the freedmen of the Church to see that more sacrifice upon
their part, in service and in giving, was necessary to make them freemen. It
does seem that the program had this effect, especially upon the freedmen, as
the contributions made by them for their own education increased $15,000 in
1913 over any previous year.
15
Now comes "The True Way" to put emphasis upon our beginning as a
Society and the great results secured therefrom. May this beginning of our
work and its results make its impress upon Methodism, never to be erased.
Surely we all agree that the work of the one teacher, now multiplied many thou¬
sand times, should be continued in the largest possible way. We trust that
our pastors will give the entire day to this work, with a sermon in the morning
and the use of the program at another hour. The Society is anxious that our
people shall get the facts, and this is one of the ways.
The Offering.—We hope our pastors will be willing to make an extra effort
to get a cash offering sufficiently large to cover the regular apportionment for
the Freedmen's Aid Society, and also a Jubilee offering. If this is not possible,
and the entire cash offering is to be credited to the General Fund, will our pas¬
tors call special attention to the Jubilee Fund, and take subscriptions for the
same, using the blank form below?
THE FREEDMEN'S AID SOCIETY,
220 West Fourth St., Cincinnati, Ohio.
The General Conference of 1912 having authorized The Board of
Managers to call upon Methodism for a Jubilee Fund of $500,000, com¬
memorative of the fiftieth year of the Act of Emancipation, the under¬
signed herewith subscribes to the fund the following:
Name of Subscriber -
Postoffice Address
Church and Conference —- {
Amount
When and How Payable
School Preferred
For What Use
The Jubilee collection was authorized by the General Conference
to be applied to endowment, repairs, and new buildings.
16