I am often reminded of the courage of Bishop Allen, who, when he and his friends were declared a nuisance in the White church and while on their knees in prayers were taken hold of, and ordered to the back part of the church, went out and organized the A. M. E. Denomination. God went out with him as results have shown. And on account of this most un-Christian treatment which the founder of our church received, I have given my life with redoubled zeal to its establishment in this land. Our church has stood for an independence which has been an uplifting power in the Race. While in some cases this may have been carried too far by unwise persons, yet on the whole no one can gainsay that the A. M. E. Church has been a Divinely appointed agency in the life and labors of the Negro Race of the United States of America.
At this Conference I was made a Presiding Elder of the Trenton District by Bishop H. M. Turner, D.D. I moved my family to Philadelphia, Pa. With the aid of my friends, my family was pleasantly domiciled in Philadelphia and I started on my first rounds as a P. E. This was the most difficult part of my ministerial life. I found that there was no church in the N. J. Conference that wanted to see the presiding elder. They looked upon him as an unnecessary part of church machinery. They considered him as a dependent on their gifts and that every time that he came it meant “more money, more money.” My first quarterly meeting was to have been held at the church at Mt. Holly but I found that the pastor was not ready to hold the meeting, so it was postponed. I went to another place and the pastor told me that “things were very unfavorable there.” The result of my first round was that when I came back to Camden, I had to borrow ten dollars. I attended during this year the General Conference which met in the Mother Bethel Church, Philadelphia. I witnessed the ordination of Revs. B. F. Lee, M. B. Salter and James A. Handy to the Bishopric. The Conference created a great deal of enthusiasm for the connection. I returned to my work with the determination that I would do more for the Lord than I had ever done before. I closed my Conference year with reasonable success. I received as a salary $680 and $57 for traveling expenses. But I believe that I succeeded in convincing the people that the presiding elder may be of great assistance to the local church in doing its work in that the minister is often not able to cope with things as they exist.
My report at the Conference which met at Princeton, N. J., was about as follows: Trenton pastorate, new church built and 59 converts; new church built at Trenton Mission; new church at Jordantown; mortgage burned at Bordentown; church finished at Jamesburgh; the other work was the routine work of the presiding elder. I was again appointed presiding elder of the same district. During this year I had my daughter, Ada, with me, having come North and brought her husband, Albert A. B. Cooper. Bishop Turner gave my son-in-law an appointment at Bethel, South Camden, which pleased us all very much. My wife and children not being well pleased with their residence in Philadelphia, I moved them to our own house in Camden. During this year as presiding elder I took up a campaign against worldliness in the church. I found that our young people were drifting off to places of amusement, such as theatres, parks, etc. This work was carried on by the pastors in my district and I am glad to say that there was a great change for the better. I do not think that our young people are malicious or wilful in such matters, but that it is largely on account of the indifference on the part of their pastors. It is not enough to go into the pulpit and enter into a tirade of denunciation and scolding; this will do more harm than good; but reason must be employed. The world and the church are at enmity, they never have been and never can be friends until the world, as an individual, has been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. As long as this relation of hostility exists between the world and the church, members of the church cannot be friendly to both. They cannot be followers of the world and its ways and at the same time consistent members of the church.
At the Newark Conference, I was quite sick, but able to get through the work. My reports as presiding elder during this year were very satisfactory. I was given an appointment as a pastor at this Conference by Bishop B. T. Tanner, my station was South Woodbury.
Sick as I was, I was determined to attend the General Conference which met at Wilmington, N. C. The trip was not a very pleasant one for me although everything had been done to make it pleasant. We arrived at Richmond, Va., and stopped twenty minutes for a meal. I was carried into the dining room and seated with the brethren. I was impressed there with the fact that the White people are not going to allow anything that has the semblance of social equality. As soon as we were seated a folding screen was placed about our little company so as to cut us off from the White people in the dining room. This was segregation in earnest.
I enjoyed the meeting of the General Conference very much. I was under the care of a physician and able to attend each day’s session of the long meeting. I was delighted to be with Mr. Joseph Sampson, my boyhood friend and associate. He was Registrar of Deeds. I was rejoiced when I learned from him of the mental improvement he had made. There were over six hundred ministers and lay-delegates in attendance. They represented the strong element of the church. There were theologians and scholars, men skilled in the tactics of Christian warfare. I rejoiced that God has such gatherings as this to work and plan for the general uplifting of my people. As long as there are men who have determined that right shall prevail and that the Gospel shall leaven the entire human race, there is no doubt of the final issue. For we know what God’s will is and that this will must be carried out by His loyal children.
After my return home I was sick for about two weeks but was able to take up the work at South Woodbury. The first thing we did as pastor and people was to plan for a new church building, the old one being in a dilapidated condition. It took quite a while to get the people in the notion of building, but we adopted our plans and began to work. I found a great many splendid workers in this church, without whom I would have labored in vain. I was at this place for three years and when I left, the members were worshipping in a fine brick church. I had succeeded in paying off a part of the debt, and had received into the membership of the church about thirty-five members.
At the next meeting of the Conference I was sent to the station of Burlington, N. J. I spent a most pleasant and profitable year with these dear people. They did all in their power to make my life a pleasure to myself and family. I left this work with the best wishes of the members of the church. I left with the conviction too that they were a noble band of the Lord’s workers and that the work would be in the hands of men and women who would not let it lag for the want of untiring, energetic workers.
In 1899 I was assigned by Bishop A. Grant to Hossanah A. M. E. Church, East Camden, N. J. I labored here until 1901, having reorganized the Sunday School and paid something on the church debt and added many members to the membership of the church.
Beverly was my next charge. Here I built a new church. I found that many of the White people of this community were in sympathy with our work. They contributed of their money and did what they could spiritually for the upbuilding of our work. A lady from Edgewater Park gave me six hundred dollars for the building of the church and a nice little sum for the pastor. She was Mrs. Taylor. The Presbyterian minister at this place helped me a great deal in my work. I can surely say that the presence of the Lord was with us and like David, exclaim, “Whom have I in Heaven but Thee and there is none in all the earth, my soul would desire, beside Thee.”