The Christian pulpit has ever been acknowledged to be a great power for good among all people. Coming as it does divinely commissioned and bearing to man a divine message, it has a claim upon the attention and the acceptation of mankind. Its claim to be heard is founded on the fact that it has something to say—some truth to communicate about God, His character, His purpose concerning man, His unbounded goodness and infinite love—about man, his duty and his destiny, and the great salvation offered to him. The Christian pulpit is peculiarly and inseparably interwoven in the social life, moral deportment and religious growth of the people. In its character it is to be the representation of the highest standard of ethical deportment and the best example of religious life. From it the people are to receive their inspiration for that which is pure, exalted and ennobling. To the Christian pulpit the people look for the loftiest ideals of life. In this respect the Negro more than any other people has been largely dependent upon the pulpit. Emerging as he did more than a quarter of a century ago from a thraldom which fettered his body and imprisoned his intellect and buried him in ignorance, it was the Christian pulpit represented at that time by the good old fathers of those dark and trying days—to whom the good and lamented Bishop Haygood paid high compliment in one of his addresses—they it was who saved their people from conditions which would have been vastly more deplorable but for such moral and religious instruction as they were able to impart. As a race we have moved an amazing distance from that period. Schools, seminaries and universities have sprung up as if by magic. Educated young men and young women have gone forth from these institutions determined to do their best for God and humanity. The Negro press has also arisen and swayed a mighty influence for moral and religious good, but neither the school nor the press has been recognized as an efficient substitute for the pulpit. What was true as regards the place and power of the pulpit to uplift the people in the dark days of the past is equally true now in these days of light and knowledge. The educated and Christian pulpit is an indispensable factor in the elevation of the race to-day.
The extent to which the Negro pulpit is uplifting the race is to be seen in the gradual but certain and permanent reformation taking place in the social and moral life of the race. Social distinction, based exclusively upon moral character, is being clearly defined and rigidly observed. The moral standard has been elevated and the conceptions of the race in relation to ethical life has been greatly improved and beautifully exemplified in the lives of thousands. The home life of the race is purer and the sacredness of the marriage vow is gaining pre-eminence over the divorce system. The home life of the masses is gradually being touched and improved by the far-reaching influence of the Negro Christian pulpit, and there are signs and indications of better things and happier conditions. From these pulpits the Gospel goes forth with simplicity and power. Its truth and teaching is made to touch, shape and direct the practical side of Christian life. The evils which exist and which are a menace to the best and purest modes of life are strongly denounced and openly rebuked by the Negro Christian pulpit, and the race is being led to understand that sound moral character is the foundation upon which to build a strong, symmetrical, well-rounded manhood.
The religious life of the race is being uplifted by the Negro Christian pulpit. Sound is being displaced by sense in the pulpit. Senseless emotion by thoughtful and reverential worship in the pew, and a clear conception and deep knowledge of divine truth is being gained by the people. The individual of pessimistic temperament may say that the masses are not being influenced and lifted up by the Negro pulpit, but this would be a mere statement and not an actual fact. The pessimist lives in an unwholesome atmosphere, he will not see the sunshine because he prefers to stay down in the valley beneath the cloud of doubt and surmounted with the fog of hopelessness. The educated Negro pulpit is mainly optimistic and sees beyond its immediate surroundings. It sees to it that the leaven of sound doctrine and moral ethics are being put into the meal, and from personal developments believes that in process of time the whole lump will be leavened. The Negro pulpit is awake to the gravity of its responsibility and it is putting forth its best efforts and mightiest endeavors to uplift the race socially, morally and religiously. Evidences of this aim and purpose are not difficult to be seen in all communities.
THIRD PAPER.
TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE NEGRO PULPIT UPLIFTING THE RACE?
BY REV. R. P. WYCHE, D. D.
REV. R. P. WYCHE, D. D.
Robert P. Wyche was born near Oxford, the county seat of Granville County, N. C. His father was a carpenter by trade and early taught his son the use of tools. In his humble home he was taught the dignity of labor, fidelity to duty, obedience to God and faith in prayer. These simple lessons shaped the course of his life probably more than any other influence. For a while he attended night school, as he worked in the day in order to earn the means to buy his books and to pay other necessary expenses. Robert was ambitious to excel. From the night school he went to a private school at Henderson, N. C. This school was conducted by the Rev. J. H. Crawford, a Presbyterian minister. Here Robert prosecuted his studies with eagerness, fitting himself to enter the preparatory department of Biddle University. The President of the university, the Rev. S. Mattoon, D. D., became interested in Robert, whom he esteemed as a promising student, and assured him that no worthy student should leave school for the want of means.
After graduating in 1877 his first thought was to enter the medical profession, but afterward he abandoned this idea and began seriously to consider the call to the ministry. After teaching school for a short period he returned to the seminary and took the full course in theology. He was licensed and ordained by the Presbytery of Catawba and was called to the pastorate of Seventh Street Presbyterian Church, at Charlotte, N. C. The degree of A. M. and the honorary degree of D. D. were conferred upon Rev. R. P. Wyche by Biddle University. He is at this time Moderator of the Synod of Catawba.
He married Miss Belle Butler, a popular educator, who unites with her husband in every measure for the true elevation of the Negro.