The present pastor is the first of his race to be honored with the pastorate of this church. He is a product of the American Missionary Association, having received his college training at Fisk University. He began his labors here immediately upon the completion of his theological course at the Yale Divinity School, in 1894. With his coming the church entered upon a distinct era of its life. Not without some misgivings on the part of many, the church bravely launched out to assume self-support. For some time it had been without a regular pastor, and the flock was divided and scattered. After three years the membership has been doubled and the contributions trebled. Last year it contributed a share of the "Jubilee Fund" of the American Missionary Association. The church is now united and progressive. There is a growing Christian Endeavor Society, a Working Men's Club for financial aid, a Woman's Aid Society for general church work, a Young Men's League for increasing the attendance at the Sunday evening services (printed bulletins of the services being distributed weekly). The church issues the Parish Visitor, a monthly church paper which forms a bond of interest by unifying the various forces of the church. The prayer meetings are well attended and the Sunday-school is thriving. New members are received at every communion. The week of prayer is followed by a large number of conversions. The membership now numbers 403, making this the largest Congregational Church in the South. Great stress is laid on the quality of the membership, but quantity is not despised, and within the next seven years it is the aspiration of the church to enroll a thousand members. With a continuance of the spirit of unity and work, why, under God, should not this end be realized? The possibilities of a thoroughly organized Congregational Church of a thousand members in a community like this are untold. * * * * * COLORED MINISTERS OF THE BLACK BELT OF ALABAMA--EVIDENCE OF PROGRESS. BY REV. GEORGE W. ANDREWS, D.D. The so-called Black Belt of Alabama is a wide tract of land extending across the central portion of the State, from east to west, embracing twenty counties, more or less. In general it is level, differing widely in this respect from the hilly and mountainous region lying directly north of it. It is the great cotton producing section of the State. The soil is either sandy or a black loam, and some of it is exceedingly fertile. Here you will find the canebrakes and cypress swamps, as well as the prairies and the vast fertile regions. Here also are cities and towns of importance, such as Montgomery, Selma, Marion, Greensboro, Demopolis, Tuskegee, Eufala and the like. In the rural sections of the belt are the vast plantations and imposing mansions of ante-bellum days. Here slavery was at its best and its worst.