The American Missionary — Volume 52, No. 03, September, 1898Various
History
The American Missionary — Volume 52, No. 03, September, 1898
Various
Congregational churches -- Missions -- Periodicals; Home missions -- Periodicals
The religious condition of the colored people in this county of
Liberty may be better understood in the light of the following
incident. On Saturday morning, August 6th, Rev. J. B. Fletcher,
accompanied by his wife, left Hagan for a place called Smiley, by
urgent invitation, to organize a Congregational church. The work of
organization was duly perfected on Sunday morning, the 7th, after
which the officers and members persuaded him to stop over that evening
and preach, which he readily consented to do. While in the pulpit a
gun was discharged through a window of the church, the contents
entering into the right side of Rev. Mr. Fletcher and wounding five
others. As medical treatment could not be obtained there, he was
hastily carried twenty miles to his home, where a physician was
immediately summoned. His wounds proved to be very severe, but were
not such as to prevent his recovery. The thigh was literally riddled
with buckshot, one hundred and thirteen having already been extracted
from his body. He writes us, "I am glad to have your sympathy and
prayers; they are of great strength to me. It will be quite a while
before I can walk as before, if ever. I feel happy to know that I am
counted worthy to suffer thus for Christ's sake. I am not discouraged,
and will be on the field again as soon as I can hobble around on
crutches."
A letter from a neighboring pastor adds, "The detective will have all
of the intended assassins arrested by the middle of the week. It is
found that they are all colored people, and officers of a so-called
Methodist Church, who as members of the Church Militant, took this
means to prevent the introduction of a Congregational church in that
vicinity."
A church whose officers propagate their faith with shotguns assuredly
has no right to the Methodist name, which it dishonors, nor to any
name, but it remains a significant illustration of sectarian
ignorance and superstition which we often find bitterly opposing the
introduction of a pure Christianity among the heathen of our own
country. Heathenism, not far away from one of the most beautiful
cities of the South--a city of beautiful churches and in a county
which rejoices in the name of Liberty--has furnished within the past
ten years many examples of such conditions and conduct as could not be
found in many places in Africa. It is not time yet for those who love
Christ and their country to be weary in well doing in this home land.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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