William Harris Predicts Bright Future for Rev. F.S. Anderson, 1921

Glimpses of Young Men in the Moving Line

By William C. Harris

Whatever of value, of example and inspiration the Drama of Life may hold, however much we are pleased by its shifting scenes, fascinated by its swift motion; or uplifted by its grand climaxes, we must plumb the depths of sorrow when the curtain goes down in the last and tragic scene where life succumbs to death. Death, the opposite of life. The enemy of love, whose bonds it ever breaks, and whose bleeding heart it has no power to heal. Death, remorseless, ruthless, relentless unrepenting death.

We pause, unashamed, and drop our tears in the ocean of sorrow that swells from the eyes of the family, church, race and nation because of the death of Bishop Geo. Wylie Clinton, who was to all the above named institutions all that mortal man could be. His life was full of value, example and inspiration to all and even though death could halt his career it could not, will not check his influence.

This is a sad preface to the subject that has claimed our pen. But even as we wipe our tear-dimmed eyes over our fallen leaders, we catch glimpses of the moving line and the changing personnel of the Church. We must have leaders, and God will help us find them. The changes that are bound to come in the near future will effect some of the important places all over the Connection. And as the time draws near then the eyes of wisdom will look more than ever among the ranks for young men, prepared and experienced to fill the vacancies caused by the moving line. Among our young preachers there are some good men in the making. And, perhaps, a printed line may encourage some of them to struggle on to victory and the glory of high achievement. We have seen some of the pillars of the Church dug from the quarries, shaped in the schools and polished by the hands of God’s agents. And, let me say it, not one of them had a greater promise at their beginning than some of these young men of whom we shall endeavor to speak from time to time.

Among those who are striving and preparing for greater usefulness is the Rev. F.S. Anderson, A.B., pastor of the church at Albemarle, N.C. The time has not come to speak of our forebears other than as humble parents and from such he was born at Wilmington, N.C., Oct. 3, 1891. He was moved to Boston a few years later and there received the coveted elementary training of the New England Public Schools, which train both the mental and physical in order to develop a full man, and young Anderson found himself an athlete at an early age. His ability to lead first manifested itself on the play-ground and has developed into a surprising ability to plan successfully the work to which he has devoted his life. He was converted in February, 1910, joined the Columbus Avenue A.M.E. Zion church under Rev. G.W. Johnson, D.D., and immediately made known his call and desire to lead men to God. We know not that he came by way of the Mourner’s Bench, if he did, he came up preaching, for this happened in the same year of his conversion, and in that same eventful year he realized the necessity of greater preparation for his high and lofty calling. He entered Livingstone College Oct. 3, 1912, finished the normal in 1916; was graduated from the college with the degree of A.B. in 1920. He was a leader in all the activities of the school and filled with credit many important offices, the gift of the faculty and students. His first charge was one of the churches on the Rocky Creek Circuit of the Statesville District, and at every place he has been sent he has done commendable work. On the Mainville Circuit, Salisbury District, he did extensive repairing and painting. On the Gilmore Chapel Circuit, he enlarged one church and purchased a much needed cemetery and added new flooring to another. He is serving his second year at Albemarle, where he has laid well the plans for a new parsonage with the greater part of the money already on hand. He has, also, raised money and has the material on the ground for church building and repairs.

This is a part of the enviable record of a young man who entered conference Nov. 15, 1915, ordained deacon the same year, and made elder Nov. 1917. In these few years he has been winding his way upward, working hard and combining training with experience, until he now holds the office of secretary of the annual conference combined with that of compiler.

Rev. Anderson will soon come from the Theological Seminary as another mile post on the road of preparation and with many others of whom we hope to write he is in the moving line that presses on its upward march to those higher places that call so loudly for young men with training and experience combined.

To see a photo of Bishop Clinton and to read more about him, go to Rural North Carolina History: Bishop George W. Clinton a Nationally Known Leader, May 14, 1921 (ruralnchistory.blogspot.com).

-=-

What is the mourner’s bench?

Methodist History: The Mourner's Bench | The United Methodist Church (umc.org)

By Mark Shenise, United Methodist General Commission on Archives and History

"In Methodism you had a mourner's bench and the mourner's bench transcends the colonial period. It was there you would go and sit to feel sorry for your sins, to repent, to have the new birth, or to rededicate yourself to Jesus.

"You mourned for your spiritual condition. You didn't go to the altar rail. That's a camp meeting thing that comes later. You would go to the mourner's bench and then after the service, like in many evangelical services today, the pastor and the lay leaders would come over and comfort you and pray for you.

"It is plain. It's just made out of available wood, long planks. They didn't form it into a very nice looking piece of furniture. It wasn't meant for that. It's the old rugged cross.

"You're there to mourn for your sins. That wasn't meant to be done on a comfortable pew with a lot of cushions. It was supposed to be hard. It was Protestantism. It was a Protestant mentality. And Methodists are part of that. And many of these early churches had to make the maximum use of their space. And a mourner's bench is a lot easier to move than any other piece of church furniture and equipment.

"When you went to the mourner's bench the theology was this: normal time, normal space, that gets suspended. You're now in sacred time in a sacred space. It's where God would meet you. Heaven comes to Earth and Earth goes to Heaven at the same time. It could be during the service. If the Spirit was talking to your spirit and convicting you of your sins you would get up, and you go, and you literally incubate on the mourner's bench or kneel to the mourner's bench as you have this new Kingdom of God experience breaking through into your life, getting yourself right with God. This is the lightning strike place, so to speak, spiritually. This is the awakening."