A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

A History of Christian Doctrine
could not afford the cost of travel to the North and so
could not attend. In order to work effectively, they felt
that they needed to participate in their organization and
to have conferences in various parts of the country,
including the South.
In 1922 a group of Southern ministers organized a fellowship
conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, that was well
attended. There was a great outpouring of the Spirit, with
a communion service for ministers lasting until 3:00 A.M.
This Southern Bible Conference impressed upon the
white ministers how much they needed such meetings in
their area, but it aroused concerns among black ministers
that they were deliberately being excluded.
The result of these pressures was a division along
racial lines in 1924. Most of the white ministers withdrew
from the PAW, while a few stayed. Even though the PAW
was now almost totally black for the first time, whites
were still given some leadership positions in an effort to
preserve the ideal of integration.
While some racial prejudice was undoubtedly
involved in the split, it appears that most of the white
ministers did not withdraw because of personal prejudice
but because of the legal and social hindrances to organizational
function and growth. S. C. McClain, a white minister
from the South, explained how the church rejected
prejudice yet struggled with societal obstacles: 91
94
I, being Southern born, thought it a miracle that I
could sit in a service by a black saint of God and worship,
or eat at a great camp table, and forget I was eating
beside a black saint, but in spirit and truth God
was worshipped in love and harmony. . . .