membership of white, the other of colored people. We have done it.
In our church work, we simply maintain that a Christian church should
stand ready to fellowship any one whom Christ fellowships, that it
should turn no one away because of his color, or because he, his
father or his mother was a slave. We maintain that there is
no Christian reason why there should be either State or local
organizations of churches which will not fellowship churches whose
memberships differ in race. We seek to establish churches and other
institutions which dare interpret Christianity as Christ taught
it, and which will not yield a Christian principle for enlarged
statistics. There are caste churches enough in the South. No more are
needed. If Congregationalism can go there true to its history, true to
its real convictions, true to that gospel which successfully faced
the bitter prejudices of Jew and Gentile with the broad invitation,
"Whosoever will, may come," then it goes to become a mighty power and
to win both a place for itself and other churches, in time, to accept
the same broad interpretation of Christianity.

This Association has faith in the power of the gospel, and, under
the reign of God, of the final triumph of the right. It is willing to
enter the doors now so wide open for missionary work, and to wait, if
need be, for that glory of the denomination, which is better than long
tables of statistics, the glory of adhering to the right.

The time has now come when our church work can be greatly enlarged.
Our schools have been doing their work, and scattering all through the
South those who have learned what pure religion and spiritual worship
mean, and they are ready and longing for something better than they
find within their reach. We can now push our work as fast as the
churches of the North will furnish the money. We most earnestly appeal