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JUNIUS W. MILLARD IS LIVING STILL
Fallen Leader of Jackson Hill Baptist Church, Atlanta, Leaves Masterful Message to Preachers and Churches Every
where in His Unique, Comprehensive Letter of Acceptance so Recently Read to His Now Sorrowing People.
IE sudden severing of such a beau
tiful pastoral relation as that which
bound Junius W. Millard and the
Jackson Hill Baptist Church, is one
of the inscrutable mysteries of
Providence before which we must
stand forever dumb.
He was still a young man, and
yet half a dozen decades of minis-
E
try might look back with thanksgiving upon a
life of such achievement. Coming from fa
mous Eutaw Place Church, Baltimore (his first
pastorate after leaving the Seminary) he “com
panioned” with such a leader as Joshua Lever
ing in the loftiest plans for the furtherance of
the Kingdom and he brought the richness of*
this fllowship and the wideness and keenness
of his seer-like vision as a priceless contribution
to the progress of Ponce de Leon, the great new
church of which he was first pastor in At
lanta. What an unbroken pastorate might
have accomplished there can only be measured
in conjecture by the wonderful work which he
did there under God before his health broke
completely down.
His recuperating trip to the Holy Land, and
his imperative divorcement from the pulpit
for several months after his return only inten
sified the eagerness with which this great man
of God re-entered the pastorate.
It was the good pleasure of the Editor of The
Golden Age to attend the public reception given
Dr. Millard by his noble, rejoicing church,
Jackson Hill, and to speak briefly to the great
audience that were as happy as school children
over securing such a man as pastor.
Thank God, We Told Him!
Thank God, we told Junius W. Millard that
we loved him while his ears could hear and
his heart could feel.
His remarkable letter of acceptance was on
every tongue. And now that his facile, sword
like pen is sheathed and his gifted tongue for
ever stilled, we have determined to give that
letter in full to the world. It is a spiritual
classic, and it ought to be read and preserved
by every pastor and every church that needs a
vision of Duty and Beauty in the Kingdom of
God.
“Being Dead He Yet Speaketh.”
Now that he is gone, the brilliancy of his
mind, the wideness of his culture, the simplic
ity of his manner, and the sweetness of his
.spirit—all speak in the following letter with
new, living tenderness and power from his
“vocal grave”:
Atlanta, Ga., Jan. 14, 1912.
To the Members of the Jackson Hill Baptist
Church.
My Dear Brethren: I have given this week
to a serious and prayerful consideration of the
call to be your pastor, which you so unani
mously and heartily extended me last Sunday.
As a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, I hold
myself under orders to go where He wants me
to go, and do what He wants me to do; so this
week I have sought to know His will. As a re
sult of this week of deliberation and prayer, I
lay before you for your consideration the spirit
in which I am willing to undertake the work
at this place, and outline herewith for your
acceptance or rejection, the conditions under
which I am willing to accept your call.
First and foremost, I desire it to be fully
understood that in coming to you, I come, not
as the servant of the church, but as the serv
ant of Jesus Christ. To Him, and to Him alone,
I am to be answerable for all that I do, and for
all that I say. I insist upon this now in order
to establish my liberty in prophesying. I de
sire the utmost freedom in the pulpit, yet I am
free to state that every word I may utter shall
be spoken with love for you as well as loyalty
to Jesus Christ.
The Golden Age for December 19, 1912,
If I should come to you, I should desire to
undertake a pastorate broader than a mere
ministry to this church alone. I should want
to enter upon a ministry to the community at
large, and to seek to place this church in the
very forefront of the Kingdom, and to make
the result of the activities of the Jackson Hill
Baptist Church a real blessing to the world.
Now, if it is your desire that your pastor be
simply a preacher and visitor, delivering two
discourses on Sunday, and conducting a mid
week prayer meeting on Wednesday evenings,
the success or failure of his ministry being
judged by whether or not he pleases his hearers
by what he says in public, and makes an ac
ceptable visitor socially in your homes, then I
decline your call, arid you must seek elsewhere
for your pastor. I have opportunities for
preaching every Sunday, even while I am en
gaged in other activities, and can continue such
work of preaching under present conditions.
But, if you are willing, as a church, to enter
with me upon a ministry to the larger needs
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DR. JUNIUS W. MILLARD.
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of men, and to acknowledge the demands of
the Kingdom upon you here and now, and to
seek, as well as pray, that the Kingdom come,
and to consecrate to it yourself, and what you
have, then I can, and do say, Yes, to your call.
In that event I want us, as a people, not to he
afraid of the gospel, nor of men, nor of the de
mands of God upon us. Let us not be afraid of
the gospel, but study it and follow it whereso
ever it may lead us in service for our fellow
man. Let us not be afraid of men, not even of
the worst and most depraved. They are all
saveable, and Christ can meet their needs if we
present Him aright. Don’t let us draw back
from the financial demands that such a pro
gram may make upon us. All wealth belongs to
God, and if we do our part the necessary money
will be forthcoming.
This, then, is the spirit in which I can come
to you, but in doing so, I desire for you to
enter with me into the following league and
covenant:
As pastor and people, we agree with each
other, and with our Lord, that in the work we
enter together upon this day we will meet fully
and generously all obligations growing out of
our relations with Jesus Christ, and with each
other. In doing this, we declare that the gospel
deals with the entire man, hence we agree, as a
church and as individuals, to seek unselfishly
to care for all the human needs of our con
stituents. Where the needs may arise, we de
clare our interest in, and care for, the health
of the body of our people. Ours, like the min
istry of our Lord, is to be a ministry to the
sick. And as the body needs clothing and food,
we are to see to it that our people have the
proper care in these directions.
And as man has social needs, we are to en
deavor to make our church life a real brother
hood in which each individual member is to be
a vital part. There are to be no class distinc
tions among us, “for there is no difference.”
We are to look after each other’s welfare even
in a material way, not in a spirit of condescen
sion, but after the example of Christ, taking a
human interest in each other through love,
kind words, and with the gift of a brother’s
heart.
And we are going to take an interest in ciyic
righteousness. You can not develop a strong
spiritual life in an unspiritual atmosphere. It
will be necessary for us, with other Christian
workers, to take an interest in all city problems
that look toward improving public morals. We
are to identify ourselves with every movement
that looks toward the improvement of the po
litical, social, educational and moral tone of
the city.
And as the gospel ministers to the whole man
and man has an intellectual life, we will do
what we can to truly minister to the intellect
ual needs of our people. We pledge ourselves
to take a vital interest in Christian education,
and especially to give every child all he or she
will take of genuine Christian culture. In our
Sunday Schools we will seek to minister to this
legitimate desire for knowledge, and through
its library and its instructions, to give to teach
ing that which is founded upon the truths of
the Bible.
All this we covenant together to undertake
for our people in the name of Jesus Christ.
But our sympathy is not to be limited to our
membership. Ours is to be from now on a min
istry to this community and to the wide world.
We declare that we are a real part of the King
dom, and every case of need that comes before
us we will handle to the best of our ability.
Starting with an interest in our own member
ship, we claim the world as our brotherhood.
We are interested in the stranger who may be
within our gates, and claim the right to love
our enemies and to pray for the heathen. We
will take our part in every effort looking to
the uplift of the nations. We declare our in
terest in every kind of mission, both at home
and abroad.
Now, to accomplish this world-wide program
we need the necessary equipment. We ought
to be a body of Busybodies in the truest sense.
Every person among us ought to learn to do
something, and that something a little better
than anybody else in order to take part in the
activities of the world. As a church we ac
knowledge that it is our duty to do what we
can to make each one among us, not only self
supporting, but a helper in the work of saving
men. Our officers ought to study in order to
do their work better, and our Sunday School
teachers and visitors ought to study the prob
lems connected with their work.
We need, of course, a material equipment
also, but we thank God that we have a build
ing in which to meet and worship Him. It
shall, however, be our aim to equip the build
ing with such offices, libraries and appliances
as may be needed in our work of ministering to
men. In addition to our own building, we can,
of course, lay under contribution such equip
ment as may be at our disposal in the city of
Atlanta.
(Continued on Page 8.)
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