Re-united! The Washington Herald on Sheafe's Return to the "Organized Work," 100 Years Ago

In coverage of the General Conference session in Takoma Park, the May 31, 1913 edition of the newspaper highlighted the return of the People's Church to the denomination second only to the re-election of A.G. Daniells and other top officers:

"The regular order of the conference was dropped yesterday long enough to hear a letter read from the People's Church of Northwest Washington, asking to be received into the denomination. A few years ago the church decided to sever its connection with the District of Columbia Conference and had been conducting its work independently. The pastor, Elder Lewis C. Sheaf, who presented the letter from his church, told the conference that reflection and experience had convinced the congregation that the severance of organic ties has been a mistake and by an almost unanimous

vote the congregation had made request to be received back into the denomination. After expressions of gratitude by numerous delegates for this action on the part of the church, the conference passed a vote of hearty welcome to the church . . ."

In remarks reported in the General Conference Bulletin (June 1, 1913), Sheafe expressed on behalf of the congregation "our earnest and sincere prayer that God may further his cause and may hasten the glad day when all these differences and misunderstandings shall have passed away, and God himself will wipe the tears from the faces of his people and gather them into one family, where there will be no more separation, no more severed ties, no more misunderstandings arising to wound our hearts nor his people."

After additional comments from A.G. Daniells, the conference broke out in the doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow."

Read more in Lewis C. Sheafe: Apostle to Black America, available in Kindle for $9.99.