The Unity Mission Church
103 W. 117th Street, NYC
After being introduced to conduct said meeting and seconded by another member, FATHER DIVINE addressed the congregation present at this Annual Meeting as follows:
'It has been moved and seconded that FATHER DIVINE, the PASTOR, the FOUNDER and OVERSEER of the Church, preside over the meeting as CHAIRMAN. All in the favor let it be known by the raising of your hands. (All hands were immediately raised.)
PEACE, EVERYONE: I presume it is your desire that I should preside over you here now, then and there, and wheresoever you go. If this be true then I Personally may refrain, for since I AM Universal and I have long since declared, 'Here you all are and there I AM; there I sit and here you stand!' the Moderator may be enacted through whomsoever HE will. It does not necessarily mean that I must Personally preside.
'As there is much work to be done, yet I AM supposedly the only One to work without and within, I do not necessarily have to preside as a Person as I stand. It is verified and realized that I will and must necessarily preside.
'You want GOD to take control of all of your meetings and you have declared throughout the universe, as Believers, Followers and those who are called children of MINE, GOD is the Head of this House, this Church, this Assembly; hence, HE is the Chairman wheresoever presiding is done under the Peace Mission Movement, since HE is the FOUNDER and the ESTABLISHER of it!
'Then I say, I will that I will arise in someone eligible, with love enough and bold enough, and do MY Duty in someone!
'But while I AM on MY Feet I would like to say, the Secretary no doubt will read the last Annual Meeting's Minutes according to custom, and give any other necessary information to the Church, as well as the Board of Trustees, of what we are about to do. The time is quite late and seemingly quite well expired, but we must go on with or without MY Person, and realize I AM EVER PRESENT. If you do not recognize MY PRESENCE you cannot expect to be Successful and Prosperous; for when I AM Personally absent from your view, from a Personal point of view, you would be doubtful and fearful, thinking I AM not with you. But when you know the TRUTH as IT IS, you KNOW I AM PRESENT at all times! Then you will be the SAME at MY Personal absence as in MY Personal Presence!
'To be eligible to fill any official duty in the Unity Mission Church, Home and Training School, Incorporated, one must be eligible mentally and spiritually and must be the SAME at MY Personal absence as in MY Personal Presence. And I have declared even in the Sonship Degree,
'Be ye also ready, you know not the hour the Son of man cometh!'
'Therefore, if you are always ready, whensoever I Come, there will be no difference in consideration but merely the Recognition of MY Personal Presence, and yet it is the SAME, for you cannot sever ME from MY Person!
'To be eligible to fill the Holy Duty of the Holy Officials of this Church you must be Honest, Competent and True and must be without guile, deception, without biasedness or selfishness. Realize, when I AM personally absent then I AM PRESENT. Since you have declared I AM EVER PRESENT, then do the SAME and be the SAME at MY Personal ABSENCE as in MY Personal PRESENCE!
'In this Church there shall be no soliciting for any cause whatsoever if I Preside. MY Spirit and MY Presence will attract the masses and draw them. MY Spirit, MY Mind, MY Love and MY Presence will produce the Abundance of the Fullness and will supply everything heart can desire!
'No soliciting even from the immediate Members of the Church; for if you recognize MY Ever Presence you will not wait for some special occasion to try to do something to make ME think differently when I Come Personally. You should BE the SAME, you should DO the SAME, you should TALK the SAME, you should THINK the SAME and you should ACT the SAME!
'These thoughts I thought to drop for your consideration to build you up in a most Holy Faith that cannot be shaken. If because I AM Personally absent from time to time, you think you must do soliciting for anything, it shows you have denied the REALITY of MY EVER PRESENCE and the OMNIPOTENCE of it in its mission to carry out MY PLAN and PURPOSE!
'These thoughts are well worth considering. Now as I Preside, if you will allow ME to and get out of the way with your egotistic selves and superstitious, fearful and doubtful self and everything else of SELF, I WILL PRESIDE, for there will be none other to Preside saving ME MYSELF!
'Look not upon ME as to what you can personally see, but observe ME as I AM and be the same and realize I can and will Preside and serve, the same as I have been.'
......'Through the doors of the Church and the Church System as exemplified among you, as MY Service to and for humanity generally is extended for the good and for the cause of humanity as a Humane Worker, even so should other officials be under this Banner to SERVE Willingly and Untiringly; Trust Implicitly, Conscientiously and Sincerely in the INFINITE and live our Church Discipline, our By-Laws of our Church, our Righteous Government Platform, our Declaration of Independence as a nation and our Bill of Rights to be enacted in every activity as indivisible; bringing RIGHTEOUSNESS in Government and GOVERNMENT in Righteousness and enacting both IT and THEM for the common GOOD of man. Then serve those with whom we are not concerned conscientiously, sincerely as we serve those with whom we are concerned, and do not live for SELF but BE Unbiased, Unselfish and Impersonal, but Interracial, Interdenominational and International; have all of these Qualities and Characteristics combined within and UNIFY effectively UNSELFISHLY with the children of men, not for ourselves but for the COMMON GOOD of THEM! When we do that, then and only then are we eligible to fill official duty in this Church!'
'A good many of you have heard an old familiar hymn that says:
Oh, for a heart that will not shrink,
Though oppressed by every foe;
A heart that will not murmur nor complain
On the brink of any earthly woe;
A heart submissive, meek and sweet,
My great REDEEMER'S Throne;
Where CHRIST ALONE is heard to speak,
'That is the KIND of HEART and MIND we call for in THIS CHURCH! Therefore, we
seek such to worship GOD as such! Can you not see the mystery? And when we serve
conscientiously, sincerely and unbiasedly, being absolutely unselfish and a Living
Sacrifice TO and FOR the Cause of GOD and for the Cause for which HE Stands,
then you are made ELIGIBLE by the Spirit of the Presence of HIM within! It is
Beautiful!
'Take these thoughts to consideration and as you make your motions, objections and endorsements, realize to the best of your knowledge, which person is most eligible through consecration, through self-denial, through virtue and by the virtue of the fact that they are consecrated and a living sacrifice to GOD. I thank you.'
The New Day: March 24, 1945 A.D.F.D., Pgs. 13-14
************