James K. Humphrey and the Sabbath-Day Adventists

Chapter 1. THE UTOPIA PARK AFFAIR

- 14 Chapter 1 The Utopia Park Affair November , 199, was a historic day for James Kemuel Humphrey and the members of the First Harlem Seventh-day Adventist church. That Sabbath ,Humphreypreachedhislastsermonaspastorof theflagshipcongregation of the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The title of his sermon, which was based on the first of the Ten Commandments recorded in Exodus 0,was “Thou Shalt Have No Other God,”and for reasons that he never divulged or never became known, Humphrey cried throughout the sermon. It isunclearwhetherAdventistchurchleaderswerepresentfortheworshipservice atFirstHarlemthatmorning,thoughitiscertainthattheywereinattendanceat the business meeting of the church that evening.Among those present were the president and secretary of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, W. A. Spicer and C. K. Meyers; the president of the Atlantic Union, E. K. Slade; and the president of the Greater New York Conference, Louis K. Dickson. Alleging that the meeting had been requested by Humphrey, Greater New York Conference president Louis K. Dickson, reading from a prepared statement , stated that church leaders were at First Harlem to “talk over”1 with the congregation “as brethren” a matter of great importance to the denomination and the“cause of God.”He regretted the“much-to-be-deplored crisis”to which they had been brought by the actions and attitude of James K. Humphrey and went to great lengths to assure the church that church leaders had an abiding interest in their welfare and the future of Adventist efforts in the African American community in Harlem.Dickson characterized Humphrey as an individual of “large ability” whose work God had signally blessed with success. Yet Humphrey’s speculative dealing in a real estate “promotion and colonization enterprise”was proof positive of his“disregard for the well-established policies - 14 - - 15 The Utopia Park Affair and regulations of the denomination.” Dickson then elaborated on the unity that he claimed was both a legacy and hallmark of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, saying that unity was “one of our most sacred legacies and our most potent weapon against the assaults of the enemy of truth.” Moreover, the success and prosperity of the church were directly tied to the loyalty of its members to the organization, and the disregard of the fundamental principles of church organization was tantamount to offering hospitality to Satan. Dickson then painstakingly delineated the evolution of the events that had brought the group to that point. He read in their entirety his letter of August 13 to Humphrey, in which he had appealed for information about Humphrey’s Utopia Park venture, Humphrey’s August 0 response, in which Humphrey claimed the project was “absolutely a problem for the colored people,” and his follow-up letter to Humphrey, in which he expressed dissatisfaction with Humphrey’s response. Dickson informed the congregation that Humphrey’s uncooperative attitude had left him with no other alternative than that of takingthemattertotheExecutiveCommitteeof theGreaterNewYorkConference, which, with Humphrey present, had voted to accept the recommendation of the Executive Committee of the Atlantic Union Conference that Humphrey’s ministerial credentials be revoked. Still, opportunity had been provided for Humphrey to acknowledge the error of his ways and to seek counsel from church officials. Not surprising, Humphrey had rebuffed all such overtures.3 Dickson informed First Harlem that their pastor, contrary to his claims that the denomination had failed to demonstrate care and concern for African Americans in general and Humphrey in particular, had spurned its efforts to resolve some Black-White issues in a collaborative way. Specifically, Humphrey, who had been appointed to a special committee impaneled at the 199 Spring Council of world church leaders to study the feasibility of Black conferences, had failed to attend any of the meetings called by the group, on one occasion saying he was too sick to attend. Even though the church was already fractured,Dickson stressed the incongruity of members of an organization dividing and working independently of each other and appealed again for Humphrey to reconsider his position. The Conference president also appealed to church members, asking them “to take their stand as loyal supporters of order and organization in the church of Christ”and reminding them that their allegiance was “to God and to His church, and not to any individual.”4 The November , 199, meeting lasted five stormy hours, during which the First Harlem congregation, standing in almost unanimous solidarity with - 15 The Utopia Park Affair - 16 The Utopia Park Affair...