The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church: The Rationale and Policies Upon which Support of its Colleges is Predicated

Religion and education belong together, each being essentially a complement to the other. Religion needs education to interpret itself to the present generation, and to transmit its values to each succeeding generation. Education needs religion to give it depth of purpose and purity of application. Such is the undergirding philosophy of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. From its very inception, this youngest daughter of Methodism has placed education among its highest aspirations. Organized during the dark "Reconstruction Period" in the deep South, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church has always sought to promote a vigorous program of education. At first the central thought was to produce an enlightened clergy; but it was soon realized the educational needs among the ex-slaves which made up the entire constituency was so great that the general scope of education was extended to include all. Even though themselves, to a large extent illiterate, the Founding Fathers held in common a burning passion for the enlightenment of the race. So great was their zeal for education that the College of Bishops, in their address to the first General Conference meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1874 expressed their concern in these words: