NAME. Ancestry jot<! Ju.~ Married. File No. (Over)

Transcription

1 NAME Ancestry jot<! Ju.~ Married File No. (Over)

2 BRAXTON KELLY MASON MASON, BRAXTON K., Williamston, N. C.--Born, Davie Co., N. C.; W.F.C., B.A.; Lie. May 27, 1894, Apex Ch., N. C.; Ord. Aug. 26, '94, Fork Ch., N. C.; P. Advance, Clemmonsville, Marion, Williamston. BAPTIST MINISTERIAL DIRECTOR Page: 469 G. W. Lasher, Editor (B/920/L33)

3 The 1951 Pi lot Mountain Baptist Association minutes 1ists B. K. Mason in their memorials section.

4 BRAXTON K. :MASON. Brother Mason was born in Davie County, October 12th, 181)8. He was prepared for college at Fork Academy, Davie County, under Professor J. T. Alderman, now of Henderson, North Carolina. He graduated from Wake Forest College in 1891 with the degree of B. A. After graduating he taught several years at Dunn, Apex and Advance. He was ordained to the full work of the ministry August 26th: 1894:, at Fork Church. For three years he had charge of several churches in connection with school duties at Advance. He then gave up school work and has since devoted himself entirely to the ministry. He has held the following pastorates: The First Church, Marion, about two years, Williamston ill the Tar River Association about five years, Brown.Memorial, Winston-Salem, four years. All of thesf' churches are in!\orth.carolina. He then went 10 the First Baptist Church of Mullins, South Carolina, and there remained six years. From }Iu]]ins he moved to Portsmouth, Virginia, and was pastor of the Fourth Street Church in that city for seven years. Returning to North Carolina he located in Greensboro, where he now (1921) resides as pastor of Asheboro Street Church. h-om ll-t,s-\oy-~...qt +he.. Tar R,\fer A.s.:::oc..,a-t10VI Ib'30 - Iq 2 I b:j rhomdt-5 0. TCk.'f loy l'p'p' ~7q- ~~D.

5 TRIBUTE TO VETERAN PREACHER---B. K. MASON By Ralph A. Herring, Pastor First Church, Winston-Salem A visitor to the bedside of Brother B. K. Mason received more inspiration than he gives. Such has been my experience during the fourteen months since he has been kept bedfast by an injury received in a fall. A sign of youth is the power of adaptation. By this token Brother Mason is eighty-three years young! The way in which he has accepted the hardships which his crippled condition has imposed upon him proves a youthfulness of spirit which stems from the eternal fountain of God. Not one word of complaint have I heard even In the midst of pain and much loneliness. Always he radiates cheer and courage. He reminds me frequently of Second Corinthinas, chapter four, verse seven: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us". In the frail earthen vessel there is manifest an abundance of power which speaks eloquently of the grace of God. TEACHER; THEN PREACHER This state of affairs is not a product of recent years. Brother Mason's long and useful ministry extends back to the summer of 1894 when he was ordained at the Fork Baptist Church of Davie County. nd before that, two factors were quietly at work shaping the order of things to come---the Christian home and the Christian school. Reared on a farm in Davie County in a day when few went to college, his determined quest for an education took him to Wake Forest where he was graduated in the class of l89l---sixty years ago in June. Subsequently he taught for three years as Advance in Davie County where he also held the office of County Examiner of Public Schools.

6 B. K. Mason 2 Thus he came into the pastorate from the schoolroom. In 1896 he was married to Miss Fannie Richardson, music teacher in the school at Advance. To this union two children were born, a daughter, Kellie, who died at the age of seven, and a son, John Dennis, who now lives in Abingdon, Va. The first Mrs. Mason died in God moves in mysterious ways. An attack of typhoid fever figured in Mr. Mason's change from teacher to preacher. His first call was to a field of three churches near Marion, North Carolina, where he ministered for three years. The call of God and opening doors of service led him from Marion to Williamston, North Carolina, where he served for five years. From Williamston he moved to the Broad Street Baptist Church of Winston-Salem. This was in During his pastorate there on December 27, 1905, he was married to Miss Eunice Lillian Davis of Yadkin County. His subsequent ministry was much enriched by this capable and consecrated helpmeet from one of the finest families in this whole section. To this union there were born two children, Broadus Braxton Mason, a faithful member of our choir, and Lillian Marguerite Mason, now Mrs. R. B. Wilkins of Durham. From Winston-Salem Brother Mason accepted a call to Mullins, South Carolina, where he served six years; thence to Fourth Street Baptist Church, Portsmouth, Virginia, for a ministry of seven years. In 1919 he returned to North Carolina to become pastor of the Asheboro Street Baptist Church of Greensboro. His ten years at Ashboro Street terminated his active pastorate. In December, 1929, all the family moved from Greensboro to their new home on Reynolda Road, Winston-Salem. This move marked a new period of usefulness in the veteran preacher's ministry. At that

7 3 B. K. Mason time a brother pastor from Stuart, Virgina, wrote of him, "His scholastic attainments, his knowledge of the Book of Books, his adherence to Scriptural methods, his pleasing and friendly personality, his ability to present the message of salvation, his interest in and his love for the unsaved, along with years in the pastorate, make him equally effective in the pulpit of the finest 'First Church' or the smallest country church". He served two churches as pastor, the New Friendship Baptist Church, Liberty Association, and Forbush, near his wife's old home in Yadkin County, and a number of churches as supply pastor during these years. TWO "FIRSTS" There are two "firsts" to which Brother Mason can well lay claim. He was the first preacher to popularize the "interim pastor" idea in this section. Seasoned by experience gained through many years, Brother Mason has rendered useful service in many churches during the time they were without a pastor. His other "first" was in connection with the circulation of the BIBLICAL RECORDER. His church at Greensboro was the first to put the BIBLICAL RECORDER in the budget. Believing that the Baptist constituency must be an informed constituency, he delighted to urge other churches to follow his example. "Why retail the RECORDER," he would say, "when you can sell it on a wholesale basis?" Many is the time that I have received encouragement from Brother Mason. He is always a most discerning listener and his understanding of a pastor's trials and difficulties makes his fellowship doubly precious to me. He possesses in striking beauty three wonderful virtues: humor, honesty, and humility. It is hard to get

8 4 B. K. Mason him to speak of his own achievements. He modestly feels that he has served in relative obscurity. He will be the most surprised man in the world to read this article, but those of us who know him feel that he has well earned this recognition and much more besides. Like Barnabas, he is a veritable "son of consolation". On August 12, 1948, his companion was called home after a life of outstanding service. We are grateful that god has left him with us a while longer to continue his ministry of encouragement, and that his sunset years glow with the gladness he has brough to so many fellow pilgrims along life's way. BIBLICAL RECORDER March la, 1951, page: 9 (also a photograph is with the article)

9