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June 9, 1909. TI
growth In mice ami Increase of strength anil
earnest effort of our heloved Stlon; for this
wo tlinnk (toil mill 011 mostly prny thin liloeo.
lug npon us In the ilnys to 001110.
J. M. HOUiADAY, Chairman,
8FECIAL ltKrOKT ON EVANOEM8M.
Your Special Committee on Evangelism hail
plaooil In Its IiiiiiiIk the tlrKt nnniinl report
of your Permanent Committee on Evangellstie
work together with certain overtursj
touching the work of the same.
Before reporting upon thin specific matter
nsHigneil It. your Committee Is onstraltie.l t*i
speak n few worils In regard to Evangelism
ItSCIt.
Itccogniziiig as wo <lo that faitli is not. alone
Important ami that tho prosorratlon ntid culture
of the life begotten is likewise of the
grMtrst concern; ami recognizing furthermore,
that about this, there Is neither debate nor obscurity,
w o would nevertheless respectively
suggest that the Assembly call the attcntlo.i
of the Church to the need of such evangelistic
effort as may arouse our people to a definite,
united and importunate seeking after
(tod for such an outpouring of His Spirit In
our midst, as shall result in the conversion of
far greater multitudes than are now being
saved.
Among the many facts which give emphatic
emphasis to the wisdom of such n quest
we name hut three.
t. In a marvelous manner In many lands
Ood Is displaying His power to save. Again
and again, through recent years have onr
hearts been thrilled by receiving ai counts ->f
most gracious and unusual quiekenlngs. When
there is such "a sound of going In the tops
of the mull?eri'y trees." Is It not time for us
to bestir ourselves? When so many of our
brethren In far severed and remote regions
have been thrilled by the news they h.ivc re
ceiven or wnai uoo naa wrougiir in omer
places niul have Itptn kindled by su"h a desire
for a like blessing, or that they could no:
rest until It came, shall we be content till
same news has come, be content to leave
ought undone, that may l?c done to prepare
the way of the Ixird before Iliiu and make
straight Ilis paths that He may show Himself
forth In our "midst, also with glorious might?
2. As Is mnnifest to all. we are today In
the midst, of a moral aro'isement. From
every part of our own land comes assurance
that our National Conscience Is being quick
cued. Oil all sides there are Indications of
an indignant revolt against corporate corruption,
civic and social unrighteousness and of
resolute assaults upon many forms of entrenched
and ancient evil.
But as we rejoice In all this, 'et us remcmber
that a moral awakening may have permanency
only, as It Is accompanied by a spiritual
awakening. It can be established only,
as it Is energized by a consciousness of (Soil.
If Its passion Is to be chastened, its momentum
dl'-ected and Its energies sustained,
there must be more than a mere turning away
from the service of sin; there must be a devout
nnd determined returning unto the servii*4>
i?f tlin T.orfl
Tl?e channels of our National life may lie
cleared, cleaned and deepened only as they
are swept by a floodtlde of grace.
3. Our day Is notable again, because of the
exceptional opiwirtunltles offered to. and the
cxhilcratlnir determination manifested by the
Church to go forth and accomplish her a great
commission As never before since the earliest
hours of the Christian Bra has the
Church been so well able and so seriously
concerned to obey her Lord's last command.
As never before are multitudes seeing and
resolutely seeking to solve ttie problems connected
with worldwide missions. As never
before Is the thought of conquest captivating
the Imagination of Christendom. But for this
very reason, less there be those who discern
not the times, are those who depend upon
the energy of nu Idea, rather than the mighty
constraint of a personal loyalty to Christ, w'c
feel there Is need of a gracious awakening.
Only ns things spiritual become of supreme Importancc
in the common consciousness of the
Church, will the high spiritual appeal of the
missionary challenge, become generally effective.
Onlv as the Cliurcb Is genuinely revive
will her members offer themselves and
their possessions In a measure that Is adequate.
If there ran but be born within us n great
passion for souls, this passion will lend us
to ,1 uuest and this quest to a conquest.
r uruiomioro. wo prettily ueeo huoii a i.ml
giving quickening In the home Church, because
when such revival Area arc already
hlnv.tng in Korea. China. India, and throughout
the Kast, It will not do to send forth a.-<
missionaries men whose own souls are not
aglow. At a tiuie like this, our missionaries
more than ever need to he men of heart heat
as well m of head. Only thus, ns God revives
us, shall we be able to find enough men
divinely thrust forth Into our pulpits and
our mission Holds at home and abroad; who,
forged In the tlames of such n Pentecostal
awakening, will he warm enough, as well ns
wise enough, lo win a world for Christ.
In the face of these and tunny other sueh
????
IE PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOU
l filths?your Committee if profoundly lini
pressed with the need of our chnrehes doing
whatever it may bo utile, under God, to
hnsteu the coming of n more glorious day of
grace. Therefore we recommend,
1. That this Assembly enll upon our
pastors and people to give themselves in
prayer that God inuy In ills Sovereign Grace
visit our home land with a great nwnker.lug.
1 2. That as a means of deepening a
concern and of lending assistance along
OVlliHTfliNtic llni.U tlu. I?n.n.,n,.n??
1 of Evangelistic Work, he continued and placed
Upoil the same footing with the other Permanent
Committees of the Assembly, as an
' ugeney for gathering Information, circulating
1 literature and giving such counsel and assistance
hi every part of the church, as may be
' sought from them.
3. That the Committee he commended for
the diligent, earnest and intelligent manner
in which It has done its work, und that n.
view of the many Independent evangelistic
agencies now operating within our hounds
that the Assembly recommend to our member*
the oflloes of this our own Kvangeltstle
Committee and commend it to their prayer,
co-operation and supiiort.
, 4. That in view of u possible world-wide
and concerted Evangelistic movement among
the various Presbyterian bodies, which bus
been reported to us by our Permanent Committee,
we recommend in accordance with
their suggestion that they be authorized to
appoint such committees as thev ninv ftml
expedient to confer with similar committees
from other Presbyterian bodies and that they
submit to the next Assembly such suggestions
in regard to this matter as may seem to
them wise.
5. That the Assembly furthermore authorise
the committee to keep in as close corresIKtndciicc
with the Presbyteries through Preal)>
terlal representatives, or otherwise as possible
and that all I'resbyterlal representatives
lie urged to diligence.
fl. That the Permauent Committee be
authorized to secure money for its expenses
not exceeding $1.0U0 per year.
7. That the following be members of the
Permanent Committee of Evangelism for the
ensuing year:
iter. C. It. Nlsbet, Chairman.
Rev. A. It. Curry, D. D.,
Rev. Wtn. N. Anderson, I). I>.,
Rev. C. K. Hemphill. D. D..
Rev. Geo. II. Cornelson, Jr., D. D.,
Mr. W. H. Raymond. Nashville. Tenn.,
Mr. C. C. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn.
8. That the committee be empowered to
elect a general secretary and to call ministers
to be Assembly evangelists, provided they
can see their way dear to do so without Involving
the Assembly In financial obligations.
Respectfully submitted,
RICHARD ORME FMX.N,
Chairman.
l)r. A. M. Eraser concurs lu all save the
fourth l-ecouimendatloii.
REPORT OF STANDING COMMITTEE ON
MINISTERIAL EDUCATION AND
RELIEF.
Your committee on Ministerial Education
and Relief, begs leave to submit the following
report:
We can not too highly commend the
diligence of our faithful secretary. Besides
discharging well the rout me duties of his
office, he has gathered Information that is of
great use to the Church; has had published
and sent out much helpful literature, touching
the clnlms of the ministry; and has
presented to thousands of boys and young
men the call to the ministry.
We would also commend the Executive
Committee for Its economy In the adinlnstratlon
of the business of the committee. Its
minutes are in our hands and we find them
well aiul neatly kept.
As to Ministerial Education.
We rejoice that the report shows 422
candidates, being an Increase of" forty-seven
over the year before, and an increase .of
eighty over two years before. But our need
Is still very great. For while In 1894 we
had one candidate to every 447 of our mem-.
hers, in 1908 we lind only one candidate to
every 710 of our members.
We rejoice also in Increased contributions.
The gift to the cause was $17711.00 more thau
the previous year. But if (be work is to be
maintained and more candidates are secured,
this year must show n very marked Increase
in our gifts to this cause.
With our rejoicing comes sorrow that 11
Presbyteries with 22.24(1 communicants, renort
no candidate for the ministry, and that
1Mb of our churches, being almost half, took
no collection for tliln vital cause.
We respectfully recommend:
1. That the parents In our homes, the
officers and teachers In our Sunday schools,
i the Pastors and Elders In our Churches and
our Christian Professors In the schools and
I colleges within our bounds, l>e urged to
earnest prayer and faithful effort to secure
au increase In the number of our candidates
for the ministry.
X That on the recommendation of our
Presbyteries, nhl be given td young . men
a f
.
-*9
TH. *7
studying nio<lli'ltic with n view to service
in our Foreign Mission Field, such aid to lie
given only while in the medical schools, and
to lie* in the form "of loans which shall he
cancelled by this service in the foreign field.
:t. That our l'resliytcrlos be urgeif to
exercise due and proper enre rn the selection
of colleges that our candidates are permitted
?o attend, especially avoiding those in which
the chair of philosophy Is filled by men of
rationalistic views.
4. We urge our Secretary our Seminary
Professors and Seminary students and pastors
to continue their good work In presenting the
claims of the Cospel ministry to the young
men In our State institutions, and thut
their work may he most effective. nnd
Urge our Synods to make the fullest possible *
provision for the spiritual interest of and pastoral
oversight on the young men from
Presbyterian homes who are students In their
State institutions.
5. Iteeognixing that the vast n?i?s??
"*
our candidates come from the colleges under
our direct ecclesiastical control, and feeling
thnt every effort should he put forth at this
time, not only to prevent any decrease, hut
to ?ecure an Increase In the number of our
candidates, the Assembly views wlrh alarm
all movement* looking to a separation of our
colleges from church control and protects
against the very beginning of such move
meat*.
?. That we adopt the blank for "Apnllcntinn
to be received under care of Presbytery"
as suggested by the Executive Committee, anil
direct that they be used by our Presbyteries.
7. That our Church undertake to raise at
least $40,0(10.00 for this vital cause.
8. Thnt the Assembly re-elect as members
of the committee on Ministerial Education
and Relief for the next three years:
Rev. J. 8. Lyons, D. D.,
Rev. W. H. Mlley, D. D.,
Rev. J. W. Tyler. (
Mr. Brnlnard Lemon,
whose terms expire at this meeting of theAssembly.
AS TO MINISTERIAL RELIEF.
We rejoice thut the blessing of God has
rested upon this work. Ail Increase of $8,583
in gifts marks the year's work. The bless
in*;* ?>r i ne income from the Endowment
Filial nre beginning to be felt. Rut with
nil till?, what we do for our noble beneficiaries
is pitifully inadequate.
We recommend: I
1. That the Church undertakes to raise
during the year the sum of $50,000.00. I
2. That our ruling elders be requested to
present this cause to each church in our
liouiids during this year; and the Presbyterial
Chairman be requested to arrange for
such a presentation of the cause.
3. There has been placed' In the hands of
your committee an overture from the Pres- *
hytery of Chesapeake, touching the organlza- ,
tion of a "Susteutatlon Fund" similar to
that recently put Into operation by the North
era Church.
Your committee would respectfully repoit
that our Secretary of Ministerial Relief has
placed in our hands papers giving a full description
of the said "Sustentatlon Fund,"
together with letters from prominent persons
telling of the practical workings of same.
After a careful examination of these, together
with a study of the history of the
old "Relief Fund for Widows and disabled
Ministers" of our own church begun In 1870
and discontinued in 183<t, your committee
would respectfully recommend that the over- r
ture be answered in the negative.
*. i am tne Endowment Fund be kept tiefore
our people, and that they bo especially
usktd to remember it In their wills.
THE INVINCIBLE TRUTH.
Oolllns, the learned infidel, once met
a plain farmer on his way to church,
and asked him where he was going. "To
church, sir," was the reply. "What to
do there?" "To worship God." "Pray,
then, whether is your God a great or a
little God?" "He is both, sir." "How
can He be both?" "He is so great, sir,
that the heaven of heavens can not contain
Him, and so little that He can
dwell in my heart." By his own confesclnn
J~~l J * " "
uluu vuiiiuD uctmieu mai mis simpls
answer had more effect on his mind than
all the volumes that had been written
against Him. The reason was that that
simple answer contained the invinclblo
truth. God is great, yet if need be, He
would focus every element of that greatness
to a single point for the rescue of
any soul that trusts in Him.