Newspaper Page Text
August 7, 1912]
laudable aim of winning hundreds and
thousands of souls for Christ. For several
years Dr. J. Ernest Thacker has
represented the church in a general
evangelistic campaign with marked
success.
At the recent: meeting of the Assem
^niy iae vyuiumniee or nome Missions
was authorized to enlarge its operations
and as soon as the way Is clear several
other general evangelists can be placed
in the field. In the meantime the Executive
Secretary of Home Missions was
instructed to call for volunteers to give
at least a month to evangelistic work.
Already quite a number of our most
earnest and successful pastors have indicated
their willingness to respond to
calls for their services.
The object of this writing is to notify
cnurcnes an<l pastors who are contemplating
evangelistic services in their
pustorates, that the Executive Committee
of Home Missions is prepared to assist
them in securing capable men for
special meetings, with but little outlay
of expense. Any pastor or church desiring
to hold special meetings in the
next six months should write at once
to Atlanta, and the Secretary will take
pleasure in assisting in securing some
minister with evangelistic gifts to conduct
these special services.
Will not churches, pastors, individual
Christiana unite in earnest and special
prayer for these meetings. Pentecost
was preceded with the statement:
These all continued with one accord
in prayer and supplication." All
genuine revivals are rooted and grounded
in prayer. "We issue this call to the
church to be workers together with us,
by first of all giving themselves to
prayer till there shall come a "Time
of refreshing from the presence of the
Lord." May the Spirit of God guide and
give his gracious influence.
t S. L. Morris, Secretary.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STEREOPTICON
FUND FOR THE FILES
VALLEY ORPHANS' HOME.
The subscriptions to this fund seem
to have ceased entirely. If others come
iu, mey can De pubiisned later. Of
the sum called for, $250.00, the following
amounts have been received: J.
H. Harrison, San Antonio, $6; A Jewish
Friend, Dallas, $5; E. O. Tennison, Dallas,
$2; Dr. E. W. Link, Palestine, $3;
Societies:?-Temple, $1; Itasca, $1; San
Marcos, $1; Beeville. $1; Fort Worth,
Hroadway, $2; Lovlngton, N. M., $1;
Hamburg, Ark., $1; Mart, Tex., $1;
Seguln, $1; Victoria, $1; Roanoke, $1;
Midland, $1; Greenville, $1; Colonial
Hill, $2; Gilford, $1; Godley, $1; Refugio,
$1; Ennls, $1;Galveston, $2; Hamilton,
$1; Goliad, $1; Colorado, $1;
Sabinal, $1; Semineole, $1; Gonzales,
$1; McKlnney, $1; Llano, $1; Belton,
51; Brownsville, $1; Westminister, $1;
Flrn Church, Sherman, $1; Temple, $1:
Oenihon, $2; Firts Church, Fort Worth,
$2. Total $64.
This shows how far short the contributions
are of paying for the outfit.
The children have had the outfit for
some time and have had much pleasure
and profit from the beautiful pictures,
but you can see that some one Is bearing
a burden. We thank all who have
helped and would be glad of the opportunity
to thank others.
Mrs. ,D. Q. McKellar, Treasurer Ladies'
Aid Society, First Presbyterian
ChurOh.
Forney, Texas, .Angust 1, 1912.
day of prayer for schools.
-? uau'uiRli muy uucirj is Oil to naTO ft
^ay of Prayer for Schools. The second
Sabbath of September has been most
appropriately designated. The schools
are opening, the churches are flllfrtg,
0
THE PBESBYTEBIi
the Sabbath schools arc* rallying. How
can the year's work be better introduced
than by praying for the children and
youth?
Tho magnitude of the moral and
Bpiiitual Interest* Involved "n this vast
work of education, or affected by It.
commend thiB suggestion to all Christian
citizens. For more than seventy
yearB the Day of Prayer for Colleges
has been observed by Christian people
Interested in these. Institutions, and incalculable
results for good have been
vouchsafed In answer to these prayers.
But while the student world In the
United States numbers not far from
300,000 persons, there are nearly elgh
ieeu minions in xne common scnools of
the nation. For every student in our
universities, colleges and professional
schools there are seventy-five in our
public schools. When we add the private
schools, which, with certain, classes,
take the place of public schools, we
have before us an agency which gathers
under its influtnce, with insignificant exceptions,
the children of the whole people,
which is steadily making its work
more thorough and complete and which
is confessedly one of the strongest
moulding forces at work upon the character
of the .nation.
What ought to be the bearing and
effect of this great agency on the morals
and religion of the people? This nation
is, in important respects, a Christian
nation. The education provided for her
future citizens ought to correspond to
the national character in this respect,
and should aim to transmit that character
to the coming generations. The
supreme need of the nation is not for
intelligent or mental culture in her
citizens, important as these are, but
that they shall be men and women of
good moral character, able to distinguish
between right and wrong, and
resolved to do what is right and to
avoid and resist what is wrong. The
chief end, therefore, of the schools, to
be held supreme above all mere intellectual
culture, is to develop the moral
naturt of the pupils. If these positions
are correct, it follows that any proposal
to divorce education from the general,
fundamental, unsectarian truths of
religion, to make our education merely
secular, and to absolve the teacher and
the school from all responsibility except
for the intellectual development of
pupils, is subversive of the true American
idea of education and fatal to the
chief interest for which our schools
were established. And yet this bald
secular theory of education is accepted
in wide educational circles. Many
cities and many whole states are mould
tins uieir Bcnooi system in. accordance
with It. This very disagreement as to
the true nature and objects of education
constitute a grave peril to the schools.
Those who believe in God, and in the
efficacy of prayer, will agree with us
that Interests so momentous and so
urgent as these ought, by a Christian
people, to be spread before the Hearer
of Prayer.
TKa T? -a a *
* "d iratiuiiai xveiurra /vBsociation win
send free of charge to all pastors who
will use their pulpits any lord's Day
in September to inculcate vital Christian
truth concerning the whole work
of education, a valuable treatise on
"The Bible in the Schools." This
treatise in addition to being a strong
argument In favor of the use of the
Bible In the schools, contains, as the
result of recent special investigation,
an authentic up-to-date detailed outHr>?
V-r, - --> T> li? ?
me m<j w.aiun aiiu i yrruun^s 01 tno
siuation of the Bible in the school question
in America today together with a
list of specially selected decisive
opinions of United States Presidents,
edueatonB and famntrus men gentaratlly on
N OF THE SOUTH
the relation of the Bible to civil and
national life. For this, address Dr. J. S.
Martin, 602-604 Publication Building.
Pittsburg, Pa.
TENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, MISSIONARY
EDUCATION MOVEMENT.
In several ways, the Tenth Annual
Conference of the Missionary Education
Movement at Silver Bay, New York,
July 12-22, was notable. It was the
culmination of a decade of the Movement's
work and the attendance was the
largest, with one exception, of any conference
of the movement. Including the
leaders, the registration exceeded 660
persons. The personnel of the delegates
was unusually high and their devotion
to the study classes and faithful attendance
at meetings of every kind, indicated
deep interest.
me addresses at general meetings
each evening, all of an Inspirational
character, were delivered 'by Robert E.
Speer, Rev. Cornelius H. Patton, D. D.,
J. Campbell White, George Sherwood
Eddy, Rev. J. H. Mellish. and Lemuel E.
Barnes. D. D. Bishop Arthur S. Lloyd,
President of the Board of Missions of
the Protestant Enisconal Ohiiw?ti nfnt
Rev. Lynn H. Hough, of Baltimore,
preached the sermons on the two Sunday
mornings of the conference.
A very practical feature of the conference
was the open parliaments at
which many phases of missionary education
in the local church were discussed.
Much interest was shown hy
the delegates in the Life Work Meeting
and several prsons volunteered for foreign
or home mission work. Other
delegates returned home seriously considering
the giving of themselves to
some form of Christian work. The
presence of several missionaries from
the held proved most helpful, as they
were able to speak first-hand of needs
and conditions both at home and abroad,
not only at platform meetings, but In
personal talks with inquiring delegates.
The observance of the Tenth An
niversary on the evening of July 18th
was an occasion for congratulations and
felicitations. Rev. John P. Goucher, D.
D? of Baltimore, presided and several
who particpated in the organization of
ttfie movement ten years ago, as the
Young People's Missionary Movement,
took part in the exercises. S. Earl
Taylor, now Secretary of the Board of
Foreign Missions of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, read the minutes of
the first meeting, which was held at
Silver Bay, July 18, 1902. Charles V.
Vlckrey. Assistant Secretary of the
Movement, traced its history; H. S.
Myers, another Assistant Secretary,
spoke of the present scope; Mr. Taylor
delivered an aldress on the International
Development of Mission Study and
Harry Wade Hicks, General Secretary,
discussed the outlook and needs in a
most inspirational way. Short addresses
by Miss "Lucy C. Sturgis, of
Boston, and Dr. T. H. P. Sailer, of New
York, representing the Episcopal and
Presbyterian Boards, respectively, were
made.
A particularly Interesting feature of
the conference was a sample China Missionary
Exposition suitable for use In a
local church. This was set up In one
of the halls and In connection with K.
each afternoon, there were demonstrations
of Chinese life by costumed delegates.
The scenic background for this
exposition Is owned by the Missionary
Exposition Company of New York, which
is, In fact, the exposition department of
the Msslonary Education Movement.
The scenery is available for rental to
local chnrohes.
A summary of the progress of educational
work for missions during the first
decade of the movement's history, in
(925) 15
which advance the movement itself has
taken a large part, was made by speakers
at the Anniversary Meeting. This
summary shows the following farts
In 1902 only one mission board in the
United States and one In Canada were
promoting organized mission study; in
1()12P there are 47 boards using the textbooks
and other publications of the
movement.
During the present year approximately
175,000 persons have enrolled in mission
study classes, using text-books prepared
by the movement
uunng its aecaae of history the Missionary
Education Movement alone has
published and distributed through the
Mission Boards 1,129,297 volumes of
missionary study text-books and other
similar literature. During the decade
preceding 1902, the total sale of mission
study text-books and other mission
study material used in the churches,
amounted to less than 40.000 volumes
(exclusive of the publications of the
Student Volunteer Movement).
rru- n?x A??-J - *
i ue urox imining conference lor trie
better preparation of missionary leaders,
having 168 in attendance, was held
at Silver Bay in 1902. During the summer
of 1912, more than 1,300 leaders
ffom all sectione of the United States
and Canada are spending ten days in
conferences under the direction of miss'on
hoard secretaries outlining and organizing
an educational campaign for
the ensuing year. More than 10,000
leaders have received this training in
the summer conferences of the Missionary
Education Movement during the
past ten years.
The Movement hae developed two
great missionary expositions. The World
in Boston and The World In Cincinnati,
in preparation for which more
than 20.000 volunteer helpers were
trained for two months in mission study
classes. Other similar expositions are
being organized under the direction of
the movement in Baltimore, Chicago and
other cities.
More than one hundred mdssionaries
now on the field made their definite
decision while attending one of the summer
conferences of the movement. A
much larger number have been similarly
influenced in connection with mission
study classes, missonarv expositions
and other phases of missionary education.
It is fair to assume that the more
than a million mission study text-books
mu wiuci inciaiuic prepairu uy
movement and vised In the churches
during the past decade, have been a
large factor In securing the wonderful
Increase during the past decade In the
annual contribution to missions of 456
per cent, or five and a half million dollars,
over the previous decade.
At the quarterly meeting of the board
of managers of the movement, held at
Silver Bay during the conference four
new members of the board were elected.
Mr. W. W. Cleveland, Secretary of the
Board of Foreign Meslons of the TTnlted
Presbyterian church, Philadelphia. Pa.:
Mr. B. Carter Mllllkln, Adult Study Secretary
of the PresbvterlaTi Board of
Foreign Missions, New York City: Mr.
Walter S. Schutz, of Hartford, Conn.:
and Mr. "L. H. Severance, of New York.
Dr. Prank Mason North, Secretary of the
Methodist "Episcopal Foreign Mission
Board, was elected a member of the
General Advisory Committee.
It was reported that of the Decennial
Fund of $50,000 the amount of $36,000
has been paid In or subscribed In good
pledges. The BoaTd approved plans for
the observance of Home Mission Week,
Novetrtber 17-24, and the Livingstone
v>ein.ennjai wnicn rails tjpon March 13th,
1913.