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VOL. LXXXVII. RICHMC
Facing the Fa
and Presi
At the sturt, we want to recognize tlic debt
we owe to the great Synod of Kentucky, for
having originated such a thin<r as Svnodieal
Home Missions. Under tlie inspiring leadership
of that great, good and consecrated Soul
Winner and Champion of Evangelization, Dr.
E. C. (iuerraut, the Synod of Kentucky blazed
the way through this untried lield of missionary
endeavor, and some, at least, of her sister Synods
followed. Blessings untold resulted.
Everyone knows what a boon this work has
been to dear old North Carolina, that staunch,
conservative, yet wonderfully progressive Synod.
The Virginia Synod will never cease to
be thankful for what this work has broutrht to
her. By it our work, in many sections, has
been revolutionized, and we stand today with
our faces turned to even brighter things, and
with a vision of more copious showers of blessings
to come.
Vv'e, therefore, take off cur hats to the bluegrass
Synod for giving us the cue, and bid
her a God-speed in her work for the Master.
Facing the facts in relation to Synodical
Presbyterial Home Missions! All in twenty
minutes! Touring the world in thirty days!!
That is, however, in keeping with the spirit
of the age, and we must keep up with the procession,
even if our head does turn white in the
attempt.
synod's and pkesbytery's home missions.
In our view, these two, when conjointly
worked, are so closely associated, so intimately
related, so absolutely interwoven, the interests
of the one are so precisely the interests
of the other, and in their plans of work they
should be so harmoniously co-operative, that
when you think, and speak, and act about
one, you necessarily think and speak and act
about the other. They must vitalize each other.
When Synodical llonie Missions do not move
along Presbyterial lines, and when Presbyterial
Home Missions do not move along Synodical
lines there can be little success. There
must be no cross currents. The great river on
whose banks this convention meets today flows
on, day and night, in harmony with the lesser
streams, which create it, and these in turn flow
on in harmony with the "Father of waters,"
which they create. So with tins work of the
Synods and Presbyteries. There must be liar
mony. Nothing must disturb the brotherly
flow. And I imagine that the reason why Synodical
Missions has not prospered at times,
is, that the Presbyteries have not interpreted
the true mission of the Synods in this matter,
and the Synods, on the other hand, have not
rightly guarded the rights of the Presbyteries.
From the view point that they are one, we shall
speak on
^ftifcFA/TA
)ND, NEW ORLEANS, ATLANTA, M
cts in Relatior
I x r?i i r
vyieriui nome
By REV. J. E. BOOKER,
Superintendent Virginia Synodical Missions
(ylddress made before the Laymen 'j Memphis Convention)
SYNODIC All HOME MISSIONS,
and narrowing the held even to a very much
siuaiicr compass, we snail deal with the Virginia
Synod's Home Missions. We do this for
three reasons:
1st. The Assembly a few years ago, appointed
a Committee to report on the best plan for
Synodical Missions. That Committee reported
at Lewisburg. It recommended the Virginia
and North Carlonia plans. The Assembly
adopted the report, and in turn recommended
these plans to the church at large. These plans
are very much the same.
2nd. The Virgina work is typical. Typical
oi wnat is to be done all over our Southern
Church. The problems which confront us are
those which confront all. With minor dill'erences,
the trend is the same. We have all the
phases of Home Mission Work in our one hundred
and fifty counties, in three states, that you
find anywueie. There are larger problems elsewhere,
but we doubt whether there are any
more difficult ones.
*u ?i
?. v; iiu?c me uny pruuiem, witn its slums and
factories. The negro problem which none of
us are meeting as we should. Then comes that
multitude of neglected fishermen along the
creeks, rivers and bays of our tidewater section.
There is also the college student problem.
Further West, we strike that great Piedmont
section with its ever pressing needs along
sustentation lines.
Pushing into the Blue Ridge and Alleghany
ranges we face the mountaineer of whom we
hear so much today. Then come the lumberman
hnndvr-fto rvf tuViAw. 1-?? 1 1 "* *
, ?? wi nuuui iwivc ueeu reauuea ov
this work. We have among them our Southern
"sky pilot," William Flinn, who is doing a
wonderful work.
And then come the mining town, and villages
with their teeming thousands, and tens of
thousands, both native and foreign, and when
your very heart has sickened with this sight,
you glide down the western slope of the Alleghanies,
and hit other problems just as hard,
along the upper Ohio Valley.
And so it (joes from Pennsvlvnnio tr?
Carolina and from the Chesapeake Bay to the
Ohio River. Our work is a typical one.
But my main reason for speaking about the
Virginia work is, that I know nothing else.
That is certainly reason enough.
What about this Virginia work?
Twenty three years ago, practically at the
beginning of that period of marvelous material
development which swept then and is etill
KElTXTH
WESTERNPf?ESBYTEP/A/sj\
?al Presbyter/an p
r/iern Presbyterian
ARCH 19, 1913. NO. 11.
i to Synodical
Missions
sweeping over our Southern land, the Virginia
Synod, startled by this amazing material development
in her own borders, sprang suddenly
to her i'eet, to face problems of the gravest
character in her Home Mission territory; problems
that had to be solved, and solved without
delay. It was no time to stand on ceremony,
and red tape was ruthlessly brushed aside.
Listen! Fifty counties of our one hundred
and fifty, without a Presbyterian Church.
Listen!! Twelve Presbyteries, live or six of
which were staggering under the burden of
their Iloine Mission problems which they could
not solve. Literally reeling beneath their
loads, with no prospect of relief. Facing such
a situation, the question arose:
What is the remedyf?for remedy we must
have!
The answer was, "The Synod!"
Then came another quest'on.
a ~4.:? i* * 1 > - ' >
v[u?iiuii xt'im me waicnuogs 01 tne constitution
Unconstitutional! was the cry.
why a synod's iiome mission work?
Why? When every one of these twelve
Presbyteries is doing a Home Mission work of
its own, should Synod do such a work, covering
precisely the same ground as these Presbyteries?
And still the answer would not
down, but came quick and loud: "The Synod."
\\'~ *1 i 1 ? - > -
?i c iiiuv iiicsc iwcive iresnyieries. sorno
are strong, some not so strong, some are weak,
and some arc very, very weak, and it so happens
that by far our largest and most important
Home Mission territory lies in the very,
very weak Presbyteries, and the very life is being
crushed out of them by problems they cannot
solve. They cannot cope with the situation.
The strong can take care of themselves
but what of these weak ones that are staetrer
ing under their load? Whence can come the
relief they need? And the answer was from
Synod, through co-operative action of the
twelve Presbyteries. And thus was born the
Virginia Synod's Home Mission Work, which
is a Synodical-Presbyterial co-operation, by
which the strong could help the weak. Cooperation
by which we could carry into practical
effect those grand injunctions of the Aposf
1 O * ' linen I'A rv%-> A l 1 1
. wv.?.? uxiu rtiiwuiui s uuraens, ana so
fulfill the law of Christ."
"Think not everyone on ,'iis own things, hut
everyone on the things of another." And the
result? Almost magical. Inspired by the help
inpr hand of Synod thus reached out to their
aid, those weaker Presbyteries sprang forward
with alacrity to their tasks, and now three or
four of them have become leaders in Evangelistie
and Home Missionary effort. And if no
other result had ever come from this Synod's
work, this stimulus gixen the various Presbyteries.
both strong and weak, to do their work