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HOPEFUL, AND HEALTHFUL SIGNS.
The whole Church is under obligations to the
man, or set of men, who discovered the Pres
byterian Progressive Program. It has been
only partially tested, yet everywhere it has
emphasized the Scriptural method of Church
life and work. It has demonstrated its suc
cess. No higher compliment could be paid than
the fact that churches ? some of them hostile
to the faith of our Church ? are recognizing its
value and adopting its methods.
The wonder grows that any pastor or any
Session should either be ignorant of its advant
ages, or refuse to accept its method of pro
cedure. Sometimes conservatism degenerates
into pure Presbyterian stubbornness and hides
a multitude of lazinesses.
It is pitiable to think that only 40 per cent
of our churches have really put this plan even
partially into practice. Of course in the main
the stronger churches have tried the plan.
What the results would be if the entire Church,
great as well as small ones, would put it com
pletely into operation, no man can tell. Cer
tainly our work would go forward by leaps
and bounds; our spiritual life would mount up
on wings as eagles. No valid objection has
yet been found to any phase of the Program.
Every supposed objection has been born in ig
norance of its wonderful adaptability.
"It does not suit the small scattered country
churches." Let some of the most scattered
country churches rise up and tell how it
worked with them. We venture to say that
some of the most signal successes of this plan
have been among the weaker country churches.
" It requires some considerable work among
the officers." So does every good thing. Only
worthless weeds grow without care and culti
vation. But this is no argument against work
ing a crop of corn or cotton. They will not
grow themselves. The plan does require at
tention, but it is as near an automatic plan
as anything churchly. It is of the essence of
church work that it requires individual atten
tion. This is its blessing. You can raise corn
and get nothing but corn; but you cannot raise
money rightly without a great crop of spir
itual blessings following.
"Hut this plan is too searching into the pri
vate practices of church members." This is
iu reference to the tithe ami the family altar.
We have known people who positively refused
to answer as to whether they tithed, or had a
family prayer altar at home. We fear many
of these were only intermittent in this prac
tice. Why should any one hesitate? It is not
boasting. It is certainly one way to bring the
matter closely to the attention of others. It
h^lps to set the standard.
The answer to all objections is simply this:
Where this plan in its fullness has been tried
it has brought spiritual blessings to the indi
vidual and to the church.
The money part is the least of it. A new
sense of personal responsibility has awakened
in the people of God, and a vigorous effort is
made to meet it.
Should not every pastor say, "If this is the
plan of my Church, is it not my duty to put it
in operation in my church* If he is afraid of
his Session or church, the sooner he gets away
the better.
Should not every Session say, "We are a
court of the Lord .Tesus Christ. The superior
Courts have advised us to put this whole plan
into operation in this church. We will hon
estly and prayerfully try it out." No Session
which acts in that way will fail of a happy
response from the people.
Should not our higher courts spend more
time planning and putting this Program over
than in amending the Book of Church Order!
]f we can put this plan into the hearts and
lives of our people, we will not need the Book
of Church Order so much.
Why not have a number of expert Presby
terian Progressive Program men, who stand
ready to help any Synod or Presbytery that
finds it difficult to set the matter going.
A. A. L.
Contributed
NATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE IN
CHINA.
Rev. J. Mercer lilain, D. D.
Some kind friend has sent me copies of the
"China Press," containing accounts of the pro
ceedings of the above Conference, which met
in Shanghai early in May. The Press contains
in full some of the most interesting of the
papers that were presented. While it is not
possible at this time and distance to draw any
conclusions as to the real value of the Con
ference, I think that your readers will be in
terested in quotations from some of the leading
papers of the meeting. I make no pretense to
interpret, but give exact language and leave
readers to make their own deductions.
The Conference was unique in that it was
composed of one half Chinese and one half
missionaries and others from foreign lands,
about five hundred of each. ltev. C. Y. Cheng,
D. D., was chosen chairman while Rev. P.
Frank Price, D. D., of the Southern Presbyte
rian Mission, was made one of the vice-chair
men. The outstanding impression, as stated
by the reporter of the Conference, was "the
superb quality of spirit and leadership shown
on the part of the Chinese delegates. The nat
ural oratorical ability of the Chinese itself has
made the Conference full of interest, but back
of this lay the greater fact of tremendous con
viction."
In his opening address Dr. Cheng said in
part: "We have assembled here for a very
serious purpose and under very critical cir
cumstances. We are here to review the past
work of the Christian movement in this land
and to find out how much ? nay, it may be
more correct to say, how little ? has actually
been accomplished. We are here to try to con
centrate our attention on the future develop
ment of the Chinese Church and on the ad
justment of its work to that of the missions.
We are here to face squarely the present situ
ation both within and without the Church in
all sincerity and with a Christian courage. We
are here to study the Christian movement as
a whole and not primarily as regards its de
tails.
"The Christian Church is face to face with a
challenge which must be met with deep seri
ousness and humility. ? ? ? ? * We do not wish
to overestimate the value of conferences, of
which there have been many in recent years.
We clearly recognize that they are not all-pow
erful and have their distinct limitations. Very
often they do not really touch the problems
at issue nor affect the actual conditions, but at
a time like the present when the Chinese
Church is growing restless and is seeking an
outlet for its convictions and aspirations, and
when the better educated classes of the nation
are taking their stand on the platform of sci
ence and challenging the Christian religion, it
is high time for us who regard the business of
God as the one great thing in life to get to
gether and to consider what have been our
successes and our failures, wherein lies our
strength and weakness and upon what points
fresh emphasis must be laid, and in what mat
ter new adjustments are required. * * ? ? ?
Christianity in China is seriously handicapped
at the present time by being regarded as a for
eign religion. This handicap should be re
moved and Christianity, which is a universal
religion and is capable of adapting itself to the
needs of every land in every age, should be
naturalized in China. We, therefore, welcome
all well directed efforts to help the Church to
undertake heavier responsibilities, to meet the
cost of its work, to manage its own affairs, to
express Christian truth in its own terms, and
to develop the sense of responsibility and own
ership in regard to all matters ecclesiastical,
administrative, evangelistic and financial. The
Chinese Church must not rest satisfied with
anything less than getting completely under
the load."
Dr. T. T. Lew, of the Theological Depart
ment of Peking Union University, speaking on
co-operation in the work of the church said
in part: "The Chinese Christian Church shall
be a courageous experimenter in co-operation.
She believes in co-operation because it is God's
will that she should. God has raised up apos
tles from various nations and sent them to
China to establish His Church in China. The
corner-stone of the Chinese Church is inscribed
with names in many languages. God has a
purpose. God desires that in China, through
His Church, the unity of the human family
under His Fatherhood shall be fully mani
fested. The Chinese Church believes in co
operation because her own needs tell her that
she must. The vastness of her task, the mul
tiplicity of the demands, the ^eed of diverse
gifts claim every available force."
The report of the Commission on "The Mes
sage of the Church" deserves to be printed in
full, but space forbids, so we content ourselves
with a few quotations from the mora import
ant parts. This was the only Commission that
was made up entirely of Chinese. On the sub
ject of consecration the report says: "We re
cognize that the personal conduct of individ
ual Christians and the behavior of the Chureh
as a body is the living testimony to the Gospel
of Christ. We recognize that China is now
passing through a critical stage of transition
and in every walk of life there is a crying need
of moral character.- We thank God for H'3
creation of opportunities which have changed
the indifferent attitude of the Chinese nation
to Christianity to an attitude of close scrutiny.
This demands an even more genuine Christian
life on the part of every Christian and on tli^
part of the Chureh as a body. We confess with
humiliation the failure of the Church to live
up to the opportunity God has given her. * * *
? ? We recognize that the task of evangeliza
tion?cannot be efficiently done without a g<M1
uine Christ-like life. Therefore we appeal t?
all those who call themselves Christians to re*
dedieate and re-consecrate their lives and pr?J
that the living power of the Holy Spirit m8.v
help us to glorify the n?me of Christ."
"We Chinese Christians accept the Bible as
the inspired Word of God and the supreni'
guide of faith and practice. We do hereby
express our appreciation of the patient, p''r*
sistent and diligent work of those servants ^
God who made the Bible known to our people
We are fully conscious of the fact that t1:1'
^ f r
Chinese Church, as a Church, is yearning t?r
a Bible for the Chinese which is the work ^
the Chinese, just as the English Bible is tl>p
work of English scholars and the Germ?n
Bible is the result of the labor of German mA"
of God, so the Chinese need a version of t1"'
Scriptures which is the product of the rev^r