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HOPEFUi. AND HEALTHFUL SIGNS.
Tin* whole Church is under obligations to the
until, or set til' men, wiiii *1 iseovcred tlio I'l'.'s
I ? v t ? ? i*i si 1 1 Progressive Program. It lias been
only partially tested. yet every where it lias
ein | >hasize< I tin* Scriptural method ot Church
life ami work. Il lias demonstrated its suc
eess. No higher com ( > I i 1 1 1< * 1 1 1 could lie paid tlnui
the lad that churches some of t hem hostile
to i In- faith of our Church are reeogni/.ing its
value ami adopting its methods.
The woinler arrows that any pastor or any
Session sliouhl either he ignorant of its ;i? I \ a 1 1 1 -
aires, or refuse to accept its method of pro
eedure. Somet imes eoiiservat ism degenerates
into pure Presbyterian st uldioriiiiess ami hides
a multitude uf lazinesses.
It is pitiable to think that only 10 per eenl
of our eh urelies have really put this plan even
partially into practic'. Of course in the main
the stronger eliurehes have tried the plan.
What the results would lie if the entire Church,
ureal as well as small ones, would put it coin
plet ly into operation, no man can tel!. t'er
tainly our work would go forward by leaps
and hounds; our spirit ua I life would mount up
on wings as eagles. No valid objection has
yet I found to any phase of the Program.
Kverv supposed object ion has heen lit it'll ill ig
noraue ? 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 success's of this plan
have lieen anion*; the weaker country churches.
"It requires sonic cnusidcrahl.' work anions
the officers. So docs every good I hill};. Only
worthless weeds grow without care ami culti
vation. lint this is no argument against work
ing a crop of corn or cotton. They will not
??row t lieins d ves. The plan docs rcipiire at
tention. hut it is as near an automatic plan
as anything churchly. It is of the essence nl
church work that it requires individual atten
tion. This is its blessing. \ mi can raise corn
ami I nothing hut corn: hut you cannot raise
money rightly without a great crop of spir
itual lil ?ssings follow ing.
"I'nt this plan is too searching into tin* pri
vate practices <d church members. This is
in reference to the tithe and the family altar.
We have known peopl ? w ho positively refused
to answer as to whether they tithed, or had a
family prayer altar at home. We fear many
of (hew were only intermittent in this prae
t ice. Why should any one hesitate? It is not
hoast i ii vr. It is certainly one way to bring the
matter closely to the attention of others. It
h -Ips to set the standard.
The answer to all objections is simply this:
W here this plan in its fullness has been tried
it has brought spiritual blessings to the indi
\ idual ami to the churtdi.
The money part is the least of it. A ii.'W
sense of personal responsibility has awakened
iu the people of (!od, and a vigorous cflfort is
made to meet it.
Should not every pastor say, "If this is the
plan of my Church, is il not my duty to put il
iu operation in my church'' If he is afraid of
his Session or church, the sooner he gets away
the belter.
Should not every Session say, "We are a
court of the Lord .lesiis Christ. The superior
t oiirts have advised us to put this whole plan
into operation iu this church. We will hon
estly and prayerfully try it out.*' No Session
which acts iu that way will fail of a happy
response from the people.
Should not our higher courts spend more
time planning ami putting this Program over
Ilinn in amending (lie P?ook of Church Order?
If we can put this plan into the hearts am!
lives nl' our people, we will not need the liook
of < hureh 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
funis it ditlieult to set the matter going?
A. A. Ti.
I ? ?
Contributed
NATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE IN
CHINA.
Kev. .1. Mercer lilain, 1). I).
Some kind friend lias sent me copies of tin*
"China I'rcss, " ?*? ? 1 1 1 aiuing accounts of tin' pro
lings of llif above i 'oiifcrcnec, which met
in Shanghai early in May. Tin- I'rcss contains
in lull sonic ??f the must interesting ol* (lit*
papers that were presented. While it is not
possible at tliis I i in*- ami distance to draw any
conclusions as |u (In* real value of the Con
ference, I think that your readers will he in
terested iu quotations from some of the leading
papers of the meeting. I make no pretense to
interpret, hut 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,
ahout live hundred of each. Kev. ( V. Cheng,
l>. I)., was chosen chairman while Kev. 1'.
I"' rank I'ricc, I). 1)., of the Southern Presbyte
rian Mission, was made om of the vice-chair
m mi. The outstanding impression, as stated
by the reporter of the Conference, was "the
superb quality of spirit ami 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 ill.* greater fact of tremendous coii
v iei ion. "
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 ar.' here to review the past
work of the Christian movement iu 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 ihc 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 he 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 elcarlv recognize that thev are not all-pow
erful and have t heir 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 takiiur their stand on the platform of sci
ence ami challenging the Christian religion, it
is high time for us who regard the business of
(!od as the one great thing in life to get. to
gether and to consider what have been our
successes ami our failures, wherein lies our
strength ami weakness ami upon wliat point'
fresh emphasis must be laid, ami in what unit
ter new adjust ments are required. * v *
Christianity in China is seriously liandieapp<i|
at the present time by being regarded ;is a I'm
eign religion. This handicap should he it
moved and Christianity, which is a universal
religion and is eaj>al>le of adapting itself t<? t lit
needs of every land in every age should In
naturalized in China. We. therefore, wclcoint
all well directed etforts to help the Church In
undertake heavier responsibilities, to meet tlx
cost of its work, 1<i manage its own affairs. tu
express Christian truth in Ms own terms, an<l
to develop the sense of responsibility and own
ership in regard to all matters ecclesiastical,
administrative, evangelistic ami linaiicial. 'I'll,
Chinese Church must not rest satisfied with
anything less than getting completely umhr
the load."
I )r. 'I'. T. Lew, of the Theological l)eparl
men! of Peking Cnioii I'nivnsity, speaking mi
co-operation in the work 4 > i* the church s:i i ? I
in part : "The Chinese Christian Church shall
be a courageous experimenter in cooperation
She believes in co-operation because it i*. (Jod *<
will that she shoubl. (Sod has raised up apes
tics from various nations and sent them m
China to establish llis Church in China. Th>
corner-stone of the Chinese Church is inscribed
with names in many languages. (Sod has a
purpose. (Sod desires that in China, through
llis Church, tile unity of the human famib
under llis Fatherhood shall be fully mani
fested. The Chinese Church believes in en
operation because her own needs tell her that
she must. The vastness of her task, the null
tiplicity of the demands, the need of divert
gifts claim every available force."
The report of the Commission oil "The Mi
sage of the Church" deserves to be printed in
full, but space forbids, so we content ourselv<"<
with a few quotations from the more import
ant parts. This was the only Commission thai
was made up entirely of Chinese. On the s"l'
jeet of consecration the report says: ''We iv
cognize that the personal conduct of indiCd
ual Christians and the behavior of the Church
as a body is the living testimony to the (los|?cl
of Christ.. We recognize that China is 1 1 < ? ^
passing through a critical stag' of 1 ransil i<?a
and in every walk of life there is a crying nccil
of moral character. We thank (Sod for lb
creation of opportunities which have ? ? 1 1 a 1 1 < I
the indifferent attitude of the Chinese nati?,|!
to Christianity to an attitude of close scrutiny
This demands an even more genuine Christian
life on the part of every Christian and on H"
part of the Church as a body. We confess w ill)
humiliation the failure of the Church to li*v
tip to the opportunity (Sod has given her. *
* * We recognize that the task of evangelic'
tion-eannot be efficiently done without a go
nine Christ like life. Then fore we appeal
all those who call themselves Christians to r>
dedicate and re-consecrate their lives ami |>i"|S
that the living power of the Holy Spirit m:l.v
help us to glorify the name of Christ."
"We Chinese Christians accept the liible
the inspired Word of (Sod and the siiprein'
guide of faith and practice. We do herd'}
express our appreciation of the patient, |" 1
sistent ami diligent work of those servants ?'
(Sod who made the liible known to our peop'1'
We are fully conscious of the fact that I
Chinese Church, as a Church, is yearning I"1
a liible for the Chinese which is the work
the Chinese, just as the English Bible is t'1'
work of Knglish scholars and the (Semi:'"
liible is the result of the lhhor of (Senium 1" 1
of (Sod, so the Chinese need a version 0!
Scriptures which is the product of the rev1