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the Circle Plan. The membership of
this church is somewhat scattered, so
the circles have been arranged accord
ing to the geographical location of
the members of the Auxiliary. One
circle is located in Dupont City, one
in "B" Village, and one in City Point.
The women were assisted in their
reorganization by two members of the
Auxiliary of the Tabb Street church
in Petersburg. Mrs. R. R. Meacham,
president of the Tabb Street Auxil
iary, explained the work of the or
ganization and spoke especially of the
Circle Plan, showing its advantages.
Mrs. C. O. Robertson, Secretary of
Spiritual Resources in the same Aux
iliary, emphasized the fact that the
work of the Auxiliary is not to be
measured by the number of its mem
bers, nor by the amount of money
raised, but by the progress made in
building up the Christian life of its
members.
MORAL. TRAINING IN OUR
SCHOOLS.
America has a wonderful public
school system, and the teachers de
serve great credit for their efforts in
training American children, for they
are a very independent race.
Our present courses do not, how
ever, include teaching of any definite
code of ethics, or, code of morals, if
you please, and it is a serious short
coming. There is no country in the
world where children are so free from
religious influence as here, but neith
er is there any other country where
they receive so little definite instruc
tion in how to behavA as they do
here.
The Ten Commandments would
serve as a mighty good code of
morals, and while it is true that
tliese commandments are found in the
Bible, it cannot be said that they re
fer to any particular religion or creed.
They are a sound basis for conduct,
and are well worth teaching our
young Americans.
If this code is not satisfactory, then
let us formulate another code which
we nil can accept as fit to teach our
children and let us incorporate that
in the regular public school instruc
tion.
We can afford to devote a definite
period in the regular curriculum to
giving them instruction in truthful
ness and honesty, as well as other
details of the moral code. We can
not too strongly impress upon the
growing minds the abhorrence of ly
ing and stealing. As it is, we only
refer to these things when special
cases come up.
It is a fact that children pay more
attention to Instruction given them
in the school than they do to what
their parents tell them. Of course
"?r teachers everywhere do teach
tthem some ethics, but only through
their personal conduct and an occa
sional lecture.
If we taught grammar or arith
metic in that manner very few of our
children would learn much about
these branches, and since we acknowl
edge this fact by teaching, them dili
gently it seems logical to do the samo
w'th respect to morals and ethics.
We all acknowledge the necessity
for thorough training in any of the
different studies, such as mathe
matics, language, etc.; in fact, we
know that unless our children attend
school regularly, covering all grades
and the high school, they will not be
equipped to take good care of them
selves. If this is true concerning such
things, is it not equally true concern
ing morals, and does it not indicate
'he necessity for a- more definite
'raining in a code of morals?
There is plenty of evidence every
( Continued to pftfe 13)
Laymen and Their Work
FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL SUPEHIN
TEN DENTS' CONFERENCE AT
MONTKEAT, N. C.
A new departure, a Conference for
Sunday School Superintendents and
Assistant Superintendents, was put
on at Montreat, N. C.t July 10th and
11th by the Laymen's Missionary
Movement, with the approval and co
operation of the Sunday School De
partment of our Church.
These dates were the last two days
of the regular annual Sunday School
Conference at Montreat, and there
were quite a number of superinten
dents present who attended the whol-3
ten-day conference period, but in addi
tion to these there were superinten
dents who came as special delegate
for the two days from the following
Synods: North and South Carolina,
Virginia, Appalachia, Georgia, Ten
nessee, Alabama and Mississippi.
Quite a number of ladies also came
into these conferences from schools
whose superintendents were not pres
ent and took notes for them.
There were four conference periods
given over principally to open con
ference and discussion on the quali
fications and problems of the Sunday
school superintendent. The first of
these sessions was conducted by Cap
tain P. L. Slaymaker, Secretary of
the Laymen's Missionary Movement,
considering specially the qualifica
tions needed by a superintendent; the
second session on the knowledge need
ed was conducted by Mr. J. B. Hor
ton, of Columbia, S. C., and the other
two sessions on the second day by
Dr. M. McH. Hull, superintendent of
the North Avenue Sunday school, At
lanta, on the many problems of the
superintendent.
Addresses were made by Mr. J. B.
Horton on some phases of a Sunday
school superintendent's qualifications
and duties; by Mr. J. L. Hardin, of
Greensboro, N. C., on the unique work
of the Church by the Side of the
Road, with special reference to the
work of their Men's Club and Bible
class, of which he is the president,
and by Mr. J. P. Crowder, Secretary
of the Presbyterian Sunday School
Union of Petersburg, Va., on the work
of that organization and mission Sun
day school work around Petersburg.
Rev. Wesley Baker, superintendent
of the field divisions of our Sunday
school work, made an address on the
proposed training conferences to be
put on in centers over the South dur
ing the fall and winter.
Rev. Gilbert Glass, D. D., genera!
superintendent of Sunday schools, and
Rev. Wesley Baker attended everv
session of the Superintendents' Con
ference, and made a number of val
uable contributions during the discus
sions.
The superintendents at the last ses
sion voted unanimously that the con
ference had been well worth while,
and that they approved its continu
ance.
LAYMEN'S WEEK-END RETREAT
CONFERENCE AT MONTKEAT.
The Laymen's Missionary Movement
held their third annual week-end re
treat conference at Montreat, N. C.,
June 16th-18th, with over seventy
five men present from the six States
of North and South Carolina, Virginia,
Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.
They were a picked group of earnest,
active Christian men, considering to
gether personal evangelism and other
vital types of personal service by men
in the work of the kingdom of God.
The Holy Spirit's presence was very
plainly evident, all the men being
frequently deeply moved throughout
tlie conference by the personal testi
monies of the men present.
One of the leading ministers of our
Church who was in Montreat, and by
special invitation attended nearly all
the sessions, said that while it was
one of the smallest, he felt it was
one of the most powerful conferences
held at Montreat.
The special leaders of the discus
sion of the conference were Dr. J. P.
McCallie, of Chattanooga; Mr. C. It.
Caldwell, of Staunton, Va., and ltev.
Wade C. Smith, of Greensboro, N. C.
Mr. Smith gave four "Frank Talks
011 Personal Work," which were most
helpful and practical.
Rev. II. Nam Kung, a native min
ister of our Church in Korea, made
two addresses, the second the first
Sunday morning address to be made
at a regular conference of our Church
in the new auditorium at Montreat.
The sessions of the conference were
conducted by Messrs. C. A. Rowland
and F. L. Slaymaker, chairman and
secretary respectively of the Laymen's
Missionary Movement.
The following resolutions were
adopted at the closing session:
"Whereas, We, laymen called to
gether by the Laymen's Missionary
Movement in their third annual Lay
men's Week-End Retreat Conference
at Montreat, N. C., are brought face
to face with the facts that many Pres
byterian churches in the South are
without pastors, and without regu
larly conducted religious services, and
the reports to the General Assembly
show numbers of churches which have
made no additions in the past yeap
on profession of faith; and
"Whereas, it has been brought to
our attention that consecrated young
men and women, who have devoted
years of study and who are willing
to devote their lives to Foreign Mis
sion work, are denied the privilege,
and the extension of Foreign Mission
work is hampered by reason of lack
of funds;
"Be it resolved, that this group of
laymen call upon the laymen of the
Southern Presbyterian Church every
where, to rally to the call for active
service for the religion of Christ, and
by prayer, service and contribution of
our money. Join with us in pledging
ourselves for a renewed interest in
the spread of the gospel both at home
and abroad."
F. L. Slaymaker.
GREENVILLE, R. C.
The Laymen's Association of Eno
ree Presbytery are co-operating with
our committee in Sunday school
work. Sunday, June 25th, was a red
letter day for the laymen of Green
ville. They carried the three-fold
message of "The Workers* Confer
ence," "Mission Sunday Schools" and
"Trained Workers" to every Sunday
school in Greenville County." Reports
from the schools are that the speak
ers awakened deep interest in our
schools along the lines of message.
Hon. R. N. Ward made the follow
ing assignments: Greenville, First
church, W. Lindsay Wilson; Second
church, J. A. Winn; Third church, J.
E. B. Munn; Fourth church, A. G.
Gower; Monaghan, P. W. Seyle; Mc
Carter's, B. B. Smith; Greer, W. F.
Warren; Rudy River, J. H. Orr; Fair
view, D. M. Plowden; Fountain Inn,
J. A. Winn; New Harmony,. J. E.
Kestler; Lickville, R. N. Ward.
The laymen are. planning to follow
this up with constructive religious
work by taking religious survey of
cotton mill communities, to put 011 a
school for training workers in order
to meet the opportunities the survey
will reveal.
J. K. Roberts.
Supt. S. S., Enoree Pres.
TRANSYLVANIA DAYMEN'S
ASSOCIATION.
One of the most enthusiastic meet
ings in its history was held by the
Layman's Association of Transylvania
Presbytery at Campbellsville on
Thursday, July 13th. This associa
tion is composed of laymen of both
the Northern and Southern Presby
teries of Transylvania. About one
hundred men were present and the
program was interesting and inspir
ing from beginning to end. Presi
dent, Mr. Henry R. Turner, of Camp
bellsville, presided, and an inspiring
song service was conducted under
the leadership of Rev. W. A. Bosche,
of Springfield, augmented by a
splendid orchestra. Devotional exer
cises by Mr. Nelson Rhodes, of Dan
ville. At this meeting the annual
election of officers took place, and the
following men were elected for the
ensuing year: Mr. J. R. Durham, of
Lebanon, President: Mr. W. C. Mc
Chord, of Springfield, Vice-President;
Mr.. Nelson Rhodes, of Danville, Sec
retary-Treasurer.
Reports were made concerning the
reception of an overture on Church
union presented by this association
to the two Presbyteries of Transyl
vania. The reports indicated that the
Northern Presbytery was sympathetic
in its attitude on the matter, while
the Southern Presbytery failed to ac
cord it a very cordial reception. The
men went on record aft being very
enthusiastically in favor of continu
ing their fight for the union of the
two great branches of Presbyterian
ism and at least closer co-operation
until this can be brought about.
Splendid addresses were made by Mr.
E. S. Woosley, of Louisville, and Mr.
S. P. Hollinsrake, of Gainesville, Fla.;
Mr. E. R. Pike, of Louisville, and
Professor Charles J Turck, of Nash
ville, Tenn.
One of the important actions of the
association was the adoption of the
Transylvania Echo as the official or
gan of the association and the ade
quate financing of this paper. It was
determined to enlarge the work of
the association in the field of evan
gelism and all realms of Church ac
tivities, and to give greater publicity
to the work of the laymen through
means of its paper, the Transylvania
Echo.
At noon a delightful dinner was
served by the ladies of the Camp
bellsville church. Rev. S. J. Venable,
the pastor, and his congregation were
untiring in their efforts to make pleas
ant the meeting of the association.
This association has attained national
prominence by its stand for certain
great issues before the Church, and
at this meeting determined to engage
more actively and enthusiastically in
the work for the kingdom than ever
before. The next meeting will be held
in October. The place to be an
nounced later by the Executive Com
mittee. ?
WESTMINSTER, RICHMOND, VA.
A few weeks ago a brotherhood
was organized and named the Andrew
Robertson Brotherhood, in memory of
one of Westminster's most conse
crated officers. It already has a mem
bership of more than sixty. Its goal
is two hundred by Au%ust 1st.