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three dollars per annum. VoL XXIX.—No. 41. ©rifliital |)ocfni. THOU KNOWEST I LOVE THEE. Lord, thou all thing?; thou knowest that I love thee.—St. John xxi, 17. O Thou, knowing all things, I know that Thou knowest, That I, the least worthy, the poorest, the lowest, Who only, through tears, look to Heaven above me, That I, even I, 0 ! my Saviour, do love Thee. Though often I stray from the way, strait and narrow, My sins, Lord, Thou knowest, do pierce as an arrow The heart and the conscience, that well do re prove me, But Thou knowest all things, and knowest that I love Thee. When I think of my negligence, luke warmness, colduess, I oftentimes fear Twere presumption and bold ness To come unto Thee, if the thought did not move me, That, Thou knowest all things, and knowest that I love Thee. From the path Thou hast mark’d when I see my meand'rings From Thy cause and Thy cross my backslidiugs aud waud’rings, To urge this, my plea, ah, it well doth behoove me, That Thou, Lord, knowest all things, and know est I love Thee. Blind, erring and weak, I am dust only and ash es, But my sin-bestain’d garments I know thy blood washes, Yet, I’d not raise mine eyes to the Heavens above me, But that Thou, blessed Saviour, dost know that I love Thee. Who love Thee, I know, Thy commands must be keeping, And, though striving to do so, with praying and weeping, 1 know in Thine eyes I have naught to approve me, Naught to plead, but Thou knowest, 0 Lord, that I love Thee Columbia, S. C. M. M. District Convention of the Augusta District, Ga. Conference. The District Convention of tjjie Augusta District called by Rev. Geo. G. N. MacDonell, Presiding Elder, was held in Waynesboro, Ga., commencing on Friday, Sept. 18th, 1866. The exercises were begun with a, sermon by the Presiding Elder, after which the or ganization was effected by the election of Rev. Geo. G. N. MacDonell as President, and John W. Heidt, Secretary. Nearly forty delegates were in attendance, representing every part of the District, ex cept the Springfield Circuit. Much inter est was manifested in the objects of the meeting. Brotherly love and Christian fel lowship marked the proceedings. The Church’s wise counselor, Rev Dr. L. Pierce, was present, and addressed the Convention on various topics of great value to the Church. His views were embodied in a communication which was referred to the Committees, and forms a large part of the Reports which are hereto attached. These Committees were as follows : On Missions and Missionary Collections, R. L. Scruggs, W. A. Bartlett and J. Joftesj on Finance and Ministerial Support, I. P. Gar vin, J. J. Jones and R. W. Lovett; on Pas toral Duties and Church Meetings, A. M. Wynn, C. J. Oliver and A. A. Beall ; on Religious Interests of Colored People, T. I>. Lanier, Jas. W. Clarke, J. E. Larkin; on Sunday-schools, Geo. R. Kramer, C. D. Rogers and W. H. Clark ; on Division of Circuits, J. M. Austin, D. D. Cox and J. M. Stokes. This Convention bids fair to be a source of great good to the Church in establishing fixed and uniform plans for carrying out its various interests. Church Meetings, and the proposed schemes of financial arrange ment, properly used, and faithfully attended to, must prove means of inestimable strength to Methodism. ' The following resolutions, proposed by Bro. C. D. lingers, were adopted: Resolved , That we heartily endorse the action of the General Conference, on the subject of lay-representation, and regard it as a disposition on the part of the Confer ence, to work in every element of strength, for the advancement of our holy religion and the power of Methodism. Resolved , That we recognize our great responsibility under this act of our General Conference, and, by the help of the Great Head of the Church, we will come up to the full discharge of the duty imposed upon us. Also, the following resolution, by Bro. C. D. Eogers, was adopted : Resolved , That we would highly appreci ate a visit from our honored Superintendent, Bishop McTyeire, and can assure him a cor dial welcome at any time it would be in his power to come among us. Incidental to the Convention, a protracted religious meeting was beguD, and is still in progress. The Church membership has al ready been revived and sinners have been converted. The Lord is pouring out the spirit on Waynesboro, and great faith is felt that the Zion here will be built up and graciously enlarged. PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & CO., POR THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH. Dr. Pierce preached two sermons which must bring forth “fruit in their season.” Geo. G. N. MacDonell, Pres’t. John W. Heidt, Sec’y. THE COMMITTEE ON MISSIONS AND MIS SIONARY COLLECTIONS Would respectfully submit the following re port : The cause of missions has ever been a subject of deep and anxious solicitude to ev ery Christian heart, since its organization under the present dispensation. The duty of giving them a warm and heart-felt sup port, finds its authority in the commission ts the Head of the Church; “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature/’. Methodism, as a Church organization, has for its corner stone, as laid by its great foun der, “to spread Scripture holiness through out these lands.” Though this principle has been kept constantly in view in our sys tem of operations as a Church, yet there are portions of the work in every pastoral charge within the limits of our District which has not thus been reached. Until every soul within the bounds of the Augusta District has been brought within the immediate in fluence of the saving efficacy of the blessed gospel, missionary effort and enterprise should not claim even a momentary respite from their labors. When the preached word cannot be made available, other agen cies should be employed. Religious trurh, embodied in tract form, and short essays couched in concise language, upon the scrip tural subjects of “sin, righteousness, and a judgment to come,” have been tie means, under the blessings of God, of bringing ma ny a soul to the “saving knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus.” Regarding the new features in our Church organization of “Monthly Church Meetings” as a in st val uable auxiliary in this cause, your Commit tee would offer the following: Unsolved, ls£. That we would recommend to the several Monthly Church Meetings in our District, to take this matter into serious consideration, and put every religious agency into operation, until every soul, white and colored, within the limirs of our District, shall have been cordially and earnestly invi ted to the gospel feast. To accomplish this move, material aid will be required. Your Committee are of the opinion this can be secured, and that the present time is a most auspicious one for the inauguration of such a movement, as our brethren in many portions of our District are now experiencing the Divine f.vor in a most wonderful manuer in the conversion of their children, friends and neighbors.— Gratitude will prompt them now to an effi cient discharge of duty. How to direct this new impulse aright, brings your Committee to the consideration of Missionary Collec tions. A sad want of arrangement and system has characterized our efforts in this direc tion. From all the information your Com mittee can gather from those to whom this important duty has been entrusted, the plan heretofore adopted, has been to make these collections about the month of May, simply by subscription—this entire labor, together with the collection of moneys thus subscri bed, having been thrown upon the pastors in charge. It is a matter of astonishment to your Committee, that anything at all has been accomplished under such a plan, if such it can be called. A change is absolute ly necessary if we would discharge our duty to God as a Church, as pastoral duties, iu the opinion of your Committee, would leave no time for proper attention to this matter. Your Committee would therefore offer the following resolution : Resolved, That we recommend to the several Monthly Church Meetings in each pastoral charge in the District, the appoint ment of one or more members of warm, lib eral hearts, ardent zeal and active piety, to collect moneys for the purpose of Domestic Missions, and pay over the same to Quarter ly Conference, with a recommendation from their bodies, that the moneys thus collected be appropriated solely to the Missionary field within the bounds of the Georgia Confer ence, leaving the collection of moneys for Foreign Missions to be raised as prescribed by the Rules of the General Conference. FINANCE AND MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. The Committee on Finance and Ministeri al Support, beg leave to report, that they have carefully considered the subject refer red to them, and the result of their delibe rations will be found in the resolutions sub joined. No part of our Church economy is so de fective as our mode of providing for a prop er ministerial support, and no defect ope rates more injuriously to the Church. Fail ure in this matter seems to be the rule, and from the wide-spread desolation and impov erishment of our people, it is to be feared that our failures will be so general and thorough, as to place our Church in great peril. ° It therefore behooves the membership, in this crisis, to gird up their loins to the work of providing the means necessary to secure for ourselves and our children, a continuance of those inestimable privileges which we have hitherto enjoyed If with the’ preach er it is “woe is me, if I preach not the pel/’ it is truly with the membership, “woe is me, if I provide not the means which Macon, Ga., Friday, October 12, 1866. shall enable him to execute his holy office j woe is me, if my negligence or parsimony shall compel him to devote the time and la bor and thought which God requires of him for ITis service, to those secular pursuits which the sustenance of his family de mands.’’ Our people should not look upon their contributions for such purposes, as gifts, or charity, to be doled out of the surplus left after provision for their own households, but as sacred debts, not to be enforced by hu man tribunals, but by the great Governor of the earth, to whom they must render an ac count of their stewardship. To give of our super-fluity.is proper, but‘an offering which costs nothing can scarcely be deemed accep table to God. Rut we forbear any discussion of the sub ject, as the Christian duty of providing am ply for the support of those who minister to us in holy things, is so plain, that none can err ignorantly. Your Committee finds it difficult to sug gest any plan which will not be liable to some objection, but they are persuaded if our membership can be aroused to a clear perception of their duty iu this matter, the plan embodied in the following resolutions will be successful. Therefore Resolved, That it is the duty of the Stew ards of each charge, to make a liberal allow ance for the support of the preachers sent to them—the amount to be regulated by the cost of living in each locality. Resolved , That the Circuit Stewards be recommended to meet on the first Sabbath after they have learned the appointment made for them by the Conference, and fix upon the amount to be allowed to their preacher, and for other expenses, and forth with divide the liabilities among the several Churches, giving prompt notice of the same to the several parties. Resolved , That each Church be recom mended to hold a Church Meeting on the first Sabbath in Jauuary of each year, and then to appoint three disci eet persons to as sess upon each member the amount which they will severally be expected to pay, which assessments should be read in detail to the Meeting. Resolved, That where it will promote the object to be effected, one-half of each assess ment may be paid in provisions suited to the wants of the preacher, at the market price of the same; and that the preacher re port to the Stewards the amount of all such payments, which will be credited to the as sessment of the party furnishing such pro visions. Resolved, That on the first Sabbath in the month in which the Annual Conference is to meet, a Church Meeting shall be held in in each Church in the Circuit, to which the Stewards shall make report of the amount collected for ministerial support, and by whom paid, and in case there should be any deficiency, that a collection be forthwith ta ken up to cover the same. Resolved, That at least one-fourth of the several amounts assessed, should, if practica ble, be paid in advance, and that the Stew ards should collect and pay over to the preacher what is due him, at least three months before the expiration of the Confer ence year. Resolved, That the preachers in charge of Circuits in the Augusta District, be request ed to read these resolutions to each congre gation in their respective circuits. THE COMMITTEE ON THE RELIGIOUS IN- TERESTS OF THE COLORED PEOrLE, Beg leave to report that they have prayerful ly and industriously considered the delicate and yet important subject committed to their consideration, and have agreed upon the following : Accepting, in good faith, the changed re lation of the colored people to us, it becomes us to inquire, iu the spirit of Christian cour age and candor, what are our duties and Christian obligation to this people. They have immoital souls to be converted and saved. Policy and propriety, duty and in terest, all combine to teach us that we should, that we must be, in the hands of God, the instrument of their salvation that we must give them the Bible and a pure gospel. < Ist. By teaching them to read God’s word. 2d. By retaining them with our commu nion and under our our spiritual govern ment, so long as desired by them, granting them the use of our Church buildings as usual, and preaching to them as heretofore, gradually preparing them for separate Church organization and government, and finally, opposing all efforts from every quarter, to place them in an attitude of hostility or an*’ tagonism to our Church. Therefore, be it Resolved, That in obedienee to the spirit of the enactments of our late General Con ference, this body of laymen and ministers will encourage the formation of day schools among them, to be taught by intelligent and responsible men and women acquainted with their character and wants, and that we will organize and superintend Sabbath-schools to be formed for them whenever practicable, exhorting our brethren to enter at once on this good work. Resolved, That we will bear with, and treat tenderly, the views of any good breth ren who may not see this matter in the same light as we do, determined that if we can not convince or agree with them, that we will not quarrel with them, and satisfied that the swift argument of events will soon cause ; us all to see and act alike in this cause. \ Resolved, That the brethren of the seve ral charges in the District, be and arc here by earnestly requested to preach to their people on this important and vital question, and to make a special effort to collect money for Missionary purposes. SUNDAY-SCHOOL REPORT. The Committee on Sunday-schools report: I hat the Sunday-school, though a source of immeasurable benefit to the Church, has ! not, in our judgment, growing out of a want i proper system, been developed to near the I extent of its resources, for the prosperity j and power of Methohism. Therefore be it i Resolved, That it is the duty of each pas ; tor to establish as many Sunday-schools in his charge, as may be practicable. Resolved, That the teachers shall, if pos sible, be selected from the members of the Church. Resolved , That the children ought to be instructed and catechised from the Sacred Scriptures. Resolved, That it is highly important to teach the children in our Sunday-schools the doctridkjs and usages of the Methodist with the Scripture proofs. ResQh?d, That-we encourage the intro ductiorCmid development of singing in our Sunday-schools. , Resolved, That in the selection of all books for our Sunday-schools, wo patronize, if possible, the Publishing House of the M. E. Church (South ) REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON PASTORAL DU -4 TIES AND CHURCH MEETINGS. Pastoral Duties encompass or cover an al most indefinite field and schedule, all of which are taught in the Bible, and rendered definitely imperative by Church legislation and disciplinary enactments. But their practical and faithful discharge is sometimes sadly neglected, and our pastors culpably derelict. To meet all their requirements, and perform their solemn and sacred duties efficiently, demands the conscientious and constaut co-operation of every official and private member of the Church. To furnish this aid and efficient counsel and co-labor ing, our Church Meetings are just what is needed, and ought to be worked and pressed to their utmost capacity. All readily allow the necessity and value of regular Christian pastoral visitations, to confirm and edify the flock of Christ, and aid the ministrations of the Word. The Church Meetings afford the opportunity to seal their labors, and se cure the wise and well directed co-operation of the members through Committees. We declare it as our solemn convictions, that our pastors ought to make it more a speciality and constant duty, to give more attention in their pastoral visitation and pri vate labors, to those in the Church who are known to be religiously indifferent, and among the families and individuals not mem bers of the Church, but who are accessible and impressible, and even inviting suqh Christian attentions to themselves and fam ilies, and who may be thereby saved. We would here resolve, that it is our de termined purpose, in all our Churches and Church Meetings, to protest against all vio lations of the spirit end discipline of the Church, by the now too common practice among Church members, of dancing, attend ing theatres, operas, circuses, and such oth er places and diversions, as directly destroy practical piety, and that we will most hear tily sustain the pastors in a judicious enforce ment of discipline which we now declare to be imperatively demanded rescue the Church and conserve her high interests. The wide distribution of our books, Church papers and periodicals, demand a Pastor’s careful attention, and through the Church Meetings can now be constantly pressed, so that a Discipline and Church pa per shall be in every family iu our congre gation, which alone, ought to satisfy. We deem it vitally important aud emi nently proper that our Churches have not only regularity, but uniformity, in the at tendance on and observance of all the ordi nances and formulas of our Discipline, and especially in the reception of members into the Church, and that we pledge ourselves to careful compliance, using the form of receiv ing members appended to our Discipline. To secure unijormity and accuracy in all the statistics and pastor’s reports to the Annual Conference, and the keeping of proper Church records, has long been felt to be a great desideratum. The numerous statistics now required to be reported by each pastor, according to our new Discipline, makes it indispensable that each should be very careful. Therefore Resolved, That we recommend to each pastor, to secure, and keep always with him, a properly prepared “Pastor’s pocket Diary or Hand Book,” in which lie shall note, from time to time, the various items, and j make as a return to each Church 3leeting, a full repoit and statistics, to be entered upon the records by the Secretary. To carry out all these various suggestions, we most hear tily recommend the adoption of the resolu tions of our venerable father and brother, Dr. L. Pierce, which have been placed in our hands for consideration, ae follows : E. H. UYERS, D.D., EDITOR Whole Number, 1505 OF CHURCH MEETINGS. Resolved, That we most heartily approve of the new provision in our Discipline for ‘‘The Regular Church Meeting.” To us it is evident, that nothing can substitute it.— Without such a meeting, held for Church business, as our late history abundantly de monstrates, the tendency in human nature, as to all social godliness, is to disintegration and selfishness. These evils can only be abated and hereafter prevented by the use of our Church Meetings, as a heavenly cor poration, to do, jointly, the work of general arrangement, and, severally, the work as signed to each and to all. Herein only, can we secure the indispensable attraction of the communion of saints. Resolved, That in this District Meeting called only, to consider, and to recommend the best measures to meet the wauts of the Church, we earnestly entreat all our preach ers iu charge of Churches, to call a meeting of every Church as often as once every month, if practicab e—certainly every two months—aud to exhort the members with all authority, to attend; and we most affec tionately entreat all the members in the Churches in this District, to do so. And we hereby pledge ourselves to sustain the Church Meeting, both by words, and by our example, and to do so because we verily be lieve that the faithful use of Church Meet ings will lead to the better discipline of the Church in every way ; and also, to a sancti fied and social brotherhood. It will unite us in the fellowship of Christ Jesus. It will soon find work for all, and put all at work, and we shall provoke one another to love and to good works. REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON DIVISION OF CIRCUITS. The Committee to whom was referred that portion of the paper presented by Dr. Lovick Pierce, relating to the Division of Circuits, re port, that after a careful consideration of the whole subject, they cannot do better than to adopt the report of the Committee on Cir cuits of the Athens District Meeting, em bodying substantially, the views of Dr. Pierce, as follows : It must be apparent to the most casual observer'that the present plan of operating on Circuits, composed of eight or nine ap pointments, with two preachers, who oan attend each of these appointments but once in two months, does not work well. Nay more, the Church where this plan is pursu ed, is gradually decreasing in membership and is rapidly losing its efficiency. First, this plan renders it impracticable for the preacher in charge tc visit each Church more than five or six times a year, and frequently less. Hence he cannot become acquainted with the membership, and can do but little in pastoral visiting, which has become one of the hecessities of the times. He can pay very little attention to Sabbath-school inter ests and to the enforcement of the moral dis cipline of the Church. In short, we have not known this eight weeks’ arrangement to work well, in a single instance that has come un der our observation. To keep any circuit in a healthy and grow ing condition, wo must hare’ frequent revi vals in every Church ; and this is impracti cable where we have eight or nine Churches composing a single charge. Some must be neglected, aird consequently decline in every thing which it takes to constitute an efficient Church. Therefore, be it Resolved, That we recommend to our brethren throughout the District, to take such steps, as in their judgment, they may deem prudent, to consolidate the Churches wherever practicable, and where this cannot be done without detriment to the best inter ests of the Church, that they will so divide and' arrange the circuit, that there shall not be more than four or five appointments on each circuit to be filled by one preacher. Resolved, That we earnestly recommend to our Bishops the policy of sending a pastor to any number of Churches, less than four, that will pledge themselves to furnish him a comfortable home and adequate sup port. Resolved, That we recommend the follow ing changes in reference to the Waynesbo ro Circuit: 1. That Coke’s Chapel and Mt. Zion Churches be united. 2. That Bethany Church be included in the Bethel Circuit. 3. That the eight remaining Churches be divided into two Circuits—the Railroad be ing the dividing line between them. Resolved, That we recommend a division of the Sylvania Circuit on the following ba sis: Syivania, Black Creek, Oak Grove and Ruck Creek Churches, to constitute one Circuit, and Bascom, Mt. Pleasant, Harwell Chapel and Wesley Chapel to constitute the other. Resolved, That we recommend that Union and Harmony Churches on the Bethel Cir. cuit, be discontinued as regular preaching appointments, and the members of these Churches be advised to unite with Bethel. Resolved, That in all Circuits where chaoges are proposed, the preachers in charge shall read to each Church the pro posed changes, that they may take immedi ate and prompt action on the subject, and make suoh recommendations through the official board of the Circuit, as shall perfect and carry out the object and spirit of their recommendations.