Earlier text: The Safeguard of ShameThe Key-Note of the Gospel
By C. M. S.
The gospel of God is founded on a gift, a gift conceived in love. Therefore giving is the key-note of the gospel. God gave himself in giving Christ, and Christ gave himself; and in giving himself, he “emptied himself” of the glory which he had with the Father—gave up the glories of heaven for the poverties and persecutions of earth—all, that he might give to his followers a share with him in the redeemed inheritance. Therefore it is not strange that the followers of Christ should be asked to give—asked frequently; or that plans should be laid for systematic, continuous giving. No man has ever yet purchased salvation. It can not be done, no matter if the would-be purchaser had the whole earth with which to purchase it. Salvation is free. It must be given, or it can not be conveyed at all; it must be accepted as a gift, or it can not be obtained at all. A Vanderbilt, a Morgan, or a Rockefeller is as poor at heaven’s gate as the poorest peasant or the loneliest shepherd lad. The limit of the giving is the giving of the life. Christ gave the limit. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” “Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” The first quotation tells what God did; the second, what Christ did, and what is required of his followers. Certainly the greatest gift—the giving of the life—must include all lesser gifts, such as the giving of our means. The true Christian gives his life as his Master gave his. Then surely we do not expect to see him hesitate when he is asked to give of his heaven-entrusted means. It is well to refer to these two quotations frequently, and quote them together, thus bringing into closer contact God’s doing and our duty. In giving the limit, Christ left nothing he could give that he did not give. All things are in him. In following his example, Christians should make all they have subject to the call of God, and that means to the needs of his work. Hoarding for gain, and grudging or refusing to give, are outside the purposes of God. He can not work through such a channel; and means so hoarded and so withheld shows a misapprehension of our stewardship. As heaven will be richer for the unlimited giving of God and Christ, so will the Christian’s reward be greater for following the example of him who has given us all. We have reached a time in the history of Christian work in this world when Christian men and women and children must give as they have never given before. Why is this?—Because the riches of this world are being tied up as never before in the hands of the great men who are not interested in the spread of the gospel, and certainly not in the spread of the third angel’s message. Their great ambition is to bring money under their control; and millions on millions are being heaped together, seemingly for no other purpose than to keep that money out of the cause of God. The spirit that is working in the children of disobedience is the spirit that is inspiring this heaping, hoarding, shackling, and imprisoning of the money of the world. Look at the millions tied up in the ships of war and the armies of the nations, necessitating the heaviest possible burdens of taxation upon the people, until their giving powers are shriveled almost to the point of dissolution. The same spirit has entered the great churches, and millions are spent in maintaining the “form of godliness” where13 the power has long been ebbing to extinction, and comparatively little goes into the work of promulgating the gospel of salvation. With the increase of that spirit, love has been waxing cold, spirituality has been declining, and the masses have thus lost the inspiration to give for the prosecution of pioneer work. There never was a time when there was so much money in the world as now, nor ever a time when there were so many schemes on foot for tying it up and keeping it out of the Lord’s work; never a time when so many men of means and powerful intellect were using every endeavor to “corner” the money of the world. Many who are not doing this are surfeiting, reveling, and running after the pleasures of this life. Therefore we see the greater necessity for those who have enlisted in the service of Christ to dedicate, as never before, their means and their all to the work that Christ has appointed for his followers to do. The tighter the purse-strings of the world are drawn, the more zealous liberality must the Christian exercise with the means committed to his charge. The faithful ones must shoulder the burden which the unfaithful refuse to bear. In doing this, they receive the reward which such ones refuse to accept on the conditions laid down. In such work the Christian makes good his profession, and silences the scoffer, who would draw comparisons between Christians’ professions and professed Christians’ practises. ‘Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over.’ This is the liberality of God toward us. Shall we not give of our means in this time of the world’s greatest need? A Proving of Character
By W. W. P.
“Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it [the day] is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man’s work of what sort it is.” The foundation, the different kinds of material for building, the proving of the work, and the means through which the work is to be proved, are all set forth in this scripture. The foundation is Jesus Christ; the material is according to each man’s choosing. It may be the gold, the silver, the precious stone; it may be the wood, the hay, the stubble. But whatever material one uses in the building, the day of God will set it forth, because the day of God is ushered in, is revealed, in fire, and the fire itself will prove every man’s work. This advent message is a message of proving. The day of the Lord is a day of testing, and the whole question with us is whether the testing and the proving shall come before the day of mercy closes, or whether we shall wait until after that day before this proving process takes place. The foundation has been tested and tried, and will endure. The material that is offered us for the building will stand; it is proved material. But if we refuse the way of God and his instruction, we can take such material, and build upon this foundation, as may appear outwardly good, as if it would endure the test, yet it may fall when the time of proving comes. The whole question, then, is a question of character building — the material that we choose to put into this building. Note this scripture in 1 Peter 4:12: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” This might with perfect propriety be read following this way: Beloved, think it not strange concerning “the burning” among you. This is exactly the same word that we have in the eighteenth chapter of Revelation, in that account of the overthrow of Babylon when it is said that they stood afar off at the smoke of her “burning.” Now there is a burning that is to come upon Babylon, and there is a burning that is to come upon God’s people. The only question about it is, When shall it come? and what shall the result be? Shall it come in that time when everything that is not of God may be purged out, may be removed from the building, and right material may be builded into it? or shall we have a building that we shall hold intact, as it were, until the final day, and then be consumed? The burning, or the cleansing process, is simply the glory of God among the people, just as when the children of Israel looked afar off, on the mountain where Moses was in the presence of God, and the sight of the glory of the Lord, on the top of the mountain, was as devouring fire in their eyes: yet Moses was up there in the mount with God. Face to face he talked with him in the presence of that burning; in the presence of that devouring fire Moses stood, and he partook so much of the shining of that glory that when he came down from the mount, his face shone so that the people of Israel could not look upon it. Now the fiery trial, the burning, which is among us, which is to prove us, is the partaking of the glory of our Lord, as revealed in his sufferings, the cleansing process; this is the burning. It is the revelation of God’s glory among his people for cleansing and purging, that every bit of character material which will not stand the fires of the last day may be removed, no inflammable material built in, until there shall be a building that will endure the revelation of his glory; not in suffering and in purging and in cleansing now, but in the full revelation of that glory of God in Jesus Christ when he comes the second time without sin unto salvation. The Dream of a Temporal Millennium
By W. A. S.
THE cry of peace and safety and the preparations for the coming world-conflict are not only facts in the fulfilment of prophecy, but signals to us to hasten on with the warning message of the Lord’s soon coming. The situation cries with a loud voice that now is the time to work. The International Sunday-school lessons for the current week deal with what is called “Micah’s Picture of Universal Peace,” the lesson scripture including the words,— “And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. . . . And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Micah 4: 2, 3.
The praiseworthy efforts to establish international arbitration, the gift of millions for the promotion of peace programs, the discussion of a reduction of armaments, and the progress of negotiations for a permanent arbitration treaty between Great Britain and the United States, with other nations talking of joining in the pact, seem to those who look for a millennium of peace on earth to indicate that the day is at hand. The text in Micah is practically a repetition of the words in Isaiah 2. Both Isaiah and Micah expressly state that it is the “many people,” the “many nations,” that will thus be talking “in the last days.” And now, truly, we hear many peoples so saying, until talk of the universal reign of peace has become a striking sign that we have reached the last days, of which the prophets wrote. But this same second chapter of Isaiah passes on to show that soon after this talk of peace and safety, men will be flinging their possessions to the moles and the bats, and crying for refuge from the glorious majesty of the day of God. It is to come to pass according to Paul’s prophecy: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety: then sudden destruction cometh upon them.” 1 Thess. 5: 3. The prophecies of the latter days speak continually of the gathering of the elements of strife until they break in the final Armageddon. But popular teaching turns a deaf ear to the voice of the “sure word of prophecy,” and has no definite message of preparation for the swift-coming end. While “many peoples” are talking of beating swords into plowshares, the preparations for the coming conflict are going forward also, exactly according to the prophecy of Joel 3: 9-14:— “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen. . . . Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. . . . Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”
This is to us a familiar prophecy, but it has a new sound in these times, when the vast nations of the heathen are awakening before our eyes, and those formerly counted weak are showing themselves strong. Japan has quickly emerged from weakness into first rank as a military power; and now China follows. Heretofore the military profession in China has not stood high socially. In April, however, an imperial edict was issued lifting this profession to the highest social rank. This is recognized as a complete break with China’s past, and a definite turning of the greatest body of people on earth into the pathway of modern militarism. In Missions for May is an interview with President Proctor, of the Shanghai Baptist College. He was asked, “What is the most significant movement in the empire at the present time?” He replied:— The military movement, I should say. This is little less than revolutionary in character. The Chinese have been peculiarly a peaceable people, without a sense of nationalism, following agriculture, not arms. The military life has been looked upon with contempt, as among the lowest in the social scale. “Better have no son than one who is a soldier,” is a popular saying. The literary class was the ruling caste, and the soldier was regarded as a necessary evil. Hence China offered no inducements to young men to seek military preferment, and had no army worthy of the name. The Russo-Japanese war opened the eyes of her people, but little was done until after the death of the empress dowager, and the introduction of a new régime of reform, including a tentative popular assembly and the construction of a constitutional government by degrees. The prince regent, a brother of the former emperor, has traveled in Europe, and so have his three brothers, who caught the Western spirit in London, where they studied and observed. These are modern men, and through them the new military ideas have become diffused. The social rank of army and navy officers has been raised toward the German and English level, and the new military spirit is manifest on all sides. Many schools have military drills. There is danger of going too far; but it all means that China has decided to take care of herself, and no longer be dependent for existence as a nation upon the plans or purposes of the Western powers. And with China, the last of the great sleeping forces, aroused, all the world is now awake. Everything is moving in the way marked out in the sure word of prophecy. How the storm is yet held back is plainly shown in Rev. 7: 1-3, where the prophet describes the angels of God holding in check the winds of world-wide strife, that the last message of the gospel—the message of Sabbath reform—may be carried to all peoples. That which the prophets saw in vision ages ago, we see fulfilling before our eyes to-day. We, too, must be awake, and be ever up and doing, in fulfilment of the work which the remnant church has set before it in the word of prophecy. Never for a moment are we to think that the Lord is delaying his coming. Events both in the world and in the work of God show that the end is swiftly coming. Now our safety is in keeping the peace of God in our hearts, our sins forgiven, our lives and all dedicated to service, and then shall we be ready when suddenly the Lord cuts short his work in righteousness. W. A. S. Constituency Meeting of the Review and Herald Publishing Association
By D. W. Reavis
The eighth annual meeting of the constituency of the Review and Herald Publishing Association was held as appointed in connection with the ministerial institute at Philadelphia, Pa., April 17, 1911. Upon roll-call it was ascertained that forty-seven delegates were present, representing the Atlantic, Columbia, and Canadian union conferences, members of executive committees of the State conferences in these unions with the members of the General Conference Committee constituting nearly double the number required for the transaction of business. The reading of the minutes of the annual meeting held one year ago in Battle Creek, Mich., was waived. After brief remarks by the president regarding the prosperity which had attended the publishing work, not alone of this association, but of our world-wide publishing institutions, the manager, S. N. Curtiss, presented his report of the work of the association during the last year, the leading features of which are given herewith:— “It seems but a few short months since the Review and Herald Publishing Association of Washington, D. C., was incorporated in August, 1903; but so rapid is the flight of time that we are now assembled in our eighth annual meeting. “Starting in without any capital, and being obliged to borrow the money necessary to pay the freight on the meager outfit shipped from Battle Creek, this association has shown some profit every year of its corporate existence, and now has a present worth of over $115,000. “For some time our board has studied the question of our power supply, as our increased equipment was proving too heavy a load for the capacity of our engine, and it seemed that provision must soon be made for a larger engine, or else this one must be kept for breakdown service, and electric current purchased from the city power company. After full investigation and careful tests, the board contracted with the Potomac River Power Company for current, and the necessary outfit was ordered. This involved an outlay of $1,500 for a rotary converter (which is to be paid for at the rate of $125 a month without interest on deferred payments), and the cost of the installation. It was hoped this outfit would be in use before Jan. 1, 1911; but the converter had to be especially built, and other delays have arisen, so that we have only just begun the use of the city current this week. Our contract is such that any monthly increase in amount of current used will take the lowest rate—less than it would cost us to manufacture it with our own outfit. “The following machinery was installed during 1910:— “A small power-embosser, a wire-stitcher, a second-hand book-folder, a small tract-folder, and a new job-press. The directors also decided to purchase a monotype typesetting machine, and it was installed in December, 1910. This machine not only sets type, letter by letter, but it also makes type. On it we can set our books, correcting by hand the same as hand-set matter. We can also make our head-letter, borders, and job-type at much less cost than if purchased from a foundry, and of quality equal to foundry type. It is proving a very valuable, as it was a very necessary, addition to our publishing equipment. “‘American State Papers’ has been revised by the Religious Liberty Department; three hundred pages have now been added, and about six hundred pages reset. It is now nearly all in plates, and will be ready to print as soon as the index is completed. ‘God’s Two Books,’ by Prof. George McCready Price, is a new book issued during the year. “A Temperance number of the Youth’s Instructor was printed in February, 1910, and had a circulation of 210,000 copies. “Of the Harvest Ingathering edition of the REVIEW, 515,000 copies were printed, and many good words have come from various parts of the field regarding the superior mechanical execution of this issue. “The treasurer’s report shows that the earnings of the year are not so large as for each of the two previous years, and this falling off was on our periodicals. “The periodical business is in somewhat of a transition state; some conferences assumed their responsibilities in taking over the periodical work, and started in a businesslike way to look after it, to follow up the delinquents, hunt up those who were not subscribers, and earnestly push the work. Other conferences did not have the help necessary to take charge of this large work, with various other responsibilities; and as a result, the periodical work dropped down. “We have gone to large expense, and sent many letters to delinquents, in our efforts to assist the conferences in their follow-up work. In fact, the expense of operating our periodical department has been greater than in any previous year, but our efforts have not been so fruitful as we might wish; and it is evident that if the best results are ever secured under the present arrangement, it will be when every conference takes hold of this work, keeps careful records, and continuously follows up its members. “The conference officers and workers can do this much better than the publishing-houses; but when publishers relinquish their direct contact with their individual subscribers and agents, our periodical work will fall flat unless the local conferences take up this work systematically and persistently carry it forward. “The sales from the book department at retail prices increased over thirty-eight thousand dollars for the year. Of this amount, $15,076 was for ‘Ministry of Healing.’ The total sales from the home office, including books and periodicals, were $364,156.70 at retail value. Reports from our book and periodical departments will be read by their respective managers. The branch houses show a gain, and detailed reports will be presented by the managers of these offices. “At the fall council of the General Conference Committee, a memorial from our three largest American publishing-houses was presented. This memorial gave combined and separate statements of cost on several of our books, and asked for counsel as to what should be done to secure better returns to the publishers on their labor and investment. As a result of this, action was taken recommending a reduction in rates of royalty to authors. These recommendations have been presented to our authors, and so far favorable responses have been received. “Our facilities for handling the mail after it is put up in sacks are far from satisfactory, and for some time we have talked of running the bindery floor out over the driveway in the rear of the main building to the power-house. This would give room for storage of empty sacks, a place for mail in sacks, and permit the putting in of a suitable chute for loading. “The board has been quite liberal in assisting our workers during sickness or temporary disability, and in most cases the regular weekly wage has been paid for a reasonable length of time. In addition, this association has been asked to pay one half of a superannuated worker’s wages who was many years an employee of the old Review and Herald of Battle Creek. The amount paid out on these various items during the past year is $553.60; but during the present year considerably more will be required. “A sustentation fund is provided for our ministers, but no general plan has been adopted for such a fund for our institutional workers, and it seems as if this question should receive consideration at this meeting. “Our pay-roll amounts to about eighty thousand dollars a year. If an amount equal to two per cent of this were set aside for a relief fund, it would provide $1,600 a year, which should be enough for our present needs. This amount could be included as a legitimate ‘overhead’ expense. The Pacific Press Publishing Association has adopted such a plan as this, but sets aside a larger percentage of its pay-roll. “We suggest that the committee on plans give both these matters consideration.15 “In closing, we express devout thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father, whose protecting care has been over the institution and its workers, permitting no serious accident nor calamity to befall us, and who, notwithstanding our mistakes and failures, has granted to this branch of his work such a measure of prosperity as has attended it during 1910.” The treasurer, I. A. Ford, presented the financial report of the association. This was most encouraging. The present worth is $115,306.86, with a net gain for the year ending Dec. 31, 1910, of $38,495.42. The report of the auditor, E. R. Brown, certifying to the correctness of the treasurer’s accounts, was read. Reports were likewise presented by J. W. Mace, manager of the Western Branch, and L. W. Graham, manager of the New York Branch; also reports of the book and periodical work from I. A. Ford and D. W. Reavis, the managers of these departments. At this meeting five trustees were elected; namely, W. T. Knox, G. B. Thompson, H. R. Salisbury, N. Z. Town, and R. T. Dowsett. These, together with the trustees whose terms of office continue for one more year,—S. N. Curtiss, D. W. Reavis, I. A. Ford, and F. M. Wilcox,—constitute the personnel of the Review and Herald Board for the coming year. The following resolutions and plans were adopted by the constituency meeting:— “Resolved, That we recognize the kind providence of God which has attended the work of the association during the past year; and that we pledge ourselves with new consecration to the speedy completion of the charge committed to us of publishing the gospel message for this generation to all the world. “Whereas, No provision has been made by which the young, unmarried workers of the Office shall be surrounded by the influences of a Christian home; therefore,— “We recommend, (2) That we approve of the preliminary steps taken by the board for the purchase of such a home, and instruct the officers of the board to consummate the deal. “Whereas, There is no regular provision for a relief fund for our workers; and,— “Whereas, There are those who have grown old in the employ of the Review and Herald, and who on account of infirmity are not able to provide for themselves; and,— “Whereas, Sickness or accident may disable for a time workers who are dependent on their daily earnings; therefore,— “We recommend, (3) That an amount equal to two per cent of the weekly pay-roll be set aside for a relief fund, and that this be included as a legitimate ‘overhead’ expense of operation. “(4) That only permanent employees be entitled to share in the benefits of this fund. “(6) We recommend, That the board give consideration to the matter of additional storage room in the bindery for mail in sacks.” Approval was expressed of the arrangements entered into on the part of the board with authors concerning the reduction of royalties on books. The constituency meeting was favored in having a goodly attendance of ministers and delegates who were visiting the institute. A spirit of courage and hope pervaded the hearts of all, and the meeting adjourned with the determination on the part of every delegate to make fuller use than ever before of the agency of our publishing work in the carrying forward of the work of the Lord in the earth. Following the adjournment of the constituency meeting the Review and Herald Board proceeded to organize for another year. The following officers were elected: President, F. M. Wilcox; vice-president, W. T. Knox; secretary, D. W. Reavis; treasurer, A. H. Mason; manager, S. N. Curtiss; assistant manager, John B. Greenwood; auditor, E. R. Brown; manager New York Branch, L. W. Graham; manager Western Branch, J. W. Mace. But few changes were made in the editors of the various journals. The editorial committees for the coming year stand as follows: REVIEW AND HERALD: editor, F. M. Wilcox; associate editors, W. A. Spicer, C. M. Snow, W. W. Prescott. Youth’s Instructor: editor, Mrs. F. D. Chase. Life and Health: editor, Dr. G. H. Heald. Liberty: editor, C. M. Snow; associate editors, W. W. Prescott, K. C. Russell, S. B. Horton. Protestant Magazine: editor, W. W. Prescott. D. W. REAVIS, Secretary. Seattle Ship Mission
By C. A. Purdom
WORK among the seamen in this port was launched two years ago. Having no facilities for securing attention other than our literature, special effort has been made in the circulation of magazines and papers in many languages, including Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, German, Chinese, and Japanese. The retail value of the literature distributed since the work was begun is over one thousand dollars. Comparatively little prejudice has been encountered. The chaplain of the Seamen's Institute requests that our literature be left at the institute in sufficient quantities to enable the men to take it to their rooms, as the influence from such reading is felt to be in marked contrast to that of a perusal of the popular magazines, which are usually supplied. We also have about thirty-five dollars' worth of books in their library, including “Bible Readings” in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Holland, also German and French publications. Our literature is to be scattered as the leaves of autumn. When we individually appreciate its merit and the potency of the press, a greater activity will be seen among us in circulating the printed page. As the result of an inquiry, I have had occasion to call on the president of the Spiritualist Society, a lawyer in the city, who only fifteen months ago was a Roman Catholic. I sold him a copy of “Past, Present, and Future,” also eighty copies of the “Spirit World” to sell among his followers. He informs me that they have voiced quite a protest against his selection; but we trust God is using this means to enlighten some souls who are entrapped in this delusion. About ten thousand persons pass through or leave here for Alaska each year, also many for the Orient, besides an extensive local travel to the many Puget Sound ports. This makes it an important place in giving the warning message. Several reading-racks are maintained on the docks, and are freely patronized. I have a good supply of the REVIEW and the Instructor on hand. With these exceptions, I would welcome a supply of our magazines, papers, and tracts. Such should be sent to the undersigned at 1407 E. Forty-first St., Seattle, Wash. We can see but little of the results of this seed-sowing, because of the transient nature of its recipients; but we confidently believe there will come a gathering day, in which many precious souls will have been brought to a knowledge of the truth through this means. District of Columbia Conference.
By William A. Colcord
The third annual session of the District of Columbia Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was held in the Memorial Church, Washington, D. C., May 7, 8, 1911. In all, four meetings were held, three on Sunday, May 7, and a closing meeting, Monday forenoon, May 8. Eighty delegates had been appointed to represent the ten churches embraced in the conference, a large number of whom responded to the roll-call at the opening meeting. One new church was received into the conference, that of16 Colonial Beach, with a membership of fourteen. In his opening address, the president, Elder W. A. Hennig, stated that there had been an encouraging growth in the conference during the past year, both in membership and in tithes and offerings. The total increase in Sabbath-keepers had been one hundred twenty-seven. Sixty-seven had been received into the churches by baptism, and twenty-seven on profession of faith and previous baptism. The increase, he stated, had been largely by conversion and profession of faith, rather than by letter; the church-membership of the conference now being 757, and the total number of Sabbath-keepers, 876. The tithe for the year amounted to $13,554.66, of which $3,450.31 had been paid over to the General Conference. The offerings to missionary work had also been liberal, amounting in all to $8,113.81, including the tithe to the General Conference, the Sabbath-schools alone contributing $1,403.44. The total amount of tithes and offerings paid into the conference during the year was $20,407.99, or an average of $23.29 for each member. One church building had been erected, at Clifton, Va., and another was in process of erection at Colonial Beach. To the latter and the work in that place, Sister Eaton had some years ago contributed one thousand dollars. About fifteen hundred dollars’ worth of literature had been sold during the year. Three Bible workers had been engaged in work, through the efforts of one of whom eleven persons had been brought into the truth. The fifth church in Washington (colored), of which Brother W. H. Green has charge, showed satisfactory progress, its present membership being about fifty. Plans and Recommendations Adopted
The conference passed a number of resolutions. Those of general interest are herewith given:— “That a strong, continuous effort be maintained in evangelical work along all lines, especially in the conducting of tent- and hall-meetings, giving Bible readings by expert and experienced workers, and general organized missionary work in the churches. “That our people in the various churches render whatever assistance they can to any public efforts that may be undertaken in the conference, with a view to making them as strong, effective, and successful as possible. “That a special effort be put forth to foster and still further develop the tract and missionary work of the conference by enlisting the lay members in the work of circulating tracts. “That a strong, continued effort be maintained in placing the REVIEW in the homes of all of our people in this conference. “That the ten-cent magazines be kept prominently before the members in all of our churches, and practical instruction be given in the missionary meetings on the science of soliciting, with a view of making our members efficient in the circulation of these magazines, which ever prepare the field for more effective work in other denominational lines. “That definite plans be laid for regular meetings to be held in our different churches in the conference on medical topics during the coming year, these meetings to be conducted by physicians from the Washington Sanitarium, assisted by nurses and such others as can be used to advantage, and held at least once each quarter in our churches. “That the conference dispose of its quota of ‘Ministry of Healing’ as early as possible. “That we recognize with deep gratitude of heart the principles of Christian education which have been entrusted to us, and give our hearty support to the institutions embodying them, from the church-school to the college and seminary, realizing that our children and our young people are the most precious heritage of this denomination. “That we encourage the elders and young people’s leaders in our churches to take special care of the newly baptized children and young people, and endeavor as far as consistent to provide definite instruction in the duties and privileges of church-membership, at least for all who are under the age of eighteen. “That we awaken as never before to the work of enlightening all the people within this conference concerning the principles of religious liberty, and organize a strong, aggressive campaign in all our churches for the circulation of petitions and appropriate literature against the proposed religious legislation now pending in Congress, that the people may be educated upon this subject and the principles involved in such legislation. “That we use our best endeavors to circulate the current number of Liberty among the school-teachers of the District of Columbia and throughout the conference, and that we lay plans for a larger circulation of this journal, and of the leaflets published in the interests of maintaining liberty for all. “That as far as consistent and practicable, religious liberty institutes be held in the various churches of the conference for inspiring our people to greater activity in this line of endeavor. “That we continue our efforts to complete the raising of our portion of the $300,000 Fund.” Protest Against the Johnston District Sunday Bill
In addition to the foregoing recommendations, the following resolution in opposition to the passage of the Johnston District Sunday bill, was passed at the closing meeting:— “Whereas, A bill has been introduced into the Senate (S. 237) entitled ‘A Bill for the Proper Observance of Sunday as a Day of Rest in the District of Columbia;’ and,— Whereas, both the title of the bill, and the exemption in the first section of the bill, declaring ‘that persons who are members of a religious society who observe as a sabbath any other day in the week than Sunday shall not be liable to the penalties prescribed in this act if they observe as a sabbath one day in each seven, as herein provided,’ reveal the religious character and intent of the proposed legislation; and,— Whereas, Said proposed legislation is contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the United States, which provides that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;’ therefore,— “Resolved, That we, the District of Columbia Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, respectfully but urgently protest against the passage of the said bill or any similar measure, for the reason that Congress by such act would be taking a partisan stand upon a religious controversy between Christian churches on the subject of Sabbath observance, and otherwise interfere with inalienable rights, for the preservation of which our nation has stood since its founding.” A good report of the conference, and particularly of this protest, appeared in the Washington Evening Star of May 9. Credentials and Licenses Granted
Credentials were granted to W. A. Hennig, W. H. Green, and G. A. Stevens, the latter being ordained to the gospel ministry at the Sunday evening meeting; ministerial license was given to U. D. Pickard; and missionary license to Ella Leach, Edna Cockrell, and Mrs. M. A. Baker. W. A. Hennig was reelected president, with J. L. McElhaney, M. E. Kern, S. B. Horton, W. H. Green, T. E. Bowen, and A. J. S. Bourdeau as the other members of the executive committee. Brother A. J. Bristol has been requested to act as secretary and treasurer of the conference. The conference proceedings passed off harmoniously, and the general sentiment seemed to be that a large amount of business had been transacted in a short time. Before adjournment, a vote of appreciation of the work done by the committees was passed, and the plan of appointing committees beforehand, where little time can be devoted to a conference session, was also approved.