Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

ticular are great, either worth much more than the price of the whole year. Let me congratulate the editors. There is life and enterprise and splendid ability displayed on every page. I make it a habit to call attention now and again to certain articles, asking whether the people have read them. I think it a good plan.'

The Assembly commends to pastors the example of the Rev. Mr. Blair, not only in his zeal in securing subscriptions for the HERALD, but in calling the attention of his people from time to time to articles of special value which appear in the columns of THE ASSEMBLY HER

ALD.

Doctrinal Deliverances.

The following resolutions were adopted by the Assembly:

1. That we re-affirm the doctrinal deliverances of the General Assembly of 1910 as interpreting the faith and doctrines of our Church.

2. That we admonish all ministers in our Church to refrain from giving utterance to sentiments which unsettle the Church and which are in conflict with the standards of our Church.

In answer to certain overtures with reference to the teaching of certain ministers, the following was adopted:

I. The Assembly re-affirms the doctrinal deliverances of 1910.

2. We admonish all ministers in our Church to refrain from giving utterance to sentiments which unsettle the Church and which are in conflict with the standards of the Church.

The 170 Presbyteries reporting that they observed the deliverance of a former Assembly as to where their students for the ministry should study, were "Commended for their faithfulness"; those not complying were "counselled to comply as far as possible," and New York Presbytery, which reported a "Modus vivendi," was "instructed to see that this 'modus vivendi' be so carried out that the purity of doctrine shall be maintained and the peace of the Church be not disturbed."

A canvass of the votes of the presbyteries on the overtures sent down by the last Assembly showed that all had been adopted except 6 and 8, having reference to baptism and requirement of a diploma for ordination.

The following resolution was adopted:

That this General Assembly declares and reaffirms, that the authority of superior judicatories in the Presbyterian system of gov

ernment over congregations, is an authority based upon New Testament warrant, has also been acknowledged for centuries as an integral principle of government by the Presbyterian Churches of Great Britain and the continent of Europe, and has always been from 1706 down to the present time a cardinal feature of the government of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A.

It was recommended that eight cents per communicant be fixed as the assessment for the mileage, entertainment and contingent fund and all Presbyteries were urged to contribute the full amount.

The Committees on Mileage and Finance were ordered enlarged to the same size as the other Committees, an elder to be chairman.

The Assembly in approving the Budget, or Cooperative Plan, for obtaining contributions for all the Boards, as outlined by the Conference of the Executive Commission and the Boards, directed that the expenses of the campaign for securing its adoption by the Churches be divided pro rata among the Boards as determined by the Executive Commission after conference with the Boards.

Attention was called to the Presbyterian Historical Society as an organization of great value and interest to the Church and all were urged to aid it by contributions and by furnishing it with historical matter worthy of preservation.

Congratulations were extended to Princeton Theological Seminary in view of its completion of one hundred years of service, and the Moderator, the Stated Clerk, the Moderators of the Synods of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, and Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey and Hon. Wm. J. Bryan, were appointed to attend the celebration of its one hundredth anniversary the second Tuesday of May, 1912.

Union Theological Seminary.

A paper was presented by Rev. David G. Wylie, D.D., of New York, calling attention to the separation a few years ago of Union Theological Seminary, founded and endowed by Presbyterians, from the Presbyterian Church, and recognizing that there were those in its faculty and Board of Directors in full accord with the teachings and standards of the Church, authorized the Moderator to appoint a committee of five members and four elders to confer with the Faculty and Directors of

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

said Seminary, with a view to the removal of misunderstandings and antagonisms, and the reestablishment of harmonious relations between the Seminary and the General Assembly on the standards of the Church.

The paper was adopted and the following committee was appointed: Rev. J. R. Carson; D.D., Rev. S. S. Palmer, D.D., Rev. John R. Davies, D.D., Elders, Louis H. Severance, Cleveland, O., Hon. H. H. Freeman, Chicago, E. H. Perkins, Baltimore, Hon. W. E. Settle, Louisville, Ky. The Moderator was excused from acting as chairman and the committee was authorized to elect its own chairman.

[blocks in formation]

The Judicial Commission in the case of complaint against the Presbytery of Northumberland for its action in the case of Rev. Wm. D. Grant, sustained the complaint upon two points as follows:

1. In certain printed matter, in pulpit utterances and in conversation, Rev. Wm. D. Grant has committed the offense of discrediting the Deity of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

2. Dr. Grant has disseminated by publication, pulpit utterances, and conversation, views which discredit the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God, written, as immediately inspired and the rule of faith in life. Without doubt the defendant did teach in a manner that

323

impugns the veracity of both the Old and New Testaments.

The judgment was as follows:

"And the Permanent Judicial Commission having set forth its finding and its reasons therefor, comes now to enter judgment thereon, and does hereby suspend from the exercise of the functions of the office of a minister of the Gospel, Wm. D. Grant, the said appellee and defendant, until such time as he shall make manifest to the satisfaction of the Presbytery of which he is a member, his renunciation of the errors he has been found to hold and teach, and his solemn purpose no longer to teach or propagate them." The action of the Commission was affirmed.

Fraternal Delegates.

These were presented by Rev. Samuel J. Fisher, D.D., chairman of the Committee on Correspondence.

The Rev. Luther Kuhlman brought to the Assembly the greetings of the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Rev. Dr. Freeman those of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Rev. Alberto Clot of the Waldensian Church, Italy.

The Rev. J. Beattie Howell, D.D., for nineteen years a missionary to Brazil, brought the greetings of the Presbyterian Church in Brazil.

Dr. Walter A. Brooks, of the Council of the Reformed Churches, spoke for that Council.

Dr. Wm. H. Roberts spoke for the PanPresbyterian Alliance, constituted of many Presbyterian bodies, and Dr. H. B. McCauley for the Federal Council of Christian Churches in America.

Much regret was felt at the absence of Mr. George Wharton Pepper, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and Dr. J. Stenenberg, of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, who sent letters, regretting their inability to be present.

To each of these delegates the, Moderator addressed a fitting word.

The erection of two new Presbyteries, ElPaso in Texas and Kalispel in the Synod of Montana was sanctioned.

Resolutions were passed approving heartily of the effort to obtain an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting polygamy, commend

ing the observance of the second Sunday of May, each year, as Mother's Day, favoring the use of the Bible in the public schools, and deploring the existence of the white slave traffic.

It was decided, upon recommendation of the Committee on Polity, that a Baptist minister, supplying a Presbyterian church, cannot ordain a ruling elder; that a church may not have elders elected both for life and for a terms of years, and that rules of Presbytery, making absent members of Presbytery, or representatives of delinquent churches, ineligible to General Assembly, are unconstitutional.

Popular Meetings.

Popular meetings in various interests were held during the evenings of the Assembly. On the first Friday evening, one in the interest of Ministerial Relief, was held in the First Church, presided over by Judge Wilson of Philadelphia, and addressed by Dr. S. R. Ferguson of Iowa, and Dr. John Balcom Shaw of Chicago, and one for Sabbath school and Young People's Work on the Steel Pier.

On Saturday evening there was a mecting in the interests of the Board of Education in the First Church, presided over by Rev. Dr. Charles Wadsworth, Jr., at which addresses were made by Rev. Dr. Parkhurst of New York, Prof. Kelsey of Michigan and Rev. Dr. Robert Watson of Cincinnati; and on the Steel Pier, in the interest of the Presbyterian Brotherhood.

In the afternoon of Sunday an "Immigration Mass Meeting" was held on the Pier, a Sabbath school Missionary mass meeting in the Olivet Church, and in the evening a meeting in the Olivet Church on, "Sabbath Observance"; in the First Church, on the "College Board"; and on the Pier an Evangelistic Meeting, conducted by Dr. Chapman.

On Monday evening a meeting was held on the Steel Pier in the interests of Freedmen at which a number of colored missionaries spoke. Tuesday evening a meeting was held in the same place, in the interest of Home Missions, and on Wednesday evening, in the interest of Foreign Missions. They were

largely attended and addressed by able speak

ers.

A pre-Assembly Missionary Conference in the united interest of both Home and Foreign Missions had been held on Wednesday, May 17th, morning and evening, at which Drs. Chas. L. Thompson and Robert E. Speer, and Rev. Drs. M. A. Matthews of Seattle and J. H. Jowett of New York, addressed greatly interested audiences.

A pre-Assembly Evangelistic Conference, the evening of May 16th, was addressed by Rev. Dr. J. W. Chapman.

The most largely attended popular meeting, was that in the interest of Temperance, the last evening of the Assembly, which was addressed by Hon. W. J. Bryan.

The Assembly adjourned to meet in Louisville, Ky., May 16, 1912.

W. P. White.

MINUTES AND REPORTS.

The Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. will be issued early in August of this year. Papercovered copies will be sent without charge to all ministers belonging to Presbyteries that have paid their full apportionment to the Assembly's Contingent Fund; cloth bound copies of the Minutes to such ministers will be furnished for 25 cents additional. The Reports of the Boards, in paper covers, when issued, will be sent to all ministers in charge of churches, or who may request the volume, without charge, cloth bound copies will cost 35 cents each. The above reductions apply only to ministers. To all other persons, the price of the Minutes is $1 in paper covers and $1.50 for cloth bound copies; and the price of the volume of the Reports of the Boards is 40 cents in paper and 65 cents in cloth. Persons desiring cloth copies should write promptly to Rev. William H. Roberts, D.D., 515 Witherspoon Building, Philadelphia, Pa.

P

THE ASSEMBLY HERALD

EDWIN B. Wright, D.D.

Fastor Emeritus, First Church, Austin, Texas.

Our contributor has always been an enthusiastic supporter of The Assembly Herald and his work is an example of what can be accomplished in the way of securing subscriptions. Although not now in the active pastorate, Dr. Wright continues his interest in the Herald and is ably seconded by the present pastor, Arthur F. Bishop, D.D., and the Session.

The First Church has a membership of 450 and a list of 74 subscribers.

RESBYTERIANS might be designated Out of the multitude of things that might

as people who are after information,

and who are never easily moved to action, unless that information stirs up both brain and conscience. We live in an age where there is so much to read that one is puzzled to know what to read-magazines and newspapers are vying with each other as to which shall furnish the most desirable repast to their readers. Surely there must be an election in our reading. We cannot read everything. As Presbyterians are the champion believers in election, this should not stagger them. Let there be an intelligent decision as to what we must read and what we can let go.

Among the magazines presented for our consideration is the ASSEMBLY HERALD. It should not militate against the HERALD, that it comes before us as the official organ, indeed the only official organ of our General Assembly. Presbyterians ought to have enough respect for the Assembly, that this fact should be one of the chief assets of the ASSEMBLY HERALD.

But the HERALD stands on its own merits, independent of any endorsement. The secretaries and members of our Boards who edit the paper are gentlemen with "heads on their shoulders." They have brains sufficient for their work. Add to this their desire to instruct and please, and that they have an “ear to the ground" ready to interpret the wishes and tastes of the people and to conform their work thereunto. All this is a strong argument for their success.

If Presbyterians will only open and read the magazine they will not only be edified, but will also be pleased. It is something to have the work of the Boards presented all together in compact form.

be told us it is a very great advantage to have men fitted to select what we need most to read. The leaflets and bulletins put out by some of the Boards are valuable, but the danger is that they will be hastily put aside and not sufficiently pondered.

It is a fine thing to have a concentration and condensation of church news, and this we have in THE ASSEMBLY HERALD.

Take up any number. What paper! What print! What illustrations! No longer pictures of the secretaries and their offices, but living pictures of living work done through the Boards. The story is told by live men from all parts of the world. Even the advertisements are improving in quality, as well as quantity.

The HERALD is a magazine to be proud of. Nobody is ashamed of it. What is needed is that more Presbyterians will read it and take it to heart, and that is the object of this short tribute to its worth.

There is indeed danger that the man who reads it may feel the call on his purse for larger gifts to Christ's great cause in our own and all lands, but that is only one of the blessings to him who reads THE ASSEMBLY HERALD.

If any outsider desires to know what Presbyterians are doing, hand him two or three copies of THE ASSEMBLY HERALD. And if any man not now a Christian is brought to saving faith, and desires to know what Church to join, it might impress such an one with favor to our Church to look over a file of THE ASSEMBLY HERALD. He would know there would be something for a man to be and to do if he joined the Presbyterian Church.

THE LOGGING CAMPS OF THE PACIFIC COAST The Sky-Pilot of the Minnesota Woods at Large in the Forests

R

on the Coast

EV. FRANK E. HIGGINS, after several months in Washington, Oregon and California, speaks at the International Sunday-school Convention in San Francisco, latter part of June. The logging camps on the Pacific Coast, offer such a vast field for missionary work that, were it not for faith in God, one would soon become discouraged. I am told by men who ought to know that there are over 60,000 men in logging camps in the State of Washington alone, and as many more in Oregon. California also has her thousands. Western Montana and Idaho are vast unexplored regions. I find fewer foreigners in the camps of Washington than I am accustomed to in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The one encouraging feature of the work on the Coast is the welcome the missionary receives from the men when he arrives in camp. There are many men. here from Minnesota and Wisconsin who have already told the story of the work carried on there. You can imagine the thrill it gives one to have one and sometimes many of the men come up with outstretched hand and say, "Pilot, I knew you would come." They are a noble class of men, and the attention and respect they give the missionary is amazing.

On the Coast, the men instead of all sleeping in one bunk house are scattered in many small ones, but I soon found the men were only too willing to come to one place for a meeting. I also find many women and chil

[graphic][subsumed]
« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »