Newspapers / The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, … / Sept. 21, 1892, edition 1 / Page 2
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The Biblical" Recorder. -' ; " "' " ' ," . 1,1 '' j '"' ' I;"- . WEDNESDAY," SEPTEMBEaiispS.;' Rsv. C. T. BAILEY, Enrron ixa Pbopbixtor. J. C, CADDEliTAftiNT 0 CORRMPOTOKHTf several queries nave oeeu sens io as hi . pairing Into the right . of an Association to drop from their membership a church that retains members in fellowship who make and sell spirituous liquors. In answer to them all we say an Association is not a law making body, a It is simply a missionary body, organized for the purpose of combined effort in propagating and disseminating the gospel; and hence they have nothing to do with the discipline of the churches. Every Baptist church mut be allowed to exercise its own discipline It is the prerogative of the church to do that and, not the Associa tion. ( The Association has no more right to pass a law to regulate the discipline in re gard to making and selling liquor than it has to pass one to regulate the discipline in regard to adultery, swindling, or any other While the foregoing is true, still an Asso ciation can use proper means to influence a church, by counsel and suggestion, when ever manifest unscriptural or harmful prac tice is in vogue therein; and should such efforts fail to produce a reformation, then the Association can protect itself and vindi cate true religion by withdrawing fellowship from such church. ''.; . . Ant departure from primitive faith and practice, just like any attempt to improve the simple words of Revelation, is to be looked upon with caution, and sometimes with suspicion. There are some customs becoming quite common among our churches which certainly have no precedent in New Testament times, and.hence they need care ful study on the part of our people before adoption. - It quite often happens that some leading Baptist church, catling a certain plan or idea from some other church that is considered quite advanced, liberal, intelli gent, etc., or from organizations that are not baptistic, sets the example in the way of, an innovation, and other churches all ever the country thinking that such plan or practice is "nice andJiarmless," fall into line at once and adopt it. Thus it at times happens that almost before one is aware of ., it the whole denomination is committed to something which is an evident departure from the models of apostolic times. At the risk of being considered rather pessimistic, we desire to state candidly that we have serious doubts about the propriety and scripturalness of some customs that are now prevailing to some extent among us, and yet are not so firmly established as to be considered really baptistic. One custom to which we allude is that of having formal INSTALLATION 8EBVICES when our pastors occupy new. fields. We emphasize the word formal for a reason. We do not object to a gathering of a few representative brethren and sisters, at some simple service, when the new pastor is in ducted into the pastorate. But to suspend services at most or all of the churches of the community, to ask the pastors of all other denominations to attend, to have a combination of all of the choirs of the town, with speech-making, feasting, and a general flourish of religious trumpets, strikes us as being a decided departure from Scripture , simplicity and of quite questionable relig ious taste, i ? ,..yv? -j- " "Besides the main argument against this custom which is, as just . intimated, that it has no encouragement in Scripture com mand or precedent, it is open to objection en other grounds.' In the first place, if the ministers and people of the various denomi nations are invited, it is expected of course ' 41ia Vi ? n r trill Iia HAiil 4Y,At ai11 mm4a' tn the least upon their feelings. If a sermon is to be preached by the pastor, or by a vis iting minister it would be considered in bad taste to say anything doctrinal," as it is . called. If the pastor should dimly outline his ideas, plan of work, eta, he would be expected not to make a dim allusion to any intention of antagonizing' any of the. many faiths of the' town or community. Is this best; can Baptists afford ' it 1 And then, under the pressure of what seems' to be al xst an ovation from people of all creeds, is there not great danger of the incoming pstor- making quite liberal promises, and of giving quite liberal assurances, and if he k parts, or seems to, from them, will he not E ? c reused of bad faith ! J-ff 1 '" r.i V 3 second place, does not the whole k too much' of the idea of honor ' r ;vt at the expense of the Master J. 7 r :rit that Ought to charac ' '. r cf Christ above any r :.:t cf humility. Thein ;:i ecrvice as it is now often conducted certainly has no tendency td humble God's servant,: but rather to' 'un duly exalt him." We have no account whatever of Timothy Titus, or any other settled pastors of New Testament times, be ing installed when they took charge of churches. The 'kingdom of God cometh not with observation.'! Christ V went to dif ferent towns unheralded. When Spurgeon weni'''td;;:Iion4onVthiere';'''waa' scarcely a ' churchman n in the city that knew him or paid any attention to his coming, and yet there is not a churchman on the Island that does not now know and feel his power. Breth ren are fond of praying and preaching about preachers " hiding-behind the cross, but in the installation service the preacher, if any body, is brought to the front, and the cross, if present at all, is relegated to a dark cor tier. If any such service is held then at all, let it be simple; and it is decidedly wiser, we think, for the services to be of such an or der as to honor Christ, and keep the preacher in the background. Another custom, quite the rage, now in many Baptist and other churches, is to have a grand display of sympathy, feeling, speech making and present-giving at the FAREWELL SERVICES of departing pastors. Here again we plead for simplicity, and for the absence of for mality and ostentation. Why should the retiring pastor talk so much about his leav ing the church ? Why should he and others make the religious " welkin ring" for weeks over his going ? Why should the dear brethren and sisters be crying over him like he was their Saviour, and his going would be something like the going of Christ him self. Spurgeon was right in saying that a minister should always so preach to a' church as to have the members more in tore with Christ than, himself, so that they as readily fell in love with any other true mes senger of Christ as they did with him. It is true that Paul once had a " farewell service," but it was quite a simple and pri vate affair, for he ealled the elders of Ephe sus down to Miletus, and there on the sea shore delivered his farewell talk. Christ preached a farewell sermon to his disciples, but that was still more private, and came spontaneously in the path of duty, unherald ed, and with no straining after effect. Such as these we heartily commend. More beau tiful than the brightest gem is the tear of I sympathy and affection that flows for one who has made no conscious enort to bring it forth.. Deliver us from a program in which crying is an expected part of the ex ercises, and hence arranged for. It is about as heartless and as open to criticism as the plan of an English preacher of a theatrical turn, who had his manuscript marked here and there in such a way as to enable him to show off to the best advantage in the deliv ery of his sermon, and among other indices this was found, " Weep here." If brethren then will have farewell services, let them be simple and in good taste. Let them in vite no popular outburst of sympathy, and if the recipients of presents and expressions of good will, it would certainly be in better taste not. to regale the public with any ac count of them through the papers. Another plan becoming more or less com mon among us is that of building FINE AND COSTLY CHURCHES to , reach the poor of our great cities. A few years since Dr. Judson, son of the dis tinguished missionary, A. Judson, resigned a good pastorate and went to labor among the poor of New York City. That was a noble act of a noble man. But even such men sometimes make mistakes, and we fear that Dr. Judson has made one in building a costly church which has been erected as a memorial to his father. Adoniram Judson needs no costly building to perpetuate his fame. His monument is the Bible in the Burmese language, and his life of self de nial; and that costly church, doctor, will hardly do the poor of Ne w York the good that some ten or dozen plainer structures would have done , scattered , over the city among the poor, and which might have been built with the money put into one. When a denomination ot christians have no show Ing in a large city, andhen their prestige and power as a people are not known, then It is wise for them t) build some churches which are up to the demands of the age and the needs of the intelligent and cultured, part of the population. We , consider the sixty thousand dollars paid by our Home Mission Board for a suitable place for wor ship in the city of Havana, Cuba, as money wisely spent. , But the Baptists, are well known to New York. , :Their churches will compare favorably with the churches of the) leading denominations represented there, and if our people in New York, or any other large city where they are as well known as they are there, wish to reach the poor and neglected, let' them build1 plain and neat buildings among them, and near their homes, r t :Mp. -Oil a H f If preachers cannot be found to fill all such pulpits, let the churches send out their consecrated laymen and active workers to. push the Sunday school work and hold re ligious services. This blessed work thus done would stop the rapid multiplication of societies by giving those whft fritter away their time and means upon them, something praotical to do for Christ. . .. ... .j, ... - The General Catalogue of Wake Forest College by Dr. C. E. Taylor is an interest ing and valuable publication, and makes a book of 199 pages. Those interested in the history of the College, its alumni and stu dents should get a copy of this excellent Catalogue. It embraces a period from the foundation of the College in 1834 to 1893, and contains the names of all the Trustees of the College and their officers, all the pro fessors and other instructors, all the gradu ates in annual classes, who have matricu lated at Wake Forest, with a short historical account of each since leaving College, their societies, counties, towns, occupations, de grees, removals and present addresses. Copies will be mailed post paid, by Dr. C. E. Taylor, Wake Forest, on receipt of fifty cents. This amount will barely cover the cost of publication. In getting p this Catalogue Dr. Taylor has perftjoeda valuable service to the College and 'its-friends, which we know they will appreciatwwhen they see the Catalogue. 3 The crops in some sections of North Caro lina are poor; in other sections we learn they are good; but we believe in all sections of the State the people have this year made a greater effort to raise home supplies than at any time since the war, and have suc ceeded. While the price of the money crops, cotton and tobacco, is very low, the people of the State have more to live upon the next year than in some other years when they got better prices for their products. On this account what money does come into the Stajte from the money crops we are glad to believe will not be hurried out again as rapidly as formerly, and the dearth of money will not be so great. We trust such will be the , case, Certainly the lack of money in this State for the past year with short money crops, low prices and inade quate food crops. have been quite appalling to the people in their secular business as well as in the Lord's work. FEOM OUB , TRAVELLING AGENT. SOUTH YADKIN ASSOCIATION. We found all the churches well represent ed at this Association, and a good start was taken by a, splendid sermon by Rev. W. A. Pool of Statesville. Several of the brethren spent the night before going to the Association with Bro."5 J. C. Turner, who made us welcome to his pleasant home in Statesville. Those who know Bro. Turner can form a correct idea of the real hospitality to be enjoyed at his home. The discussions of the different interests were freely participated in by & large num ber of the brethren, and the . most perfect harmony seems to be in all the churches. They not only desire to see the work en larged and accelerated, but so far as I saw there seemed to be perfect agreement as to the methods to be used in doing this work. Bro. John B. Holman, who has been the moderato of the Association for years, is one of those level-headed men, whose con sistent christian character, and fair and open dealing make him a power in whatever po sition he holds. ( BroL. R. Carroll is here, and made a very able speech on Foreign Missions, Bro. Carroll is probably as well posted on this subject as any man in the State, and when you add to this the fact that his heart is full of love for all christian work, his very pres ence seems to inspire the whole Association. On Wednesday Dr. Durham was appoint-' ed to preach; took a text and then made one of his best speeches on Foreign Missions. , On Thursday Bro. Matheney was on the program to speak, and he preached a most excellent sermon. This Jonah proceeding were not .excepted. tov by the. brethren, but both sermon and speech were well received by all who heard them1.' ' . Bro. Stallings is with .us," and experts to go on the entire trip over the mountains in the interest of High Point Female College and education In" general; and certainly we are glad to have him withus. The clear and forcible' manner in which he deals with this subject will not soon be forgotten by those who listen to him.'. Thursday we leave for the ';"r ' - 'CALDWELLASSOCIATION, , I which we reached pn Friday morning. The Association was already organized, Bro.' I; W, Thomas having been elected moderator, and Bro. J. V. McCall.the old clerk, still in his place. Bro. Thomas makes a first rate presiding officer, and Bro. McCall, who is sheriff of his county, is one of the best clerks in theSUtel . jr . . , This session is a very great improvement over that of last year, both as regards the number, presept and the amount of work re ported by the churches. ; We did not hear the introductory sermon preached by Bro. J. C. Crisp, but heard it well spoken of by the brethren. We had a splendid discussion on ed lica tion and upon Wake Forest College, partici pated in by Dr. Stallings and other friends of the institution. I can see that our people tare showing !a growing interest in the prosperity and suc cess of the College, and are always glad to hear it discussed as one of the objects of the Convention. There ought to be no Associa tion in the State at which Wake Forest Col lege is not specifically presented to our peo ple. If the Baptists of the State do not take care of the College, who will! Bro. Edwards is succeeding well in his new work for the Orphanage. ,IId is faith ful and well adapted to his work, and will be of great service to the Orphanage. The brethren never fail to ask about Bro. Mills, whom they have heard so often in behalf of the children at the Orphanage. The Association increased their pledges largely tever what they did last year. This was specially marked in Foreign Missions and in Ministerial Education. . Dr. Durham left us on Saturday to attend the Stony Fork Association. This Associa tion has been anti-missionary, and for the first time in its history on last Sunday took a collection for Foreign Missions and ap pointed delegates to the Baptist State Con vention. It looks now that the time is nq, far distant when this entire mountain sec tion will be in line with all of the denomina tional work. J. C. C. PERSONALS AND OTHEE ITEMS. Rev. Jasper Howell of Lenoir has re turned from Florida. Rev. S. W. Mitchell has moved from Cooper's to Asheville. . . . . Rev. H. A. Bagby has declined the call to Richmond and will remain at Suf folk. Rev. Dr. W. A. Montgomery, form erly of Mossy Creek, Tenn., is now at Bow man, Ga. Tha Shelby Review states that Rev. Thos. Dixon, Sr., has been elected pastor of Elizabeth church. .... Rev. G. W. Harmon preached the dedication sermon of the new Sbiloh Bap tist church Sunday. Rev. J. E. White of Wilson was on a visit to his parents in Apex, last week and called to see us on Thursday. Prof. Mills of Wake Forest called to see us on Saturday. He reports one hundred and fcixty-five students at the College. . . . .Rev.,0. Churchill of Moncure was in Raleigh on Friday last to hear the speaking. He is seventy-two years old, well and hearty. ....Dr. Thos. Hume of the University has been invited to deliver twelve lectures before the National School of Methods at Chicago next year. . .... Rev. L. M. Berry has removed from Columbia, Mo., to Boonville, Mo., and re quests that bis friends address him at the latter place in future. "Talks About Law" by Judge Win ston are widely read, and generally appreci ated. A brother writes U3 that they have been worth $1,000 to him. ' Rev. Dr. H. M. Tupper, President of Shaw University, returned to Raleigh seve ral days ago from Massachusetts, where he has pleasantly passed the summer. ....The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina meets with the Tabernacle church, Raleigh, on Thursday evening after the first Sunday in December, 189? . . . .Bro. Lang Tayloe of Hertford county was in Raleigh last Wednesday and called to see us. His visit here was for the pur pose of entering his daughter in Peace In stitute. li ;'' "(. Bro. n. C. Edwards of Woodland, Northampton county, has our thanks for a good list of renewal subscriptions, with the cash. Bro. Edwards is one of the Recorder's best friends. j y ' . . . . .Rev. F. M. Royal, writes us from the Seminary, at Louisville, September 15th, as follows : ' New1 building not , yet finishe d. Old building repaired." The faculty are ex pecting a large number of students this year," .. . .Bro. Thomas L. Dozier of South port writes us September 8th as follows : "Our good pastor, Bm Howell, has had a week's meeting. Much success. - Ten have joined us in the.work at Bethel church." . .. .Rev. A. B. Caudle conducted a splen did meeting at the new church near Mr. A,' J. Griffin's in Buford township last week. A large number professed , conversion and joined the church. -Monroe Inquirer. Sept. 15th. . - -" ; . . : , ' ?; jytu H : t $ ' v Bro. E. W. Timberlake, Louisburg, N. .C, requests all persons' who ; expect to attend the next session of the Tar River Association, to inform him at once of their intention, and also on what' day they will reach Louisburg. - -, ' ' ? . ; . Bro. J. B. Richardson, High l?oint, Sept. 15th, 1892, f seys ; " A' little cyclone dropped down on Meadow Branch , church In Union county on the ISth inst. and com-; pletely unroofed it, doing no other damage in the oommunity;V This church-house is one of the best country houses L know. ; It seats six hundred." ..K Rev. William Bland has remn from Hawley's Store to Autryville, N. C. ' i , We are informed by Miv J J A" who had all the, correspondence with km Fife with reference to, the latter's holS services here, that no word was said aboi.f the amount he should be paid, nothinirw ing said.even about his ' expensesZCu; ; . i.Rev. J. R. Jones, Milton, N, C. 5W tember 12th, 1893, writes On yesterdSi baptized eleven persons into the fellowsWrt of Shiloh church. ? They make the number of; accessions to -the church this Summer twenty, eighteen by baptism, and two bvi restoration. There are two or three nth; to be baptized." - - T?, . . . .Rev. C. G. Jones, pastor of the Fint Baptist church of Chattanooga, Tenn, de lighted good and attentive congregations the Baptist church Sunday morning and nei with splendid sermons. The sermon of the morning was pronounced, by many compe tent judges, to be one of the best ever preached in Chatham. 2'., Chatham. . . . : During the past two weeks we have attended five Associations all in the west ern part of the State two of them west of the Blue Ridge viz., South Yadkin, Cald well, Stoney Fork, Three Forks and Ashe and Alleghany, At each of these Associa tions the attendance was larro tha KM4t. . . - O i VCVU ren hopeful and the spirit of missions goodV C. vurham. ; ."T"""7:"'7T;. ". -kj:z ....Bro. F. $. Stine of Petra Mills, Cald well countv. writes: "There wan fi days' meeting sheld with Antioch church, commencing the fourth Sunday in August, conducted by the pastor, Rev. D. W. Pool, assisted by Revs. Jas. Shaver, C. 0. Pool and Solomon Gwaltney. The meetiDg re sulted in Kixtftfin additions hv hant.iam anj J -j' ..j u. , UUU . others by letter, number not known." Bro. J, H. Austin, Rockingham, Sep tember 15th, 1892, writes:. "We have had a glorious meeting and iionman and all the surrounding country were greatly revived by the presence of God's Spirit during the week. Four confessed Jesus as their Sa viour. We closed Friday night, leaving eleven penitents inquiring the way of life. : May God bless and save them with all others who want to be saved." ....Rev. T. B. Thames pastor of the First Baptist church, Danville, Va., together with his wife and little son. had a narrow escape from serious injury last Wednesday. - the shafts becoming detached, the horse made a; sudden spring upsetting the vehicle and throwing all of the occupants out. Mrs. Thames and the boy escaped unhurt. Mr. Thames was painfully, though not seriously injured in the back. " Will the Chicago University receive negroes as students? Please answer in the Recorder." Yes; the University of Chicago, will make no distinction on account of race or color. We happen to knowof a colored J-oung man from Louisville who is arrang ng to enter, and who has received every assurance of being cordially welcomed. Among the students at Chicago there will be an increasing number of negroes from the South, -r-Western Recorder. Rev. J. M. White Of Apex, N. C, baa accepted work in Edgefield, S. C. He be comes principal of the Edgefield High School, and will serve probably one or two cnurcnes in aa joining communities, tm corresDondents will hereafter address him' as above. This leaves a vacant pastorate Apex, Carthage, Swift Creek and Cumber land Union. Bro. 0. W. Blanchard also will move to Durham. Who will fill the void created by the removal of these breth ren? . I ....Rev. Dr. A. G. McManaway arrived in the city yesterday morning from Little Rock, Ark. Dr. McMana way wul remain here a fa or lava tanVfnir r-ifa fnTittnra on1 ItflTlflff it shipped, after which he will go to join his family in Virginia. He begins his pastorate in Little Rock the first Sunday in October. The church is one of the largest and most influential in the city, and under Dr. Mc Manaway will,' no doubt, still increase in number and usefulness. Charlotte Observer, September 10. ....Rev. J. K. Fan t, High Point, N.C., UV ' f AVVJ . TT ifclV II V UU V W meeting that was uplifting and infilling. dto. u. so.. Austin uia me preacaiug, " mightily did he magnify the Lord Christ Point Female College has started xmt under the most favorable auspices. : We are de lighted with the new faculty, and are en couraged to say that those who are com mitted to their care will do well. Let there be no hesitation. ....Rev. J. B. Marsh1 of " Abernathy, writes as follows September 14th: "Bro. W. E. Crocker is aiding me in a meeting at Olivet church, preaching the word accepta bly; and the Holy Spirit is using the word to the conversion of souls. Ten have pro fessed trust in Christ, and the number ot inquirers larger to day than any time since the service commenced. I have just reaft your cheering editorial in this week's Bf' CORDEB, V Sunny Side " . I wish you couW have SDoken more confldentlv of our erowtn in piety. But I fear you could not truthfully. Rev; Dr. 0. S. Blackwell. on the eve of his departure for Elizabeth City, N. writes : " I closed a meetincr some days g" at Slack water, Va,; but half of the church w in North Carolina, and baptized twenty nve. I Close my pastorate with the Thiro caui v, Norfolk, to night (Sept. 11th), after baptiz ing two at the last service. : During tae fourteen months with this, church, ninety four have been added to its membership. leave it with all of its departments of wor thoroughly organized, i J ibegin my wont Elizabeth City next I Lord's dayM jf Virginia fresh f;om the waters oi oap"--' and pray for God's blessing npon my .or in North Carolina." , . .
The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Sept. 21, 1892, edition 1
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