USA > Pennsylvania > Lebanon County > Kleinfeltersville > Centennial celebration of the organization of the first conference of the Evangelical Church : held at Kleinfeltersville, Lebanon County, Pa., September, 25-26, 1907 > Part 2
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Starting with the adoption of a new name, what were our resources ?
I. Looking backward to our course in the unpleasant con- troversy through which we had passed, and to our attitude in its final outcome, we felt a conviction of sincerity in having en- deavored to do what was right and expedient under the circum- stances according to our best judgment. We felt ourselves clear- ly justified in organizing the United Evangelical Church. Gen- erally speaking, we did this without malice toward our friends of the "other side" of the controversy.
2. Looking forward to our course for the future, we did it with the determination to continue to trust in God who had helped us hitherto, and to maintain a spirit of devotion to Jesus Christ and the extension of his kingdom upon earth by laboring for the salvation of the lost and the building up of believers in holiness.
3. Organically: We were represented by six annual con- ferences at the General Conference of 1894, viz: the East Pa., Central Pa., Pittsburg, Ohio, Illinois, and the Des Moines. The Oregon Conference had elected delegates, but was not represent- ed at the General Conference. The Platte River was with us in sentiment, but had not taken the new name on account of an un- decided case in the courts.
These conferences numbered in membership, according to the statistics of 1895, 50,240. We had a Missionary Society, and a Woman's Missionary Society. The K. L. C. E. had been or- ganized at the Philadelphia General Conference. As nearly as could be ascertained the membership was 9,157. There were three educational institutions, viz: East Pa. Conf. Seminary, Central Pa. College, and LaFayette Seminary. A Board of Pub- lication had been organized at the Naperville General Conference,
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and provision made for the purchase of the plant of the Evan- gelical Publishing Co.
4. Materially : We were almost completely stripped of our property, including churches, parsonages, and our interest in the Publishing House. In a very large part it was a new beginning.
5. As to Polity : We held to the main features of the old organization, except that we discarded ex-officio representation in the General Conference, limited the terms of office of the bishops and presiding elders, added the important feature of lay- representation, and changed the method of deeding our church property from a denominational trust deed to a congregational trust deed with certain modifications.
6. Finally : As to doctrine, spirit, and life; we stood upon the foundation principles as laid down by the fathers of our church. These principles are clearly set forth in our Discipline. Upon this foundation we would continue to build an organic body of Christian believers that shall glorify God in His church upon the earth in true worship and in the extension of the kingdom of His Son, Jesus Christ.
We have briefly stated in this classified form what we con- sider to have been our resources in the formation of the United Evangelical Church, that we may more clearly note her develop- ment. We have now been an organized body about thirteen years. How have we developed during this period of time?
The Development of the United Evangelical Church.
I. In doctrine and polity we continue as we began, hence it will not be necessary to dwell on these. We are quite well satisfied.
We shall further consider the subject under the heads of : I. Organic. 2. Material and Numerical. 3. Spiritual.
I. Organic development. We began with eight annual con- ferences, which have already been named. Now there are ten. The Northwestern was formed from a part of the Des Moines; and the Kansas from a part of the Platte River.
The former was organized in the Floyd church, Plymouth County, Iowa, April 4, 1899, Bishop Dubs presiding. It began with a membership of 1649, now there are 2,023, an increase of 23 per cent. in seven years. The Kansas Conference was organ- ized at Kearney, Neb., March 16, 1901, Bishop Dubs presiding.
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EVANGELICAL SCHOOL OF THEOLOG
It began with a membership of 404, now there are 730, an in- crease of 80 per cent. in five years, since 1902. The organiza- tion of these conferences has resulted in considerable of a terri- torial expansion. When the Northwestern Conference was first organized, it had only 8 charges outside of the state of Iowa, now there are 19 charges scattered through Minnesota, the Da- kotas and Washington. The expansion of our territory should continue as rapidly as open doors present themselves, and we can furnish capable men and means to carry on the work.
A matter of considerable importance in the development of our missionary interests was the creation of a Woman's . Board of Missions. This took place at a meeting of the Woman's Mis- sionary Society held at Glen Rock, Pa., in the fall of 1896. This gave our sisters of the W. M. S. an official working basis. They now hold regular annual Board meetings, which never obtained under the old regime. To them also belongs the credit of per- sistently urging foreign missionary work, and collecting the funds for its establishment, and for organized missionary effort amongst our children and young people. They are represented on the General Board of Missions and on the executive commit- tee of the Board. With their Board, Conference Branches, Auxiliaries, Y. P. M. Societies and Mission Bands, they are quite well organized for effective missionary work.
A step of the highest importance to the development of our church's effectiveness in fulfilling the command of our Lord to "Go into all the world" was the organization of our mission in China. The General Conference of 1894 took the following ac- tion :
"WHEREAS, There is a strong demand on the part of our people for an opportunity to send some of their missionary money into the foreign field; and,
WHEREAS, Our present circumstances do not justify us in establishing a foreign mission at this time; therefore,
Resolved, That we regret that we cannot immediately enter the foreign mission field as a denomination.
Resolved, That in case the foreign mission fund should reach $20,000 the Board of Missions be hereby authorized to establish a foreign mission."
During the quadrennium which followed only about $10,000 of this amount had been gathered. The conviction that we as
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a church should enter the foreign field had become so strong however, that the General Conference of 1898 took the following advanced ground in this matter :
Resolved, That the Board of Missions be and is hereby in- structed at once, to inaugurate the necessary preliminary ar- rangements for the establishment of a mission in some foreign field, recognizing the principle of the comity of missions, the lo- cation to be left with said Board; and the actual establishment of the mission shall take place as soon as the Board, in its judg- ment, has sufficient funds in hand and the income is adequate to warrant the financial support and maintenance of the mis- sion."
The Board of Missions appointed C. Newton Dubs, H. B. Hartzler and W. F. Heil a committee to investigate and on loca- tion. The committee reported in favor of Hunan, China, and on June 9, 1899, the mission was established. On Jan. 10, 1900, Rev. C. Newton Dubs, D.D., was appointed superintendent. On the 20th of the following November they sailed from San Fran- cisco, landing at Shanghai Dec. 20th. Changsha was entered on Nov. 21, 1901, and the first chapel opened June 15, 1902. The following October the first converts were baptized.
The General Conference of 1898 organized "The Church Extension Society of the United Evangelical Church." A con- stitution was formulated to be a part of our Discipline under the head of Temporal Economy. No revised edition of the Dis- cipline having been published since that time, the said Constitu- tion has only had printed form in the General Conference Jour- nal. The General Conference of 1902 so changed this disciplin- ary provision that instead of a general society, there is a "Board of Church Extension" to administer the work of Church Ex- tension in a general way. Provision was also made for the or- ganization of a Church Extension Society by each annual con- ference. This has been done, and church extension has become one of the organized lines of work in the church.
In educational affairs we have also been moving forward. What was formerly East Pennsylvania Conference Seminary has been advanced to a college standard, and named Albright Col- lege. Later Albright College and Central Pennsylvania College were consolidated as Albright College under the direction of the East Pa., Central Pa., and Pittsburg Conferences. This college,
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located at Myerstown, Pa., is a vigorous, well-equipped, growing, well-managed Christian institution of learning.
On the Pacific coast, Lafayette Seminary was moved to Dallas Oregon, and is now known as Dallas College. This was also a step forward. It provides well for the training of our young people on the Pacific coast.
In 1900 Western Union College was organized by a corpor- ation consisting of the Illinois, Des Moines, Northwestern and Platte River Conferences. Later the Kansas Conference was added. This institution has already shown good results in the preparation of young men and young ladies for usefulness. Its outlook for the future is hopeful.
It will thus be seen that in the matter of perfecting our organization we have made commendable progress. It is to be hoped that by the time our next General Conference meets, we shall be ready to give Deaconess' work some definite form. We have been doing well in all lines undertaken by us, and we ex- pect to continue to move forward.
II. Numerical and Material Development.
In this respect we have made commendable, and, in some items, remarkable progress. It is remembered that we organ- ized as a church in 1894. In the formative period of the first year or two, our statistics had not taken a settled basis. In making comparisons, I will therefore use the statistics of 1896. The comparisons cover a period of II years, from June 1, 1896, until June 1, 1907. We note the following membership items :
Item
I896
1907
Gain
Church membership,
55,118
70,143
271/4 per cent.
Sunday-school scholars,
66,823
92,036
37 . 7 per cent.
K. L. C. E. (active),
10,019 18,798 87 per cent. W. M. S.,
2,048
7,953 288 per cent.
Mission Band,
2,184
6,758 209 per cent.
During the same period, the combined subscription to The Evangelical and the Evangelische Zietschrift increased 40 per cent. The Publisher's report as given in the statistics of 1907 shows that The Evangelical had 9,450 subscribers and the Zeit- schrift 1,932.
The advance made in missionary contributions is remarkable. In 1896 the contributions for the annual conference treasuries [21]
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averaged 38 cents per member. In 1907 the average was 71 cents. This is an advance of 87 per cent.
In 1896 there was raised for the General Treasury (Home and Foreign) an average of 15.6 cents per member. In 1907 the average reached 61.8 cents per member. This is an advance of 296 per cent.
For educational purposes the average in 1896 was 10 cents per member. In 1907 it was 29 cents per member. This in an advance of 190 per cent.
For Church Extension, the average per member in 1896 was I.9 cents ; in 1907 it was 6.1 cents, an advance of 221 per cent.
The amount raised by the people for the salaries of their pastors and presiding elders (except Central Pa. Conf.) was an average of $2.69 per member; in 1907 the average was $3.63 per member, an advance of 35 per cent.
In 1896 there were 125 parsonages; in 1907 there were 338, a gain of 170 per cent.
In 1896 there were 521 church buildings ; in 1907 there were 902 ; a gain of 73 per cent.
Value of all property in 1896 was $1,373,245.00; value of all property in 1907 was $3,892,576.35. This is a net gain of value in property of 183 per cent.
The prosperity of our Publishing House by the direction of the Board of Publication ; and under the efficient management of our Publisher, S. L. Wiest, is worthy of special mention. Twelve years ago, when the church took the plant of The Evangelical Publishing Company and The Zeitschrift there were practically no assets above liabilities. In other words, we began with noth- ing. After 12 years of careful management, we now have a property worth $175,000, with a debt of $73,000, thus leaving a net asset of over $100,000. The property consists of a site of ground and buildings worth nearly $100,000, machinery over $30,000, paper and books $27,000, and other assets nearly $25,- 000. The business of the house has grown to $90,000 per annum.
III. Spiritual Development.
It might be said that spiritual development pertains more particularly to the individual members of a body of Christians, than to the body as a whole; and that a church progresses spirit- ually as the individual members thereof make progress. Yet it is also a fact that there are qualities which belong to the body
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that affect the spiritual development of its members. We are to a very large extent, mutually dependent upon each other (See I Cor. 12), and it is therefore essential that these qualities mani- fest themselves in the church body. Paul in addressing the Collossians desires that they "Might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and in- creasing in the knowledge of the Lord." To that excellent Phillippian church he writes: "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judg- ment ; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."
Jesus also in addressing the seven churches in Asia, ad- dresses them as such, and closes the address to each church with the words: "He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
Now as to the question whether we as a church have made spiritual progress ; Jesus Christ, the great Head of the Church, who said to the churches just mentioned "I know," could an- swer better than any of us can. He can and does judge our case perfectly. I shall not presume to indicate the extent of our growth, but shall only consider a few essentials to the spiritual development of any church. I name the following: I. Purity. 2. Unity. 3. Knowledge. 4. Fruitfulness.
I. Purity. A study of John 15, and of the messages to the seven churches already mentioned, leads us to name this quality as pre-eminent. Do we in our preaching and teaching maintain purity of doctrine? Thank God, we have no heresy trials. It is to be hoped that we shall never have any cause for such. Do we insist on purity of heart and life? Do we administer our affairs with perfect sincerity, laying aside selfish considerations, with an eye single to the glory of God? Are our congregations examples of purity? "Blameless and harmless in the midst of sinful" and worldly environments? Jesus said: "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." And James in his epistle declares that "The wisdom that is from above is first pure."
2. Unity. This is another essential quality of the body of Christ. The importance of it is very strikingly indicated in the
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Saviour's intercessary prayer. And we should well remember that Jesus spoke these words upon the eve of his suffering and death. They are therefore the outpouring of a heart that fully understood and felt the great need of the church which he came to purchase with his own blood. Let us pause and listen to him: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them ; that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfect in one; and that the world may know. that thou hast sent me, and hast loved me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." We announce to the world that we are "The United Evangelical Church." Are we such in deed? Do we keep the "Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace?" Such is our Lord's will concerning us. We should fulfil it in all our general and annual conference deliberations; in the transactions of the various boards of the church; and in the work of our individual congregations. So far it can be said that this unity has been quite well preserved.
3. Knowledge. This quality is also essential to the prog- ress of the church. In Phil I : 9, already referred to, Paul writes : "I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment." Knowledge and judgment are named together. Knowledge of a matter is needed, and judgment to use it rightly. (1) Knowledge of the Divine will. What our mission is as a church. It is encouraging to note the increased interest in Bible study. Scriptural knowledge is the most important of all. (2) Knowledge of each other. As we know each other better we can work together better for the ad- vancement of the kingdom of Christ. The exercise of Christian fellowship will promote this kind of knowledge. (3) Knowledge of the work placed in our hands. Knowledge of its needs, and how we can develope it. The more of this kind of knowledge we have the greater our efficiency.
4. Fruitfulness. This is rather a result than a quality. The power to bear fruit is the quality which we need. Jesus tells us plainly in John 15 the importance of this, and He also tells us how the power to bear fruit is to be obtained. Its importance
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is indicated in the following words: "Herein is my Father glor- ified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain : that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my' name, he may give it you." How the power to bear fruit is ob- tained is shown in the following words: "He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing."
The fruitfulness of a church manifests itself in two ways principally :
First: In her power to witness for Christ, and this witness- ing power results in the conversion of souls. The founders of our church had this end in view chiefly. It should ever be the aim of the United Evangelical Church to win souls. What have been the results so far? The number of conversions reported are as follows :
For the three years ending with report of 1898, 26,683
For the four years ending with report of 1902, 27,279
For the four years ending with report of 1906, 32,622
For the one year ending with report of 1907, 7,837
Total in 12 years, 94,421
This is an average of 7,868 for each year. We thank God for this result; and yet we wish that the number had been much larger. What a result there would be if we could average one person for each member of the church.
Second: In her power to conserve the results of her work. Paul in his interview with the elders of the church at Ephesus gave this exhortation: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and unto all the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers." It means much to win souls, but it means just as much to take care of them. Jesus said to Peter "Feed my lambs," and again he said "Feed my sheep." There is a large meaning in these earnest words. We must take care of our own, or we shall fail in large part to fulfil our mission as a church.
In conclusion : The Lord has blessed us greatly in spiritual things and in temporal things. He has wonderfully led us.
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He has given us the increase. We may well raise our Ebenezer and say, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." We look into the past, and we see much, very much to encourage us. We rejoice in the present because of what we are and have by the grace of God. We look hopefully into the future with the assurance that the Great Head of the Church will be with us even unto the end.
"Walk about Zion, and go around about her ; tell the towers thereof ; mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces : that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God forever and ever : he will be our guide even unto death."
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3
4
5
CAVANEL E MANNINS
2
SPEAKERS IN THE CENTENNIAL SERVICES.
1. BISHOP H. B. HARTZLER, D. D.
2. BISHOP WILLIAM F. HEIL.
3. RUDOLPH DUBS, D. D., LL. D.
4. W. M. STANFORD, A. M., D. D.
5. C. NEWTON DUBS, D. D.
6. C. S. HAMAN.
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"THE GENIUS AND SPIRIT OF OUR CHURCH LIFE."
ADDRESS BY BISHOP H. B. HARTZLER, D.D.
I am to speak to you on this notable Memorial Day, concern- ing "The Genius and Spirit of Our Church Life." I do not know what is the thought of my hearers as to this subject. It is not easy to give it satisfactory treatment. When the subject was first proposed to me, it seemed vague and elusive like a floating cloud or an illuminated morning mist. To sketch the history of our Church, its doctrines, its polity, its policy, its growth and development, is to mark plain, outstanding facts. But how to set forth "the genius and spirit of our Church life"-its dominant, pervading influence ; its essential animating principle ; its peculiar character or quality-this, to me, did not so readily appear.
First of all, a question confronts me here: Why should I speak of "the genius and spirit" of this particular Church among the one hundred and fifty Churches of the land? Is there any- thing in the genius and spirit of this Church different and dis- tinct from some or all other Churches? Has this Church a suffi- ciently marked individuality to distinguish it from others of the goodly sisterhood of the Churches? This seems to be assumed in the very statement of the subject. If I did not believe this to be true, the present address would not have been prepared. As to the one all-controlling thought and aim, purpose and endeavor. of this Church, we are glad to know that we occupy common ground with all orthodox Christian Churches, namely, to save men from sin and death, prepare them for the service of God and humanity in fruitful, holy, happy lives in this world, and build them up in the body of Christ for the full realization of life and service in the heavenly world. We can readily discern in every Church some more or less distinctive features and characteristics that distinguish it from all other such organizations-a pro- nounced individuality which in most cases is more easily seen and felt than described. For we realize that, apart from all differ- ences in the externals of form, organization and action, there is an atmosphere, a spirit, a tone, a psychological, spiritual condition, a distinct denominational temperament, a church life, which more or less individualizes every member of the denominational family.
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Do we not in this fact have one explanation, if not reason and justification, for the persistence of the various denomina- tional types, even apart from the basal doctrinal and experimental characteristics and affinities? Far deeper than any external features of polity, form, or organization, or than the whole frame- work of organization, lie the justifying, satisfying reasons for separate Church organizations. Dr. Moffat, of the Presbyterian Church, very cautiously, but none the less truly, says : "Every Church of Christ may be the best Church for its own members and its own work." Dr. Joseph Agar Beet confidently asserts that "Different Churches embody different types of Christian life : and the types thus embodied are a lesson and an enrichment to the whole." And Dr. James M. Buckley goes so far as to say : "There never can be an external union of the Churches of Christ during the reign of the right of private judgment." Joseph Cook, from the throne of his Boston Monday Lectureship, cried out : "I thank Heaven for divergences in denominations." Chief Justice David J. Brewer pronounces his final verdict as from the high seat of the Supreme Court: "Denominations exist, will ex- ist, and ought to exist." This is my answer to the first question in briefest form.
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