The Work in Virginia by W. J. STONE

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 30, 1914

The Work in Virginia

By W. J. STONE

It has been my privilege to labor in the Virginia Conference for nearly three years, and during that time God has quite signally blessed the work, so that quite a number have been won to the truth, and the tithes and offerings have made a good increase.

During the year 1912 our workers reported nearly one hundred converts to the faith, and in 1913 about seventy-five. On account of a number of deaths and the pruning of our membership, the net increase for the two years was only one hundred and twenty-nine.

Thus far this year twenty-nine have been baptized, besides eleven others who have signed the covenant; and one church has been organized.

During this time the offerings to missions have been trebled, our tithe has increased about forty per cent, and five new churches have been organized. To God be all the praise for his blessing. We have been made debtors to the General Conference for the liberal appropriations made to this conference, which have enabled us to place more laborers in the field than we otherwise could have done.

I consider Virginia an excellent field. I think there is no better anywhere, and no State can boast of a more loyal people to the principles of civil and religious liberty than can the Old Dominion. Some of the most loyal men of this nation were born and reared in this great State. I believe there is some truth in the statement made by Secretary Daniels recently at the one hundredth anniversary meeting of the Bible Society of Virginia. He said: “That Virginia is great, and that she has given great men to the world, is not the result of accident, but is because its civilization was built upon faith in the Bible. The leadership and inspiration of these men was the result of the spring from which they drank, and from the study of the Bible—the world’s greatest book—by those who had come to Virginia that they might worship as they saw fit.”

The utterances of such men as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison show that they possessed an extraordinary knowledge of these eternal principles of heaven-born truth; and Virginia has contributed her portion of the leading and loyal men of the nation, and there yet flows in the veins of many of the Virginians that same spirit of loyalty to the great principles of righteousness. It seems to me that we owe to the people of Virginia a great obligation to give them in clear, distinct lines God’s last message to the world.

I do not believe that Virginia has received the attention or assistance that the importance of this field demands. Virginia needs as good talent as any conference in the United States.

I have felt it my duty, after much prayer and consideration of the matter, to lay down my work here, but my interest in its progress will not cease, as I can see great possibilities for the future. May God choose the man who shall direct the work in this conference, and may loyalty to his efforts and union among the workers make Virginia a very fruitful field, is my prayer. W. J. STONE.