Toronto (Ontario) Camp-Meeting by C. S. Longacre.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 24, 1908

Toronto (Ontario) Camp-Meeting

By C. S. Longacre.

This meeting was held from August 20 to 30 in Dufferin Park, a beautiful spot near the center of the city of Toronto.

The membership of the Ontario Conference is only a little over five hundred, and for some reason there were not so many present as a year ago. But the universal testimony at the close of the meeting was that this was the best camp-meeting they had ever held. The outside interest was so marked that it was decided

to continue the meetings in the large tent for another week or longer. The writer was requested to remain for several days, and assist in the special effort. Quite a number of outsiders signified their intention to keep the Sabbath, when a call was given the last Sunday night. They had listened to a sermon in the afternoon on the Sabbath question, and again in the evening on the change of the Sabbath.

The annual conference was held in connection with the camp-meeting. The president’s report showed an increase in membership, but a slight drop in tithes. The panic in the United States has affected Canada as well, although there was a small surplus in the treasury after all the laborers were paid. An excellent spirit prevailed in the meetings from the beginning to the end. All the former officers were re-elected, with one exception on the conference committee.

The preaching and studies given during the camp-meeting were of a spiritual and highly missionary nature. Revival efforts were held at different times. The first and last Sabbaths were especially good days. At the close of a discourse given in the afternoon of the first Sabbath, nearly the whole camp came forward to seek the Lord, for a better experience and power to overcome besetting sins.

Quite a number of the young people confessed their lack of conversion, though they had professed the truth for years, and expressed their need of present help. An invitation was extended to all such to repair to another large tent. This was largely filled with youth, and here Satan put up a most determined battle. Many sought the Lord for deliverance, and the consciousness of sins forgiven. But Satan fought us on this issue until the going down of the sun, before complete victory came to all. As soon as one stubborn case was won, that individual at once began to labor for those who were still in bondage. It was a joyful praise-meeting we had after the last one was set free.

On Wednesday the whole camp took the train and went to Lornedale Academy, about twenty miles from here, to attend its dedication. It is the only school in the conference, and is beautifully situated on about forty acres of good land. They have plenty of apples, berries of all kinds, grapes, potatoes, and vegetables, and cows and chickens to supply the table for the students, and a good surplus to sell on the market. Elder Eugene Leland, the president of the conference, was in charge of the school last year. Prof. H. T. Curtis of the Keene (Tex.) Academy, was elected its principal for the ensuing year. The prospects are that the school will be more than filled this year. The obligations resting upon the school were about twenty-eight hundred dollars. This whole amount was raised in cash and pledges, contrary to all expectation, by those who attended the dedication. This conference now has a property that is worth about fifteen thousand dollars, and under God’s blessing we were able to dedicate it free of debt.

A good interest was manifested in the needs of the work in the regions beyond. A year ago, when the camp-meeting was was larger, the Sabbath-school collection amounted to only thirty-four dollars. This year it amounted to $700.26. Besides this, another collection, amounting to over forty-three dollars, was taken for the work in South America.

The laborers from abroad were Elders E. R. Palmer, N. Z. Town, and the writer. Elder W. H. Thurston, president of the Canadian Union Conference, was compelled to leave early in the meeting on account of the Quebec camp-meeting.

A joint temperance rally was held on the first Sunday afternoon. An excellent program was rendered to a very large outside audience. Three addresses were made. The first by Mr. W. Munns, president of the Christian Temperance Society of Toronto; the second by J. H. Wilkinson, a former Methodist preacher and present associate editor of the Toronto Sunday World; the last address was given by the writer. This temperance rally on the first Sunday of our meeting greatly helped to increase the attendance during the rest of the week. The conference also voted unanimously to carry into effect the ten-cent-a-week plan, and to take five thousand copies of the special Mission Review with which to solicit donations for the foreign mission work. The book sales at the camp amounted to over two hundred dollars. More were sold to outsiders than at any previous meeting. Everybody returned home rejoicing and determined to work energetically for the Master.

"O thou whom thy Lord is sending, Gather now the sheaves of gold, Heavenward then at evening wending, Thou shalt come with joy untold! Lord of harvest, send forth reapers! Hear us, Lord, to thee we cry; Send them now the sheaves to gather, Ere the harvest-time pass by."

C. S. Longacre.