Editorial Letter by William W. Prescott

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 29, 1907

_Editorial Letter_

By William W. Prescott

_Jottings from the Editor’s Note-Book_

OUR meetings at Skodsborg closed with a good Sabbath day’s experience. Friday evening I spoke to the patients and helpers; Sabbath morning I was with the church at Copenhagen, and dwelt upon the provision made that we might be just the people described in the prophecy — commandment-keepers. In the afternoon I spoke again to the patients and helpers at Skodsborg, and in the evening following I met with the helpers in our closing meeting. From what was said to me I feel confident that many were helped as the result of the work done at Skodsborg, and for this I am thankful. I was glad to meet the friends whom I had known before, and to greet others for the first time.

From Skodsborg we returned to Hamburg, and after a stay of one day only we went to Friedensau via Berlin, where we spent one day. Friedensau is well named — a place of peace. Entirely shut away from the rush and whirl of life which so wear upon the nerves in the great centers of population, it is an ideal place for rest after arduous labor, and here we spent two weeks before the German Union Conference camp-meeting. This gave opportunity for reading and writing as well as for some needed rest. I found that great changes had been made in Friedensau since my last visit

six years ago. The sanitarium had been enlarged; the school building, the power-house, and two large dwelling-houses had been built, and they were just completing the latest addition to the group of institutions there — the Old People’s Home. The grounds had also been prettily laid out, and the gardens well developed, and an artificial pond and various attractive summer houses and restful places pleased the eye and refreshed the body. The hearty welcome extended to us and the kind hospitality shown to us by our friends both at the school and at the sanitarium rendered all the other features doubly enjoyable.

During these two weeks I met the nurses, physicians, and helpers twice, and spoke to them of their special work and the opportunities which it offered for leading souls to an acquaintance with Christ and his salvation, and to a knowledge of the message for this time. I had an intelligent and earnest company of hearers who seemed to appreciate the instruction given.

Preparations for the camp-meeting were already in progress when we arrived in Friedensau, and the work was carried steadily forward from day to day. In anticipation of a larger attendance than at any previous time, the meeting tent was enlarged so that it would seat twelve hundred, and a large platform was provided for the school choir, whose singing was one of the helpful features of the meeting.

At least a week before the date for the opening of the conference the people began to arrive. It was evident that the brethren and sisters looked forward with pleasure to this annual gathering, and that they wished to make the most of the occasion. The last day or two before the appointed time they came in crowds, and when Brother Conradi spoke the first evening, preaching an excellent sermon on Christ as the true foundation of our faith, the large tent was full. It was a grand sight, and a splendid testimony to the prosperity of the work in Germany. So far as I was able to learn, this was the largest company of our people ever assembled outside of the United States, and the meeting throughout proved to be a most excellent one.

A report will doubtless be prepared for the REVIEW, which will give a detailed statement of the growth of the work and of the present standing of the various departments of the conference, and so I will only say that the reports

both from the institutions and from the different local conferences were all encouraging, and showed that the Lord had blessed the workers and given them success. There had been a substantial increase in the membership in the field. The brethren from Russia were rejoicing in the greater freedom allowed them now for developing the work in that great country since the government had formally removed all those restrictions which had heretofore made it necessary for them to conduct their meetings, administer baptism, etc., under the greatest difficulties. The brethren from Bavaria spoke of the open door in that country as the result of a governmental proclamation, granting the same privileges to Seventh-day Adventists as are enjoyed by other denominations. Others asked for special prayers in behalf of their fields where they were still hampered by unfavorable laws, or where local authorities so administered the laws as to make them oppressive. One feature of special interest was the attention which had been drawn to this message as the result of the steadfastness of some of the young brethren in the military service who for conscientious reasons had declined to report for duty on the Sabbath. In one of the leading papers of Germany, which circulates among the highest classes, both civil and military, there had recently appeared an article dealing with this matter, occupying the whole of the first page, written by a minister of high standing, in which the work of this denomination had been fully discussed, complete statistics as to membership, publishing interests, etc., given, and a very emphatic and remarkable testimony borne as to the Christian character of this people. From the general tenor of this article it was evident that the authorities were troubled, as they plainly did not wish to punish for disobedience those whose Christian character was above reproach, and yet they did not know what to do. Elder Conradi has promised that a translation of this most interesting article shall be furnished for the REVIEW, and I do not therefore need to speak of it further here.

Brother G. F. Haffner and I were the only laborers in addition to those in the conference, and a good number of the local ministers took part in the public services. All the sermons and Bible studies were earnest and practical, and seemed to be appreciated by the people, who attended all the meetings of every kind with remarkable regularity, and listened attentively. At the close of Brother Haffner’s sermon the first Sabbath morning, many responded to an invitation to give themselves to the service of the Lord, and on the second Sabbath there was a renewed consecration on the part both of the workers and

of the people, and a goodly number made the first public avowal of their faith in Christ, some of whom had been patients at the sanitarium. Two baptisms were held, and between sixty and seventy were baptized. All seemed to feel that this was not only the largest, but the best meeting ever held in the German Union Conference.

Thursday afternoon was devoted to the exercises connected with the dedication of the Old People’s Home, and the program was both interesting and profitable. Elder Conradi gave an appropriate address based upon scriptures which speak of the aged and our duty to care for them, and Elder Haffner offered the dedicatory prayer. The school orchestra and choir furnished the music for these exercises, and at the close gave a most excellent concert in the school chapel. The program was made up of music of the highest class only, including a selection from “Elijah” and the Hallelujah Chorus for the choir, and every part was rendered in a most acceptable manner. Quite a large number of strangers were present at all these exercises.

On the last Sunday of the meeting hundreds of people from the surrounding country came to Friedensau, and the grounds were thronged. Extra services were held, at which there was a good attendance, although many seemed to come to see the place and to have a little outing. This was quite in harmony with the German idea of the observance of Sunday, and the crowd was quiet and orderly.

So closed this excellent meeting, and I left Friedensau the same evening for England, to attend the British Union Conference.

W. W. P.