Sabbath, June 11, at Bethel, Wisconsin
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Sabbath, June 11, at Bethel, Wisconsin
By William Covert
SABBATH, June 11, was a day of gladness at Bethel, Wis. There was a service held at eight o'clock in the academy, in which twenty-three of the students were received for the ordinance of baptism. Twenty-one of these were living in the Home, and nearly all of them are strong young men and women who have a bright Christian experience, and express themselves as willing to engage in the Lord's work anywhere that they may be called upon to go. At eleven o'clock, the regular Sabbath services were held, at the close of which Professor Washburn was ordained to the ministry. His ordination had been voted by the Lake Union Conference Committee after he had been elected to the presidency of Emmanuel Missionary College at Berrien Springs. He requested that the ordination service be performed at Bethel, where he could be in the presence of all the students in the Bethel school, where he has served as principal for the last three years. At the close of the ordination service, the whole congregation of two hundred persons marched to the water, one-half mile west of the church, where twenty-three of the students, and three other persons who had been brought to a knowledge of this truth through the labors of these students, were buried with their Lord in baptism. Professor Washburn baptized thirteen of these students, which was the first service of the kind he had ever performed. The other thirteen were baptized by the writer. Very many remarked that this was the most blessed Sabbath day they had ever experienced. It was truly a beautiful closing of Professor Washburn's service in connection with the school where he had served so faithfully during the last three years. We trust his future service in connection with our educational work may be as fruitful as it has been in this school. Prof. A. W. Hallock, who has been connected with the school during all the time Professor Washburn has been here, now takes the principalship of Bethel Academy. We know that the blessing of God rests upon the work which is being done in this institution, and the outlook for much good yet to be accomplished is indeed bright. May the blessing of the Lord still abide with the work here.