The North Michigan Conference
By S. E. Wight
Report of the President at the Lake Union Conference
THE North Michigan Conference comprises the twenty-seven northern counties of the lower peninsula of Michigan, and the islands near the shore are connected with the counties in this district. There are no large cities in this territory. The population of the whole conference is nearly three hundred thousand. When this conference was organized, there was an enrolment of six hundred and fifty members. “Christ’s Object Lessons,” and our portion of the General Conference Association debt have led the elders of the churches to drop from their record many names, but our membership remains about the same, as between seventy-five and one hundred persons have accepted the truth within the last eighteen months. It is interesting to note that our tithe has been gradually increasing. After the first nine months of our existence as a conference the books were audited, and the tithe receipts were found to be $4,235.91, or $470.65 per month. The tithe for the last nine months is $4,700.32, or $522.25 per month, making an increase of $51.60 per month. How to reach the multitude of people who come to our doors every summer, is a problem with which we have wrestled for some time. Something should be done to arrest their attention. Some think it is almost impossible to present the truth to the people at a19resort, but we are persuaded that it can be done. When the people are at their homes and busily engaged with the cares of life, they rarely stop to talk with any one regarding their soul’s salvation; but when they are leisurely living in their small summer homes, one can talk with them on this subject. The majority of people who come to Charlevoix, Petoskey, Harbor Springs, and other resorts in that vicinity are those of mature minds. Most of these have a literary education, which makes them easy of access. Last summer we conducted a hygienic dining-hall in Petoskey. There was a Bible worker giving her entire time to the Bible work, and Sister M. C. Kenyon, whose reputation as a leader and worker is well known, managed the cafe, and was always on hand at meal-time to speak a word which would lead people to Christ. The influence of this has been widely felt, and we are much encouraged by the reports that we receive. In Petoskey, nine have accepted the truth, and the interest is increasing. A railroad conductor, who is the husband of one of our sisters, buys tracts and scatters them among his associates along his run. We look for a great work to be done in Petoskey. Statistics show that our book sales in this conference have been a little over three thousand two hundred dollars for 1903. Besides this we have done some commercial work. We have not entered into business that would take time, but there are some things which the people need that they can not get in their own town, and in answering this call we have been able to make some money for the tract society. The society began in 1902 with a stock worth about three hundred dollars. We had no safe, nothing but a desk that belonged to the old tract society. We did not at first furnish our office with any extras, but we have worked on steadily, and we now have a safe in which to keep our books, a few articles of furniture, an oscillating mimeograph to print our paper, and a stock of books worth about one thousand dollars. The present worth of the society is about thirteen hundred dollars. There are ten church-schools, with an enrolment of one hundred and forty-seven pupils. Eight canvassers are now at work in the field. These departments, like the others, have prospered as we have each tried to help the other. We have twenty-one church organizations, eleven dedicated church buildings, and eight new buildings will soon be prepared for dedication. Four churches have been organized, and two others are waiting for organization. We have laid our plans to enter new fields where the country is just being settled. It is much easier to reach the people if we are the first in the vicinity. Our portion of the General Conference Association Fund apportioned to the Lake Union was a little over fourteen hundred dollars. It was voted at our conference at Mancelona last fall, that this money should be divided into four parts, to be paid semiannually, each part to be divided per capita among the churches. We have now on hand of this money about three hundred dollars, and June 1 two hundred dollars more will be paid. We have already reduced our part to $1,336, so we expect that on July 1 there will be only about eight hundred and fifty dollars of this debt remaining. There have been times when we have knelt before an empty treasury and asked the Lord to send means to carry on his work, and our prayers have been answered every time. We have seen the Lord’s providence in many things, and not a worker can say that it has been anything more than the guiding hand of the Lord that has sustained us and prospered the work. Union among our laborers, and loyalty to the third angel’s message, have enabled us to work with good courage, and in turn the brethren and sisters have caught the spirit, and so courage has gone from one to the other until we are pleased to see much more work being done than when we first began. We have endeavored to teach the people to be loyal to the third angel’s message, pay their tithes, and donate liberally to those who are calling for help in foreign fields, and also in our own nation, the Southern field.