p. 17 | The Alabama Camp-Meeting by K. C. Russell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 6, 1906

The Alabama Camp-Meeting

By K. C. Russell

This meeting was held at Attalla, August 16-26. Attalla is a town of about two thousand inhabitants, and is located in a valley at the southern extremity of Lookout Mountain. The camp was pitched upon a hill in a beautiful grove of pine-trees, from which one could look down upon the town and valley beneath.

The attendance of our people at this meeting was larger than was expected. The attendance of the citizens from the outside was excellent at the evening services, and much interest was manifested in the truths which were presented.

It was the purpose of those in charge of the meeting so to present the message that it would cover such lines of the truth and work as would be adapted to the great needs of our people in these most strenuous times.

The laborers who were in attendance from outside the conference were Elder R. M. Kilgore, Prof. J. E. Tenney, Dr. M. M. Martinson, Brother I. A. Ford, and the writer. It was a pleasure to meet the brethren and sisters of the Alabama Conference and note their devotion to the principles of the third angel's message. There was an interest on the part of all to obtain all the instruction possible upon every phase of the message for these times. The interest was also manifested by liberally responding to the various calls which were made for funds with which to support the cause.

On the Sabbath the Lord came very near in our revival service, and nearly all present responded to the call to seek the Lord in a special way to be delivered from sin.

There were in attendance a number of Seventh-day Baptists at this Sabbath service, and also a number of the members from a church belonging to the denomination that was organized by the Snook and Brinkerhoff faction that apostatized from the Seventh-day Adventists on the point of the spirit of prophecy in the State of Iowa years ago. The Spirit of God moved upon their hearts, and we hope that it may continue its work, and that they will yet see the truth in its beauty.

The work of the world-wide mission field was presented at an evening service when an excellent outside attendance was present to listen. By the way, we have taken occasion to present this several times this summer when we had a good attendance from the outside. We believe it has made a very favorable impression upon the people.

The religious liberty work was given its share of attention at this meeting, and there was a deep interest manifested on the part of our people in this feature of our work. The following resolution was passed, which indicates the attitude of the Alabama Conference concerning the spirit of prophecy at this time:— “Whereas, The time has come when Satan is seeking to bring doubts into the minds of many with reference to the spirit of prophecy's being in the church, and the real place it is to occupy; therefore,— “Resolved, That as a conference we express our confidence in the Testimonies of the Spirit, and our thankfulness to God for this special gift.”

Elder A. J. Haysmer was elected president of this conference for the ensuing year, and Sister Helen McKinnon secretary and treasurer. We feel confident that the work in this conference will make greater progress in the future than it has in the past. The financial report showed that there had been a gain in the tithe over last year, an aggregate to the amount of $1,049.19.

I trust that our people will remember often the work in this Southern field, and also the workers, who have so many difficulties to wrestle with in their efforts to advance the message.

K. C. RUSSELL.