Monterey, Mich by A. S. Hutchins

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 1, 1873

Monterey, Mich.

By A. S. Hutchins

AGREEABLY to appointment, the quarterly meeting for Allegan County was held at this place, on the 7th and 8th inst. Eld. S. N. Haskell and Bro. E. H. Root were present, and there was a general attendance of the brethren and sisters from several churches. Inclusive of the prayer-meeting at the commencement of the Sabbath, eight meetings were held.

Subjects were introduced and dwelt upon in the sermons, setting forth the danger and liability of our losing the spirit of the work in which we, as a people, are engaged; and of drawing back unto perdition. Also of the importance of the gifts of the Spirit and of the readiness and willingness of the Lord to graciously bless those who have a living faith in the truths which unite us as a church of Seventh-day Adventists.

Bro. Haskell showed clearly from the Scriptures that such as have this faith would take delight in obeying the divine mandate, “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase.” The Spirit of God manifestly impressed hearts with the importance of being “rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” 1 Tim. 6: 18, 19.

In a meeting on first-day, to consider the question of raising means to pay delinquencies in this State, on our periodicals, and to raise a fund for the Tract and Missionary Society, the following resolutions were adopted:—

Resolved, 1. That we recommend the holding of general quarterly meetings for the State. 2. That we recommend the holding of district quarterly meetings, in each district, at least two weeks previous to the general quarterly meeting. These meetings may be held by the directors, in the absence of the President. 3. That we recommend the appointment of a district Secretary in each district. 4. That we recommend the raising of a Tract and Missionary Fund, at once, of sufficient amount to first pay up the present indebtedness of delinquents, on our periodicals, to be proportionally charged to each district; and second, to keep a sufficiently large amount on hand to meet all the demands of the Society. 5. That we recommend the ordering of all the tracts and books, through the President, by each district.

Immediately on the passage of these resolutions, about $540.00 were pledged for the purposes above specified, some $230.00 of which were paid down. These figures, we think, show quite a good start in the right direction for this quarterly meeting, considering that it was not fully represented by all its churches, and that the church at Monterey has quite a heavy bill of indebtedness to settle for recent repairs on their meeting-house.

We sincerely hope that each donor may so faithfully discharge all the duties enjoined by the word and the Spirit of God, as to finally be of the number of whom it shall be said, “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

A. S. HUTCHINS.

Monterey, Mich., June 10, 1873.