p. 174 | Iowa by R. M. Kilgore

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 27, 1875

Iowa.

By R. M. Kilgore

At Hook’s Point and Soldier Valley I found the brethren in trial and discouragement, and some of the fold straying. After much private, and faithful public labor, attended by the blessing of God, the wrongs were made right by confession on the part of the erring and forgiveness on the part of the offended. I trust the tears that flowed so profusely, and the vows and promises that were made at these places, will not be forgotten; and that the sweet, melting Spirit of God which so manifested itself, in our midst, on these occasions, may not be grieved away by a like cause in the future.

In those cases, the result of a want of forbearance and Christ-like love toward the erring was seen, and of an unwise, unscriptural manner of laboring with them. By rashly dealing with the wrong-doer he may be cut off without making the proper effort to undo the wrong; and we should save the sinner if possible. At one of these places it was said by one, “It will take about five minutes to settle the difficulty,” which occupied more then five hours before it was fully accomplished. The Spirit of God did the work man could not do.

For the benefit of our young churches and inexperienced brethren, the following action of our Conference is given, which, if strictly adhered to, will save much trouble:—

“Resolved, That in the matter of expulsion of members from churches, we endorse and adopt the resolutions of the General Conference passed upon this subject as follows:—

“Resolved, That in our judgment the expulsion of members from church fellowship should never be effected by less than a two-thirds vote of the entire membership of the church in question; and such action should not take place without previous faithful labor with the erring member, and also due notice of the trial. The only circumstances under which these regulations should be departed from at all are in the case of outrageous crime in which the guilt is manifest; in which case, at the discretion of the church this previous labor may be dispensed with.”

“Resolved, That in case of church trials involving the expulsion of members, we deem it advisable that our brethren, if possible, secure the aid of some experienced preacher; if this is not consistent that they make application to their own State Conference Committee for the aid of some experienced and judicious lay-brethren to aid by their counsel and advice, excepting such cases only as are excepted in the preceding resolution.”—Minutes of the Iowa Conference of S. D. Adventists, held at Pilot Grove, Iowa, June 8, 1866.

In Calhoun Co., I found a company keeping the Sabbath who had never heard the voice of an authorized minister. This work had been accomplished through the faithful labors and influence of Bro. N. R. Rigby. I remained a week and preached twelve discourses, at the close of which a great interest was manifested to hear more, and by a unanimous vote I was invited to return at the earliest opportunity, which, the Lord willing, I shall do.

High waters prevented my visiting the Belvidier and Onawa churches.

R. M. KILGORE.