The Churches | AdventAI

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Dec 28, 1876

The Churches.

(Condensed from the Review and Herald.)

Michigan.

WITHIN the last two weeks Elders Fargo and Burrill have visited the churches in Alma, Estella, Ithica and Masterton, and report good courage in the work. Of the business part of the meetings they say: “When we began our work this district was in debt some $200. We have visited all the churches but Carson City. Already a sum sufficient to pay the debt has been pledged, and nearly one hundred dollars besides, with which to carry forward this noble work for the coming year.”

HILLSDALE CO.—Elder H. M. Kenyon, in company with Bro. I. A. Olmstead, visited the church in Jefferson, Nov. 24, and held several meetings with the brethren there. On the evening of Nov. 27, they commenced meetings in Ransom Center. The elder of this church having resigned and moved away, Bro. A. J. Wilbur was chosen and ordained to fill that place.

Nov. 30, the brethren of Jefferson met with those at Ransom, and in the afternoon the ordinances of the Lord’s house were celebrated. All felt it was good to be there. The Lord by his blessing set his seal to the work that had been wrought for these two churches.

“Since the meeting in Rochester before reported,” says Elder S. N. Haskell, “Elder Smith and myself have held meetings in Armada, Memphis, Dryden, Almont, Flint, Lapeer, and Fairview. A degree of interest has been manifested in the missionary work in the churches we have been able to visit. Some seem to think that scattering a few tracts is about all there is to the missionary work. But the distribution of reading matter is only one means to accomplish an object, and that object is to save souls.”

Province of Quebec.

WATERLOO.—Eld. A. C. Bourdeau is still laboring in this field. He has commenced meetings in Dillton, twelve miles from Waterloo. Bro. Owen has also commenced a course of lectures in the village of Warden, three miles from Waterloo.

Kansas.

PLEASANT VALLEY.—At the quarterly meeting held in this place ten were added to the church, six of them by baptism. Several others are almost ready to unite with the church.

OSAWKEE.—The quarterly meeting at this place which was held Nov. 28, and continued eight days, was reported by Elders Lamont and Kennedy to have been a good meeting. They say: “The attendance was not very large, yet the interest was good. Nine were added to the church. Six were baptized. The Sabbath-school is in a prosperous condition. The Dunkers have a large church in this vicinity, and had pretty firmly fastened their trine-immersion doctrine on the community at large. But with the help of the Lord we were able to present the truth in such a manner that the ‘spell’ is entirely broken.”

Europe.

FRANCE.—The following is from Elder D. T. Bourdeau’s report of labor in southern France:

“Since my last report I have continued my course of lectures and held a few meetings in another commune, where three ministers heard me and heartily endorsed my testimony on the evidences of Christ’s second coming. At this point I was offered the use of a temple which will accommodate one thousand persons, in which to give a course of lectures. I accepted the invitation. But as the seventh-day Sabbath was presented in the order of my subjects, some who had acknowledged the truth, and who were turning against it because of the cross, reported unfavorably to the pastor of the temple, making the impression that I had brought disturbance into my meeting in speaking on the Sabbath question. As the result of this the church was closed against me. But we still have a few friends who are continuing their investigations. We speak to them at their homes, and twice a week in our kitchen which was the hall for prayer-meetings before we occupied it. The law permits us to speak to twenty persons besides the members of our family. If we go beyond these limits we are liable to pay a fine and to be imprisoned during a period of from one month to two years.

“We are under the laws of the empire, which will be modified at the close of this presidential term (in four years), when we hope to have full liberty of speech. I cannot sell or circulate books, pamphlets, or tracts without being subject to a heavy fine and imprisonment, unless I first get a permission from the government. I have, through the authorities of this department, sent fourteen kinds of tracts to the capital to have them stamped.”

Maine.

AROOSTOOK CO.—Elder J. B. Goodrich reports his labors in this county as follows:—

“At Oakfield an elder and a deacon were chosen and ordained, and seven united with the church. At Linneus also an elder and a deacon were ordained, and we attended to the ordinances. At Bridgewater we found the interest low; but one who had become discouraged and given up the Sabbath confessed his error, and took a decided stand to live out the truth again. ‘United we stand, divided we fall.’

“At New Sweden I found a body of Sabbath-keepers who have been led to embrace the truth by reading tracts and papers. I was made welcome at their homes, and although we could not understand each other’s language, yet there was a union of spirit, and we could easily understand by the shake of the hand that we all belonged to one family. Eph. 2:19. The Baptist minister kindly gave me an invitation to attend their prayer-meeting, and requested me to preach, which I gladly did, and he acted as an interpreter. The services closed with a good, free prayer-meeting. I enjoyed freedom in speaking to the people, and many of the youth could readily understand me. Some became deeply interested in the subjects presented, and acknowledged that we have the truth on the law question. Bro. C. J. Gellott and the Baptist minister kindly assisted me in all our meetings by acting as interpreters, for which I felt very thankful. Sixteen signed the covenant and chose a leader and a deacon. May the Lord bless this dear people, and add to their numbers daily such as shall be saved.”