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4. Working Church

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Dec 10, 1903

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 80, No. 49.

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4. Working Church

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

It was our pleasure to meet with the brethren in Buffalo, N. Y., on Sabbath and First day, November 14 and 15. In the past, the church in Buffalo passed through an experience similar to that mentioned in Rev. 2:2: “Hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.” But during the past two years, under the labors of Elder Burrill, the church has greatly increased in numbers and unity, and has become one of the best working churches that I am acquainted with.
On Sabbath we met in a Baptist church, rented for the purpose of using the baptistery. The usual Sabbath-school donation was taken, and before the meeting was over, another donation to pay for the use of the hall, and still another donation which was their regular Sabbath donation for foreign missions.
In the afternoon the subject was education, as they have started a church school. In securing desks, rent, etc., they were behind about eighty dollars, so a fourth donation was taken up, and although the brethren are nearly all poor, in a few minutes they had paid and pledged sufficient to liquidate this debt.
On Sunday they met on the west side for a business meeting. After presenting the needs of the South, another donation was taken up from the same people to assist in paying for the books shipped to the Southern field, “Story of Daniel the Prophet.” Over eighty dollars again was pledged.
This church takes four hundred copies of the Signs weekly, and one thousand extra copies of the Capital and Labor number. Before the meeting closed, they also took two hundred copies of the Bible Training School, to be sold largely by the children attending the church school, the church becoming responsible for what the children do not sell. A lively interest was also taken in the circulation of the “Story of Daniel the Prophet.”
The question might arise, Was that not too much business for a religious meeting? We can only state this, that some took their stand upon the truth, and spoke for the first time in social meeting. This demonstrates the fact that a business meeting can be conducted in such a manner that the converting power of God may be in the meeting.
On Monday and Tuesday we met with a small company in Rochester. We had preaching, a social meeting, and donations were made to the different enterprises, as in Buffalo. The result was that they took twelve hundred of the extra copies of the Signs, eight hundred of the Bible Training School, and in other interests that were brought before them they manifested proportionately as much zeal.
Brother Burrill has labored in this part of the State for two years, and if all churches in our ranks should manifest as much religious zeal in business matters, and in every phase of the work, as these churches manifest, it could be said, as the apostle wrote concerning a certain sister who was a deaconess at the church of Cenchrea, “That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succorer of many, and of myself also.” It is a mistaken idea that religious business can not be done religiously, and God witness it by his Holy Spirit. It is not the first time we have seen the converting power of God come into a business meeting, and souls take their stand for the truth. We shall see before the work closes that God not only approves of such meetings, by a special outpouring of his power, but that he will also manifest his displeasure when men do not tell the truth pertaining to business matters, as was manifested in Acts 5:1-11.
God is leading his people, and restoring to them the early principles of the gospel, and the power of his Holy Spirit. Forty years ago we had meetings similar to the ones that we had in Buffalo and Rochester, and we only long for the time to come when they will be more common among Seventh-day Adventists. It is then that the truth will fall like leaves of autumn in every part of the world. Such churches will be growing churches. They will not be dependent on the ministers to come and preach to them, and when the ministers do not come, they will not criticise one another. They will have too much to do in carrying forward the interests of the third angel's message. We thank the Lord for our experiences with the churches in Buffalo and Rochester, and pray that God may daily add to their number of such as shall be saved. S. N. HASKELL.