California as a Missionary Field.
By James White
The report of the late anniversary of the American Baptist Home Mission Association, contains the following:— "Rev. T. Edwin Brown, of Rochester, N. Y., spoke on 'The Work of the Society in California.' The State is said to have a population of 600,000, and of these only 30,000 are communicants, only 4,150 are Baptist communicants. The Baptists are outnumbered by the Northern Methodists and the Presbyterians; they outnumber the Episcopalians and the Congregationalists. In San Francisco, out of a population of 200,000, less than 900 are Baptist members. California is the hardest field of missionary labor on the continent. The people are so intensely materialistic, worldly, covetous, the population is so mixed the irreligious spirit can almost be felt in the air. The strongest religious organization is that of Romanism. An intensely worldly people desire an indulgent form of religion; hence, with such a religion of forms or one of rationalistic laxity is popular. In such a field spiritual religion advances with difficulty—Baptist doctrines with especially great difficulty. This has been aggravated by bad leadership. Some excellent ministers have gone there, but the flood of migration takes light ministerial as well as other flood-wood. A new country anywhere, California especially, is no place to recover a damaged reputation." Without being able to endorse all the above we believe it is worthy of consideration. The per centage of church membership and church attendance according to population is very small in California; and the country is too new to be free from the spirit of recklessness which generally pervades new countries, and especially mining countries. Having been in possession of a Catholic State, it is to be expected that Romanism should largely prevail. But admitting it to be a hard field, it is beyond all doubt an important one. The very fact that its "population is so mixed" makes it an interesting field. The nations of the earth are here represented. And Mr. Eddy took this view of it in his speech, wherein he said:— "It would be true economy to secure strong men, at any necessary cost, and place them in good locations, and keep them there." Our brethren will remember the words of both Brother and Sister White, in which the opinion of Mr. Eddy has been anticipated. They have been in favor of "broad plans of operation," and of risking an outlay to secure important posts and important objects. This is a wise and judicious plan, and we are happy to know that, as a general thing, the friends of the cause in California endorse their suggestions. Some, who have had no experience in this work, think it is a denial of our faith to make large calculations, to build a large church, or to erect a commodious publishing house! But if we are correct in our views of prophecy; if the work is as vast as there represented; and if time is short and the coming of the Lord is near, it is a sad denial of our faith to lay up earthly treasures and let this cause go lagging for want of efficient means to send it to the world. Do all we can, we cannot do too much. It is a matter of rejoicing, and gives us great confidence in this work, that the Lord has raised up those who can take comprehensive views and devise plans of operation accordingly. Whenever there has been faith enough among the people to risk an outlay, the blessing of the Lord has attended it. If the Lord works through instrumentalities we ought to lay our plans and devise our means to correspond to the magnitude of the work to be done.