North Pacific Camp Meeting
By W. T. Knox
THE North Pacific Conference held its general meeting and conference at Albina, a suburb of Portland, May 22 to June 1. At this time nine newly organized churches, with a membership of one hundred and sixteen, were admitted to the conference. Most of the churches were represented, there being about one hundred delegates present. The reports from the laborers were encouraging. Since the meeting of the Pacific Union Conference last March, aggressive work has been done for the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons,” about six thousand books, or half the quota of the conference, being sold. At a meeting devoted to this work some very interesting experiences were related. It is intended to push this work until the last book of their quota has been sold. About five hundred dollars was raised for the Relief of the Schools Fund. Pledges were also made for the medical college. The medical work in this conference is in a prosperous condition. Treatment rooms have been established at Tacoma, and earnest appeals are coming from British Columbia for sanitarium work. In Seattle the treatment rooms and vegetarian restaurant are on a paying basis, and are doing well. In Portland the sanitarium is doing a profitable business, and long ago outgrew its present quarters. Steps are now being taken to secure a suitable location and provide proper facilities, and the Board is receiving promises of assistance from the Board of Trade and other public organizations. One of the important questions considered at this meeting was the division of the conference. The territory embraced in the North Pacific Conference has been all that portion of British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon west of the Cascade Mountains, lying about thirteen hundred miles north and south and ninety miles east and west, containing about seventy churches with twenty-four hundred Sabbath keepers. After careful consideration it was decided to relinquish Western British Columbia to the Pacific Union Conference, and also to release Brother J. L. Wilson for that field, voting eight hundred dollars to the Union Conference for his support for the coming year. The remainder of the territory was divided into two conferences, the State line between Washington and Oregon being the boundary east and west. The northern portion takes the name of Western Washington Conference, with a membership of 975; the southern portion takes the name of Western Oregon Conference, with a membership of about 1,375. The division of the conference and its liabilities and assets was accomplished with the best of spirit, all seeming solicitous that only that should be done which would result in the general welfare. In Western Oregon F. M. Burg was elected President; H. E. Hoyt, Secretary and Treasurer; Geo. Pettit, Missionary Secretary; F. M. Burg, W. R. Simmons, H. J. Schnepper, L. I. Stiles, and C. J. Cole, Executive Committee. Portland, Ore., will be the headquarters of this conference. In Western Washington, S. W. Nellis was elected President, E. L. Stewart, W. C. F. Ward, A. Q. Shryock, and E. T. Cornell being associated with him on the executive committee; Miss Daisy Cuddy was elected Secretary and Treasurer, and W. H. Coffin, Missionary Secretary. Seattle will be the headquarters for Western Washington. Although the division of the conference involved considerable extra work, yet the spiritual interests of the meeting were not neglected. Much freedom was enjoyed by the laborers in presenting the messages of mercy; the instruction given was excellent, and was heartily responded to by those present. The meeting was fruitful, a large number presenting themselves for baptism. Many expressed themselves that this, the last meeting of the North Pacific Conference, was the best they had ever attended.