To the Friends of the Cause in Minnesota.
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: We earnestly solicit your candid and prayerful attention to the condition of things in your Conference at the present time. 1. God, in his good providence, has bountifully blessed you with uncommon good crops this season. Everything has grown in abundance. Your granaries and cellars are full of the products of the rich soil of this good State. Now we should show our gratitude to God for these bounties by giving him a thank-offering for them. God has bestowed them upon us. Shall we not show our gratitude for them by freely giving to the Lord a part of them? If we covetously and selfishly keep all these, they may be withholden for the future. 2. God, in his merciful providence, has wonderfully blessed his cause in this State this year. You that love the truth have felt anxious, and have been praying that it might prosper and be spread in your State. Laborers have left other fields to come here in answer to your calls. Not less than one hundred and thirty souls have embraced the truth in this State this season. And if those now at work can be kept in the field till next Conference, we have every reason to hope for many more still to be brought in. This calls for the deepest gratitude from every heart that loves the cause of truth, and precious, perishing souls. 3. But, as you are aware, it has been at the expense of much labor and means that these results have been accomplished; and if further advancement is made it will require still more of the same. From two to four men have been kept in the field much of the time. There are many in this State now who are ready to give their whole time to the work from now till spring. Each one of these men has a family which must be supported. Besides this, their expenses in traveling, board, &c., must be met. Any one can readily see that it must require a considerable amount of means to sustain these. Our S. B. pledge for the year is only about $1,000. If every cent of this is paid in, it would not meet the expenses of the Conference. Now, brethren and sisters, what shall be done? So far as we can see, one of the following things must be done: Either, first, those men who belong to this Conference must leave the field, or simply spend what little time they can at their own expense. Or, second, we will have to let Eld. Canright go home for the winter. Or, third, there must be means made up in the State above our S. B. to meet our expenses. While the fields are opening up before us so richly, and such good results are following, we cannot bear the thought of any one leaving the field whose labors are being blessed—not even our young men who are just commencing; much less can we afford to spare the labor which the General Conference has sent us this year. And yet we cannot reasonably expect these men to labor for us without some prospect of being sustained. As the best plan we can think of, we take the liberty to appoint, Sunday, Nov. 24, for a business meeting of all the churches and societies belonging to this Conference, at their respective places of meeting, to see what can be done financially for the support of the cause in this Conference. We appeal to every friend of the cause in this State to be sure to attend this meeting; and, in the first place, see that all the S. B. for 1872 be paid up as far as it is possible. And if there is any that cannot be paid up, ascertain what part of that amount is reliable. 2. Let pledges be renewed for 1873. 3. If there are any who feel like making a free-will offering to the Lord of something above their S. B., and we hope there are those in every church who will do this, let them state how much. Then let the treasurer report immediately to H. F. Phelps, Pine Island, Minn., the result; and then we can tell how much we have to depend upon. Let us remember, brethren, that the cause in this State as yet is young, and not very strong financially. Hence, it is more necessary that the friends of the cause sacrifice liberally for its support now, than it will be when we become more numerous. The friends who are now coming into the truth will in their turn help us in time to come, while it cannot be expected that they will see the importance of doing this very largely at present. We shall lay this matter before our new brethren and sisters, believing that they will do what they can toward supporting the cause in their vicinity. But many of these are not wealthy persons and they have to furnish themselves with our periodicals, hymn-books, publications, Bibles, &c. This is quite an item to start with. Many of them will have to give liberally toward building a meeting-house or hiring halls. Now, brethren, we have laid the facts before you, and ask you to act in the fear of God, and the love of the truth and of perishing souls all around you. We hope and believe that you will act nobly to help on the cause in this our need. Let the elders and treasurers in each church see that these things are promptly and thoroughly acted upon. Scattered friends can report to H. F. Phelps, Pine Island, Minn. But all money should be sent to W. I. Gibson, Rochester, Minn. MINNESOTA STATE CONF. COM.