The Michigan Camp-Meeting.
By George I. Butler
I do not design to write a lengthy report of this meeting, partly for lack of time, and partly because others will doubtless have something to say in reference to it. This was a large meeting, some sixty-six tents being erected in the large circle, and the congregation numbering many hundreds constantly. The ground was very pleasant, the weather good, and the people listened attentively. Testimony No. 23 was issued while the meeting was in progress, and added much to the solemn interest of the occasion. The preaching was in harmony with the sentiment of the testimony, and not calculated to make our people feel easy in their present condition, or to bring them into a feeling of self-complacency. The solemn truths of the message to the Laodiceans, the necessity of true penitence and confession of sin, the importance of a greater amount of the spirit of sacrifice, and the need of a broader, more comprehensive view of the extent and importance of our work, were the main features dwelt upon. The recent appeal of Bro. White to our people upon these points was backed up, and we are happy to say there was quite a satisfactory response, so far as means were concerned. Michigan, the great central State of our cause, showed herself in harmony with the work, and took hold nobly in our proposed school. Some $16,000 were pledged to that enterprise Sunday morning, in addition to nearly $5,000 raised before during the season past. There seems to be a fair prospect that the amount of Bro. White’s call for the school will be met the present season. There were good confessions made upon the ground by some, and there seemed to be a clearer understanding of the system and discipline necessary among us than heretofore existed. Twenty-five were baptized. Bro. Harmon Kenyon was set apart by the laying on of hands to the solemn work of the ministry. Those desiring to ascertain the workings of the Health Institute will consult the forthcoming report. They will see a gratifying evidence that that important institution has become self-sustaining under the present management, and its prospects for increased usefulness have never been so bright as now. When our people place it upon a proper basis, it must become, with God’s blessing, a power in the work of God. We looked forward almost with dread to this great meeting; but we feel, on the whole, well pleased with its results.