BUSINESS TO BE DONE AT THE QUARTERLY MEETINGS by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 21, 1878

BUSINESS TO BE DONE AT THE QUARTERLY MEETINGS

By Dudley Marvin Canright

As the time for holding our quarterly meetings is drawing near, I have been requested to state more definitely the business that should be attended to in these meetings, which are now generally adopted by all our churches.

1. The clerk should be present on the Sabbath, with his book. After the meeting is called to order he should begin with the first person on the record who at the present time is a member of the church. Read the name aloud. If the person is present, he or she should respond to the call. The church wish to know how this brother stands personally; not how he stood ten years ago or three months ago, but how he has been prospering, spiritually, during the past three months, and particularly what his standing is to-day. Of course these remarks should be brief, particularly in a large church; but still there should be time for a fair statement from every individual. If the church is large, more time must be devoted to this meeting, and shorter remarks must be made. Read the names, until every name on the list has been called.

When the clerk comes to the name of a person not present, it is expected that that person will report at this meeting by a letter. Even though he lives near the church, if he cannot attend on account of sickness or for any other cause, he should report just the same. If any are far away, they know that their names will be called this day, and they should write to the clerk two weeks beforehand, stating their standing and spiritual condition. The clerk should read this letter when the name is called. In this way every person on the record will be inquired after once a quarter.

But suppose members neglect to be present or to write, what then? In this case, if they are within reasonable distance, the elder or deacon, or in case there are no such officers, the leader of the meeting, should visit those persons immediately, ascertain their condition, why they were not present, how they are prospering, &c. If they are too far away to be visited personally, the clerk of the church should write to them on the very next day, inquiring after them, and requesting an immediate answer. At the next meeting, these brethren can report what they have learned about the absent members. If members neglect or refuse to write to the church at the time of the first quarterly meeting, they should be written to as above stated. If they neglect it at the time of the second quarterly meeting, they should be written to, stating that they will be put under the censure of the church if they are not heard from by the time the third quarterly meeting is held. At the third meeting, if no response is heard from them, a vote should be taken by the church censuring them for neglect of duty and lack of interest. This action of the church should be immediately reported by the clerk to the members thus censured. If no attention is paid to this, at the fourth quarterly meeting they should be expelled from the church as having lost all interest in the truth. If members live near enough to attend the meeting, and yet do not do so, the same course should be taken, only the officers should visit them instead of writing to them.

Inquiry should be made at these quarterly meetings to ascertain if the church is in harmony, if all are walking together in unity. It is not best to rake up little difficulties and small trials which will die of themselves in time; but if the meeting develops the fact that there are bad grievances and serious trials, which endanger the peace and prosperity of the church, then steps should be taken to settle these matters. If the fact is developed that a certain member is in deep trial with some one, so much so that they do not fellowship each other, then the elder of the church or the leader should look after these cases immediately. He should visit them, ascertain the cause of their difficulty, and do all he can to get the parties together privately and reconcile them. If this fails, a committee of a few faithful brethren or sisters should be appointed to act with the elder for the same purpose. If this fails, it is best to have the case reported to the president of the Conference, that is, if it is a serious matter. Then he should take steps as soon as possible to have a faithful minister visit that church and assist in settling the difficulty. Generally, it is not best for the church, by itself, to take up a church trial and endeavor to settle a difficulty. Little matters can be settled in that way; but difficult ones should not be touched without the advice and presence of an experienced minister. If they are, it frequently makes the matter worse. Better let it rest until a minister can come.

If an examination of the records shows that some brother or sister is in discouragement or likely to apostatize, the officers of the church should see that this individual is immediately visited and helped. Indeed, this is the one grand object of the quarterly meetings,—to bring up the cases of all the members and see that they are properly looked after. Frequently precious souls can be saved by looking after them soon enough.

2. The record of the church for the last three months should be read before the church by the clerk, and any corrections made which may be necessary. Also the elder should look over the clerk's book with him, and see that it is kept correctly in every respect.

3. The next thing in order is to celebrate the ordinances when there is an ordained elder to attend to it. The question has been asked, Would it not be best to postpone this until the general quarterly meeting, the third Sabbath in the month, or until some minister is present? We answer emphatically, No. This would defeat the very object of the meeting. If we begin to postpone the meeting in this manner for one excuse, it will soon be postponed for another excuse, and finally the entire system will go down. We say, therefore, that when the Sabbath arrives when this quarterly meeting should be held, there should be no postponement. But suppose we have no ordained elder to administer the ordinances? Very well, attend to all the rest of the business. Read your list, examine your members, and go just as far as you can. Of course you cannot have the ordinances without an ordained officer. If you are so unfortunate as not to have a man fit for an elder in your church, then you will have to omit that part of the programme until a minister shall come; but do not put over your entire meeting; attend to everything you can do. If you wait until several churches meet together, the object of this meeting, which is a careful examination of every member of the church, will be defeated. If you have several churches together, nothing of the kind can be done. Hence every little church should meet in its own place of worship on this Sabbath day, and meet alone.

4. If any persons wish letters to remove to some other church, this is the time to grant them, as it will be understood that all such matters will come up at this meeting, and every person will be present. If any are to be received into the church, this is the time to receive them. Indeed, any matter pertaining to the church should be attended to at this meeting. All committees appointed for any purpose should report at this meeting. If new officers are to be elected, this is the time to attend to that business. We want to commence with a new, clean record every three months.

5. The systematic benevolence should all be straightened up square at this quarterly meeting. Of course this business must be attended to after the Sabbath, or on the first day of the week. Right here is where the main difficulty will come, that is, to get all to attend the business meeting evening after the Sabbath or on Sunday. They will be very likely to excuse themselves on various grounds. It is only a business meeting, the sisters will say; I have nothing to do there, will be another's excuse; and thus it frequently happens that our business meetings are very poorly attended. This greatly discourages those who do come; and unless a great effort is made these meetings will drop through entirely. We appeal to you, brethren and sisters, to be consistent, and do your duty in this matter. If you must stay away from any meeting, do not be absent from this business meeting. Let every brother come, and every sister come, and every officer be there. Encourage it by your presence, if you do not intend to say a word.

But, says one, my systematic is due, and I have not a cent to pay it with, and what is the use of attending? So much the more use. Attend the meeting, and show that it is neither a lack of interest nor carelessness that keeps you from paying up. Tell them plainly, if you cannot possibly pay it. Everybody will feel better for it, and so will the Lord. This may seem to be a small matter; but in the long run it will be seen to be a very important matter. No church can prosper unless it attends to its business affairs; and its business cannot be properly done when several of its members stay away. We appeal to our brethren and sisters, therefore, to make a firm determination to be on hand at this business meeting and take a part in it. Spiritually it will aid you greatly, while it will encourage all the rest.

The s. b. treasurer should be at this meeting with his s. b. book. He should read his report for the last three months, stating every item received and every item paid out. Possibly he may make some mistake; he may omit to credit some brother with the proper amount. By reading the report before all, such matters can be kept correctly. At this meeting the elder of the church should carefully examine the s. b. treasurer's book himself, and see that it is properly kept. By following this course, every member knows just what is done with his money. All have a right to know.

Encourage every member, as far as possible, to lay his plans and save his money, so as to straighten up his pledges at this time, if it has not been done before. But there is no iron rule about this. Frequently brethren are absolutely unable to pay their pledges at this time. Do the best you can. You can pay them some time during the year. Some quarters brethren take in little money, if any. Perhaps one is a farmer. His harvest is only twice a year,—fall and spring. There will be months in the summer when he will scarcely take in a dollar. Other persons may be out of work for months together. All these things should be considered, and none should be pressed or driven so as to discourage them. Give all a fair chance, and commend them when they have done the best they can. For this purpose it is very important to have the right kind of person for a treasurer. He should be one who is affable and pleasant, and who will not offend a brother when he asks him for his pledges. But, at the same time, he should be a prompt man, one who will do all he reasonably can to remind the brethren of their pledges and solicit them to pay up on time. If any one fails to be present at this business meeting, the treasurer should visit him the next day, and invite him to pay what is due. If a brother is too far away, then he should write to him, stating how much is due and inviting him to send it. Perhaps it is more difficult than anything else to keep our pledges promptly paid up. A great deal will depend upon the treasurer about this; still let no one be discouraged. Some persons will be slack any way. Do the best you can; be faithful; do your duty, and then let time work it out.

6. Monday morning the treasurer should write two letters; one to the State treasurer, inclosing whatever money he has on hand which belongs to the State Conference; the other, to the State secretary, stating how much money he has sent to the treasurer. Suppose nothing has been taken in? Very well, it is his duty to write, just the same. Tell the State treasurer that nothing was paid in, and tell the secretary that nothing was sent. A report should be made, money or no money. Then we shall know how the matter stands.

Ten days before this quarterly meeting, the State secretary should send two blank reports to each treasurer in the State, to be filled out and returned to the State treasurer and secretary as above stated.

7. At this quarterly meeting the tract society for that church should hold its quarterly meeting. Every member of the tract society in the church should bring in a written report of his quarter's work. For this purpose, the librarian, one week before the meeting, should furnish every member with a blank report to be filled out and returned to him that day. It is very important for the success of the tract society that this business be attended to. If the librarian will place in the hands of every member the above-mentioned blank report the week beforehand, it will greatly aid in securing a report from every member. When they come together for their T. and M. meeting, these reports should be read before the brethren; and each member can make a statement of his labors, and any interesting incidents connected therewith. The librarian should read a report of the last meeting, in order to see that it was correctly made.

Some one, perhaps the elder of the church, should examine the librarian's books to see if they are properly kept. The very day after the meeting, the librarian should make out a full report of all the work done by his church and have it all ready to send to the director the next morning. If this is attended to promptly, the director can have all his reports together, ready for the district quarterly meeting the next week.

8. At this quarterly meeting there should be a special session of the Sabbath-school. Any change in teachers or classes, or the election of officers, should come up at this time. A quarterly report of the secretary should be read before the school on this day. Indeed, any matter pertaining to the interest of the Sabbath-school should be attended to at this quarterly meeting.

Four things, then, should be thoroughly examined and looked after at the quarterly meeting: 1. The church itself; 2. S. B. pledges; 3. The tract society; and 4. The Sabbath-school. It will readily be seen that, if these matters are promptly attended to, this quarterly occasion will be of very great importance. Every member should make arrangements to be there on this occasion, and to make it just as profitable and successful as possible.

In conclusion we will say that if any have questions not answered in the above, they will please send them in, and we will answer them in time for the next quarterly meeting. D. M. Canright.