Camp-Meeting of the Pennsylvania Conference.
By Stephen N. Haskell
THE camp-meeting at Olean, New York, for the Pennsylvania Conference, was one of interest, and we trust the results were good. Owing to the press of matters in the New England Conference we were unable to reach the camp-ground until Friday morning. Elders E. W. Farnsworth and D. A. Robinson were there from the beginning of the meeting. This is a young Conference, but during the past year there has been an increase of over two hundred and fifty members. There are at the present time many more calls for labor in different parts of the State than can possibly be filled with their present corps of laborers. Almost every effort put forth the past year by the Conference to extend the knowledge of the truth has been successful. Owing to the large number of workers entering the field the past year the Conference has been unable to pay them. This, together with the expenses of their city missions and the purchase of three new tents, left the Conference about $2,000 in debt. One-half of this sum was cheerfully given on the ground, and there is no doubt but the remainder will be raised by those not present when they become acquainted with the facts. This Conference has done a good work in its city missions, yet is not badly involved in debt. The plan now adopted is to have as many of the laborers as possible become self-supporting by selling our publications. These local wants of the cause should ever be sustained by the brethren in the Conference all taking a part, even to the children. But those larger enterprises, like the International Society, foreign missions, colleges, etc., should be sustained by those who are more able. The time has fully come when men should dispose of their farms, their bank stock, and transfer it to the cause of God. There are but a few Conferences in the country but what have those in them who are worth from one thousand to ten thousand dollars each. These should remember that to "sell what ye have and give alms" is as binding to-day as it was the day it was spoken. There never will be a more favorable time to sell than now. The prediction of Rev. 13:16, 17, when no man can buy or sell except those who have received the mark of the beast, will soon be realized. Their tract society was in as healthy a condition as any with which I am acquainted this side of the Rocky Mountains. At the present time the society is enlisting individuals not of our faith to canvass for such works as "Sunshine." This serves as an entering wedge to employ them to canvass for our other publications. There seemed to be a good spirit among the brethren. On the Sabbath, June 5, about one hundred came forward for prayers. The Spirit of the Lord rested down upon the people. Twenty-seven were baptized on Monday. Many of these were individuals who took their stand at this meeting for the first time. On Tuesday morning at the five o'clock meeting Brother Russell was ordained to the gospel ministry. The ministers and licentiates felt the importance of raising the standard of the ministry higher than before. There were about three hundred and fifty or four hundred encamped upon the ground. Preceding the camp-meeting there had been much labor put forth by holding Bible-readings and selling publications. This had created quite an interest to hear upon the truth, both among the Americans and Germans. We learned of quite a number of both classes embracing the truth through the influence of the camp-meeting. We have seldom witnessed a camp-meeting that seemed to leave a better impression upon the community, and where the brethren felt of better courage than they did at the close of this meeting. The ground was well laid out. The brethren design to run six tents the present season, and with the same prosperity of the past year, we see no reason why the membership of the Conference cannot be doubled and a large number of books sold. They take one thousand copies of the Signs, and manage their subscription list by using them in canvassing; and in connection with "Volume 4" the society has received more for them than it paid. We see no reason why this should not be the case in all of our Conferences. The influence of the Signs of the Times when placed in new fields is far better than the influence of a smaller paper. The smaller paper may take in places where we are known as a people, but where we are not known, and the first impression is to be made, the paper should be sufficiently large to represent the principles and various points of doctrine which we hold. But if the paper contained only one or two points of our faith, it would leave the impression upon the community that we have but one or two points to present. Quite an interest was manifested during the meeting in behalf of our schools. Some of the older brethren who are liable to die at any time, manifested an anxiety to dispose of their property, that they might make a transfer of their treasures, and thus be their own executors. This is necessary, and should our brethren throughout the field feel the importance of administering their estates before they die, they would not only have the privilege of making their own transfer while they live, by absolutely securing to the cause of Christ that means which God has loaned them to advance his truth on the earth, but in the kingdom of God they will see the fruit of every penny of it in the salvation of souls. On the whole our brethren felt that the meeting was an important one, and its results were good. A tent was pitched in the city, and a few remained to carry on the work after the meeting closed. We hope that God will bless this Conference and give it success in the salvation of souls. S. N. H.