RELIGIOUS by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 23, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 12.

RELIGIOUS.

By Editor

—The Southern California Sunday School Association will hold a three days' convention in Santa Ana, beginning March 20.

—Monsignor Satolli has been made permanent apostolic delegate in the United States. So we have as nearly a pope as is possible in this country unless the "vicegerent" himself should come.

—Beth Eden Baptist Church (colored) of this city is in trouble. The pastor, some time ago, took strong grounds against balls, parties, and cake walks. Some of the members refused to take his counsel in regard to cake walks, and were expelled. But they refused to recognize the expulsion, and called for an ex-parte council in the matter. The pastor called Rev. Frank Dixon to his aid, and he has issued an address to the Baptist Churches, in which he opposes ex-parte councils in general, and goes so far as to say that they are generally of the devil.

—A writer in the California Christian Advocate says: "At the last General Conference of the M. E. Church, the table of the committee was heaped with petitions from Christian Endeavor Societies praying for the repeal of the disciplinary restrictions against fashionable amusements."

—A new theater in this city is so close to the First Presbyterian Church that the Sunday evening services are annoyingly mingled with loud strains of theatrical music. A petition is being circulated and numerously signed, asking the manager of the playhouse to stop Sunday evening performances.

—The California Christian Advocate says editorially, "We are glad to notice the growing attention paid to Easter and Christmas as religious festivals." As these festivals are of purely Roman origin, the pleasure of the editor thus expressed means that he is glad to see the church moving on toward Rome.

—The speaker of the California Assembly has felt constrained to reprimand that body for lack of attention during the opening prayer. He said that august body was supposed to represent the better element of society, and he was surprised that proper attention was not given while prayer was being offered by the chaplain. He therefore demanded that respectful attention be given in the future.

—It is announced that a mandate from the pope calls on each bishop to send a sealed letter to him either directly or through Satolli with his personal conscientious opinion of the propositions on the school question which Satolli, in the pope's name, laid before the New York Conference of Archbishops, November last. The mandate does not suggest, however, that there is a likelihood of the pope changing his views on the question.

—A minister of this city who is more noted for puffing himself than any other one thing, speaking of closing theaters on Sunday evening, says: "The people have a wrong idea when they think that the ministers take this position in the hope that it will increase the attendance at the church services. We merely want to keep the American sabbath distinct from that of Europe." Herein is exposed a radical difference between the man-made counterfeits and the Sabbath of the Lord's commandment. The Lord's sabbath is of universal application; he does not recognize either a "European sabbath" or an "American sabbath." The commandment says, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God."