Southern New England Camp-Meeting
By W. B. White
THIS gathering of our people living in Connecticut and Rhode Island convened at Westerly, R. I., June 6-16, and was the first camp-meeting of the season in the Atlantic Union. The meeting held over two Sabbaths, and on these days and the Sundays following, it was well attended by our people in the eastern part of the conference; but the number attending during the week was small, as many of our people, being employed in mills and factories, felt obliged to leave the grounds and return to their work. The conference was greatly favored by having Elder A. G. Daniells present for two days. His discourses and missionary talks were greatly appreciated, as were also the labors of Elder A. J. Haysmer, of Nashville, Tenn.; and Brother M. D. Wood, of the Foreign Mission Seminary. Brother Wood was formerly a Methodist minister, and as such spent years of missionary service in India; but he and his wife have recently accepted present truth. His knowledge of the fields in the Far East enabled him to impart some very definite and helpful instruction along missionary lines. The evening services were mostly devoted to the presentation of the doctrinal features of our faith, while the day services were directed largely along practical topics for the strengthening of our people. God blessed his servants as they presented the message to the people, and a strong spiritual influence pervaded all the services. Many pronounced it the best camp-meeting they had ever attended. Westerly has a large church of Seventh-day Baptists, and many of these brethren attended our services, especially on the Sabbath. Two of our ministers were invited to speak in the Grace Methodist church the Sunday evenings of the conference. The departmental reports of the conference showed a reasonable advance in all lines of conference work; and the prospects for the coming year are bright. For the first five months of the present year, it was seen that the Southern New England Conference was $442 behind on the Fifteen-cent-a-week Fund, but our people rallied nobly, and nearly all this amount was pledged at this meeting. Three tents will be operated in the conference the present season at the following places: Bridgeport, Providence, and Westerly. All in all, we feel that our Westerly camp-meeting was a success, and a new inspiration to our people in the Southern New England Conference. Elder C. H. Edwards was again elected president of the conference, with about the same committee as last year. Courage and faith seemed to be in the hearts of the workers, and we are looking forward to a fruitful year in this field.