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Tent Meeting in Jackson, Ohio

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Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 9, 1857

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 10, No. 10.

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Tent Meeting in Jackson, Ohio.

By Merritt E. Cornell; George W. Holt

This meeting held over Sabbath and First-day, June 27th and 28th. The congregations were rather thin in consequence of the rainy weather, yet seven discourses were preached, and a few were interested and took books, and three gave their names for the paper. A young preacher of the United Brethren society, together with his mother, became interested and gave good evidence that they were earnestly searching for truth. They took along some books to their home, about fifty miles distant, and if they go on with an independent investigation of the subject, we shall confidently expect that they will keep the Bible Sabbath. Our prayer is that the Lord will bring them into the truth, and make them instrumental in spreading the light in the community where they live.
We found that the religious views of many in the vicinity of this meeting were as thoroughly stereotyped as the Catholics. One man said that we "might preach our views to him seventy years and his mind would not be changed at all;" and as we were about leaving the place, he took it upon him (being a professed teacher) to criticise our manner of preaching. Said he, "Why don't you take a text and preach from it as other folks do?" As near as we could judge from the man's talk, he wanted us to follow the style described by a certain boy who, when just returned from hearing the new minister, being asked by his father how the minister divided his subject, replied, "First, he took his text; secondly, he departed from it; and thirdly, he never got back to it again." This would be preaching from the text in good earnest.
O how much we find in the world now-a-days to remind us of the circumstance of Paul's being considered "beside himself and mad" by the ruler that knew not the Scriptures.
On account of ill health, and the bustle and excitement of celebrating American Slavery, alias Independence and Liberty, we concluded to lay by the Tent over one Sabbath until the Conference at Green Spring.
M. E. CORNELL. G. W. HOLT.