p. 19 | Review and Herald, Vol. 86, No. 33. (8/19/1909)

Reviving Dead-Letter Statutes

By W. A. C.

A WRITER to the Rumford Falls (Maine) Times, in an open letter to the county attorney, calls attention to the injustice of enforcing the State Sunday law upon some and not upon other violators of it in a recent crusade in that place, which he says he is convinced the attorney was influenced to start “by the mistaken zeal of certain men representing the Civic League.” Referring to the long disuse and “dead-letter” condition of these statutes that some are now seeking to revive, he says:—

“Upon the statute-books of this and many other States there are certain laws, enacted long ago, that for various reasons have become dead-letters, and yet not repealed. That is the case with certain laws in Maine, known as the Sunday laws. These laws gradually, and perhaps one at a time, as the social and business interests of the various communities demand, were allowed to fall into oblivion. All over the State the major portion of the laws regarding personal conduct on Sunday have long been forgotten, and by public opinion repealed, although still on the statute-book. The part of the law that prohibits travel, recreation, and work in factories on Sunday has not been enforced in this State within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, and in such communities as require it, that part which prohibits stores from doing business has also been disregarded.”

The “Civic League” in this case is no doubt a “religious league” seeking to revive a dead or slumbering religious law, for the purpose of enforcing the observance of a religious institution by the power of the state. All such laws should be repealed, and all such “leagues” discouraged in seeking to revive and enforce them.

It may be reported with satisfaction that at a mass-meeting held at Rumford Falls shortly after the open letter above referred to was written, the citizens of the place passed a resolution, by an almost unanimous vote, calling for the repeal of the Sunday laws now on the statute-books of the State.

W. A. C.

“Rapidly Going to Pieces”

By E. R. P.

It has recently been said by one who is now opposing the organized work of Seventh-day Adventists that “it is evident that the organized work of Seventh-day Adventists is rapidly going to pieces.”

A response to this assertion comes to us from far-away Australia, in the following words:—

“If the organized work of Seventh-day Adventists is rapidly going to pieces, it is evident from facts presented in official reports and statistics that the pieces are getting very large and are sticking very closely together.”

Four years ago in an address at a National Reform convention, held in Allegheny, Pa., the following statement was made by the speaker:—

“Where are our enemies? Where is the secular league that threatened to undermine our very existence? Where is the Seventh-day journalism that fought us so vigorously?—They are all disorganized and silent. They have come to naught. This is evidence that we are organized and founded in our principles upon a divine plan, and that God is with us, and against them.”

In the light of the preceding statement, it is interesting to read the following editorial announcement in the August, 1909, issue of the Christian Statesman, the official organ of the National Reform Association:—

“One hundred new subscribers—that is our record for the month of July. It was but three days after the mailing of the July Statesman containing the appeal for new subscribers that we received from a reader in a Pennsylvania town the name and address of a new subscriber that he had obtained. Others followed in quick succession, until, from this and other sources, we have at date of present writing, July 19, exactly one hundred new names added to our mailing list.”

We take pleasure in presenting below a few facts and figures concerning the progress being made by “Seventh-day journalism,” and the general circulation of Seventh-day Adventist literature, as an indication of the “rapidity” with which this cause is “going to pieces.”

It is often true that a few facts shed a clearer and better light upon a subject than mere flashes of words and thundering assertions.

We are now publishing 333 bound books containing an aggregate of 103,261 pages. One copy of each of these in the cheapest binding would cost $377.03.

We are publishing 287 different pamphlets, containing 21,286 pages, the retail value of which amounts to $35.87.

Of tracts we are circulating 1,096, which contain a total of 15,174 pages, the retail value of which is $15.97.

We are now publishing 118 different journals, containing a total of 28,855 pages, the total annual subscription price of which is $59.13. These journals are prospering, and are rapidly carrying God’s truth to the world. How does this statement of facts look in the light of the assertion quoted above, that “Seventh-day journalism” is “disorganized and silent”?

During the past four years the total value of literature distributed year by year has been as follows:—

1905, $548,000; 1906, $824,000; 1907, $1,035,000; 1908, $1,280,000. Total for four years, $3,687,000.

The Christian Statesman, the official organ of the National Reform Association, is a ten-cent monthly magazine. It states, as quoted above, that one hundred new subscriptions were received during the month of July, and declares that to have been a record for that month. During the month of June our agents sold 248,000 copies of our ten-cent magazines, and these magazines are only five out of the 118 periodicals previously mentioned.

One of the ten-cent magazines included in this report made a gain of 15,000 copies in its circulation during the month of June. During the past three months our publishing house in Washington, D. C. (one of our four leading publishing houses in America), received nearly 10,000 yearly subscriptions for the Protestant Magazine, their latest periodical which was launched the first of May of the present year. This is an average of over 3,000 yearly subscriptions a month.

Again, a brother recently sent in his check for 103 yearly subscriptions for the same magazine. During the year 1908 one of our publishing houses circulated a grand total of 3,153,096 copies of its five periodicals.

In its issue for May, 1906, the Christian Statesman contained an editorial on Liberty, entitled “A New Opponent in the Field.” The zeal of our magazine was accounted for “by the fact that it is the mouthpiece of the Seventh-day Adventists, and is published by the Review and Herald Association.” From April 1, 1906, to Aug. 1, 1909, the fourteen numbers of this quarterly magazine have had a circulation of 695,000 copies, an average of about 50,000 copies for each issue. This means that our agents for this “magazine of religious freedom” have received from the American public the sum of $69,500 for the first fourteen numbers of this periodical alone.

A lady agent in the West has just sent in an order for 3,100 copies of this magazine. One of our local tract societies recently sent in 304 yearly subscriptions for Liberty. A previous order received from the same society, only a few days before, enclosed 300 yearly subscriptions. Thus two letters contained 604 yearly subscriptions for this magazine.

Read again the quotation beginning with the words, “Where are our enemies?” We leave the reader to work out the conclusion which must follow if the principle laid down by the speaker at the National Reform convention is correct.

We do not believe, however, that outward success is conclusive evidence that a work is founded upon sound principles and a divine plan, but we do believe that if we adhere closely to the Word of God and to his divine leadership, he will prosper the work of our hands, and the truth of God will light up the darkness in this sinful world. E. R. P.

“Pedlers of Heresy”

By A. J. S. Bourdeau

Our several thousand missionary workers who have laid their lives upon the altar of service, and are devoting their entire time to the circulation of literature containing the third angel’s message will read with peculiar interest the following paragraphs written by J. E. Love, a Baptist, and published in the Baptist Standard of June 17, 1909. Our workers will find no difficulty in reading the words “Seventh-day Adventist” and “the third angel’s message” into these paragraphs in the place of the words “Baptist” and “the Baptist creed,” which the members of that church are admonished to proclaim. Mr. Love says:—

“A few days ago as I was about to board a train in ——, a rather comely woman approached several of us at the car steps, and in a very pleasant but persistent manner, tried to sell us a publication which, if I mistake not, is set for the defense of Seventh-day Adventism. . . . If Christianity has been erroneously set forth for two thousand years, it is scarcely probable that these particular people have now found the truth and are able to set all the world right. . . .”

“But what suggestion is there in the incident cited above for our Baptist people? This: The rapid multiplication of religious fads, isms, doctrines, sects, confounding and confusing men who want a straight path of religion in which to walk, make a loud call to Baptist people to affirm and emphasize their distinctiveness. The Baptist creed is a very short one, and if set forth with clearness, will gain us great advantage at a time like this. No other people have so distinct and individual a note in their message for the world, and nowhere else can there be found so certain a corrective of the present tendency toward the multiplication of denominations and the subversion of sound doctrine. No age in which we have lived needs our message more than this, and we never had more to gain by clearly, faithfully, and with tender human compassion, preaching the truth as we hold it. The very bewilderment of men caused by the contradictions of religious teaching all about should appeal strongly to the spirit of Christ within us, and call forth a strong, steady note of doctrinal teaching. “But, again, the zeal of these pedlers of heresy in pressing their campaign everywhere contains a suggestion for Baptists. Those who hold the truth should not withhold it. Indeed, no one is under such obligation to dispense the

truth as the man who has the most of it, and zeal should be proportionate to doctrine. There is no New Testament example for the theory that the truth is simply to be proclaimed from the pulpit by a certain class who are charged with this responsibility. In one thing at least, those who follow the vocation of peddling religious fads can cite New Testament example, namely, for the personal and individual method which they pursue. Baptist people ought to carry their individualism a little further than they do, recognizing that men are not only saved one by one through the personal faith in Christ, but that they are also won one by one through the personal work of Christians. We need to talk our doctrines as well as to preach them. We ought to go to men and tell them about salvation, as well as invite them to go to our churches and hear about it. If Baptist people possessed zeal in personal work in a degree surpassing the people referred to as much as we surpass them in the amount of truth we hold, a new day would soon break for Baptist people.”

On the whole, this comment on our methods of circulating the printed page of truth ought to gratify our faithful house-to-house workers with our periodicals and books. We fear, however, that our Baptist brother has forgotten the early experiences of the Baptist people, when they were obliged, like all true reformers, to break away from “Christianity” as it had been “erroneously set forth for two thousand years.” All reformers, from Jesus Christ down, have been branded as “peddlers of heresy.” He himself “who went about doing good,” is our example as a colporteur. The Huguenots in France were called “carriers of bundles;” and the Waldenses were wont to introduce their publications from door to door as an incidental part of their work as venders of silks and other wares.

Luther engaged printers, established depositories, and directed hundreds of canvassers who sold his writings and copies of the Scriptures in France, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands. A large depository established by him in Basel was called “The Evangelical Society of Book-hawkers.” He only is a true reformer who gives his life to the great work of calling men back from their wanderings, to the teachings of God’s Word. Thank God for the faithful canvassers.

A. J. S. BOURDEAU, Manager Periodical Department Review and Herald Publishing Assn.

The Publishing Work

By E. R. Palmer; N. Z. Town

Conducted under the auspices of the General Conference Publishing Department

E. R. PALMER - - - - Secretary N. Z. TOWN - - - - Assistant Secretary

NOTICES AND APPOINTMENTS

Camp-Meetings for 1909

ATLANTIC UNION CONFERENCE

Southern New England, Bridgeport, Conn. ............................ Sept. 2-12 Vermont, Richmond ........ Aug. 19-29 New York, Fonda ............ Sept. 2-12 Western New York, Buffalo, Aug. 26 to Sept. 5

CANADIAN UNION CONFERENCE

Ontario, Simcoe ........ Aug. 26 to Sept. 5 Quebec, South Stukely ........ Sept. 2-12 Maritime, Hopewell Cape ........ Sept. 9-19

COLUMBIA UNION CONFERENCE

Ohio, Lima ........ Aug. 19-29

CENTRAL UNION CONFERENCE

Southern Missouri, Springfield.... Aug. 12-22 West of Kansas, Council Grove ........ Aug. 19-29 Nebraska, Hastings ............ Sept. 2-12 West. Colorado, Grand Junction.... Sept. 16-26 East. Colorado, Boulder.... Aug. 26 to Sept. 5

LAKE UNION CONFERENCE

Southern Illinois, Centralia ........ Aug. 12-22 East Michigan, Jackson ........ Aug. 19-29 North Michigan, Petoskey, Aug. 26 to Sept. 5 Wisconsin, Milwaukee ......... Sept. 23 to Oct. 4

NORTHERN UNION CONFERENCE

Iowa, Nevada ................ Aug. 19-29

SOUTHERN UNION CONFERENCE

Mississippi, Greenwood ........ Aug. 20-29 Tennessee River, Dickson ....... Aug. 12-22 Kentucky ................ Aug. 19-29

SOUTHEASTERN UNION CONFERENCE

North Carolina, Cleveland ........ Aug. 12-22 Cumberland, Athens, Tenn., Aug. 24 to Sept. 5 Florida, Orlando ............ Oct. 21-31

NORTH PACIFIC UNION CONFERENCE

Western Washington, Tacoma..... Aug. 12-22 Western Oregon, Portland..... Aug. 19-29 Montana, Missoula .... Aug. 26 to Sept. 5

SOUTHWESTERN UNION CONFERENCE

West Texas, Abilene ............ Aug. 12-22 New Mexico, Alamogordo, ........ Aug. 19-29 Oklahoma, Enid ........ Aug. 26 to Sept. 6

The New York Conference

By F. H. DeVINNEY

THE next session of the New York Conference will be held in connection with the annual camp-meeting at Fonda, Montgomery Co., N. Y., Sept. 2-12, 1909, for the purpose of electing officers for the ensuing year, and transacting any other business which may properly come before the conference. All churches should attend immediately to the election of delegates to the conference, and send credentials to F. N. Johnson, 317 West Bloomfield St., Rome, N. Y.

Also notice is hereby given that the first meeting of the fifth annual session of the New York Conference Association will be held Monday, Sept. 6, 1909, at 9 A. M., on the Fonda, N. Y., camp-ground. F. H. DeVINNEY, President.

Maine Benevolent Association

By E. C. Taylor

The eleventh annual meeting of the Benevolent Association of Seventh-day Adventists of Maine will be held at the office of the Maine Tract Society, North Deering, Maine, Aug. 31, 1909, at 2 P. M., for the purpose of electing officers, and transacting such other business as may properly come before the meeting.

E. C. Taylor, Clerk.

Indiana Conference, Notice!

By A. N. Anderson

It has now been definitely decided that the local camp-meeting for Indiana will be held Sept. 9-19, 1909. The place of the meeting, as already announced in our conference paper, is Linton. We trust our people will make a note of these facts, and that we shall see at this gathering a good attendance, especially from the southern and western parts of the State. A. N. ANDERSON, Secretary.

Florida Conference and Camp-Meeting

By R. W. Parmele

On Sept. 23, 1909, a tent-meeting will be begun on the camp-ground at Orlando. These meetings will continue nightly until November 1. October 4-18 a canvassers' institute will be held in the tent. October 18 the conference session will begin at 9 A. M., and the camp-meeting proper will begin October 21. Excellent help is promised for all of these meetings.

We have secured a good location on the principal street of the city, and the board of trade has promised us free electricity and city water. Tents, floors, and furniture will be furnished at the usual rates, and good, hygienic meals will be served at twenty cents a meal. The sanitarium, located two miles from the camp, will be represented on the ground. Let there be a large attendance.

R. W. PARMELE, President.

The Quebec Conference

By WM. GUTHRIE

THE thirtieth annual session of the Quebec Conference will convene at South Stukely, Quebec, Sept. 2-12, 1909, for the purpose of electing officers for the coming year, and for the transaction of any other business that may come before the conference. The first meeting of the conference will be held at 9 A. M., Monday, September 6. We hope for a full delegation at the first meeting, so that the work of the conference may be speedily cleared out of the way, that the time of the meeting may be devoted to the spiritual interest of the people.

WM. GUTHRIE, President.

Nurses Training for Young Colored People

Four young colored men and women are wanted to enter the class in nurse training, to begin September 1, at the Rock City Sanitarium, Nashville, Tenn. This institution, like other denominational sanitariums, is prepared to give a regular three-year course in nurse training. The addition of a charity bath-room, to our regular one, gives additional opportunities for practical experience as well as for helpful service. Applicants must be thoroughly consecrated, and be willing to engage in various lines of missionary work, especially the distribution of our health journals. For further information, apply to Rock City Sanitarium, 316 Foster St., Nashville, Tenn.

The Wisconsin Camp-Meeting

By C. McREYNOLDS

CHANGE OF DATE

The date of the Wisconsin annual conference and camp-meeting has been changed from September 2-12, as formerly announced, to September 23 to October 4. This change was made because it was not possible to secure a place in Milwaukee where the meeting could be held earlier. The meetings will be held in a large auditorium with floor, and seated with chairs. The auditorium can be warmed if the weather should be cold or damp.

Every accommodation usually had in our camp-meetings will be furnished. There will be plenty of tents with floors. Rooms can also be had near by for aged and sickly people.

Elders W. W. Prescott and G. B. Thompson will be with us throughout the meeting. Other help will be with us a portion of the time. We expect an unusually large attendance. We are planning to put forth a great missionary effort for the largest city in our State. Much work has been done there the last year. Now we should rally to the final effort for the hundreds of thousands in that place.

Come praying, and with a mind to work. There are over fifty thousand people within ten minutes' walk of the park. You can assist daily in inviting them to the meeting.

To find the place, take street-car from any part of the city, and the conductor will transfer you to a car going to Schlitz Park, the place of the meeting.

C. McREYNOLDS, President.

Addresses

The address of Elder D. T. Shireman is R. F. D. 5, Hickory, N. C.

The address of Elder William Guthrie, the president of the Canadian Union Conference, is Fitch Bay, Quebec, Canada.

The address of Otto H. Schulz, until further notice, will be Diamante, Province Entre Rios, Argentina, South America, care Colegio Adventista de la Plata.

Addresses Wanted

A. M. Ross, clerk of the Parkersburg (W. Va.) church, desires if possible to learn the addresses of the following persons: Ernest Mansel, Emmely Ward, J. F. Taylor.

Business Notices

This department is conducted especially for the accommodation of the Seventh-day Adventist readers of this paper.

Brief business notices will be published subject to the discretion of the publishers, and on compliance with the following—

Conditions

Any person unknown to the managers of this paper must send with his advertisement satisfactory written recommendation. Such recommendation should come from one of our ministers, or from the elder of a Seventh-day Adventist church. It is not enough to refer to some individual by name. Secure his recommendation in writing, and send it.

We open no accounts for advertising, and cash must accompany each order.

A charge of one dollar will be made for each insertion of forty words or less. Each additional word, initial, or group of figures in excess of forty, will cost three cents.

No discount for several insertions.

WANTED.—To secure the services of a practical gardener. Address L. M. Bowen, Takoma Park, D. C.

FOR SALE.—Four lots, with house 16 x 28 feet, two stories. Five blocks from Adventist church and church-school. Price, $1,200. A good climate for those having lung trouble or asthma. Address P. W. Atkinson, Hagerman, N. M.

FOR SALE.—Ten acres land; partly cleared; all seeded to meadow and pasture. Small fruit. Good eight-room house; twenty rods from Forest Home Industrial Academy. For particulars inquire of O. C. Hollenbeck, Mt. Vernon, Wash.

FOR SALE.—Sanitarium Cooking Oil, pure and healthful; no odor, keeps indefinitely: 5-gal. can, $3.50; 10-gal. can, $6.75; 62 cents a gal. in half-barrel and barrel lots; 30 gal. and 50 gal. Address Sanitarium Cooking Oil Co., Louisville, Ky.

PRINTING.—I do only good printing, at reasonable prices. Would you not patronize a brother when he can do better work at a lower price? Let me have your order, great or small. Adolph Schmitt, 80 Greenbrook Road, Plainfield, N. J.

FOR SALE.—My home of 10 acres; six-room house, barn, all kinds fruit. Located ¾ of a mile from Clyde, Ohio, also near church and church-school. Poor health reason for selling; will sell cheap if sold soon. Address John Rose, Clyde, Ohio.

FOR SALE.—Eighteen acres of land, including one acre of strawberries, also raspberries, dewberries, and other fruits; large house and out-buildings; joining church-school grounds. For particulars, inquire of B. F. Banks, Box 40, R. F. D. 1, Genesee, Idaho.

FOR SALE.—Mountain ranch, near Boulder, Colo., 160 acres; 25 under cultivation, good eight-room frame house, spring house, cellar, and other buildings. Two good springs, water piped to house. Splendid location for consumptive. Price, $1,700. W. B. Davy, Boulder, Colo.

CALIFORNIA DRIED FRUITS.—Shipped direct from ranch of Mrs. E. G. White to families, schools, restaurants, and sanitariums. Larger variety, better facilities, prompt shipment. Write for circular “R” giving full information. St. Helena Home Fruit Co., Sanitarium, Napa Co., Cal.

POSITION WANTED.—Work of any kind. Am a garment cutter. Familiar with gardening. Can give satisfactory reference as to workmanship and character. Sabbathkeeper. Married; have one child. State salary. Address C. H. Beidler, 1315 Aubrey Place, Williamsport, Pa.

FOR SALE.—Ranch of four acres, near Morgan Hill, Cal. Excellent land, five-room house, barn, first-class cased well, tower, tank, and windmill. About one hundred young fruit trees. Place suitable for small fruits. Good markets. Will sell at sacrifice because of ministerial work. Address C. L. Taylor, Sanitarium, Cal.

WANTED.—Ten young men and women of good education and physical strength, to take a course in scientific cooking and baking. Course of one year opens September 30. Opportunity offered to earn expenses. Write for particulars to College of Evangelists, Loma Linda, Cal.

FOR SALE.—Peanut Butter, 10¢ a pound; 100 pounds, freight paid, $12; Peanut Oil, also used same as Olive Oil, $2 a gallon; 50 pounds Cocoanut Oil, $7; 57 pounds Vegetable Cooking Oil, in 6 cans, $6; freight paid, $6.50. Cash with order. Vegetarian Meat Co., Washington, D. C.

MOTTOES, MOTTOES, MOTTOES.—Our second new Father and Mother motto, size 12 x 16, has just reached us, and it has eleven of the finest roses you ever looked at. We ship you thirty-four other designs and an equal number of Father and Mother mottoes, 200 for $9. All Father and Mother mottoes, 200 for $12, express prepaid. Secure your territory while the Father and Mother motto is new. Address Hampton Art Company, Lock Box 257, Hampton, Iowa, or L. N. Muck, College View, Neb.

ARE you getting our special offer sheets and price-lists from time to time? If not, you should write us at once. They will surely interest you, if you like extra good foods at prices that all can pay. We are shipping cereal and our foods to thirty different States, and here is the way they write: “. . . having used all of the health foods for some years, will say believe yours equal to the best, and your prices enable us poor folk to use them.” Here is another: “We have received the two dozen Nutfoda and Nutcysa. It is just fine. You will hear from me later.” Another, “I think you are producing some fine foods.” Another, “I trust you will succeed in this grand missionary work which you have undertaken.” We have a special proposition coming from the press in a few days. Write for one if your name is not already on our mailing list. This factory is owned by the Southern Union Conference. Nashville Sanitarium Food Factory, Nashville, Tenn.

An Awful Record

By Editor

THREE presidents of the United States—Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley—were assassinated by men on fire with whisky. The murderer of McKinley was born in a saloon, spent fourteen years of his life in a saloon, and when he went to Buffalo to do his awful work, lived in a saloon.

In the United States alone more than one billion seven hundred million dollars are spent annually for intoxicating liquors, bringing poverty and untold misery to thousands of homes. But there is a waking up on the part of the people, and a mighty effort is being made to stay this tide of evil. To help on the good work the leading theme in the September number of the Signs of the Times Monthly magazine will be on the subject of temperance. Following are the titles and a brief outline of some of the articles that will appear:—

“The Hereditary Effect of Intemperance,” by Lucas Albert Reed. In this article Professor Reed reviews the recent report of Dr. T. A. MacNicholl, vice-president of the American Association for the Study of Alcohol and Narcotics, in which the doctor relates his discoveries of the frightful inroads that alcoholism is making in New York City. His report is based on the examination of thirty thousand schoolchildren and others.

“The Effect of Tea and Coffee, and Their Leading to Alcoholic Drinks,” by George A. Hare, M. D.

“Tendency of Highly Seasoned and Other Improper Foods to Produce Intemperance,” by D. H. Kress, M. D., of the Washington (D. C.) Sanitarium.

“The Effect of Alcohol on the System from the Standpoint of the Scientist,” by H. F. Rand, M. D., medical superintendent of the St. Helena Sanitarium, St. Helena, Cal.

“The Effect of Tobacco on the System, and How It Strengthens the Drink Habit,” by A. J. Sanderson, M. D.

“How to Overcome the Appetite for Strong Drink,” by the editor.

“The Demands of Temperance,” a Bible reading, by Elder J. O. Corliss.

“Our Reasonable Service,” by Mrs. E. G. White. This article shows that it is only reasonable that we should lead a temperate and well-ordered life.

In the Home department there will appear a pathetic story illustrating the evils of intemperance.

The Religious Liberty department will be kept up as usual.

Elder C. L. Taylor will furnish a very interesting article, entitled, “The Sabbath to Be Restored.”

The cover design in two colors is taken from a photograph of Yosemite Falls, Yosemite Valley, California, and presents a very pleasing picture. The height of the falls is twenty-six hundred feet.

Fifty-three thousand copies of the July number were printed and sold. The first edition of the August number was fifty thousand. Agents are meeting with good success in selling the Signs of the Times magazine, and we invite you most heartily to take part in the circulation of the September number. Twenty-five copies cost one dollar. Selling them for ten cents each, the agent receives two dollars and a half. One hundred copies cost four dollars. You sell them for ten dollars. Order early of your tract society.

Agents wanted in every city and town.

Ask for the “Signs Worker;” study the paper and the canvass. Take hold of the work with energy and zeal, and success will crown your efforts. Address Signs of the Times, Mountain View, Cal.

The Second Annual Self-Supporting Missionary Convention

From August 27 to 30 at the Nashville Agricultural and Normal Institute at Madison, Tenn., will be held the second annual convention of self-supporting missionaries. The main object of this meeting is to study the great Southern field with its multitude of openings, and to study the principles underlying self-supporting missionary work, and to bring together those who are actively engaged in self-supporting missionary work with those who have a desire to become self-supporting workers.

For years the Lord has been calling upon this people to enter the Southern field as self-supporting missionaries. At the convention last fall many of the leading General Conference brethren showed their interest in this movement by attending the meeting and speaking words of encouragement to those engaged in self-supporting work. At the last General Conference a recommendation, found in the General Conference Bulletin, page 344, was passed which shows that our people recognize the importance of encouraging this movement. One section of the recommendation reads as follows:—

“We further recommend, That our stronger conferences search out and encourage suitable persons to undertake this self-supporting work, and that the workers thus selected be encouraged to pursue a course of instruction at the Nashville Normal and Agricultural Institute.”

Since the last convention Sister E. G. White and Elder W. C. White visited the Madison school and some of the rural schools established by the Madison school. A few words spoken by Sister White will show her interest and attitude toward the self-supporting work. “The Lord would have the influence of this school widely extended by the means of the establishment of small mission schools in the needy settlements in the hills where consecrated teachers may open the Scriptures to hungry souls. We feel interested in these schools. There is a wide field before us in the establishment of family mission schools.”

There are many who do not feel qualified to conduct schools who could conduct a model home and farm. To do this in the proper way is one of the most fruitful methods of placing the third angel’s message before the people in a practical and acceptable manner. There is room for thousands of self-supporting missionaries who can conduct these simple home missionary stations. Such homes can be centers from which may be carried on effectual evangelistic canvassing, medical missionary work, cottage meetings, etc.

A number of those who will attend the convention have had several years of actual experience in this work. Souls have been brought to a knowledge of the third angel’s message by these workers. If you are among those who believe that God has called you to take up this kind of work, we earnestly invite you to attend.

The convention will last four days. We will be glad to correspond with any who are interested in attending. Address E. A. Sutherland, Madison, Tenn.

Continue reading: Obituaries