The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1868-11-04
For THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
East Hanover Presbytery.
SUPPORT OF EvANGELISTs.


Respected and Dear Brother, Having ac-
cepted our appointment to labor as an evan
pelist in the vacant churches, and other desti-
tute portions of East Hanover Presbyterv, we
deem it proper hereby to express our profound
sympathy with you in your gospel work, and
to assure you of our readiness to support you
in it by our counsels and our prayers, and by
all such other agencies as divine Providence
may enable us to employ.
We feel, also, that we do only justice to you
and to the church of.our blessed Lord, when
we affectionately commend you to the conf
dence, the fellowship and the earnest co0pera-
ton in your noble service, Of all the followers
of Christ, and to the friendly consideration
and kind hospitality of the community at large
-bespeaking for you, on the behalf of all,
that they minister to the furtherance and sue
cess of your spiritual labors, as God shall give
them opportunity and means.
Above all, we commend you to God and to
the word of his grace, and to the power OF his
Spirit, who is able to give you an open door,
and to make you mighty for repairing the
wastes Of Zion, for restoring neglected wan
derers to their forsaken folds and to their lost
joys, and for calling dead sinners out of dark
ness into Gods marvellous light In all the
tolls and trials of this responsible mission, may
the Great Head of the Church be with you
enduing you with health, wisdom, grace and
comfort, according to your day, and browning
your work. from beginning to end, with a
blessed success
While thus engaged-and indeed, as strictly
german to YOUR evangelical abor,-we deem
it not improper to call your attention also to
the straitened condition of our treasury, and
to invoke your aid, as far as may lie in your
power, to bring to it the needed relief.
God has placed our Committee In a wide
field, and given us great work to do. There
are embraced within the limits of our Presby-
terry more than forty counties; of which only ten
or eleven are actually occupied with the regular
services Of our ministry. In many of the
other counties we have either one or more
churches; or, at least, scattered members of
our churches, to whom we have pledged our
spiritual watch and care-while the entire re-
gion, thus unoccupied, is exigent of gospel la
Dor, and is as much open to us, and has as
just demands upon us, for this labor, as it has
upon any other branch of the family of Christ.
Truly the harvest is great, but the laborers
are few How are we to supply the urgent
demands of this vast feld2
But you will remember, also. that owing to
the great restitution Of our people, produced
by the ravagcs Of war, there are large mum
Der of our regular pastors, whose limited re.
ceipts from their own people, have neces-
sarily to be supplemented by contributions
from our missionary fund Not less than thir-
ty-six thousand dollars are required for this
purpose alone every year Thus, while the
harvest is great and the laborers are few, the
resources for sustaining our laborers have been
largely cut off, and we are reduced to con
dition of positive and urgent necessity.
Now we cannot doubt that in your regular
work as an evangelist, you will meet with
many of the people Of God and others, who
will esteem it duty-and privilege as we'll
to aid us by the contribution of their substance,
as God has prospered them-in carrying for.
ward this noble enterprise of supplying all our
people with preached gospel.
With this view, therefore-to extend to all
such the opportunity of thus manifesting their
love to Christ and to his cause-and to free
you from all personal embarrassment in the
matter, we hereby authorize and instruct you
to make collections, both in public and of indi-
viduals, as occasions may offer and propriety
and discretion may dictate-to enable us to
sustain and enlarge this great work, devolved
by the Lord Jesus Christ, through his church,
upon our hands
And may many lea"n-atter the example of
Him who, though he was rich, yet for our own
sakes became poor-that it is more blessed to
give than to receive
In behalf and by order of the Committee on
Domestic Missions, for East Hanover Presby-
terry.
Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace
through our Lord Jesus Christ
&. Fl. RUTHERFORD, Chairman.
Petersburg, Va, October 10th, 1868.