The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1868-12-02
geligions gutelligeufe.
FROM THE SOUTHERN STATES.
Ordination of q Missionary.

A corresp cndent of the Christian Observer
writes:
sit was my privilege to be present at the
meeting Of West Hanover Presbytery at Farm
vile, ON Tuesday, the 18th inst. The chief
object of the meeting was to take up the trial
of Mr.. Edward Lane for ordination as an evan
gelist, with view to missionin Brazil. There
were nine ministers present, and several ruling
elders
The trials. which oc .upied the whole of
Tuesday afternoon, November l7th,) were
conducted by Drs. Atkinson and Dabney. The
ordination services were held the same night.
notwithstanding the rain. And if any service
in our church combines the utmost simplicity
with the deepest solemnity it is this one
The sermon by Rev. Mr. FITZGERALD was
from Is. So: 10: 'All the ends of the earth
shall see the salvation of our God" He dwelt
upon the certainty of Messiah's triumph until
he shall have put all enemies under his feet;
then discussed the means and the agency by
which it shall be secured. The means are not
miraculous, without the aid of men, but pre-
eminently the preaching Of the ,oo,d. The
circulation and reading of the written Word
is useful and indispensable, but the vast ma
jority of conversions is due to the Word as
proclaimed by the voice of the liUag teacher.
The agency which gives power to this means
is the Holy Spirit.
The men who are to put this means into
operation are emphatically the church Men
of the world will never do it. The church
then must do it, And when she does it, the
heather will cast their idols to the moles and
to the bats.
At the close Of the sermon, Presbytery pro-
ceeded to the ordination, and the laying on of
b,nJc hy oil bo sforc nracanf
Dr. Dabney then gave the. charge to the
evangelist. He said that the present scene
gives us beautiful illustration of the true
idea of church government. The scri plural
theory of the unity of the church in body
of representatives gives US the authority to
ordain men to labor in any and every part of
the world, and gives the church its expansi
bity. But if we should adopt that theory
which makes each separate congregation
separate church, Independent and unconnected
with other congregations. then it would be pre-.
posterous for us to ordain man to labor in a
region coufessedly outside of all our bounds.
Then we should be ordaining a man over
church which does not exist. But now we
ordain him as ruler in the church at large
and send him to labor in one particular part
of the field which the church designs to OCCUPY.
After abiding to the absurdity of missions,
except as sustained by the Spirit of God, and
to the certainty of success when thus sus-
tanned, he charged him on five points. To
take heed to personal piety to pre- cent an ex
ample to the flock; to preach the word in
purity as well as in love; to remember that
God has made you responsible not for CONVEX.
sions, but for faithful preaching. 1t is hard
to distinguish between apparent unfruitfulness
and unfaithfulness Think not your labors in
vain because you cannot count converts
your preaching glori6es God Finally, strength
en- your faith by the results of the church's
past experience. Morrison labored twenty
eight years in China before he could certainly
count his first convert, but he laid the foun
dalton on which the church is now building.
Presbytery then took under its care Mr..
Uncas Mcclure as candidate for the ministry.
Installation of Rev. DR.. B, B. White at Green.
witch Church, va.-On the 22d of November
Rev. Robert B. White, d. d late of Tuska-
loosa, Alabama, was installed as pastor of the
Greenwich church in Prince William Co., Va.
The sermon was preached and the charge to
the pastor was delivered by Rev. Thomas B
Balch, D. D.; the charge to the people was
given by Rev. Mr.. McMurran of Culpeper.
DIR. Balch's sermon was one of his happiest
efforts He interested the audience for more
than an hour from Cor vi: 9, "As poor yet
making many rich" He portrayed wildly
the simplicity and humility of the ministry Of
the apostolic age; proved couclusively that
similar simplicity and humility ought to
characterize the Christian ministry of every
age; and showed that priesty domination,
splendid ritualism and the union of political |
with ecclesiastical powers in the clergy we're
antagonistic to this spirituality and humility.
He also described in graphic and forcible |
manner the iuestimabe blessings, temporal
and spiritual, which are secured to a people |
through an enlightened and faithful ministry.
The charge of. Mr.. McMurran was eminently
pertinent, enforcing mainly the duties of pray.
ing for the minister and Of providing for his
temporal support
Fayetteville Presbytery.
The Editor of the ~ G. Presbyterian gives
the following account of its recent meeting at
Rockfsh church, on the 18th ult.
THE ORGANIZATION.
The Moderator, Rev. B. F. Marable, was
not in attendance on Saturday. and the OPEN
ing sermon was preached by the Rev. II. L.
Singleton, of Wilmington, the Moderator pre-
ceding. The Rev. Fl. G. Hill, of Fayetteville,
was elected Moderator, and the Rev. j. II.
Cotton and John d. Mcneil, ruling elder,
were appointed Temporary Clerks. Mr.. Nc.