The Sumter watchman. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1855-1881, 1871-03-08
CHURCH COLLECTIONS--THE EN-
vELOPE SYST.iM.


vELOPE SYSTIM.
"Upon the FIRST day of the xeek let every one
of von lay by in store az God hath prospered
him."
How to realize adequate support for
the Church, and proper contribution to
the various interests Of charity there
with connected, has long been ques-
ton which has exercised the liberal
christian mind. Under the Old Dispen-
satlou the 1.-THE system was the perfect
law and rule by which these ends were
attained. The ancient Jews, probably,
carried that system to a more perfect
and enlarged degree of success than
any other people. And it is here
worth while to stop to remark, that
while they contributed a larger proper,
ton of their time and monty to their
devotions and their charities, than any
others, they we're, as class, by far the
most wealthy people of their time. Un-
der the New Dispensatiou, whilst the
tithe system was not adhered to with
so much rigidity as an imperative CON-
uland of God, it was nevertheless con-
tiuued in force, and We have the injunc
tion in the New Testament Scriptures,
above quoted, which is clearly in fur
therance and maintenance Of the same
principle.
B1t the Church, in her latter days,
departed from this tiihc law and from
the command to clay by in store" :"
"upou the first day of the week." Gas
God hath prospercd him." and the diff
Gculeies to which we allude above have
since been continually experienced.
There seems now, that affection and
poverty have come upon the Church,
a rcviving disposition to return to the
Scripture rule and practice, in :his con-
uexion, and VIC have what is known as
The Envelope SYSTEM introduced
with the most marked success.
TIE idea is that the Church is to be
maintained in her great central exis
teuce, aud in the various benevolent
christian Interests she carries under
her fostering wing, through the regularly
made aoechy contributions Of her mem
bers and supporters, Gas GOd'hath pros
pcred" them. The simple and easy re-
duction Of the idea to practice is as
follows:
A package :! of ffy teo envelopes, of
convenient size, or one for each Sabbath
in the year, is put in possession of each
member of the Church On each one
of the envelopes is printed the name
and location of the Church, the date Of
the Sabbath on which it is to be used,
and the object to which the contrlbu-
tiou is appropriated. Each and every
Sabbath morning, the envelope Of
corresponding date is taken from the
package, in it is put the weekly contri-
button, in accordance with the principle
involved, and the same carried to the
Church and deposited in the basket
or bag as the decous or stewards pass
the congregation to receive the
same. This envelope, with its contents,
is sent to the Church, if the member,
from any cause, is unable to attend.
Wherever this system has been in
troduced, q large increase upon former
collections have been realized, and
happy relief experienced. A letter be-
fore US, from WM. HENRY SMITH, of
Nashville. end speaking Of the expert
ence Of the Church in that place, says ::
"Our weekly receipts this year have thus
far about qua'lrnpled those Of 1859, be
fore the present system (the envelope
SYSTEM was adopted. am happy also
in stating that the general activities Of
the Church have been developed in
fully Us great proportion"
We have also before us package of
envelopes such as used by the First
Presbyterian Church of Nashville, to-
gether With two addresses, on the sub
iect, to the communieauts Of the same,
from REV. T. V. MOORE, D. D., the
pastor. These latter show a most
gratifying Improvement in all the COL
lectiOns of bis church through the
OF this system. OF the 6fty.
two envelopes, or weekly collections of
the year, forty are appropriated for
congregational purposes, and the re-
naming twelve for Susteutation, disa-
~
.led Ministers, the Poor, Presbyterial
Missions; Education, Publication, Bible
Society. Foreign Missions, and ssbbatk
Schools.
We may here say that ve fully en-