The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-04-15

oIEkno-lN N Il u n AST1 u DlSCUSSlONsf
UPON THE CONDITION OF THE CHURCH,
EvAEGELlaTIc WoRK-RxAHISATIoNo OF
CANDIDATES FOR RLICENsR-THEc CASE OF |
THE COL oRED DLIoENTIATEs, &c. &c.
The Presbytery met at 9:30 A. III. yester- |
day. aud was opened with prayer by Rev. |
William n. Scott--the Moderator, Rev. DR.. |
Witherspoon, Ia the chair. @
aLHAvE OF AssKNcR, 90.
Z Rev. Thomas T. Jones aud Elders Thomas
Fleurnoy, 2. s. seabury, and William p.
Msyo obtained leave of absence after to-dsy,si
sessions. 49,
Rev. william Brown, D. D., appeared In
Presbytery and was enrolled.
Mr.. l.. T. Wilson, q candidate for the min
istry, was received by certificate from Lex.
ington Presbytery and taken under care Of
this Presbytery.
The tune OF the
FALL hGReINd i.
Of Pesbyfery, appointed on yesterday to be
before the first Sabbath in October next at
Q p. NJ.
Rev. Alexander Martin, D. D., Of Dan.
Vile, was invited to sit as corresponding
member.
Rev. T. L. Preston, from the Presbyterial
Committee on Education, reported with re.
gard to the candidates under the care of the
Presbytery, and offered u resolution with re.
gard TO the cause Of education, which was
adopted, as folloers;:;
In view of the unusually large deficiency
In the receipts Of the Committee of Educa-
tiop,
RESOLVED, That the Presbytery epjoin upon
all the churches enlarged lit erality in the
support Of this important committee.
MISREPRESENTATION
A communication was received from Rev.
81. ID. Anderson, giving bis excuse for ab-
sence from the present meeting. The excuse
was sustained.
A communication was received from the
Rev. G. l.. Pesrie rendering his resignation
as chairman of the Executive Committee eof
Domestic Missions.
After some informal conference, In which
there was expressed by all great unwilling
ness to lose the important services of Mr.
Petrie In this department Of presbyterial
work, the following resolution, offered by
DR.. Read, was unanimously adopted:
Resolued, That this Presbytery entertaIns
full confidence in brother G.. l.. Petrie as
we'll qualified to sustain and discharge the
duties of the esEce of chairman Of theIix-
ecutiye Committee OF Domestic Mtssiens,' and
in his devotion TO the interests OF that ca.sei
that his work IN that cffice has the full ap.
probation of the Presbytery, and that, with
the desire and hope that he will continue in
| that Office, his; resignation is declined.
| pgHBs:oN OF TIE MINISTRY.
The Rev. DR.. Brown offered the folbr7ins
memorial to the General Assembly on denis.
| sion of the ministry:
| ResoIuel, Fiat the Presbytery of East
Hanover does-hereby mem orialze the Gen.
eral Assembly'to send down to the presby.
teriea in shoh- form as may be judged proper
an overture granting express authority, by
constitutional ssnep dment, to the pressyte.
ries in certain .eaEes to divest minister OF
the gospel of bis Office without censure.
Dr. Brown made few remarks in support
Of bis motion, when the Presbytery teoE q
recess for half an hour.
BaKssrIo MISSIONS.
|; At quarter past II this order of the Gay
was taken MP. DE-. Hoge, by request of The
Moderator, occupied the chair, and conducted
the devotional exercises.
| After singing and the reading of passage
of Scripture, prayer was offered by the Roy
| Mr. Rose.
In the ABSENCE ~of Rev. G.. L. Petrie,
Chairman of the Committee, the Rev. abr,
Witherspoon preseGled the report OF The
Committee, which is as follows:
| The committee "haEe secured aid during
the year for all theministers who have made
application for it. I'VE regret to report q
diminution ia the contributions of our
churches to the cause of fsustentation. Hence
the aggregate appropriation to this Presby.
terry is smaller this year than last. The tinan.
cial condition of the aided churches has
not improved during the year. Most,
if not all, Of then ask ,as much this year
/ las they did last year. We see no
Il prospect Of improvement In their pecuniary
kstrength. One of the.three folio wing courses
i seems desirable: Ekher continue to ask for
them very large proportion of aid, in which
eSse our churches must be incited to more
ieuiarged liberality to the sustenSstion cause !;
orseut down the apprGpristions<o the limits
set sby the Asscmblyfs rules, in which case
theslurden will heavily fall on the ministers
who are serving these weak churches; or,
By Rresbyterial authority, form groups of
churches of sufficient sXtent to provide
something like competent support for the
ministers who serve them. For many
reasons the grouping of churches
is delicate work-a WORK which your COM
mittee feel they have not the authority to
undertake., involving, as it might, changes OF
pastoral relations. We respectfully suggest
that while Presbytery is in session, the
ministers concerned being personally pre-.
sent, and the churches present by their
representatives, an earnest effort be made by
a conferences with those concerned to secure
the formation OF such groups of churches. !
Within this year your committee have se.t
cured the services of an evangelist, who is
now at work On the Peninsula. His labors
are very acceptable to those to whom he
ministers. Within his field are the churches
of Bethany, 0Hset, and williamsburg.
These three churches propose to raise $3.50
or S400. The balance of the evangelist's
salary will be supplied from the appropria-
ton $500 Of the Assembly's committee TO
eYangeIstic work in our bounds. We pro.
pose to make the eyapgelist's salary $500.
We call the attention of Presbytery to the
circular issued By the Committee of Susten-
tation Ii, Baltimore, q copy of which accom-.
panies this report.
By order of the committee.
G. L. PErRIE, Chairman.
REMARKS OF DIR. wITHEasPooN.
DR.. Witberspoon expressed regret that
the chairman of the committees who was
familiar with its work, was absent. He re-
nsrked that there we're two painful facts
bought out in this respect: First. that the
feebler churches need still as much aid as
thew have needed in the past. They have
rot grown strong. And yet it was not from
aa willingness on the part of these churches