New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-10-31
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

i
THE TRUE CHURCH DEBT PoLICY.-The Rev.
Sylvanus stall has published pamphlet en-
bodymg some excellent ideas respecting The
payment of church debts The book ia the out
growth of an earnest desire to afford aid to the
thousands of churches to-day burdeDed with
debt. and to the thousands more which are
struggling to meet current expenses. Inc
author has no pet theory to advocate, but seeks
to bring 70 all who are entrusted WIN the
financial management of churches such lntor,na-
ton and suggestion as will enable them to yer
feet Il system already IN use, or 10 SUBSTITUTE
such one as will help in advancing theu IN
their return to the only perfect meCh0n-lne
ordained law OF the 1.-THE these pa7sdEes
illustrate the spirit of the work Let the
Scriptural duty of making ample provision tor
Gods house be fully set forth from the puipl''
Don't beg, don't scOld To preach the whole
counsel Of God, nor evadlng the Ordained law
of the giving Of the tthe. law which was
not made for the Jew, out was eniCined about
two thousand years before Abraham was born
"A law that is a. old as the institution OF sac
rltice, as old as the institution OF the SabDath,
and as universal as the human race-a law
which could as justly be called heather ~
Jewish. for its binding force Is recognized TO-
day i'm every heather county and 10 stands out
unmistak ably a one OF the landmarks when
lead the nations back to a common origin ana
a divine reyelatOn-a law winch, be II sald 10
our shame is observed in every heather nation,
and is violated only by those VINO call them,
selves Christian" Men are enlOlned
To give at least a terth for the support and
spread of the Gospel. One-tenth ~ the LOrd ;,
and the remaining nlne-tenths Is his aIso' anu
we are simply 10 use IL as Ills stewards: a. We
NAV not withhold the One-tenth. neither NAV
we squander the remainder IN undue luxury ana
pride Our wealth Is to be sanctIhed wealth.
Let pastors entrusted with congregations DuI-
dened with church debts present these trutls'
not only in an occasional discourse, buC ire
7 r,-u, f1rnr hon spi
this neglected doctrine until 1t snail form az
much a part of all their teachings "A II forms a
part of each book, and runs through every
chapter OF the Bible. Let pastor and people
together confess their SIN IN TINS matter anu
prove theiI sincerity by bringing then free Will
offerings and paying their debt Remember
the tithe is Gods money, sacredly set ataIG fOr
the support and spread OF the Gospel, 80 Il" not
let the people take Gods money 10 pay their
debts Let the peoples money pay the peoples
debt Free Will offerings are what God lelnires
iOI this purpose so let the rlch give hLer2Iy
from their abundance, and let the poor IL
the depths of their poverty ENJOY the same
blessed privilege. Let there be IN enlightened
and quIckened conscience ana we know III "a,
the Christian men ana women OF tuts laud VIII
arise and cast of the burdens with which the
Church is now struggling TO 20 forward
SryDAY-sCHOOL METHODs.-A striking di-
yergence OF opinion respecting Suuday-school
methods WAS disclosed III the course or a re-
cent debate at the Sixth Annual Conference or
the Michigan Unitarians. Ire first speaker,
a lady, objected to the present system as pro-
noting suDertic ialIty IN religious matters, ana
as encouraging absence from chUTch, put mann
tanned that II was a necessary evil Whlch must
be tolerated. The next speaker SAID the main
trouble was a lack of definite aim. Some hlnts
might be taken from the manner IN which The
SpiritualiSts conduct their lyceumS Pictures,
Dinners and object lessons there serve 10 I'M
press the lessons taught. Children are not
theOIOeians Appeal TO their love oil the Deal-
tiful and realistic. The Rev, J. L. Jones said
whatever was done, let no more OF the
system proposed by the last speaker be
adopted He did not think Sunday schools
a necessary evil. but necessary good
Let the sugar and candy phase or the WORK DE
eliminated. If nothing else can be done get
together and be stupid for an hour. Band
box military trapplngs and picture papers had
no place in his Sunday school. Danish the
designations Of the system. BE serious at the
risk even of being stupid. he bad no words
of encouragement for highly tightly hymns
Sweet sObretY, reverent service should ne
striven for Let Gods name be spoken with
solemnlty. Do not insult lntnIty with an at
tempt to reduce Him to the level OF the lead
ing character in a huge comedy. Inc speaker
favored regular teachers meetings. lie Thought
that chalk talks, mechanical and other con-
trlvances of the professional orthodox sunday
school man were largely responsible f0r the
tiippancY OF the age. Or. fOfOush salu the
midday school music OF the present DAY was
got up on the principle that the devil had all
the good music, and that 1t must be reclaimed
for the Sunday school; that the greatest
recommendation music could nave was thdt
it was whistled on the streets.
NJ V ROrk said The easiest 70 reach were the
children of avowed skeDUcs and mtideis. The
hardest to reach were children Of parents II
whose homes q blessing had been hlppantiy
mum bled three times day and family pray
ers conducted, while one member OF the iaui-
IY was perhaps washing dishes III the kitchen
and another making beds upstairs. He did
NOT believe III the kind of a sunday school
address where Il man gets up and says c. the
children " You can't Imagine how glad am
to look into your bright eyes this morning.
have often thought how much ike heaven
tins is. because there will be so many children
there ~ &" Think" said the speaker, " OF a
heaven full OF millions OF year-Oid babies"
COLOGNE CATHEDRAL.--It is remarkable that
religious ceremonies should have formed very
insignificant part Of the tormahtes Ot opening
the completed Cathedral OF Cologne, the chief
architectural monument OF the German people.
The Emperor W IllIaLI, the Empress ana large
number of Princes and digntarles OF the Ter
man Empire took part IN the proceedings, the
most uOtabie absentPes being tire hlnE or
bavaria. the King Of WurtemDerg, and Prince
Bismarck. The Royal party arrived IN the
Town from BTlhl at o'clock III the morning
and after attending divine service III the Prot
estant church. went to the Cathedral, where a
lie Deum was sung. The Imperial party came
ont from the south door OF the Cathedral INTO
the Dom Platz which had been encompassed
with large galleries for privileged spectators,
and which was the prime pal scene OF the cele-
mony of Inauguration. The Emperor had an
enthusiastic reception from the assembled mul-
ttudp. The formal ceremony began with the
reading of the deed referring TO the finishing OF
the building OF tue Cathedral The Emperor
then delivered IN address, congfatulatlng tue
nation ON the completion OF she edlice, the
chef architect and the president OF the Dom
banverrin m. de long speeches m reply, and The
Imnerinl standard was hOIsted ON the tower, the