Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-08-18
Lessons Taught by the Late Sab
bath School Convention.
BIT THOMAS CALLAHAN.

| trace Dth nd In tue Way OF reUcctlOns. FROM
the fac laid before the Conven ton, it is evil
| dent THAT the Sabbath-school interest In Lhe
n ineteenth District is not hourishing. Tne
small percentage of scholars in attendance. as
compared with those or mmon school aye In
he same territory, lis very suggestive. Is Ia
less than four and halt per cent. And when
it is rem-mb cred that s ,bbath-school scholars
not limited by age, the percentage will be
still less. The number OF counties in which
org auiZa tons had either never been set up, or
had lapsed, was tlissresSIngly large, ami in
those ,uuties which reoor, ed on some points,
the prlncipa test OF vitality seem ID to he in
| the fact hat "A County Convention had been
held. There was report of any accessOOs
either of schools or scholars, compared
with previous years. And when 1t Is remem-
bered that this was not in any sense a secta-
rian convention, but represented the entire
lnterestOf the district. 1t is still
more su sgesLive. and must b.. accounted for.
The reporter thou sht ht not &C d among even
the most prominent members OF tine COnven-
ton a need Of clearness in their ideas of the
real nature OF a sabbath school. 1t was agreed
on all ands among hem that a Sabbath school
was com posed of children studying the word
of God but all through the Convention there
was present Banquo's ghost-a skeleton in
4 he shape OF the separation OF families into
the class that went to Sabbath school and the
class that attend+ d sermon, and how to prevent
or heal that division the Convention did not
not know. 1t left the problem as it found 1t,
for the simple reason that it cannot be solved
I
The reporter has some experience both I'm
preaching AMI In Sabbath schools, and when
| he was a pastor that ghost never appeared in
| his congregation. His course was to examine
| On each Sabbath morning some specific doc
triDc of the Bible, having at hand the dOctrinal
standards OF at least every least every leading
sect of Christians, so that by quoting from
these he could show where each sect stood on
the doctrine under consideration. He showed
VINO agreed and who disagreed with his church,
and showed from the Bible why he held the
| doctrine in some particular form rather than
any other. On the following Sabbath morning
he stool for two hours on the floor of the
church and examined I'll who saw proper to
attend on the lecture of the preceding Sabbath,
| soliciting questions and inviting objections.
Other teachers had charge of the smaller
scholars, and drilled tn IN on the Bible and
CatechismS. The Sabbath school was then an
extra judicial conference on the word of God.
i'll which every week the minister faced his
| constituents and every body else VINO saw prop
er to come in, and gave an account of his
stewardship This idea of speedy and certain
responsibility made the minister careful, clear
and sharp. In the a ternOOn or evening he
preached on a text selected by some neighbor,
the text and the name OF the person selecting
it being announced one week before. In this
way there never was any lack of interest. The
Sal bath school and the sermon was combined
SO to Oe unit
But could sabbath school be so conducted
now? And the answer is: Not without recon-
structing the clergy. Thirty years ago minis
ters preached the commission given to limo
tn, Preach the wort; be instant on season,
out of season; reprOve, reb1ke, eyhort with
all lOng-suffering and doctrine. But now God
has changed the commission, and they preach
under the commiss Oh given TO Isaiah: Go and
tell this people, Hear We indeed but understand
not, and see ye indeed tut perceive not. Make
the heart OF this people fat, and make their ears
heavy, and shut their ey rs. lest they see with
their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand
W th their heart, aud convert and be healed.
The minister that preacnes TO-DAY under the
commission given to Timothy, VIII find himself
practically excommuncat from the church.
But a reaction IS approaching; the spiritual
interests of the world are pulling in two The
reaction is arising especially among those who
, tomorrow will be men and women, and this
, reaction takes the form o: a jog between the
Sabbath school and the Church. Aud this
action made itself seriOuslj felt in the Con-
vention IN another shape. Two classes of
people seem to be troublesome in Sabbath
scnoOls-those that are described negatively
as not being Christians, and those who are
mentioned positively rs being ske ptics and
great interest Was felt In knowing what to do
with them. AS to that wherein their nom
Christian or skeptictal character consisted no
in formation was given. BIT the reporter
knows that popular Christianity at present
consists in believing whatever you are told,
and paying all that l. demanded OF you, he
was left to infer that their non Christian and
skeptictl character con sisted in their being
| reca icitrant on those points. About eighteen
hundred and fifty years ago the Church was
bothered with man who was charS ed with
destroying the low and the prophets. He
was a PERSISTENT skeptic. But til. saints were
not men with whom It was safe to TT fl They
laid him aside bv summary process. From
that day to this, from time o time, the Church
has been troubled with skept'cs-such as
Claude, Bishop of Turin; Martin Luther, John
Calvin, ind John Knox. An! at the present
time when the Church Is going to Heaven by
railroad. those pestif+rous fellows are sneaking
a hOnt- and laViuD iron weduaS Old and
railroad spikes OF thu rails, winch. whilst they
do not wreck the train outright, occasion
awful jolts and some breakage IN the machin-
cry, AMI give the conduc ors Of the train great
trouble and make the passen GERS nncomforta-
bic, and inspire in the general public feeling
of distrust in regard to the safety of the ar
ranyement of the railroad system. The Con-
vcntiOn acted wisely In recommending that no
encouragement be given to them. But the
time may come soon wh,n this class will
refuse to be iInored, as faction. in the
religious makeup of the country, and when
with this class active hostility TO the Church
will take tine place of apathy and Indifference,
and then the existin. ecclesiastical organiza-
tions Will have serious trouble.
Another trouble exDerie iced by the Conven-
ton was in regard to financial matters. Whilst
it took considerable exertion tn raise the
amount necessary to meet the expenses of the
district, so far as aecertained nothing was
done to meet the levy of twenty dollars as laid
on the district by the State Convention. The
difficulty at the bottom of all this, ia that there
Is too much of what it's friends call system and
organization, and outsiders more correctly call
machine, and which 10 objected to on the
ground that 1t does not paw. This will be
found one of the worst difficulties In the case.
Sabbath schools tina. are strictly independent
Of each other, when fairly tried, will be found
to be best. Regard them as extra judicial
conferences, rs committees of the whole on
the word of God, and as feeders to the Church;
and let each congregation, through its officers,
control its own school without any interior
ence from anybody else. But it will he asked:
How about un on Sabbath schools! These are
institutions which the reporter has never been
able TO understand, and on which the late
Convention threw light. They evil
IDENTIFY anomalies, and cauDot control the
general rule, and eaca one must be law unto
itself. How about Sabbatn-s choOl literature:
This is something OF which the reporter has yet
to see The benefit, and he is waiting for light.
But another m after that troubled the Con
venLion VS. the relation Of the sabbath school
t. tue family. the Church, and to the cOrnmu-
nifty. It might appear strange that when the
Sabbath school has been established SO long,
and SO GENERALLY, that its relations To sur
rounding institutions sh )uld ne Indeterminate.