Omaha daily bee., 1884-11-29
THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
torate to Give HIS Entire Attcn-
ton to the Home of the
FricndIess.

! Tho announcement is now made tha
Rev. j. G. Lemen has resigned the pas
torate of the Baptist church, and vii
give his entire attention to the Home o
Friendless, of which he Is manager
AS there is no salary attached to the po
sition of manager, Mr.. Lemen will de
pend on the voluntary support of the
friends of the institution, to whom in 9
card he says:
"Brethren, in conclusion, let me say
to you that from now on have no means
of support save as look to God in faith
for 1t. have some four or FIVE hun.
dred dollars of my own money. That
am willing freely to use. Then must
depend upon what God puts 1t into your
hearts to do. ] fear not. have not the
least doubt. Every cent that you donate,
every cent that can make for the as
sociation off the paper, every cent from
any and all sources will be faithfully re-
ported In the future as in the past-the
amounts received and tor what expend-
cd. No cent of any of this money will
ever claim or receive. How then shall /
live? If the work Is of the Lord, when
brethren and churches send contribu-
tions to the support of the Home they
will be moved also to send money for
the support of the manager and plainly
designate the amount sent for that pur-
pose. Any money sent undesignated
will be considered intended for the homo.
Not one cent will be considered for the
manager, unless the donor plainly states
that it is for that purpose. could
make an ample support leoturing; but /
must lecture In the interests of the
orphans home and have no time to spare
for my other work. And then brethren
1 desire to live by faith. l believe In
God. When He forsakes me, let me die.
Pray for me and the orphan children un-
der the care of the home. May the
blessing of God rest upon you all.
Mr. Lemon has been an enthusiastic
and earnest worker in building up the in.
stitution, in the SUCCESS of which he
shows 80 much faith as to make this
move. The charitable work has grown
to such extent that he says it appears
clearly his duty to give his whole time to
1t.
The resignation in this giving the home
the benefit of his entire time and ener.
gies, leaves the Baptist church without
any pastor. The church has had some
dissensions and troubles, and q year or
so ago a large number of members, in
cluding a number of It's most prominent
officials, withdrew on account of their
opposition to his pastorate. This de-
plorable state of affairs has been the
topic of talk and thought among not
only those of the Baptist faith
but among church people generally,
and all attempts to find any
healing value have been proved in vain.
The church at the best, like most
churches, was none too strong, ane the
scattering of the flock has weakened it
greatly, and it Is reported that at recent
meeting it was decided to disband its or.
ganization and turn the property over to
the Baptist Home Missionary society,
under whose management it will be con.
Quoted as mission church until 1t regains
strength sufficient to become self-sup.
porting. BY Mr.. Lemen stepping down
and out of the pastorate one cause of the
dissent is removed, and an attempt Is
being made to get the members who
withdrew to come back into the field
again. The dissensions have been greatly
deplored, and the church has certainly
suffered, by whose fault there is doubt
less difference of opinion, but under all
the circumstances it will probably prove
better for the church that Mr.. Lemen no
longer continues as its pastor, for now
better opportunity Is given for the re-es.
tablishment of harmony.