The Indianapolis journal., 1884-05-12


sve form Of evangelism Let us be grateful for
the land which God has given US, the Constitu-
ton bequeated to us and the Union preserved for
us Let us thank God for hecross symbolizng
what God has done for man. for the starry ban
ner, symbolizrng what Christian men may do for
themselves, and let us pledge ourselves anew to
the great work of educating and Christianizing
this ever increasing population.
Time would fail me to speak OF our great
benevolent enterprises, foreign and homo
missions, wherein we have filed up the measure
of the great heart of the founder of Methodism
as expressed in his memorable words, THE
world is my parish Our Church Extension
Society, by whose agency We are building a
church every day; Freedmans Aid Society,
by means of which directly and indirectly, We
are today teaching a million of the illiterate
children of the South to read and our Women s
Foreign and Home Missionary societies, marvel
Gus in their growth and effectiveness
together with our great educational
gantic proportions in the line of mag
nifcent endowments, ample buildings and in
creased accessions and facilities-and
to all these noble causes Methodism
per annum-a free will offering to God.
As factor of our civilization, who can calculate
the potency, the patriotism the conscience and
the purity of American Methodism' With her
three muses. of oratory, poetry and WISDOM to
awaken the intellect charm the heart and gov
ern the life; with her wise bishops, eloquent
ministry, great reYivals, increasing congrega-
tions, accumuating wealth, and multiplying
agencies who can anticipate the glory of her
crown and the greatness of her organization at
the close of another century,
A great responsibility rests upon us, No eye
here or anywhere will see our next centennial.
No voice that sounds from our pulpits to-day
will be heard then. And vet, in every nation.
its worship will spread and its temples rise.
Not in the spirit of boasting, but of alteration,
let us pray that God may give us wisdom to de
wise rightly and courage to execute bravely the
trust committed to our hands
The real history of Methodism has never been
written, and never can be. Ecclesiastical annals
are made up of endless and often useless ac-
counts of controversies, schisms, heresies and
apostacies. The accessions of princes to the
fold, the biographies of bishops and dignitaries,
these and similar events constitute what is
called church history, but we may be certain
that the final day will disclose a record of
widely different character. The self-sacrifcing
missionary, the faithful sunday school teacher,
the transformations labor of the pastor among his
flock, the earnest prayer the fervent charity,
the beautiful example, the consistent Christian
life-these are the great sources of growth and
development. If time permitted should like
to give greater emphasis to the value of these
silent yet powerful agencies
May we ask, in conclusion, What are the
responsibilities of Methodism, standing here
at the threshold of her second centurys
growth and development She has per
ination, and daily growing richer. Then mani
festy. her first duty is the better conservation of
her wealth to the public good-to the building of
churches the endowment of colleges and minis
terial education Secondly, it should be one of
its most earnest aims to consolidate its forces
by the union of its American branches l can
see no reason for the continued separation of the
Church South from the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Slavery-the middle wallis broken
down One in doctrine, one in economy and
sui stantially one in discipline, there should be
an early union. This consummation cannot be
hurried. l would suggest this union as one
of the grand achievements of the second century.
Thirdly, Methodism should solve that most
practical and important of all problems, How
to train its own children within its own pale to
be Methodists." No church can prosper per
manently or perform her duty to herself and so
eiety, who suffers her children to be educated
outside of her own communion. To educate. re
tain and successfully employ her own children
the church must own and control vigorous,
higher institutions of learning-a culture not
limited to that of the public schools and home
life, but including that of higher education.
Finally, Methodism is to maintain her standard
of Christian experience and vital apostolic piety
She must continue to be "a revival church in
spirit and missionary church in organization -