River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-12-25
Methodist centenarv Conferences.
The Methodist Centenary Conference at Bal
timore closed on Wednesday
THE PASTORAL

The Methodist Centenary Conference at Bal
tmore closed on Wednesday
THE PASTORAL.
Of the bishops is addressed ITO the Methods
people in the United States and Canada II
says: ''Permit Us to remind yon, dear breth-
rem, while We extend hearty congratulations
upon the success Of the past and express the
profoundest conviction that even nobler and
grander achievements await US in the future,
that the mission given us by providential
allotment is not yet accomplished. We
entreat you, brethren do not forget
that hitherto Methodiste have been dis
tinguished by the emphasis they have given
essential doctrines of Christianity In all the
years of our history truths relating to God, to
moral government, immortality to eterD
al retribution, have been sacredly mat
tanned and asserted with great distins
ness, and that we have held in COL
mon with all Christian people to the inspira-
lion and divine authority OF the scriptures, the
divine origin OF the church, and the vocation
of the ministry, the value of the sacrament,
and indispensableness of the strictest morali-
ty, according to the New Testament standard;
and that beyond all these points, We have made
conspicuous the Nervousness of Gin, the neces-
sity OF atonement, the universally of pro-
nounced redemption, freedom of will, and
pureness of grace. Not one of these can be
discarded or distorted without manning the
bcDeul0 u salRdllDn ana revealed GOspel. Dut
even these foundations of truths, however en-
phasized, will not meet the demands Of the
SOUL and never could have produced the phe-
nomena OF Methodist life and history.
THERE ARE OTHER DOCTRINES
to be emphasized, doctrines which re-
late to salvation applied as well as
provided, doctrines which undsrlie the
experiences of the soul in Its emergence
out of the darkness and death of sin into the
light and life of righteousness. The other doe
trines have been the rallying cry of Methodism
in the past and must be in the future They
the witness of the Spirit, sanctitication and
Christian perfection. Out of these come all
our experiences, all our joys and hopes, our
inspiration and zeal; and upon these are built
all our special forms and means of grace, our
charities, our benevolences and our correction
al institutions. These doctrines above all
Others have given tone and shape and spirit to
our organization and determined its work and
place in history Take from Methodism these
doctrines of experience, or even the emphasis
given them, or overlap them with lIfeless forms
and ceremonies, or mar them by human specu-
lations concerning the mode of divine proceed
ure iii them, or confuse them by any concely-
able departure from their simplicity, so they
shall become only doctrines of the creed, I'M
voiced IN the soul as the very essence of saliva
ton, and then our glory is departed forever.
We therefore'plead with you, brethren, as you
value the purity of the church and its power to
convert the people and spread Scriptural holt
ness, hold fast these doctrines, as they come
from the fathersas they appear in the Script
ures and as theyhave been attested by the ex-
perienees of the church in past ages. The
address urges maintenance of family reli-
gion. ''The hottest sanctuary on earth, the
address says, sis the Christian home Neither
the church nor the Sunday school can do the
work of the home or become an adequate sub
stitute for the influence of prayer in the hous,
hold. See to 1t that your children be all taught
of the Lord with sound instruction. Let
THE HAND OF RESTRAINT
be employed yetwith such firmnessand gentle
ness as to win and keep the children, as well
as to hold them in subsection to authority.
The address speaks of the Sabbath as a pillar
of Christian civilization. "a spiritual church
without the Sabbath is an impossibility. God
has consecrated one-seventh of our days to
rest and worship. The law enjoining its OBJ
servanee is both positive and moral, imbedded
in the Decalogue, enforced in the New Tesla
ment, and interpreted and illustrated in the
practice of the primitive church The grand
march for the conquest of all lands for Christ
has begun. The voice of the Lord bids us go
forward. We dare not accept a secondary
place With our schools and colleges, with
our wealth and culture with our social power
and our vast Numbers, we must have large
share in the worlds evangelization.