St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-12
FOR MORE ACTIVE WORK.
A Great Gathering Of Methodists at Cen
trail Park Church.
THOUSAND DOLLARS RAISED
Speeches on Behalf Of City -Evangeliza-
ton by Prominent Ministers
of the City.

ton by Prominent Ministers
Of the City.
PC The first annual meeting of the re-
GENTLY organized Methodist Episcopal
ALLIANCE of st. Paul was held last even
Sing at the Central Park NJ. E. church.
5The occasion was one of UNI
usual Importance to the denomination
lander whose auspices the meeting
twas held, as marking the the beginning
iof concerted action by all the M. E.
churches in the city in the matter of
aehureh extension and mission work.
GYhe gathering taxed the capacity of the
zlarge church, it being one of the most
snumerously attended meetings of a
denominational character ever held in
this city.
Presiding Elder S. B. Warner made a
few Introductory remarks, after which
M. d. Miller, president of the alliance,
assumed the chair. Devotional eXer-
cises followed, and then Rev. j. E.
Smith, pastor of the Central Park
church, delivered the address of well
come. He said it gave him great pleas
ure to welcome the alliance and felt that
it was eminently fitting that the newest
birth of st. Paul Methodism should
have its christening in the newest
church of the denomination in the city.
He explained the work of the alliance,
stating that the main features were sim
liar to those of the work formerly prose-
cuted by the Jackson street church. The
spirit OF the organization was the spirit
of sympathy for those that are suffering,
the spirit of love for those that are
fallen, and the spirit of sacrifice for
those that are helpless. 3-..:+.
REV. j. F. STOUT.
He was followed by Rev. j. F. Stout,
of the Clinton Avenue church, who dis
cussed the subject Of city evangelical
ton and it's necessities and difficulties.
OF the difficulties that keep the church
from attaining her highest sue
cess in cities, he said the
following were the hardest to
overcome: The massing of the idle,
who are hard to teach. because degener-
ated by idleness; the massing of the
vicious. who flock to great centers to
prey upon people, because they find
there the loosest execution of law
and the greater market for their
wares. They are slow to receive
the Gospel because they. are
so dominated by these evil passions. that
they give the truth no attention and
their cOnSciences no dominion The
gathering of the ambitious, who find in
city life the largest play for their pow
ers and who give little time OF attention
to the Messiah of God. The
national, ecclesiastical and individual.
hnnQnCn no ha do
generated on account of the corruption
of it's cities; ecclesiastical, because the
church must deal with the problems
that grow out of city life, or: the ,unbe-
lief and corruption Of that life will
reach the rural districts and affect the
welfare of the whole church; in
Haiivid9al, because every man is
His brothers. keeper. The very
Necessity of the work is tthe prophecy
Of its accomplishment. 1t is the divine
method. which is to begin at the
centers. If God be for us, who can be
against us? We need not number our
forces, but trust in God to attack the
difficulties. The rod of Moses, the
Sling of David. the trumpets of Joshua,
the pitchers, torches and trumpets of
Gideon are sufficient if God be with the
MEN who use them in the accomplish
ment of His work.
p REV. F. o. HOLMAN.
." Rev. f. O. Holman, of the, First
church, next spoke on the demand in
st. Paul for organized work. Organiza-
ton, he said, is the harness of power:
Man can have = as much power
as he pleases,' but he cannot
USE it until it is Or
gained. A century ago a spiritual
power was manifested. 1t was sOrga-
niZed, and the result is the Methodist
Episcopal church, the mightiest en-
ginery for the CHARACTERIZATION of the
world known to modern times. There
are enough MethodistS in st. Paul to
take the city if. they would only go to
work. We need organized work first
because of the rapid growth of the city,
and secondly, to avoid mistakes in locat-
ing new churches. The influence of
many churches is weakened because of
their situation. 1t is needed also, SO
that when work is started in a new
community it will be known and felt
that the entire strength of the Methodist
Episcopal churches of. the city is behind
it. We belong not only to our respect
i've churches but to, the denomination,
and the denomination belongs tous. We
ought to be thankful that-We have in st.
Paul the idle, the vicious and the am
bilious, because it gives us the oppor-
tunity to elevate and inspire them with
the principles of Christianity.
REV. ROBERT FORBES.
The present needs of the society were
explained by Rev. Robert Forbes, pastor
of the Bates Avenue church. He said
that several points in the city had been
occupied and sustained largely through
the generosity OF the jackson Street
church. What was needed now was that
this work of extension should be
done in thorough manner by all the
M. E. churches in the city acting as a
unit. The churches are disposed to act
together, and the speaker said the meet
ing was an encouraging sign of what'he
hoped would result in all the churches
taking hold of the work and pushing it
with vigOr, instead of leaving one church
to bear the whole burden.
At the conclusion of Mr.. Forbes re-
marks, cards were distributed and col
lection taken up to forward the work of
the alliance. The amount raised aggre-
gated nearly 81, 900. The meeting was
then dismissed, with the benediction
pronounced by Rev. J. B. Dewart.