Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-08-11
RELIGIOUS NOTES.
The Churches, Pews, Pastors, and tho
PuIpits.

The Churches, Pews, Pastors, and tho
PuIpits.
SO eager was the desire Of the people Of
Guernsey to hear Mr.. Sturgeon on his re-
cent visit To that place that admission to
the building where he preached was granted
10y ticket only, and 5000 applications fOr
tickets were made.
According 10 the minutes Of the Luthe-
ran Miusterum Of Pennsylvania, Just -
sued. there are 2cj ministers, Az cOngreCa-
tions, and 1Ol .8i6 members in that body.
The total additions during the year num-
bcrcd Sass; total losses, 5000
or the $50 delegates to the Worlds Sun
! dav-schOOl Convention in London. over one
| half were from America. Massachusetts
had fol'v-one delegates, Illinois thirty
three. and Ohio twenty-slX. Stirring re-
ports were made from France. Sweden.
| Holland, India, Australia, Africa, China,
and many other countries.
a movement is on foot to bring about a
! general congregational council in London
in the near future. The American Congre-
gationalists regard the idea with favor,
and will consider the subject at their next
| trionnia conference IN October. The Con-
grcvational churches in Australia and New
Zealand are heartily in favor OF the
scheme.
A new departure in church work is to be
made bv a Baptist church in Wolyerhami =
! ton. England. Tho members have decided
to build rooms behind the church which
| viii be used for purposes of amusement
and recreation. The InoH novel feature
viii be q smoking and billard-room, WI n
! q bar for the sale Of non-intOxicants. The
whole control viii be III the hands OF the
minister and deacons of the church.
"The Churches have not yet risen to the
full measure of their duty and privilege"
saws the New York Observer, but so long
as they preserve their missionary zeal there
| The missionary spirit Is the thermometer
which registers the degrees of Christian
| faith and power. The reflex influence of
missiOn-work was well manifested in the
/ Christian EndeavOr Convention. held re-
Gently in Philadelphia"
While the pastor is absent from his
| church taking rest, says the AdrOcGfe, and
many OF the members also, some who re-
main OF home do not attend church. Be
| cause some stranger Is TO fill tho pulpit, or
| because their more intimate associates are
| absent, or because the congregation Is so
small. or for some other reason, they stay
| at home. THIS is shame Not the wOr-
| ship Of God, but something else draws
them 10 the sanctuary when they do go.
| In heathen countries Professionals occupy
! 800 separate missiOn-telds, containing 20.
| 900 stations, supplied by 10 900 mlsslona-
| ries In these 20, 900 mission-stations there
/ are 800 900 Sunday-schOol schOlars-an ave
rage Of 70 to each station. In the 10000
| Protestant missiOn-statlOns there are l,OOO,-
! 900 native communicates, or an average of
| 50 TO each station. There are also 1000 600
adherents who are friends of the evangcli-
! cal faith and hearers of the Gospel preach
ed from the Blble-an average OF LOO to
| to each station.
The Lutheran Observer. in discussing the
duty of the lay clements of the Church,
saws that although the members of the
/ congregations are not authorized TO
| ofliciatc rs ministers in the house of God
on the Lords day, it is just rs evident that
/ they are not only privileged, but IN duty
! bound. to exercise all the other functions
| of the common priesthood-vi2., those OF
PRAYING with one accord. singing and
making melody in their hearts unto the
| Lord. and Of teaching, admonlshing, and
! eXhOrting one another"
The American He5relo says that the
| anti-Jcwish sentiment IN America Is a
purely religious feeling" ~ proved " in
! the absolute silence Of the entire Christian
religious press and the Christian pulpit in
| in protest is to be seen III the editorial
columns of our Christian contemporaries "
/ against the exclusion of Jews from hotels
/ or other ebullitions of anti-Scmitism. The
| T1,a,pend,74t asserts that II has again and
| again expressed its contempt Tor any eX-
| cuvism bearing against Jews. II is I'M
pardonable in Christians TO treat with con-
! tempt a race from whom We're born our
Lord and every one of his apostles.
Certainly a net increase Of nearly ST.
600 Christians for the year Is no lnsigniti-
cant return" says the Hdep1Iden1. The
deaths among the 1870, 1928 Christians of
last year must have made large figure.
This loss and all other losses have been
made good by conversions and immigra-
ton, and nearly 900 gained IN addition.
We now have 142, 767 churches and IS, 322
ministers, showing a net gam Of 1852
churches and 3, S65 ministers. 4 clear al
dition of an average of between ten and
eleven churches and "a many ministers
every day in the year, does not appear to
indicate decline of power of growth. a
daily harvest of 240 souls is not sympto-
matte of that decay which certain skeptics
profess to discover III Christianity IN this
country"
Zone of our Methodist exchanges asserts
very bluntly that star-preachlug has well
nigh ruined many camp-meetlngs.' Star
preaching has wrought evil in the life of
the Church in all its departments, but
chiefly by It's excess and by the undue de-
pendence of the churches on its supposed
attractiveness and effectiveness. Very
much depends upon the matter which the
STAR orator deals with and the tone and
spirit of his discOurse3," comments the
PresbyieJIdn. The preaching of Spurgeon
or of Mcneil, of London, or OF Theodore
Cuvler. or of DR.. John Hail in particular
places might be very readily STYLED star
preaching but it would hardly hurt a
camp-meeting or ruin any good thing.
One star difforeth from another star in his
purposes and plans. in his methods, and IN
the whole spirit of his administration"
Dean Lichtenberger says in Harper's
Magazine: Attentive observers of religious
life in Germany discern a singular phe-
nomenon which is assuming more and
more alarming proportions. On the one
hand, statistics show that ecclesiastical
habits are far from being lost. so far Us
concerns participation In traditional acts
and ceremonies. On the other hand, al
most everywhere there are complaints
of notable diminution in church at
tendance. Many churches in the towns
and in the counties are three quarters
empty. At Berlin, where there aro only
f0rty-seven churches and twenty-seven
chapels. with $1,000 seats, for a Protestant
population of nearly a million, the church
service is very little attended. People go
20 the Cathedral to hear the fine music and
see the Emperor. When the lturgical ser
vice is over there is a considerable exodus
more than half the congregation goes
away.
The Penn fron-Worixs.
LANCASTER, Pa, August l0.--The. Penn