Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-11-29
A NEW ERA AT HAND
In the History of the Baptist Church
West of the AlleghenieS.
IMPORTANT MEETING AT SHARON,
To be Held Next Monday, When a Fund
Will be Raised For
KEEPING TWO MISSIONARIES AT WORK
ESPECIAL 4ELEeHAx TO rnr D1srAroH.l

ESPECIAL TELEGRAN TO THE DIsPATcHi
FRANKLIN, November 2S.-On Monday
an important convention of Baptists of
Western Pennsylvania will be held at
Sharon, in Mercer county. The most pro-
gressive men of the denomination will be
present. Unless all signs fail the gathering
will mark an era of advancement in the
religious history of Pennsylvania this
side the mountains. There is q grievance
at the bottom of it, but it is not a grievance
that means an INSTRUMENTATION fight.
The Baptist State institutions all have their
headquarters in Philadelphia, and the de-
nominational demands nearest to them have
naturally received the most attention until
the people of the West have come to feel
that the interests of the denomination here
have been neglected.
In the face of this, Rev. Mr.. Hall, the
pastor of the Baptist Church at Sharon,
after building up a strong congregation
where small one had barely existed, has
crowned the achievement by successfully
establishing a collegiate institute where
nearly 130 students are now receiving In
struction.
OPENED THEIR EYES.
Recently a wealthy member of the de-
nomination purchased for $4,000 an old
mansion and II acres of ground near
Sharon, and donated it to the Institute as
the basis for an endowment. This has
opeped the ewes of the Baptists of North
western Pennsylvania to things they may do
for themselves. and the same lesson is
brought home in the vicinity of Pitts
burg bv the success of the Mt. Pleasant in
stitute under Rev. Leroy Stevens. These
educational institutions are the result OF IN
cN1 har-
arrived at the conclusion that organized de-
nominational effort can accomplish things
hitherto hardly dreamed of.
The first business of the convention at
sharon will be to raise funds to employ at
least two missionaries to work among the
weak churches and plant new ones where
none exist. There is a great field for such
labors at Kittanning; for instance, there is
no Baptist Church, but it is known that
there are at least 40 Baptist fam
lilies, and one of the first
results of the effort flowing from
the Sharon meeting Will be to organize them
as a church. 1t is also on the programme
to discuss the establishment of a Baptist
family weekly and q publishing house at
Pittsburg, and to strengthen the educational
institutions by providing an endowment for
them.
Hon. Charles Miller, ex-Mayor of this
CITY, is ready to furnish large share of the
necessary cash. He says he will guarantee
the salaries of the missionaries. Rev. Mr..
Chapman, a wealthy retired clergyman of
the East End, Pittsburg, will also furnish
large part of the sinews of war for whatever
may be decided on.
THE MOST LIBERAL OF ALL.
Mr. Miller is unexcelled in this section
for liberaltv. He is an oil refner in the
Stand Ard combination and his income is
estimated to be largely in excess of $50, 900
a wear. He is the financial backbone OF the
franklin Baptist church and of
the Third ward chapel He bears
the expense of a night school,
at which nearly 100 young men are receiv- |
ing business education. There is debt OF |
81, 900 on Hall Institute, and ne has as
sumed the payment of the interest until the
debt is wiped out He has guaranteed |
the payment of sums this year to
various benevoIences in excess OF
his annual income, and enters |
with ardor into the new plans to promote
denominationaI growth. His partner, Mr..
Siblev, is not so much heard of, but is /
hardly behind him. When they first |
formed partnership, In the days when they |
were much poorer, they agreed that one
tenth of their income should be devoted to
charity and religion. They give much
more than one-tenth now.
Their one dissipation is their stock farm,
where blooded cattle and horses represent a
large investment They have horsehesh
closely related to Sunol, who lately broke
the -year-old record, and last week they
had the, to them, the exquisite pleasure of
refusing something in excess of $50, 900 for
ma of their animals