Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-09-28
In RELIGIONS REALM.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO MINIS
TERs AND LAyMEN.
Expressions of Opinion by Newspapers
Representing the Various Denom-
nations, on Many Subjects.

are now more than 10000 pastorless Bap-
tist churches in these United States alons,
| representing not far from one-third in all
of our more than $4,000 Baptist churches" !"
The Sunday School Tines says at re-
| quires certain amount of virtue to make
one capable of certain kind of vice. III
other words, mans faults may be a true in
dication of the nature Of his attainments.
But the higher one gets in the standard Of
his attainments, the less excusable are the
faults and failings which pre-suppose
those attainmeuts.n
The New York Independent says: "Of
the priests OF the Catholic Church in this
country, numbering IN all 1882, only 2,217,
or about one-fourth, according 10 a recent
report, are members of religious orders.
OF this number 637 are JesuitS, 323 Bene-
| dictines, 23l Franciscans, 1913 Redemptor-
lists, So Dominicans, 50 Capuchins, the re-
mainder being divided among nineteen
other religious orders"
| 4 conference is to be held in Winnineg,
Manitoba, shortly, to consider the ques-
| tion of forming union Of the Anglican
Church in British North America. At
present the church is divided into two
ecclesiastical provinces, that of Canada
and that Of Rupert'a Land. There are,
besides, four independent dioceses under
the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Can
terbury. There are, in all, nineteen
dioeeses north of the United States. Out
of population of nearly 100000 650,000
are said to be members of the Church of
England, which has twenty bishops and
1,200 clergy.
The Illustrated Americqn says: "A severe
and humiliating penalty has Just been i'm
| posed by their caste upon three young
Hindoos for the ofiense of having polluted
| themselves by dining with Christians. 1t
has been resolved that they must change
| their sacred thread, 60 through various
purgations, bathe in a sacred tank or
river, aud perform other ceremonies be-
! fore they can be restored to their former
standing. What makes the punishment
the more noteworthy is the fact that the
English and veTnacular papers had re-
ferred to this very dinner as an indication
that the unreasonable class-restrictions
were gradually dying out"
The Hartford Religious Herald says:
''The Reformed Episcopal Church is COM
posed chiefly of what was formerly known
as the 'low-church' element of the Protest
ant Episcopal Church 1t uses the same
book of common prayer, but purged of its
priestly and sacramento teachings 1t
has the same historic succession in its
ministry, but acknowledges the validity of
other churches than the Episcopal, proving
its sincerity by free exchange of pulpits,
and by the reception Of their members and
ministers by letter, without either con-
tirmation in the one case or reordination
in the other"
The Interior (Pres) says; "a contem-
porary suggests that, when prayer-meet-
ings an hour long cannot be sustained, a
half-hour meeting might succeed. The
idea at the bottom of this appears to be
| that the season of silence in a prayer
meeting is so much time wasted or lost. II
is not necessarily so. A few minutes might
be spent pro6tably in meditation by a
company of people as well as by one person
| alone. Then let the time be filled with
singing. We would all be happier and
1 heartier Christians, if we exercised our
! lungs and voices oftener in sacred song.
| The women are in the majority in most
prayer-meetings, and singing is their way
Of worship in public. Give them larger
opportunity. If the prayer.meeting is also
praise-meeting it will be doubly interest
ing, and there viii be little time that any
one will dare call wasted 1t will drive
out the spirit Of Indifference, and that is
what spoils the meeting, be it an hour or
only half that time in session."
A correspondent of the Liying Church
! (P. e. says "The Kensington Gfuchman
is responsible for the following: "A case
of extraordinary ignorance of the church's
ordinances came under our notice in Mott
inghill this week. A woman on being
asked if she would like to be a candidate
for confirmation, answered: eyes, should
like to be confirmed again; l have only
been confirmed once, and that was before
my marriage The foregoing l find in
an English church paper, and reminds me
of several others somewhat similar
once saw church official amazed to find
out that the Sundays were not included in
the forty days of Lent. L was once asked
by the wife of Judge how we knew that
the Savior was born on Easter. l once
heard a church commitment remark of
Congregational minister that. as the min
lister was an Englishman,' he would not
have to be reordained' if he should come
into our church, This communicant evil
IDENTIFY confounded English soil with Eng
lish orders \ normal-school teacher once
said to me of cleric who, in her opinion,
read very badly, that she supposed that
was the way he took to keep people from
understanding the Bible as she had al
ways heard that the Episcopal Church did
not believe in giving the scriptures to the
people, A lady once remarked that it
was no wonder that our clergy wrote such
good sermons, since they had so many
bishops to help them. Another once said
in nay presence that she understood that
our rectors all had to send their sermons
once year to the bishop she evidently
had heard of the annual report, but clearly
did not know the items expected to be con-
tanned in it."
The New Bedford Mercury says: IA
minister from his study in the church in
quires how far minister ought to go in
advertising HIMSELF What do clergy
men condescend to advertise themselves
otherwise than by the faithful discharge of
their pulpit and PASTORAL duties Indeed
they do, and often to the detriment of their
reputation as gentlemen. Some of them
are guilty of as much clap-trap as a show
man in putting his exhibitions, and with
out the grace to pay the newspaper man,
as the Snowman does. The voice from his
study says: "A minister resigns his charge
in Nebraska to accept call to Ohio. The
papers in his part of Nebraska print part
of his valedictory sermon and also para
graphs as to the excellence of his work.
These papers he forwards to friend in the
Ohio church of which he is to become pas
tor; this friend requests the insertion of all
items in regard to the new pastor in the
papers of the city to which he is to come.
Hardly day passes in the week previous
to his advent but there is reference made
to the Rev. Dr. Blank, who is about TO be-
come pastor of the church. Yes, our read
ers know how true that is; and how, too,
after the Rev. DR.. Blank comes to his new
parish, he keeps himself before the public
by weekly land weakly communications
in the newspapers, under his own name, in
which he parades as humorist, story-teller,
moralist and hero. Such advertising par
sons manage to get parish, but they never
keep it more than year or two. They
run out or run @emptyins." The answer
to the question from the study in
the church is. Not an inch No clarov