Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-11-15

| better society. 1t betters the community
| wherever the church is located, and it is
| doing the work assigned to it in the world
| How well we have performed our part,
| during the past year, my brethren, you viii
better tell when you make your report in
| heaven. You may get faint idea of your
work from the reports you make here;
| but when the roll is called in heaven we
shall know each other as we are known;
and we ourselves will better understand
our work. 1t is gratifying to say to YOU
this morning that the spiritual work of our
conference, during the year, from what |
have learned from the presiding elders, to
some extent surpasses that of other years;
and then there seems to be more permanent
work done than ever before, in moulding
and fashioning men. Different dispositions
are capacitated for several kinds of work
in the church. Some men go along and
gather IN the people, and others come along
and mould and fashion and build them up
into that holiness without which they can
not see the Lord.
The temporal concerns of the work du-
ring the year has also been very encour-
aging to all OF us. | think there has been
two new churches built in the Palestine
district and one in the Houston district.
| am happy to inform you that nearly all
our debts in this conference district have
been paid. l presume We do not owe in the
Texas conference $4,000 This speaks well
for our ability as business men. The in
debtedness of Reedy'S chapel at Galveston
was, about three years ago, $1,000; and
during the past year the last dollar has
been paid, and Reedy's chapel is out OF debt
Loud applause We thought one time
that we were in danger of losing that prop
erty, but the people who assembled there
from year 10 year, which has been conse-
Grated with their tears and sacrifices, have
been made glad by the know!ede that all
obligations of the church have been paid
Building fine churches and covering them
up with mortgages Tor unborn generations
to pay is not the way we do business in
Texas. We believe in paying our debts
and in lifting the burdens from the people,
which is the fair and solid way to conduct
our operations. Pay as far as you go and
as near as possible. God has blessed US
this year. You have good crops in some
places, and in others they have not been
SO fortunate. A great deal OF cotton has
been made, but the prices are lower than
ever before. If we could only induce our
people to plant corn, raise their own meat,
and have something at home to eat when
the cotton market is depressed, they would
best consult their own interests. They now
spend all they make in cotton to pay for
corn and meat to provide for their families,
and to discharge other obligations. You
should advise the people TO plant corn and
potatoes. and raise dozen or two of hogs;
would not be embarrassed. Give this ad-
vice to the people as you go along, to raise
something to eat. God has blessed US in
this grand old commonwealth. Texas is
great state. It's resources are combina-
ton of all the states in the Union. We pro-
duce everything in Texas that is cultivated
TO any extent in any of the other states.
Down i'll the southern portion we cultivate
sugar cane; up here we can grow cotton,
corn and potatoes and farther up north
wheat can be produced such as they grow
IN other states. The mineral resources of
the state will not be developed in the next
fifty years. We have mines of coal that
will enable US to surpass Birmingham. l
understand that there is coal mine near
Palestine. 1t is hard to tell what we have
got in these hills and mountains, within
the borders of this great state. The thing
TO do is to love God, be true to yourself, be
active III industry, be honest in efforts, and
we will contribute materially to develop
the resources of great state.
Our educational work is progressing
finely. l feel more encouraged over its
success than | have ever been since l
have been in Texas. The way to tell what
a people is doing is to see what they are
accomplishing for the developing of hu-
manity. When all of the reports are in
il is quite likely that we will have raised
over 5000 for educational work in Texas.
This fact will tell the people more than |
can what we are doing. Loud applause.
1t shows that we do not leave the develop
ment and education of our people entirely
to the other race: but we feel that we have
something to do ourselves. Last year at
this time we had seventy students at Paul |
Quinn college, our educational institution !
at Waco. ard now we have over ninety, |
and we are expecting soon to have over two |
hundred. l think last year we raised S1265 |
for educational purposes in the state. and |
4
with twenty rooms for young men at Paul |
Quinn college. 1t is likely we shall raise |
enough to pay for it. We thus hope we are |
progressing as grandly and as substantially |
IN the educational work as you are in the |
pastoral field. Pay as you go, and it will |
be an excellent example for the people to |
emulate. From the dollar fund, my breth-
rem. want you to hear it, we have given
$1,000 to Wilberforce at Xania, Ohio; $1,000 |
to Divinity high-school at Jacksonville, Fla.
$1,000 to Morris Brown at Atlanta, Ga;
$1,000 to Kittrel at Kittrel, n. c.; $1,000 to
Allen University at Columbia, S. c.; $1,000 |
to Quindare University in Kansas; and
$1,000 to Paul Quinn college at Waco. There
are 5000 given to the institutions of learn
ing under our auspices and control, from
the dollar money fund, which is 81 tax on |
each member TO run the general expenses
of our great church. Now remember that
this amount does not include any of the 40
per CSuI vi IuS uOlIslI Iilde CouleS W Tug du-
nual conferences for the support of the SUI
perannuated ministers, sfor the widows of
deceased preachers, and for other neces-
Sary purposes; but it comes from the 90 per
cent that we send to the financial secretary.
Seven thousand dollars for educational pur-
poses. This is the day of success that |
have been praying for-to see our dollar
fund reach such a standard as to make
appropriations for education.
/ call your attention to the important fact
that we have purchased a property and es-
theological department at Viii
berforce for the education of young men in
the ministry of our church. l hope the
time is not far distant when every confer
ence will put young man in that theologi-
cal department and keep him there till he
is educated. We have fifty conferences,
and one from each conference continued in
the institution until each was imbued with
Methodist doctrine and trained for minis
terial duty under our system. would exert
a powerful influence in our church and
among the people. We often have to re-
gret the differences and ruptures that we
have in our churches. 1t is because we
have not Methodist-trained pulpits. There
are great many intelligent men in our
church to-day. Many of them cannot con-
not conduct class-meeting successfully
because they have not been reared in our
church. They do not know It's usages nor
CUSTOMS If you would have man to be a
good Methodist, you must start him in the
class-meetings. Train him up in its rules
and forms, and when he advances to orders
ne will know what to do and how to in
struct the people The Methodist church