Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-02-16
FOR WORK AT HOME
NOW TO REACH THE SINNERS.
The Great Field Of Labor. and How i
should y Apforss0ned-Msasuses
Adoptes by Local Pastors.


The sunouoc<meut that Ne Hev.
fsAak Russell. d. D.. the New York
evzpEeiist. would address the n,csnbers
cf the psstors' conference yesterday
afternoon atsseeted large sttendance.
Tue alecsing MAS opened with devo-
nonsl fxereises led b. the Rev. J.
S:,ashsll. The Rev. Dr. Russell then
addres- 81 the association upon the sub
ject Vi .cssy Evangsllzation." Mr. Rms
ell i 4 pleaslng ard entertaining spoak.
er aud hc outlined the ueu
departure IN the evangelical a.
lianc, in clear and lucid
manner. He said there are thousandl
of families who neyer hear the chrie-
tan H. nedictson until il Is too late. We
frequently have nlelnbtrn Of different
associations call At the headquarters Of
the alliance who cay. III you will ab-
porh Us or let us absorb you we can ex-
ert wonderful power over the world,
but we always cay. ssNo. thank you; va
Mill continue alone In our work." II
cost our Office So COO 10 kill the Muir
ply bill in. New York. This Is bul
M instance Of the legislative part ol
work.
They Have Made Mistake.
" am informed rightly the societis
OF Grand Rapids lave been making
mistakes in milking = canvass to Obtain
figures. Families 60 not like TO be
''censuscd.n When the Importance OF
getting permanent church home i
sufficiently impressed on the minds OF
the people. then We Can lind out ex-
actly what the status of EACH church Is.
The territory should be- divided into
vislting parishes and as the minister
calls on the resident families he should
make . list ii those adhering to the
different church denominations who do
nat. attend church. and then At the
monthly pAssoys meeting these lists
may be exchanged. The pastors can
visit those belonging to his denomina.
ton and by forming thorough &C
quasnfancc, and offering words Of On.
enlargement they will soon he attends
ing church.
vaius Of Personal Aequatntancs.
Tho ministers of today are bettet
equipped for their work than they have
been for the last decade. A pe-sona1
acquaintance Is the leayen that enli-
vens the whole lump. There were
10000 names obtained last year OF
those who thsught they could not ct
tend church who promised to read the
weekly lessons, mako contributions 10
the Sunday school fund and Ia read
the leaflets. At the end OF the year 81
900 OF these we're attending churc1A
Mr.. Russell said IL was the duty Of
every person to visit his neighbor for
the purpose of talking on religious
subjects.
Worse Than the Hsathens. &
People have gone to the Fiji Jslanda
and laborei until 50 per cent Of tii1
inhabitants belong to denominst ion4I
churches they have gone into ward
in Cleveland where not per cent q
the residents belonged 10 church
Continue the missionary work abr0s9
hut put forth stronger effort 1t homo,
Bishop GiIiispie was invited TO express
his views of city eyangcllzation and in
response eaid tina: the idea of house
visitation was good one and If de.
crctely followed would result benefici.
ally. lie heartily endorsed the
methods adopted by the Y. N. c. A. ia
calling together their social gatherings
rs means of forming each others
acquaintance. 8
A resolution was presented by the
Rev. w. A. Frye, thanking D0ctdf
Russell for his address. and pledgine
the members of the conference to Legin
active evangelical work, which wa1
unanimously adopted.
4 committee, ronsisting of the Revk
Sanford II. Cobb, l.. H. Davis and W,
A. Frye, was appointed to arrange fdl
an address hy the Rev. DR.. Russell q
some future date.