Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-16
AIM OF THE CHURCH
DR.. Mutchmore Tells the General
Assembly Of Its Mission.
OPENING THE PITTSBURG CONVENTION
Organizing the Meeting and Elect
ing Officers.
THE SOUTHERN ASSEMBLY

PITTSBURG, Pa. May 16,-At IL o'clock
this morning the 10th general assembly
of the Presbyterian Church opened in the
Third Church, in this city. There were
nearly 600 commissioners present when the
opening hour arrived, and it was a notice
able fact that this assembly is composed
almost entirely of young and unknown
men.
The preliminary services were begun by
prayer by DR.. Robert N. Adams of Min
neapois, who is spoken of by the western
members for moderator.
This was followed by Scripture reading
by Dr. VIM. N. Page of Leavenworth, Kan.
After music, DR.. George Norcross of Car
Isle, Pa, read a passage from the Scrip
lures, followed by prayer by DR.. w. H.
Roberts, the stated clerk.
The retiring moderator, DIR. Samuel \.
Mutchmore, then delivered his sermon.
DIR. Mutchmore's Sermon.
The sermon of DR.. Mutchmore, the re-
firing moderator, was on the labor, sentinel
and signal services of the Presbyterian
Church. His text was Mark 49,
In the course of his remarks he said:
THE mission of the church is to educate
the childhood of the nation. God gave this
country to Presbyterians when there were
| ton. But many of our colleges and
parochal schools were allowed to perish.
Who has this God-given heritage now?
The Roman Catholics had the wisdom to
grasp the opportunity which we threw
| away for state schools and colleges. Now
we have set to work among the fragments
| through the board of aid for academies and
| colleges, and to bring what opportunities
| we have left into use and observation.
This country is an estuary into which
| the sewerage of the nations is pouring,
| filling the land with moral malaria, from
which the church can only save 1t by
| reaching the children. Anarchy has its
| antidote in the Sabbath school. Conspir-
acy can be strangled by saving the child
hood of desperate foreigners. Children
must be taught that love for Jesus Christ
| and for country are inseparable.
Reform in Great Cities.
There is no phase of work so important
as more systematic effort in great cities.
"Cities are ulcers on the body polite, and
| the dangers in them to church and state
are appalling. New York city has been for
years in the talons of vulture, which has
consumed as much of her vitais at night
! as grew by day. Robbed, debauched, trod-
den under foot of the Behemoth of lust,
| that which the law could not do, in that it
| was weak was done under the lead of a
Presbyterian minister. In the laudations
| over victory it should not be overlooked
| that the Presbyterian Church led the host,
H..
| But benefcent as this work has been, it
| may become snake for ministers should
not give themselves to municipal reform
any further than for the betterment of So
| ciety through saving the souls of men.
| The church can supersede the necessity of
| municipal reform by increased organized
| labor. Only in this way can we save our
| selves from this untoward generation If
| We shall conserve the liberties of the ma
ton, 1t Will depend on the manner in which
we use our stewardship.
IF the spirit of the gospel is not injected
| into the body polite we will perish. The
very sinews of our power will become the
| means of our destruction. The CHASTITY
| skeletons of our national life will be tum-
| bled into the common ditch of dead EN-
pires.
In the circle of practical work the church
] has always been loser in not using cheap
| labor. The Roman Catholic Church has
! been built up and sustained by it. We have
| more skilled labor going to waste for want
| of opportunity than any other church. We
| do not plead for any particular mode of
utilizing it, but for its use in the best way
| that the church can devise. We have thou
sands of intelligent and gody women, sim
| gle and widowed, with wealth and with
out it. who looking hopelessly for
something to do to take away the ennui
of unoccupied existence, who would go into
homes and institutions where they could
do mission work. Such institutions are
numerous in England and Germany, and
are managed by the most cultured women
The Methodist Church was founded and is
| largely sustained by local preachers. The
| Presbyterian Church, even in its poverty,
was distinguished by an educated minis
try. The standard ought to be high, but
| the cost of highly educated ministry
in time, money and vital force must be
considered.
License the Laymen.
mo church has so many educated lay
men, gifted with ability to teach and elo-
| quent in speech, who thirst to serve God,
not as bushwhackers, but with the approval
and authority of Presbytery. Why not ex-
anime them on the Scriptures, as in
terpreted by our standards, and license
them?
shut the door to ordination all the
tighter, as toward it there is a dangerous
tendency by a class which is not qualified
for it. If we had followed this New Testa-
ment example we should never have had
the schism which resulted in the Cumber-
land Presbyterian Church. The utilization
of lay labor is now agitating the minds of
many in the Southern Presbyterian Church,
gospel call to its laymen there will be only
amazement that our eyes have been so
long holden to this obvious duty
The sermon was closely listened to by the
large audience. After the sermon the COM
| missioners went to the Fourth Avenue
Baptist Church, where lunch was served.
The Moderatorshfp.
During the meal and subsequent to the
recess, before the assembly reconvened
the question "Who shall be moderator"
was the only one under discussion. Since
morning there had been several names in
the air, but that of DR.. Booth seemed to be
everywhere. Gen. Beaver, lifelong friend
of DR.. Booth said during the forenoon that
he would nominate his friend and would
be seconded by Prof Andrew C. Zenas Of
McCormick's Seminary, Chicago. Among
the others mentioned candidates We're
DR.. John I. Blackburn of Covington, KY;
Rev. Howard A. Johnston, Chicago; War-
rem H. Langdon, Portland, Ore; R. N
Adams, Red River, Mimi; and Rev. VIM
n. Page, DID,, of Topeka, Kan.
The Rev. Robert Russell Booth DID, Is
pastor Of Rutgers Riverside Presbyterian
Church. New York. He is the son of the
distinguished William A. Booth of New
York. and was born in 1880. He graduated
at Williams College and Auburn Theolog-
ical Seminary, and after a year in Europe
was settled in Troy, N. Y. In 1857 he went
to Stamford, Conn.,, and, in 1861, to the Mer.
Ger Street Church, New York, and In 1870
became pastor of the large University
Place Church. where he was for fourteen
years. He has been in his present charge
for ten years.
Dr. Booth has also been an active worker
fr, I'D, oil oh,