Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-02-06
METHOD OF GIVING.
his The Subject Of an Interesting Dis
CussiOl 10 The COnYOCallOn.
,,rrr SHOULD BE SYSTEM.
earnest words of Dr. c"rmie""e'
aud REV. MIR. Goodwin Along '"'S
Tinc-Thc Latter oppose" y"
ana the Like.

{
.,',r.n Yesterday. with Rev J. j. era
,att in the chair. -, ,,,o ran
A., 10 o'clock the members OF 'he ooi-
,.,o,t,on met I'm the vestry-rooni %
en-. .hurch where a devotional meetlhs'
..,,.h i.sfed three quarters Of an hour
MA Heartfelt talks were made
coral Of the ministers, and deep
-, vas manifested by the mem
,crs ia
The regular morning service was held
., n o'clock. Rev. S. S. Hepburn and
d., p T.. Nugent conducted the SER
s Then followed the convocaton
.o-,ron. bv Rev. Mir Nugent who deliv-
mad an earnest discourse. choosing as
Dis text the Seth verse of the sth chapter
ofst John: III the Son, therefore, shah
make YOU free. We shall be free in
decd"
The minister first dwelt upon the
oeer of liberty, implying the fact OF
bondaee. The existence Of such bondage
is evident "The whole creation groan-
9Th and travaile.h in pain, waiting
for the adoption. ia witness the Ie-
demption OF the body" The minister
quoted the above from ST Paul, and sa'u
that IT was in the bondage Of corrup-
ton. man being no exception. a. he was
the slave Of sin in its guilt and power.
Habits. customs. fears. anxiety anu
sickness also rule man, and all mis- per-
eonal efforts are useless in bringing iree-
dom .,,,
HAS PROVIDED 4 REMEDY.
For all this God has provided rene
dy." said Mr. Nugent 1T Is CHRIST
who is able to save 20 the uttermost AL
who come unto God by Him. Through
faith I'm Him the enslaved soul can
go free. not only from the guilt, but also
the mower of sin. and from all other
aspects OF bondage in body SOUL ana
spirit.
Rev mr. Nuecnt concluded his SER
mon with the thought that these pres
crt needs are 10 be supplied IN Ihe
present time. for we are told i'm ko-
mans. "the law of the spirit Of life In
Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the law of sin and death.
BUSINESS SESSION AFTER LUNCH.
After tine sermon holy communion was
celebrated Then the convocation adj
iourned 20 a delightful luncheon. which
was served in the Sunday-school room by
che ladies' OF the church.
After the luncheon a business session
q the convOcation was held. The trea-
.urcr Rev q. G. Abbitt then read his
roport which showed that during the
last two or three months S3 had been
expended for home missions within the
bounds OF the convocation. Amendments
% the bylaws. which had been recon-
mondcd by the committee, were then con-
s'dcred The bylaw requiring laymen
who are members Of the convocation 20
pay the same annual dues as a minister
was approved. after some discussion
HOW TO RAISE CHURCH FUNDS.
The evening session was held at S
O'Clock ana was presided over by Rev. j.
a. Gravatt After devotional exercises
che discussion Of modern methods of
raising church funds was opened by Rev. /
Hartley Carmichael, Of ST. Pauls. lie I
said the giving of tithes. as under the /
Jewish dispensation however excellent. /
Was a system under the law, and does /.
not apply TO as to-day. What about I
finance as we find 10 in the New Testa- /
meut?" he asked. 1T began at the very /
germ Of the Church. when. among the /
twelve. one held the bag. Under the /
Penticostal outpouring there was a Civ /
ing up OF goods, lands, and houses, |
bat ibis could not last ST. Paul de- !
votes two chapters i'm II. Corinthians TO /
giving. The giving he advised was sys-
tomauc giving on the first day of the
week. We are not TO bind ourselves |
down 90 the early method OF raising
money AS age 10 age goes on, We are
90 assimulate ourselves 10 circumstance
1 would not lay down any rule. If you
viii excuse the hCmely illustration. we
should cut the coat according to the
cloth. EXtravagance Is great church
temptation. When I say extravaganza
} do not mean 10 as such when we have
money If we devote our funds prin-
c.pllly 20 identifying our churches, and
divert them from missions, / call that
ostravaRanco. II is extravaganza 10 have
what YOU don't need and can't pay
f0r some vestrics are a queer cOmbina-
ton, they are willing 10 have plumb
ius and painting done TO the church.
but when 10 comes 10 giving to the minis
tcriai work, they are not so anxious TO
cNpcnd money along that line. Music Is
another extravaganza, money should not
Oc expended for music only for the pur-
pose of entertaining people. but it should
ha used 20 assist the service Of the
church. To Us not to tickle the ear, or
for the purpose ~ attracting people to
church 10 Us absolutely shocking. the
amount Of money that IS expended in
some of our northern and western
churches for music. which might be
used Tor spreading the Gospel. one way
We have Of raising money is the pew
system There Is an organization I'm
England called the Free and Open Church.
where "A person can come in and sit
down where ne pleases. have watched
the system, and ! find IL takes All
they can raise TO run the church ex-
penses, and they are barren when IL
comes TO diocesan ana foreign mission.
There are a number Of people in the
church who you can only get money
from through pew-rent There are no
perfect systems. Then. there IS the plate
oferirg and the envelopo-system. The
81 SYSTEMATIC way Is the best way. Some
people don't Ike IL because they say it
IS like a tax"
SHOULD HAVE \ SYSTEM.
Rev Mr. Goodwin, Of st. Johns. was
tha next speaker. IL don't see" said he.
why the Lord. in founding His church
v here money is so essential in everything
else in the world should not lay down
certain principles for giving. When the
tabernacle was made they brought free
wtl Offering also. when the Temple Of
$50 ONION was built they had 10 restrain
ile people from giving. The whole root
lf the evil IN our Church-g.ving IS selfish
ness. II money had truly been necessary
Io the establishment and maintenance OF
lis Church, lie would have been heir 10
-Yomon's wealth Show me one among
us apostles that was a rich man | be
I"Fe the reason The Church has so little in
Oh fnce to-day IS that II Is subservient
ID the money-power The Spirit OF Christ
a seif-deniat u ] would express the
andard OF Chusts Kingdom. IL would
be Sc i-deniaL II u this world selfish