The Hawaiian gazette., 1899-08-29
Rev John VI Lewis Re.
port OF Mission Work.
some Naive Posters seem 20 Have
vory Limit. q Conception OF
Their 5000. OF work.

] 'HNihs JUNE lt'1s
When | was sent 10 this Island TO
take up the work of the board my COM
mission was somewhat indefinite. do
what you can" was the commission.
find your own way; get into the ma
tive work, but be careful not To offend
the native pastors by assuming author
ity not approved by the presbytery"
My work has been narrowed in its
scope from two limitations-on OF not
being proficient In the native tongue:
the other OF possessing no real authori-
! ~ commensurate with my supposed re-
sDonsibility. ] have, however, acted
upon the principle of doing what /
could and of gradually getting into the
native work. have visited and held
services in nearly every native church
on Maui, in some more frequently than
in others. The field Is too large, and
some churches are too inaccessible to
be visited as frequently as | should de-
sire. ! have also preached at stated
intervals to the English congregations
at both Waikiki and Hama. And in
English to the students of East Maui
and l.ahainaluna Summaries. In con-
Junction with the native and English
work have conducted communion SER
Vices, at regular intervals, at both the
Japanese and various centers of the
IChinese missions. | have baptised,
during the year, forty persons ranging
in ages from babe four months old to
a grey-haired man sixty-two years of
Iage. | have received twenty-five into
Christian fellowship. There is a pros
80 ~
of the Lahainaluna Seminary uniting
with the church in the near future.
The native churches of Maui and
, Molokai are, on the whole, holding
! their own. No special aggressive work
has been done to bring new additions
, into the churches. In some cases the
churches and the pastor seem to be too
well satisfied with present attainments
to bring to bear the power of the Cos
| pei upon the unregeneTated lives of
5 their own parish. And some pastors
2 seem to have very limited conception
| of their scope of work. The Sunday
- sermon and two or three calls during
the week on their own church-members
!. Is the supposed extent of their work
$ while no effort in particular is made to
= bring in the non -churchgoing people
Il into the church relations. Frequently
( the pastor Is not found in his own par,
ish during the week, but Is Off some
Il where else doing other work. Attempts
have been made by your representative
10 to enlarge the conception of pastor!
Is duty through letters and visitations
q and particularly by a series of ques
e tons sent to each pastor to be an
: swered. The pastors, we believe. ar,
q gradually acquiring a broader view o
II their work, and gradually iearnin:
@ their true relation to the communit,
c and of their duty to the whole parish
$ The political prejudices, which hither
to might have held people aloof from
y the churches, are fast disappearing, "
e that it gives the greater reason for the
pastor to exert his energies to Undue,
G these non-church-going people to iden
- tify themselves with church life. Fol-
. the strong, earnest, faithful pastor
;, there is IA magnificent work along just
II this line of aggressiveness. And there
s are some indications, beneath the sur
s face that a new and more active spirit
is beginning 10 manifest itself which
Is a prophecy of better things for
Christ and the church.
One of the most important questions
that must come to the earnest and
5 thoughtful pastor Just now, Is how to
reclaim the young people and keep those
already in the church, especially the
young men and women who are coming
out of our schools and seminaries.
There is n large class of Young people
growing up with whom the older pas
tors are not keeping pace in knowledge.
II is a grave problem how these Young
people are TO be kent in the church
when the pulpit Is NOT nm 70 the mod
crn standard az Intelligence of the ma
= five youtb. and when the church ser.
vices are still conducted in thai life.
less sti,ted and somhre stvIo which is
sonoriflc In its effect some of the
nostors belong IN ,he old repima and
are iea,ons of any change and conse.
nuontIv there Is M freshness in churs,,
IiSe mr. in tho nresent,tinn n, Tho gos'
mel, One church In nartIcnIar Is snf.