Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-10
| N THE CHU RCHE S

AS the time for the meeting of the gen.
eral conference of the NJ. E. Church ap-
proaches the number of important matters
which that body will be asked to consider
increases. One of the most important of
these is the support of superannuated min
listers.
1T will not be Questioned said one who
is now in the active service Of the minis
| try, that the retired pastor has as good
right to generous support as the retired
| bishop. 1t can scarcely be thought posi-
Bile that the general conference of next May
| will convene and disband without some
great scheme being launched for the sup
port of the venerable superannuate OF all
our church schemes the superarnuate is the
most neglected.
I'm England they have a purely COM
mercial scheme for the help of the super
annuates. All probationers are compelled
to give $685. and members of the confer
ence $50 annually. Its membership is
ironclad, for only these who contribute to
this fund can draw from it in old age. In
Canada 1t is also compulsory. Every pas
tor gives per cent of his salary, and no
pastor less than SIS annually. When a
minister has labored thirty OF forty years,
he gets at the rate of $40 per year for the
effective years of his ministry.
1.-The need Of the hour is general confer
ence legislation on this question, thus CIV
ing 1t permanency and making 1t uniform
throughout MethodiSm in the United States
We may not be able to go far as Great
Britain or Canada, but we can have a mod
ifcation of their plans and reach adequate
support for our needy men To speak mod
estly, the superannuates in some of the
conferences are compelled to come before
the Conference Claimants Society in a very
humiliating way, and schedule their little
property, and often get some one to inter-
cede in. their behalf. Under plan some
what similar to that Of Great Britain or
Canada every superannuate would walk
up as a man. as II he were getting check
from the bank where he had deposited his
money, and no committee or conference
would have 1t in its power to reduce his
amount a single dollar"
Rev. DR.. H. A. Topper, Baptist minister.
who Is well known here and who was for
neriy pastor of one Of the largest churches
Of that denomination in Baltimore. has de-
Montclair N. J., and devote his future life
to mission work in New York city. His idea
is not only to cultivate the spiritual nature
Of those who never enter church. but to
labor in every way possible te elevate them
and better their condition. DR.. Upper has
already devoted much OF his spare time to
evangelistic work. in which. It Is stated, he
has been very successful
The ecumenical conference on foreign
missions, which. as heretofore stated in The
April q. will. it is probable be the most
important gathering Of the kind that has
ever been held. President Mckinley, 1t is
said, has given his promise that he will go
to New York while the conference Is In
session and attend a public reception to the
delegates.
The conference Is expected to be notable
for the presence Of men who have gained
fame, not missionary workers, but as
statesmen. educationalists and fnanciers in
America, and England, Scotland, Germany.
Canada and Australia well.
From Great Britain there will come, 1t is
stated, some most distinguished men.
Among these may be named Eugene Stock, |
secretary Of the Missionary Society of the |
Church OF England: the archbishop of Cam |
terbury and many others almost as distin- |
guished. The missionaries will include Rev. |
DR.. J. NJ Thoburn. Methodist Episcopal |
mas Of the French Missionary Society. Lon |
don; Rev. DR.. Mcdonald of the Christian |
Literature Society. Rev. DR.. Maurice Phil |
others. China will be represented by Rev. |
DR.. Ashmore. who has for fifty years been /
a missionary there; Rev DIR. Sheffield, pres /
ident Of the North China College, and |
Rev. ]. Hudson Taylor of the China Inland |
Mission. Very prominent workers will be |
present from Japan, Turkey, Egypt and |
Syria.
A special feature of the conference will |
be the missionary exhibit Material is be- /
ing gathered from every mission land In /
order wildly to present the social and /
the missionaries are laboring. 1t will be |
the endeavor also to make 1t as far as pos /
sfble progressive exhibit showing the
results of a hundred years Of missionary /
effort. 1t will combine library and a mu-
scum. and will comprise publications of /
all knds-books, Bibles, magazines from
the field-in English and many other lam
guages; maps and charts, pictures, models
curios In dress and workmanship. and OBJ
5ects of religious worship, such as idols
and fetiches-an intended to illustrate the
actual surroundings Of the missionary In |
his work.
It is hoped BY those having the matter in
charge that this exhibit which Is intended
to be permanent may prove not only popu-