St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1900-07-25
VOL. LXIII--NO. 1888
Reception to Bishop Parker.

The reception to Bishop and Mrs
Parker in Grace Methodist church last
Thursday afternoon and evening was a
very pleasant affair and showed the
great esteem in which both these veteran
| christian workers are held. From 4 to 6
IN the afternoon an informal reception
was given them by the clergy of this to wn,
the Methodist clergy of this vicinity and
the official board of Grace Methodist
church. The ladies of the church served
supper to about sixty.
In the evening a public reception was
held in the audience room of the church.
After music by the choir and PRAYER by
Kew. P. N. Granger Of Sheffield, Rev.
George w. Hunt introduced Rev. DR..
Edward 7. Fairbanks, who presented
greetings from the local clergy. he spoke
OF DR.. Parker as "one whom we so truly
recognize as leader of the Lords host
IN tar away lands" and said that al
though the world had changed since DR..
Parker went to India, Al years ago, the
gospel had not changed. In closing he
spoke OF how glad we all were that the
title of the Bishop of India had come to
a st. Johnsbury man.
Presiding Elder Sherburne followed
with greetings from the clergy in the
Vermont conference. He began by read
ing several letters from those who could
not be present, all of whom paid a tri-
butte to the Bishop and his work. He
said, among other things, that no man
connected with this conference has had
the real heart confidence that the Bishop
and his wife have had.
H. N. Turner spoke in behalf of the
laity, referring very pleasantly to the
decisions of the general conference upon
the lay members and closing with warm
greetings for success for the Bishop in
his larger field of labors. Mrs. Henry
Fairbanks spoke in behalf Of the lady
missionary workers and paid a deserv-
ing tribute to Mrs. Parker for her share
in the work Rev. Thomas lyric was
the last speaker and in the course of his
brief address paid a warm tribute to
Mrs. Parker's work.
After a fine solo by Miss Anna Somer-
vile, with organ and piano accompani-
ment, Bishop Parker was introduced and
spoke for about Is minutes upon his
work and his plans for the future. He
said he was very glad of this reception
and pleased to see other churches repre-
sented as Mrs. Parker was formerly a
Congregationalist. He spoke of the
great needs of the work in India and said
the missionary work was among the
non-caste people, of which there are 5O,-
100000. "1n our field there are over
III. 900 converts, $4,000 boys and girls,
$4,000 children of christian parents and
$4,000 children in the Sunday school.
There are over 5000 workers and as
many as "a dialects are used"
DR.. Parker said he hoped to reach India
Oct. Is and from then until the first OF
the year he should visit the different
stations. After that he should visit the
famine district. In closing he touched
briefly upon the Philippines. He said
America had a duty and responsibility
there. They are not ready for self
government and so they must have a
paternal government for a time. Our
rulers must give us good men to govern
these islands, men who will go there to
benefit the people and not to enrich them
selves. If you will do that our mission
aries will follow on and teach them
After his address an informal reception
was rendered Bishop Parker and wife in
the vestry, which was handsomely
for the occasion and contained
large crayon portraits of both of these
Ice cream and cake were then
served in the dining room up stairs, after
which the audience left for their homes.