Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-01-21
UNION 10Th CENTURY CONVENTION.

was held in the city of Burlington, VT,
Dec. 81, 1900 to Jan. 2, 1901. 1t was
convention of Vermonters, for YER
monters and il GUIDED the B. Y. P. u,
! the Epworth L-ague and the Christian
! Endeavor societies Of the state. The
! leaders OF these three orders entered
very heartily into the preparations
| for the convention and studlously
avoided everything along denomina-
tional lines. The motto "VermOnt
for Christ" was made prominent,
! but creeds and isms found no abiding
place. Several hundred delegates
were present and every session was
we'll attended. During the first two
DAYS the services were held in the st.
Paul st. Baptist church, but, on ac-
count Of the large attendance, the
opera hall was used the third day.
The first session of the convention
was opened promptly at two O'Clock
p. NJ, Dec. 31st. The general topic of
the day was, ''A Review Of the Nine
teenth Century," and the chairman,
Rev. L. 0. Sherburne, of Enosburg
Falls. president of the Vermont Ep-
worth League, was model presiding
officer. The first address was by the
Rev. Charles Seymour of Bennington
upon General Church Progress dur
ing the Century," The century's in
crease in church mem bership has been
about55 per. cent. Christian churches
have been at work in all countries till
now we have 10000 missionaries, 3d.
600 native workers, ali maintained
at an expense Of $14,000,000 The
church has shown inexhaustible ener-
gy in new methods and the aim Of
these legion Of methods is apparent.
The church would attract, purify and
elevate man.
The evening session was a peculiar
ore, beginning a the hour such ser
vice usually closes and continuing till
past midnight. The first address was
upon Missionary Achievement by
the Rev. G. 8. Lawson Of Bennington.
He said in part: ''VoItaire predicted
the death Of Christianity IN century,
but it is today a vital force II the
world. There is & copy OF the consti-
tuition of The United States, which
when looked at closely, reveals moth
lug unusual, but when seen a5 dis
lance shows the outline Of the face of
George Washington. # we were not
too near, we could see in a similar
way in the past century the face Of
Jesus Christ. This has been called the
century OF missions. Over one hun
dred thousand missionaries have been
sent out, an average Of 1000 year.
The zeal has not been confined 30
religious lines entirely but has been
educational as we'll, and now there
are nearly 900 schools for the teach
ing of heather children"
AretUrned missionary, Fl. Olin Cady,
who has been stationed upon the Dor
ders of Thibet, spoke briefly and pre-
dicted great results from the work in
China. Mr.. Cady's field Of work is SO
far away that were be to start Jan. 1,
he could not arrive there till July.
Mr.Chas. w. Osgood of Bellows Falls
spoke upon, ''The Young people," In
his opening remarks ne said he was
glad to see the spirit of unity mani
tested and pleased to note on the pro-
gram an absence of every thing demon
national. He said, "Of all the prob
lens Of the past or the new century,
more is CT greater Importance than
the young people. Our homes, our
churches, our nation will be what our
young people make them Young man,
young woman, what do you intend to
do for the coming century? There are
four essentials that should be possess
ed by everyone: Faith, purity, pray
er and the Bible.
The last address Of the evening was
by Rev. L. K. Whitman of w aterbury.
He spoke upon Denominations
Loyalty and Observation-Disclosures
Comfy" ''Back of this convention
was an idea, back Of every act of our
lives is an idea. The past century
has handed down to US many ideas
and what are we to do with them?
We intend to 90 away with many of
them, for they have caused divisions
and chasms. We have been bridging
over these chasms and we intend to
heal them over by and by. Denomin-
ations have not gone and are not go
ing yet and it is right that we love our
own church but we have got above
and beyond the idea that to be loyal
to our own denomination, we must ig
more the good in others. Teach the
boys and girls to love Christ and be
good children before you teach them