The Newtown bee., 1903-01-09
WHAT THE CONGREGATIONALlSTS
HAVE DONE.

WHAT THE OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
HAVE DONE.
THE REPORTS AT THE ANNUAL CHURCH
MEETING SHOW THAT GOOD WORK
HAS BEEN, DONE ALL ALONG THE
LINE.
A Ii tile invalid girl, a paralytic, was
affectionately greeted by her father as
he came home, having in his hand a
package for the mother, who was up
stairs. LET me take it up to her."
pleaded the little girl. ''You?" and
the father looked pitifully at the
shriveled form of his child, ''you-why,
you cannot, my little girl; you cannot
walk" 30 papa" came from the lit
tie girls lips as she smiled, "you don't
understand; you carry me, and I'll
carry the bundle" Thus it is that
most burdens are carried in life. We
think we are doing great things our
selves; but the real truth is that we
are only able to do anything because
OF some ones else strong right hand,
and in all Christian service the worker
must lean hard upon God. An annual
church meeting is a good place to find
how effective we are if we all pull
together. and to be made to realize, in
a small church, how much can be &C
complished by a few if they go at it
with united purpose. A church is a
machine; the cogs fit exactly together;
a chucch is a crew, the oarsmen pull
with overlapping stroke: church is
regiment, the rank and file march in
STEP
The annual church meeting of the
Congregational people last Friday
evening, January 4, had the right
flavor about it: and the reports pre-
sented showed excellent work done in
1902 because this church in particular
has been machine, a crew and a reg
iment. The workers are not many in
these old hillside churches. OF neces-
sity this must be SO; but, member for
member, some Of them that are pluck
lily taking hold Of their problems and
trying to work them out can be match
ed against the more pretentiOuS met
rOpOlitan churches.
A full summary of the exact figures
will be later given when the statistics
from all organizations have been fully
complied; but now, round numbers
will suffice to show what has been
done. The Ecclesiastical society shows
disbursements for the year S., O34. The
Sunday school alone raised $40, and
put nearly half of this amount into
missionary work. The little Endeavor
society has put into the chinks in many
branches OF the church work that
needed filling, about SIS. The Ladies'
Missionary society has given to mis-
sionary objects s7l.s0. A Bible woman
has been supported in Turkey: and by
means OF the mite bags given out to
the different families of the congrega-
ton, some pleading appeals for addi-
tlOnal amounts have been answered.
The Ladies' Aid society has come right
up to. the help of the Ecclesiastical
society Wnen they were painting the
church, and has taken care of some in
tcrcSt that needed attention.
Perhaps the most heldful feature of
the years work has been the running
of the Gospel wagon into Taunton dis,
trict. lt>has taken not a stormy Sun
day, but very stormy Sunday, to pre-
vent this wagon from making it's trip:
in fact, only two or three slips have
been made in the entire year. The
result is that when the gloomy, rainy
Sunday comes and. as was the case be-
fore the Gospel got on wheels, only a
very slim attendance might be expect
ed, the gOSpelZed omnibus has poured
out its load Of IA or Is children at the
church door, and given spirit of cheer
a recent lowery day we know every one
was surprised when the report Of the
secretary showed 73 present during the
Sunday school hour. We commend
this idea to our brethren in commune
Ties where work is mOving(?) in an
awful rut, to try this key for solving
a difficult problem.
There is breach between the people |
who attend church and those who care
about it; there can be no ques-
ton about this breach. How are you |
going to ill itup? How will you bridge
the chasm? Answer: Don't scold at
upon the long-sutfering saints. Send
out life boat to those who are perish
ing; and since you are pulling upon
the land and not upon the water, let
your life boat take the form of a Cos
pei wagon Nearly 5000 was put into
this work the past year,a large amount
for small church to raise; but there
is no question about the returns. This
IS an investment that pays 1000 per
cent. Put the whole world in value
against the worth of soul.
Henry NJ. Smith, who acted in the
past year as the efficient chairman of
Jhe Gospel wagon committee and who
made the report at the meeting, made
IN earnest plea for more money to be
out into this work, and said he hoped
We should soon see the time when we
would be running two or three such
wagons. Morris X. Jesup, the mil
lonaire New York banker,i made a
New Years gift to Tuskegee of s25, OOO
That is all right, for the Black Belt
Town there in Alabama must be
if this land does not go back
nto worse slavery than that which
preceded the Civil War: but there is
Slack Belt up here where the Puritans
lsed to live. 1t is not color line; it
S a line between ignorance on one side
nd enlightenment on the other; be-
Ween sinking down below the level !
# the brute on one side and the meas !
ire of the stature of the fullness of
;hrist on the other. Would that some
1OrriS X JeSun cOn1d take q WALL