Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1905-06-13

chosen preacher of the occasional se
. mon, but being In the midst of deb
raising movement he was called by dut
to remain at home, and summoned Re'
j. F. Albion, d. D., of the Congres
Square church, Portland, to take hi
place here. DR.. Albion is an eloquer
speaker, and made a profound impre'
/ sion, speaking from the text, Tho
shalt love the Lord thy God with all tn
heart, and with all thy soul, and wit
all thy mind, and with all thy strength.
This text, said DR.. Albion, is the hear
of all religion. The religion that wi
finally win mems allegiance is the on
that comes nearest to the ideal express
ed in these words. 1t is the weakness
of every denomination that it Over-em
phasizes some one division of this prin
ciple. It loves God with the heart, o
with the mind, to the neglect of tn
other qualities. If all churches coul'
focus upon this rule, and live up to it il
its completeness, what an influence the,
would have!
The speaker took up at length tn
four divisions of the theme, shown!
how love to God must first and fore
most be with all the heart, the emo
tional, affectional nature; then with al
the soul, the spiritual nature; with al
the mind, the intellect; and with all thu
strength, the energy such as we displa!
in making dollars, and closed with thu
earnest prayer, "GOd speed the day
when we shall love the Lord our Goo
through our church with all our heart
and all our soul, and ali our mind, ant
ali our strength"
The communion followed, conducted
by Rev. j. II. Little of South Paris ant
Rev. S. G. Davis of Norway.
For the services of Tuesday evening
there was singing by chorus choir, in
Guiding several singers from the chOirs
of the other churches in the village
There was also a duet by Miss Thayel
and Mr.. Dunn as one number. The
church was filled to the full extent of its
seating capacity.
The special addresses of the evening
were devoted to denominational work,
the first being by Rev. E. F. Pember OF
Bangor, who spoke on the work OF the
Universalist church in Maine. Mr..
Pember noted the fact that Universalism
in Maine is more than hundred years
old, as some of our churches are celebrat-
ing their centennial. He traced the his.
tory of Universalism in the state, from
its early beginnings with the New Glou-
cester settlers, recounting the strong
prejudices against it, and the opposition
which it encountered. Yet the faith
grew until it holds its present position in
the state. The Universalist people have
had part in about all the good things
that have been done in the state, the
speaker mentioning especially the
temperance cause, the work done during
the war, and the influence of the Univers.
alists in abolishing capital punishment.
What now remains for us to do? Any
work that church may do we should
do. We should stand for cheerful,
optimistic faith. We have special
work in encouraging the young people.
And let us not be afraid of preaching
doctrinal Universalism.
The second address of the evening was
L. u
ter, n. Y, general superintendent of
Universalist churches for the United
States, on the theme, Necessity is laid
upon NO." DIR. Atwood in opening not
ed the fact that the Universalist church
is making new wood, in the form of new
parishes and new churches. 1t is also
bearing fruit, in the form of new COM
municants. Yet the Universalist church,
after more than one hundred years in
America, is still small church, of slow
growth, and there is little prospect that
it will ever be large church.
The question may then be asked, is
asked, Is it worth while to cling to
denomination destined to be small, in
this day of great thingsP When you ask
me that question, | have perfectly
ready answer. The first question man
should ask himself is, as it right" ]
believe we are right, and that because
we are right, all our brethren of the
other churches are finally coming our
way. The churches have been coming
our way, during my more than forty
years in the ministry. All progress is
accomplished by some one going ahead,
and calling the multitude to come up to
him.
But supposing we had converted every
body to our way of thinking, would our
work be done? No. We should have all
the more work to do. A good Univers-
alist believes, and acts upon the belief,
not only that all men will be saved some
time and somewhere, but that they
ought to be saved, just now and here.
DR.. Atwood is an impressive speaker,
and his telling points were frequently
given warm endorsement in the form of
applause.
The services of Wednesday opened
with two praise and prayer meetings,
the first at 5 A. NJ, led by Rev. Eleanor
B. Forbes of Gray, and the second at S
O'Clock, led by Rev. II. II. Hoyt of
Hiram. The o'clock meeting has been
a feature of the convention for some
years, and is an enjoyable portion of the
programme. In spite of the early hour,
seventy-five were present at the 5 o'clock
meeting.
The business sessions were resumed at
10 A. NJ. Wednesday, with Vice-President
ii. S. Whitman of Brunswick in the
chair. The most of this session was &C.
cupied with the report of the committee
to which had been referred the several
convention reports. There was some
discussion on the matter of dormant
parishes, the committee recommending
that none be dropped from the roll until
vigorous efforts had been made to revive
them. This recommendation was
adopted. In regard to the publication
of the Convention Banner there was
warm and somewhat prolonged debate.
For the past year the Banner has been
published quarterly, at % cents per year.
The recommendation was that it be
changed to monthly, and $50 be ap-
propriated for its support. Opposition
to this developed. Some wanted the
Banner discontinued. Some wanted it
printed for free distribution, if at all.
But the friends of the publication were
in the majority, and the recommendation
was passed, 250 subscriptions being
pledged in the meeting under the lead of
DR.. Albion.
Delegates to the Universalist General