Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-13
Episcopal Qerccntennial.
Something About the Plans for the Big Celebration at James
town, Va, in 1907, by the Protestant Episcopal
Church in This Country

Members OF the Protestant Episcopal
Church in Washington and throughout
the United States are looking forward to
the celebration of the three hundredth an
niversary of the settlement of jamestown
in 1907 and of the establishment of Eng
lish Christianity in this country. Plans
are afoot to mark the passing of the event
with services at the ruins of the old
church at Jamestown, now the only ves-
tige remaining on the spot where the first
English settlers landed in 1907. 1t will
probably be ever recalled that the first
act of the jamestown settlers on landing
was to hold divine services, and in the
first semblance of a structure that they
made on these shores, consisting of a
sailcloth stretched for canopy, board
placed between two trees served for the
communion table. On this same site a
stone edifice was later erected, but later,
when the locality was found to be I'M
healthy and the settlers moved to VIII
liamsburg, this old church was abandoned.
The famous old Bruton church became its
successor. $50, .
To commemorate this tercentenniai a
..missionary thank Offering or church eA
tension movement, is now being organlzeu
within the Protestant Episcopal ChuTch, AZ y
the general convention of the church. heiu
in Boston, Mass, in 1904, sitting as the
this thank offering was passed
This missionary thank offering is 10 pe
presented at the general convention in Rlcil-
mond in 1907 by the men of the church, III
sapratitude for three hundred years of En-
giish Christianity on American SOIL Inc
board of missions, which is a committee VI
the general convention, appointed Deceh-
her H. 1904 from it's membership COM
mittee of three to formulate and put INTO
execution a plan to insure such oHerihs.
That plan has been made known TO every
diocese and parish of the church through.
out the country. The committee cons CsSe -,
Rishop David III. Greer chairman; George
c. Thomas, treasurer, and George w marion
Pepper, secretary.
This committee, aided by the clergy of the
United States. has set to ITS TASK WIZ. ~.
most eloquent Episcopal divfnes have de-
livered sermons on the topic.
X
In writing of the movement Mr.. Pepper
says:
''Education is great interest with us
Americans We appropriate very large
portion Of the money raised by taxation to
the support of our public schools. In addi-
ton to the payment of our debt In tn s man
ner, we. as a nation, give munificent yolun-
tary gifts to seminaries, colleges and uni
versities. We like to count ourselves re-
u,
Protestant Episcopal Church are at least as
jealous for the spread of Christs Kingdom
as are any of our fellow citizens. We like
to think that religion and education are tn,
interests which we have most at heart
Money is just as necessary for the success
full accomplishment of religious work as for
educational work Accordingly, we church
people tax ourselves for the maintenance OF
our parish churches (by means Of which the
church holds what she has) and for the
conduct of our mission work In diocesan,
domestic and foreign fields, by means OF
which the church struggles for the growth
which is essential to life. During the last
three years the money given for missions.
excepting the generous gifts from the Sun
day schools and the woman's auxiliary, mas
been raised by means of an equitable dis
tribution among all the dioceses and mis-
sionary- districts of the total amount APP
propriated.
This rational method Of dividing up our
common indebtedness in proportion to the
ability of the debtors to pay Is called, as
every one knows, the apportionment. by
means of this plan the church in 1904 sue
ceeded in raising a sum for mission work In
domestic and foreign fields equal to 81 cents
from each communicate But what free
will offerings are we making for the spread
of the gospel to correspond to the lavish
outpouring of private wealth in the interest
of all forms of secular educationf What
money are we men of the church giving TO
promote the interests of Christianity, in ad-
dition to the payment of our small pro rata
share of the common debt? Here ana there