The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-25
MONTGOMERY Z HEARTS AND HOMES

(Contiuued From Page seven.)
 The. inevitable result of study, said the Secretary, "is simplificatlon'
 Knowledge of the Bible brings the ar
 ferent sects together. Instead of em-
 phasizing the points of difference in
 creed as we formerly did, we are now
 emphasizing the points of likeness Tn
 the different denominations.
 And it is time that we should do
 this," he continued. Tt is time that we stop talking about our denomina-
 tion, and that we get together and do
 something for the general cause. We believe in the interdenominational plan and the man who puts his denomina tion ahead of the work of the Lord Is worthy of neither the one nor the oth- er."
 These remarks came near the end of the Secretary's address on "The Orga- nized Work" which was the concluding g number of the evening program. owing to the large attendance at the afternoon session of the convention,
 for the evening meeting to call for aid.
 The afternoon crowds had taxed the capacity of the First Presbyterian Church to it's utmost, and as the night approached, without any cessation in
 the incoming stream of visitors. 1t was
 realized that none of the churches in the city would be able to hold the audi
 ence expected to hear the speeches.
 Hundreds Turned Away.
 After hurried consultation. appli- cation was made late in the after noon to the management of the Mont- gomery Theatre for the use of that building. an application which was will lingly granted. But even that struc- ture had not sufficient capacity for the immense throngs that came to hear the National Secretary. Before 8 o'clock the two lower floors of the building were completely filled. and when the gallery was finally opened, 1t was only few minutes before all the seats in that floor also had their occupants. Hirscher Brothers said after the meet ing that not since they had had the management of the Theatre had such a crowd attempted to get into the build ing. As 1t was, several hundreds were turned away from the door.
 The evening services were conducted
 by Rev C. A. Stakely. D. D., of this |, city. In short address he character ized the Sunday School as the right arm of the church. He said that there are four principles underlying the
 work of the Sunday schSol: The church learning the Bible for itself;
 the church teaching the Bible to oth-
 CTS; the development of Christian at tributes. and the bringing to the Sa- viour the unsaved members of the school.
 Addressed by pr. McMuIler. The general topic of the evening was "The Growth of the Sunday School and the first speaker was Rev. J. R.
 McMullen of Gadsden. who delivered an
 address on the subject. The Begin ming of the Sunday School"
 In his paper Dr. McMullen gave a short history of the origin and growth
 of the school. touching briefly upon :he salient points in the history of that organiza ton. He referred to the tra- ditions of school teaching of religious
 worship, antedating the record of Jew ish history, but fixed the rt . starting point of this feature of teaching with Christ. who gave to His disciples the great commission to teach the religion and the Bible.
 From the forms of teaching in the sixteenth century, he said, there was
 q marked decadence until two-thirds of the eighteenth century had been passed. There were remarkable revi-
 vals during the middle part of this cen- tury he said. but without any lasting force.
 America he said. '" has been prac- | tically saved to Christianity through | the Influence of the Sunday School. Np country HfS ever DeeH hSiu tO tAV Church without the Sunday School, or | some equivalent. When the Sunday | School was founded in America. the country was on the verge of drifting in | to unbelief"
 Beginning with the Sunday School
 formed in Philadelphia in 1791 for the I purpose of teaching the children of the
 poor, he gave rapid sketch of the history of the organization. as 1t spread | throughout this country, and extended In many of its features to the Conti- | nent. Many large churches institu- tions, he asserted, have had their start | in the Sunday School movement, and
 the Sunday School was in the early days of It's history one of the most | positive of religious influences. In 1900 the aggregate membership in this country of the Sunday School was only two or three hundred. In 1870, he said,
 1t embraced one-fifth of the population
 of the country, and since that time its growth has been proportional. The Organized Work. The feature of organization, was the point dwelt upon most strongly by