The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-07-19

tributed to religious purposes during the last year the sum of $554,l25, o' which $73,000 was for missions and s5S 900 for other beneyolence.
 The Organization.
 The organization of the denominatio consists in 1921 churches organized into 7s associations, and these last with the churches are organized into a sta e convention. The churches send del gates to the associations, and the churches and associations send del e- gates to the convention.- No distin. tion between clergy and laity is reco nized, and the associations and the convention have no ecclesiastical func tions or authority.
 All questions of discipline are rele- gated to the church of which the of fender may be a member, and its ac- tion is final. Most of the associations are presided over by laymen, and In re- cent years the convention has been presided over by such laymen as Chief Justice w. P. Chiffon, MT. Justice Jonathan Haralson, Hon. H. s. D. Nal lory, Hon. G. L. Conner, and the pres ent president Is MT. Justice N. D. Denson. In former years 1t was fash ionable to have a preacher to preside
  Jesse Hartwell, Thomas Chiffon, Hebry Talbird, A. G. McGraw, J. L. M. Cur-, and Samuel Henderson presided over the convention. The late Dr. w. .. Cleveland also presided for many years. The function of the convention is rc direct and foster such work as mis- sions, education, evangelistic and other benevolent work of a public natu @ and common to all the churches. It Is affiliated with the Southern Baptist convention in all work outside of the state of Alabama
 | The Baptists are in religion evangelistic, in theology Calvanistic, in their polity congregational, in their sociology individ- ualstic and in their canon law biblical. While they have confessions of their faith it is that the world may know what they may believe from time to time; but they are not authoritative, and factor but little in their lives. Probably the most potent bond of union among them is to be found in the two ordinances especially that of baptism from which they get their name.
 This ordinance among them is consid- cred not at all as q sacrament, but as a confession of faith on the part of the recipient in Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, who for him died and rose again. Hence they administer the rite entirely by the ancient form of immersion, no other act being adequate to portray such a confession. But in recent years the common cause of cultivating religion ac- cording to the standards of the life and teachings of Jesus factors more and more in engendering denomnational unity.
 Denomination Grows,
 The denomination has greatly grown in this state during the past century and had large part in the building of so- ciety as it exists in Alabama today. For the first half of the century the work was done mainly through the churches and associations, who sent forth travel ing preachers to give the people the gos- pei under the trees and in the homes and school houses at the cross roads. Though the state convention was organ ized in the year 1923 it was but poorly attended for a score of years, owing to the difficulties involved in travel from settlement to settlement in the new state. and the contributions to its work was very small Still In the several sections of the state much good work was done under the auspices of the churches and associations.
 In 1883 the convention addressed it. self to the problems of education. and established a seminary of learning at Greensboro on the then popular manual labor plan. After several years the plan proved inadequate, and the enterprise died. In 1888 the Alabama Atheneum was established at Tuscaloosa by pr. Ava Woods. the first president of the State