Evening journal., 1916-03-30

formed and liberal leymcn among us
that If the laymen ON the average do as
well as the ministers, the fund will not
stop short of a million dollars. can
not resist the conviction that when all
the facts are known the heart of the
church will respond royalty TO this
righteous and worthy cause. II can
also be said ON the authority of wealthy
laymon, that the best investment the
church can make is 10 provide a COM
Portable support for is retired minis
ters These are not the expressions of
mere sentiment. but the deliberate con.
Nlctions of hard-hcaded business men
based ON facts so palpable and REASON
able that 90 doubt them would impcach
the sanity of tho doubter. I shall De
surprised II in the final outcome Eastnn
district does not average 81 900 p.r
charge making $4,000 for the district
as a whole.
Year Unprecedented.
On the material side the year has
been unprecedentod. at least for many
years for hardships born of hard
times Easton district depends almost
exclusively on agriculture and the oy-
ster industry. Both OF these interests
have been at low ebb In many places
whole families have been compelled
TO seek other quarters. II was a sim
pie question Of bread and butter. What
with short crops In the farming sec
tions. and a scarcity Of oysters and
low prices in the oyster regions. the
year has been a trying one 10 both
ministers and people And when Il Is
remembered that in some sections
these conditions have existed for more
than one year. the conditions faced
will be readily understood Yet /
have not heard OF deficit in salary, nor
any serious falling of in the offerings
for the beneyolonces. The record will
equal. If II does not surpass that Of
last year. This Is eloquent testimony
10 the average loyalty Of our people.
I Nevertheless. some things remain to
be said regarding the financial side OF
our work. n the people generally were
TO espouse the cause Of Christian stew
ardship. and tithe their income. there
would be no financial problem such as
we now face. Every treasury would be
, full. and funds sufficient TO meet all
obligations would be In hand Min
isters' salaries and the benevolent OF.
ferings would be far In advance OF
what they now are. When men who
write their fortune in six figures give
less than a thousandth part OF theii
annual income 10 God we need moi
look for the speedy coming OF tn,
Kingdom. Prayer from such sources
may be a good physical exercise bul
lit will scarcely "move the arm thai
moves the world" We must "cry alout
and spare not" until the people VIII,
bear the name of Jesus Christ loarI
what their Just obligations to Hi
Kingdom are. Il may be that judg
ment must begin az the house OF God.
II so. may il find Us ready to answe
His call
The one thing of suprcmest momcn
. always in our Methodist Israel Is il
spiritual status. II is not our polio
, that furnishes MS our problem, but on
- spiritual condition. II would hc W.
' for the perennial ecclesiastical tinker
Y keep this fact in mind. To us mul
has been given, Of us much viii be D
e quired. Methodism was buildod ON q
NANlUNl NNiNAAN1s NNlN anu rNANMN n
l. were the most frequent words in
s nomenclature And these ycrtics a
e unchanged. Modern culture may ha'
e veneered sin, but the apostolic apho
e ism remains true, "1he sting OF death
y sim"
i Disparity In Membership.
Z Is Methodism meeting its opportun
s ties successfully Is it making ia
b proof of its heritagol Are repentan,
r toward God, and faith in our Lord jest
o Christ. based on the changelcss chnral
a ter Of sin. still the real conditions ,
8 entrance into the kingdoml Are ~,
J. many so-called works of grace the .,
10 eitimate offspring OF sentimcntalisl
C rather than product Of conviction an
= conycrsion7 II not, whence the appa
n ling facts relative 20 the trcmcndor
II disparity between our probationer' III