The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-06-01
From Pastor j. r.. Smith.

have been telling about many good
things that have taken place in their
fields of labor. Some things have
transpired down this way that |
think ought to be known outside of
the circle in which they occurred. In
the first place, 1 have the honor of
serving some of the best people l
have ever known, and they do not
do things by halves when it is posi-
BILE for them to do better. Last fall
the "field committee" held meet
ing and decided that my salary ought
to be increased for this year, there
fore, one hundred and twenty-five
dollars was added to it. They also
said, "Our pastor must have better
way to get about among u.s. and as
a result of such thoughts and ex-
pressions the field of churches have
presented me with one hundred dol
lars towards the purchase of an au-
tomobile, and now my family and
myself are really riding about in a
Ford touring car" And that is not
all. Ever since the first Of the winter
until now, we have had an abundance
of fresh meats, and on the 18th OF
last month my people came together
here at the parsonage and gave US an
other pounding that we will not get
through with for some time to- come.
A forty-foot table was we'll laden with
the best things the land can afford
such a dinner as it was! We receiv-
ed eight hams and three shoulders
of meat and altogether we now have
in our smoke house fifteen hams,
three shoulders and two sides OF
meat. Among other things received
was one barrel of flour in wood, one
sixty-pound kit of lard, two bushel
sack of Hudnuts grits, five gallons
and three quarts of syrup, jelly,
pickles, laundry and toilet soaps, a
lot Of canned goods, such as beans,
apples, peaches, corn, tomatoes, peas
and sour kraut. Also quantity OF
coffee, baking powder, starch, sugar,
butter, sweet potatoes, pudding and
sausage, etc., etc. If any of ye trav-
cling brethren come this way now, we
can certainly give you something to
eat, so come along, the latch string
hangs on the outside of the door.
The four churches constituting this
field own the parsonage jointly.
When we came here I found that
they owed fifteen hundred dollars on
the parsonage, and that the Ehrhardt
church also owed six hundred dollars
on their church building. The debt
on the parsonage has been reduced
considerably by all of the churches.
There are only thirty-nine members
in the Ehrhardt church, nine of them
are not resident members. The
thirty available members have, dur
ing the past three months, paid one
hundred and forty dollars on the par
sonage and four hundred and seven
dollars on their church debt, making
| a. total of five hundred and forty
seven dollars. Besides they pay their
pastor up at the end of each quarter
and last year they came within less
than five dollars paying their appor-
tionment to all objects. There are
many objects not included in the
budget of my churches that they
would like to contribute to, but until
thew can get rid of the debt that now
hangs over them, they will necessarily
have to deny some of them, e. g.
the Ehrhardt church would like to
contribute towards the erection OF q
twenty thousand dollar church build
ing at Rock Hill, but until they can
finish paying for three thousand
dollar building for themselves they
will be forced to decline. NotWith-
standing the churches are in debt,
every one of them hope to pay the
mission claims and contribute to all
Of the regular objects fostered by the
denomination.
In conclusion let me say that there
are three churches in this town, viz:
Baptist, Methodist and Lutheran, and
there is a beautiful Christian spirit
existing between them all. (Why
should it be otherwise?) We have
a mid-week union prayer meeting
which is supported by the three con-
gregations and goes from one church
to another.
hope at no distant day to tell
the readers of the Courier some more
good things about the good people In
my churches.-J. R. Smith, Ehrhardt,
S. c., in the Baptist Courier.
Sufficient Proof.