The Benevolent Work of the Church, and the Report of the Committee of Twenty-One [pp. 246-272]

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1872.~ THE BENEVOLENT WOIlK OF THE CHIlECH. 24~
Making every fair allowance for feeble churches and exceptional cases, it can not be denied that hundreds of our congregations do nothing, or nothing of consequence; and a
large portion of members of giving churches contribute not
at all. Not many of our Presbytelles have all the columns
of their statistical report of giving filled. To how great a degree are we yearly depending upon the few liberal individuals
and churches, when the a~m sho?~Thl be mainly the enlistinjc of U~
masses. Dr. Chalmers, in his arguments for the Free Church
schemes, wisely insisted on looking, "not to the strength of
large sums, but to the accnmu~ ah on of littles." So far as our
methods lose sight of this, they undermine the permanent efficiency of the Church. It is our duty, as well as the true~oticy,
to aim at enUsting every member of all our churJes in the work
How to accomplish this is the question.
We have such respect for those who cling to the old familiar modes, that we confidently expect them to be reconciled to the proposed arrangements, in their principles, if not
in all the details, so soon as they more clearly apprehend them
ing to establish Christian institutions, and laying the foundations of social order and morals." Yet, with a constantly increasing list, the condition of finances, as stated, is far from satisfactory. "Last year the receipts from all sources
were about $300,00(). This year il~ey have been only about $282,000. The
falling off is in part explained by the fact that the amount received from legacies have been less by nearly $35,000 than last year; hut it leaves the board in
a sad dilemma when its expenses for il~e year are ~352,S54, or nearly $71,000
in excess of its receipts." Other facts brought out in this Report "challenge the serious attention and enlarged charity of our churches."... "In
Texas, for instance, we have but four missionaries, and yet into this State,
larger than France by four times the extent of Massachusetts, a vast northern population is now flowing in anticipation of the completion of a
railroad from Kansas to the Gulf of Mexico.... So, also, "in Nebraska
alone, 18,000 homesteads were taken last year, and nearly three millions of
acres of lier choicest lands disposed of to actual settlers." In view of such
statements well may the writer add: "It is not only the reputation and prosperity of our own denomination that are at stake.... It would he an indelible
disgrace, as well as a criminal negligence, if we should now falter in our proseention of a branch of Christian enterprize, on the success of which such vast results to the future of our country and the world necessarily depend.. We
must have, on the part of the churches, a clearer and more ade~uate apprehension of the demand made upon them, and:a more liberal response to that demand in their enlarged charities," etc.