The Presbyterian of the South : [combining the] Southwestern Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Southern Presbyterian. [volume], June 22, 1921, Page 7, Image 7

About The Presbyterian of the South : [combining the] Southwestern Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Southern Presbyterian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1909-1931

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
Laymen and Their Work
I'll KSll YTKItl ANIZINQ A COUNTY.
We wish to Introduce to you Wake
County, N. C., and also Dr. W. McC.
White, the pastor of the First Pres
byterian church. Raleigh, N. C., the
county seat of Wake County.
Twelve years ago there was only
one Presbyterian church in Wake
County, and that was the First Pres
byterian church, in Raleigh. There
* ore not but two Presbyterians liv
inp outside the town of Raleigh. Tn
fact, the Mormon church is better
known in Wake County to-day than
the Presbyterian church was then.
To-day there are eight Presbyterian
churches in that county, and 230
members outside of the city or Ra
leigh, and hundreds of Sunday school
scholars.
Explanation of Change.
Dr. White became pastor of thi
Raleigh church about that time. And
lie began to investigate the religious
life of the entire county, as well as
the town of Raleigh. Dr. White In
vestigated the facts himself. He then
began to think and pray over the
problem, and he was soon on the field
actually working It out. What is the
result? In twelve years seven
churches have been built in one coun
ty, in sections where the Presbyte
rian church was unheard of before.
There are now over 230 members In
those churches, and hundreds of Sun
day school scholars. Tn addition to
that, the Raleigh church lias made
the greatest development In her his
tory. Next, the doing of this work
has trained and equipped some of the
most elTlclent workers which we have
in our Southern Church. It trained
R. A. Lapsley, Jr., who Is now at
Tarboro, N. C., doing one of the most
remarkable pieces of work in our As
sembly. In some respects his work
at Tarboro has surpassed that of Dr.
H hlte's at Raleigh. Another one of
these workers is Rev. J. E. Hemphill.
Atlanta, who did that remarkabl-j
work at the Pryor Street church. He
is now Superintendent of Home Mis
sions and Evangelism of Atlanta Pres
bytery. Still another one of these
workers trained up in this Raleigh
work is Rev. B. R. Lacy, now the
pastor of the Central Presbyterian in
Atlanta.
Still another is Rev. Charles King,
<>f Richmond, Va. So the Ralolgli
Plan Is not only building churches
and organizing Sunday schools, but
It is giving us the finest type of work
men which we have.
There are some lessons which we
wish to draw from this piece of
""me Missionary work.
Investigation Needed.
1. The real opportunity In Wake
('<?unty was not apparent at a singlo
8 lance. There was every reqpon for
'?Hsumlng that Wake County was be
'"g adequately reached with the gos
Pel when Dr. White arrived {here as
"?e pastor of the First church in Ra
'' Igh. Was not North Carolina one
of 'he first States settled ^Jn the
1 nion? Was not Raleigh ojtfe of tho
??ldoHt and most cultured oltlefc In the
State? Was It not the Capitol of the
State? Had not the First Presbyte
"?n church in Raleigh been supplied
w'th strong consecrate pastors for
many years before Dr. Whltu raaie?
"ad there not been located in the
'??wn of Raleigh for many years an
'"Huentlal Presbyterian flchool? Were
the other denominations Btrong
ln that locality also? Were not theso
''"nominations doing good work In the
'?untry round about? Wouldn't It
?ave been the most natural thing In
the world to just suppose that Wake
County was being adequately reached?
But Dr. White was not the kind of
man to take things for granted.
Neither was he satisfied to simply ask
some elder or some deacon concern
ing the religious conditions round
about. Neither was he satisfied to
simply take an automobile drive out
in the country some afternoon. But
Dr. White put his foot In the road
and walked from one side of the coun
ty to the other. He obtained the
facts by a personal investigation. At
a timo when I would probably have
been taking my vacation, and enjoy
ing the mountain breezes. Dr. White
was walking over the burning sands
of Wake County investigating the re
ligious condition of the people by dav
and preaching to them by night.
Other men like Dr. White had be
lieved and preached the doctrine of
the perseverance of the saints. But
Dr. White surpassed them all In put
ting it into practice. It was only
when he came with his wonderful
vision and personal efforts that
"Wake" County really waked. Geor
gia is full of just such opportunities.
Wouldn't It be great if we had a Dr.
White in every one of them?
No Churches in Some Places.
2. JDr. White found many neglect
ed corners, which were not in reach
of any church. In such cases he start
ed a Sunday school and began preach
ing himself.
Dead Churches in Other Places.
3. In other places Dr White found
churches, but learned that they had
ceased to function. In such cases he
either bought the old building or built
a new one and started a Sunday school
and regular preaching.
4. Dr. White found that two things
were essential to success, first a build -
ing, second a man. The building was
usually supplied him by his Raleigh
church. He visited the seminaries
personally and secured the men h>!
needed. If we had the buildings and
.the men, a hundred additional Pres
byterian churches could be added to
our roll in Georgia In the next five
years.
5. There is a striking similarity be
tween the people and the conditions
In Georgia and North Carolina. Can
any one show why the things which
9ucceed in North Carolina wouldn't
succeed In Georgia? Do we admit
these facts? Then what are we going
to do about them? ? The Presbyterian
Outlook.
THE IiAW OF SUNDAY IS A PHYSI
CAL IjAW.
It is not a thing of chance that
when the Sunday goes religion dies
and the State begins to suffer. Moses
did not, as an arbitrary act, create
the law of Sunday. A moral ruler
organized the laws of right and wrong
into the structure of the universe, and
it was Moses' vision that discovered
these pre-existing laws and registered
them in his Ten Commandments. The
law of Sabbath rest Is the structure
of things. Physicists recognize the
law. The atoms In a steel rod cling
to one another, but subject these
atoms to constant pounding and the
bar will fall Into a rust heap. It is
this principle of rest and alternation
that enables the atoms to recover
their grip. It Is also the law of the
muscle, for beasts as well as men.
That stage driver last week told me
that he tried to drive his horses ten
miles every day for seven days In the
week, but after a year or two found
his horses broke down nervously.
Then he tried driving his mail horses
on a round trip of twenty miles to
the railway and back again, giving
them one day and sometimes two for
real rest. For some reason his horses
stood twenty miles a day for five
days, which was one hundred miles,
and thrived, though they could no',
endure ten miles every day. or seven
ty miles without what you and I call
the Sabbatic rest. In the Health Ex
position at Dresden in 1911 scientists
made a series of tests upon one hun
dred young men. Taking the stand
ard of 100 per cent, on Monday morn
ing as to their lung power, heart ac
tion and lifting power, when Monday
night came, after ten hours of hard
woik, their 100 per cent, test fell to
90. Then came the night of sleep
for recuperation, but when Tuesday
morning's test came they were down
to 99, for sleep had not fully recov
ered the loss. On Tuesday night, af
ter ten hours of work, they had fallen
to 89, and Wednesday morning, after
a night's sleep, they recovered only 9
per cent, of the 10 lost, and the test
showed 98. When Saturday niglu
came the average stood at aboui 83.
It took Saturday night, all day Sun
day and Sunday night to put the group
back to 100 per cent, for Mondav
morning. Now that is science; that is
history; that is experience in factory
and nliop. ? Rev. Newell IJwight Hil
lis, D. D.
TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR PAR
ISHIONERS.
By a Layman.
1. Thou shalt not expect thy min
ister to be a perfect man. If he wero
perfect, he would not understand his
parishioners well enough to help
them.
2. Thou shalt not accuse thy min
ister of trying to run the church. !r
parishioners are capable of running n
church, it Is foolish to employ an ex
pert to do it.
3. Thou shalt not expect thy min
ister always to agree with thee. He
is employed to teach thee, and to cor
rect any false ideas thcu bast along
spiritual lines.
4. Thou shalt not watch for man
nerisms or errors of speech or style
in the pulpit. Thy minister is not
employed to teach delsarte, or rheto
ric, but to preach the gospel to thee.
5. Thou shalt not fail to present
to thy minister now any bouquets thou
hast in reserve for him. When ho
moets thy expectations, he deserves
the comfort of knowing it.
6. Thou shalt go to all the church
services prepared to be pleased and
blessed. Thus shalt thou help tho
minister and the service, and thyself
carry away a blessing.
7. Thou shalt not fret thyself when
thy brethren are chosen before theo
for official honors. Olflce carries labor
and responsibility, and a right atti
tude may make thee more useful than
thy official brother.
S. Thou shalt always speak well
or not at all, of thy minister, thy
church and thy brethren. It la not
always easy to speak favorably, but
not to speak unfavorably requires only
silence.
9. Thou shalt contribute as cheer
fully of thy time and means to thy
religious as to secular life. The jov
of thy religious life will be in .exact
proportion to thy contribution there
to.
10. Thou shalt not demand of any
minister or thy brethren more exom
plarv conduct than thine own. It is
as a leader in righteousness, rather
than a follower, that thou shalt most
honor thy Lord, and be most honored
of Him. ? Philadelphia Presbyterian.
THE GIDEONS WILL PLACE TEN
THOUSAND II IDLES IN ATLAN
TIC CITY HOTELS.
A Great Day for the Bible.
This great event is to take place
in that City by the Sea on June 26.
1921. The slogan of the Gideons is
"A Bible In each bedroom of every
hotel in America." Up to the pres
ent time they have placed in the bed
rooms of the hotels of the United
States and Canada over 450.000
Bibles, every one of which has been
a light and a blessing to many a
weary soul. It is possible for many
of these Bibles each to come In con
tact with 365 or more persons every
year. Who can estimate the results?
Who can estimate the blessings that
shall flow like a Niagara from these
Bibles?
The number of Bibles already dis
tributed by the Gideons is equal to a
total of about thirty-five car loads,
and the work to be done is only about
one-third accomplished. There are
probably over a million hotel bed'
rooms yet to be supplied.
The Gideons began this worx of
putting Bibles in hotels about twelve
years ago. The first were put in i
hotel at Iron Mountain, Mon., on No
vember 28, 1908, twenty-five Bibles.
The largest number ever put into one
hotel was 1,800 in a hotel in Chicago.
The largest single shipment was made
to California from New York City,
two car loads, 25,000, and placed in
hotels throughout that State.
The greatest single Bible demon
stration in the history of the organi
zation will be the one mentioned
above, Atlantic City, N. J., June 26th.
at which time in Keith's Theatre the
ten thousand Bibles will be dedicated
with Mr. Lyell Rader, a Gideon, of
Chicago, as chief speaker. Mr. Rader
is a chemist with a great message.
His topics are "Garbage." "Acid,"
"Rocks," "Power," "Salt," "Carbon,"
"Clay," "Crystals," "Ligtft," "Music,"
in which he shows there is no con
flict between science and the Scrip
tures, proving the inspiration of the
Bible from the standpoint of a chem
ist. It is not yet announced which
topic he will speak upon, but it will
be worth to the reader a trip of a
thousand miles, If necessary, in order
to hear this wonderful three hundred
pounder expound the Scripture. "The
Scripture cannot be broken."
Wonderful are the results of the
hotel Bible work of the Gideons. The
reports speak of hundreds converted
to God, a would-be suicide saved
girls preserved from the fatal wrons;
step, thieves made repentant, feelings
of safety Imparted to guests just to
see the Bible on the dresser. The
Bible preaches to every guest, whether
It Is opened and read or not. Th>?
sight of It once put a man so under
conviction about a spree that he was
planning to take, that he returned
home a sober man Instead. Two girls
were saved in a Sunbury, Pa., hotel
from a possible life of shame, caus
ing them to leave the hotel before it
was too late, while their male com
panions were absent in the bar-room.
An intoxicated man took a Bible home
and when sober began to read it,
was led to Christ, sent a friend to
the hotel, wanting to pav for the
Bible. A keeper of a house of pros
titution was converted bv readtng
"Martha served" In the Gideon Bible
1p a Birmingham, Ala., hotel. Latter
Is In charge of a rescue home for
girls in Atlanta, Ga., giving all her
savings to start the home, and dedi
cating her life to the work. An ac
tress would not sleep In the room
where she found the Bible until she
had put It outride In the corridor.
(Continued on page 14)