The American Missionary — Volume 35, No. 3, March 1881Various
Religion
The American Missionary — Volume 35, No. 3, March 1881
Various
Congregational churches -- Missions -- Periodicals; Home missions -- Periodicals
Some suggestions as to organization and management of auxiliaries
are here made in the hope that they may be helpful. In many places
the sewing society, devoted to parish work, may take in addition
the Home Mission work, if it is as agreeable to the members as
it has been found to be in many cases already. At each meeting,
some one previously appointed may communicate intelligence of Home
Mission work, while others sew.
In other places the old cent society to which our grandmothers
belonged is available as the channel for contributions.
In other places still, a wholly separate organization may be
most advisable, in which the filling of Home Mission boxes, the
collection of money for the W. H. M. A., and the communication of
intelligence as to Home Mission work may be the only objects of the
society.
The regular Woman’s Prayer Meeting might well set apart one
meeting each month where they are held weekly, or a meeting at
longer intervals when they occur less frequently; this monthly or
quarterly meeting to be devoted to prayer and conversation about
the spread of the Gospel in our own country. At these meetings a
collection may be taken and there may be a treasurer to receive
this, and an officer, either secretary or president, to preside at
the meeting. It is not necessary that these officers should serve
no other organizations, since the same person not infrequently
acts as an officer in one or more societies and keeps the business
of each by itself. It seems wise, however, whenever a sufficient
number of persons can be obtained, to have separate officers for
different organizations. The end to be attained is that there be a
definite, separate time given to praying and working for the cause
of the evangelization of our own country, and a definite, separate
contribution arranged so that each woman of the church may have
just the channel at hand by which to send her own offering for this
cause direct to its destination.
And further, may we not ask those churches that have adopted the
system of weekly offerings, known as the “Harris plan,” to put this
Association also on their list, to make this one of the channels
of distribution through which individual members of the church
show their desire and accomplish their purpose of co-operating in
Christ’s work of saving men? It is no longer—if it ever ought to
have been—the age in which Christian men and women should wait
to be stirred, to be urged, even to be invited, to give. Does
it not become each of us to find out by calculation, careful,
generous calculation, how much we can afford to the specific work
of spreading the Gospel; and then through what channels we can
best effect our object? And if this is done by all will there not
be some who will wish to send part of their funds through this
society, whose work is, directly, for the women and children of our
country?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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