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AN ADDRESS DELIVERED TO THE ^t\ic|eKtA* MI,s^loKary Society of Kt\ox College IX Kkox College, Toronto, November 13th, I896. 1»Y REV. D. D. McLEOD, BAHHIE Printed ai Thk Examiner Offlco 139 Dunlop Street. 18!>7. V ■■■ METROPOLITAN: lORONTO -r s 5 nrr.r]"n 'i I oocidl Sciences 2S5'^ ^^.13 t 1375 THE WORK OF THE CHURCH AT HOME. YOUR ('Ollege has always a warm place in my regard. My acquaintance with it elates back further than that of any of you. It began in the year 1857. The college then car- ried on its work in the house which had been occupied as a residence by Lord Elgin. Some who are now venerable minis- ters were then students. Professors Burns and Willis were then its prominent teachers. I had then a student of Knox for my tutor; and I had the honor of acMng as a sort of "diaconos" to these eminent professors occasionally, when they visited the lo- cal 'ty in which I lived, on missionary expeditions. In recent years I have known the college only through its students. In the mission work of our Presbytery, which is i^uite extensive, the students of Knox have done excellent service. More than one half f»f the congregations in our Presbytery have pastors who have studied at Knox. Of these, twelve have been received since mv connection with ic. Not only then, in the examination of the students, and in the duty of reading your discourses, but in the administration of the mission work in the field I have had op- portunities of being acquainted with you. Nevertheless it was with sonu^ surprise I leceived the invitation to address you to- night. I may not meet your expectations in doing so. but I think you are wise in asking one from the outside of college circles to address you, as often as you can. It is wise both for your society's i:ake and for the sake of the church. It prevents the idea beinj,- cherished that there are only a few men about tht? city, or that only those connected with the college, are interested in your work. I am glad to learn from your last report which I have seen, that your operations are beiu^,- carried on with with an encouraging measure of success. For one cannot but recognize that these operations are carried on under many difficiuties That you have been able to do so much for the church, and for the cause of religion in outlying fields, is creditable to you. I am pleased to learn of your mission work in the city among the poor and criminal. This is not only a held in which you may do much good, bat one which cannot but be of great use to you in your training for the ministry. In this is brought home to you what the gospel has to do for men, and that tohat has to be done for sinful men, can only be done by the gospel. The best antidote for scepticism in to engage in the work of saving men from sin. -4- It is not necessary to occupy your time vvith the common appeals which aie made to as on ()ehalt' of missi.>n work. Ap- peals, which soiuebimcs are not very intelligent, antl which sometimes are not altogether scriptural Every intelligent person knows, that our religion is, in its nature, aggressive and nnssion- ary. Where it is not so, it is either dying or dead. The theoretical part of the subject then is settled, so tar as we are concerned. The questions which occupy our minds chiefly are : How the work may best be done, and ho.«^ may the means be procured with which it is to be done ? It would be unfortunate for the church if these questions should be regarded as settled and solved. I do not think they aif . There is room for advance both in respect to, How this mission work should be carried on by the church, and Uow the means for carrying it on are to be obtained. iiut regaraing these questions as settled in the mearitime, both the theory and the practice, taking for granted that you have the missionary spirit devei'»ped among you, 1 will proceed to speak on the subject of the work of the church at home. And first, I would refer to the subject of oar Home Mission work as that is commonly un''.-i»i,v;oa. The term 'Home Missions" is a ht)Usehold word. It means one of the schemes of our church. That is all ! It is a work done in outlying fields, by some unknown agents, imder the orders of an omnipotent committee So it is thought of by many. And did Home Mission work mean no more than that which is done through our conunittee. it is yet a gi-eat ana necessary work. The records of it are full of interest to every friend of the gospel, and to every lover of his race. The records of it are full of sell-sacrificing devotion to duty, of patient continuance in the well-doing, of hard toil, of severe privation, of Christian faith and love in those Who have gone out into the new and remote parts of the land to seek the souU that are un- cared for, and to lead them to the Saviour. The story of it has pages also that are sorrowful. On its fields the missionaries have laid down their lives. And on its fields are found those scenes which so touch our sympathies. Homes without the knowledge of God, souls that have not heard the gospel, conuimnities lapsing into moral decay. Some points iti the work claim attention. First, the extent of the work forces itself upon our notice. The church by this time should have some idea of the geographical Extent of her field. But this is a subject that only some one from the west, gifted in geography and descriptive power, is couipetent. to speak on The vast extent of the field should be no discour- agement to the church. Rather it is a fact in which we should rejoice. It should be not a disadvantage but a stimulus to the — o — religions life of the chiirtn. It should prevent us sitting down ibo the selrish enjoyment of the gospel fvir ours^elves. It should awakf-h and keep alive oui* sympathy for our fellow men. It keeps ever before our minds the necessity of religious ordinances in order to the growth of religion even in a Christian land, It gives us fill interest in every part of our country which we would not otherwise have. It furnishes ujj with new fields in which to carry out the work of our Master. It is ever affording us new and powerful illustrations of the influence of the gospel upon human hearts. There are souls in these new fields for the church to seek out. Souls more precious than the earth's treabares. Hia jewels whom it is ours to reclaim for His crown. It were a waste of time to dwell on the claims of the Home Mission field. It is that field which has the first claim upon the church. We cannot change the divine order. He has put it first It would be absurd to leave our own land inadequately pro- vided with the gospel while we were sending it to other lands. We hear much of the ** Cry from Macedonia" as applied to the foreign field. But that cry comes from the home field as loudly. It comes from the lakes and woods of Muskoka, from the the rocks of Algoma from the benighr-ed fields of Quebec, from wide prairies, and from the mountains and valleys of the bound- less west. We must put first in our regard, that which God has put first in its claim upon us, and in i<"8 relation to us. It is not a question about which there can be any dispute. One of the best fruits of foreign mission effort is to make us value the gospel more, and desire to make it known to all men It is a mistake to exaggerate or to exalt out of its proper place, the claims of the one field or the other. The souls of all men are alike precious in the sight of our Lord. Reason as well as scripture teaches us to expend our sym- p.ithy and bei.evolence first upon thase within our borders. The true missronary spirit is practical not sentimental. It is governed by duty. It works by divine direction. It is willing to do unro- mantic work. The heroism is shown at home, as willingly as it is abroad. I<et the claims of each field have their just place in our regard. My decided conviction is that the church will never tulftl her duty until she gives to the cause of Home Missions the first place. The church should give to the home missionary the same training, the same generous provision in going to his field, the same liberal treatment on the field, which she gives to the foreign missionary. No one can give any reason thati will stand investigation wliy so great a distinction should be made, as is made, between the supply sent to the foreign field and the sup- ply that is sent to the home mis ion field. The people at home in our mission field deserve to be treated -e- with the same respect as the heathen abroad. If the heathen re- quire trained men to teach them, surely the highly intelligent people, the pioneers of your civilization, require men of equal ability and equal training. The chui-ch appears to think that they do not. The existence and prosperity ot the church depends upon the adequate cultivation of the tield in our own land. That should be attended to Hrst up to the point of our duty and ability. I hope the church will yet come to this view and be as diligent in dtrengthnning her stakes as in lengthening her coitls No advocate of foreign missions desires to diminish the interest of the church in home missions. The very opposite is the case. The true mission spii..^ will not err in this matter. When the church possesses it, then each claim of the Master will be attendee! to upi to the extent of the church's power. Let me refer to the agmis by whom tne woi^k in the home field is to be done in the foreign field it is done by order of the church, by ordained men Here a conbider- able part, in fact the gieater of it, is done by students. Some of it by uatechists. The church lays a great responsibility en you. The system has serious defects. First, in respect to the partial time of tupply given Second, in the inability of the student to dispense the sacraments of the church Third, in its interfering with educa- tional work of the students. We must, however, take the plan which is in use. and deal with it as best wecHU This is to be borne in mind, that your work is CHily preparatory. You are the skirmishers in advance of the heavier troops. Vour work belongs to a dispensation that fjasseth away. The result of it should be to make the people ong tor the dispensation that is to follow. It should be that the people would not ask students to be sent to them a day longer than was neces: ary. We find, often quite an opposite feeling created in the mission field. That after students have beeii employed for some time, the people will not look at a minister of years and experience. They do not w.-int an ordained man If compelled tc have one, he must be as like a student as possible in his q laliflcations. This is no doubt complimentary to you, but it is ail unhappy result of your woik You should take the role of John the Baptist and teach, that the student must 'decrease' and the ordainea minister nnist 'increase.' The people should be taught that it is their duty and their privilege to have gospel ordinances in all their completeness set up among them. The church owes this to them. They should give the committee no rest until this has been secured The church should supply the funds to do this, and I think that the church would supply the f nnds. if the need for them was demonstrat ed. -7- the the Further there are two elements of character and work, which I wou*d com mend the student missionarv to cultivate while on the field. These are. first, that principle which the apostle inculcates when he says to the Phillipians. "Stand fast in the Lord." I notice a tendency in a portion of the ministry and church to be too easily influenced by the views and practices of those who are not qualuied to be f^uiaes or models. A tendency to fall in with some popular opinion, or to adopt some noveltjr in the form of worship, before the matter has been fully considered. Let us examine our ground and be sure of it, and stand fast upon it There is no virtue in being compliant to every apparently religious current that presses upon you. There is great influence wielded by simply standing fast. Such should be the opinion of the gospel pioneer. False views and foolish opinions and sinful practices will break down when con- founded oy this spirit which will not give, in matters of religion. It was upon this rock like character in the early church that Paganism was broken in pieces. The second principle I would mention, thouf^h I observe that you are already adepts in it, is, that of elasticity of method. Presbyterian ism allows this. It also profits by it Fresbyterian- ism puts life above form. It approves of puttinfr the "new wine into new bottles." But while it is proper and sensible to adapt your methods to your situation, this should not ioad you to be careless of form. There is both use and power in the form and in the manner. It is never out of place to be reverent in the treatment of sacred things It would be a great accomplishment to teach the people, that it is of vast importance how God is to be worshipped. So many think, and are ei.couraged to think that it does not matter. That idea fills God's house with confusion. Men think to-day that in the Christian pulpit they may teach what they please with equal acceptance in the sight of God. They also tnink they may introduce whatever fantastic form of worship they please. The idea prevails that it is the people who are to be consulted and not God as to how the service of his house is to be catried on. But I say, be under divine commandment. "The grandest things that ever come into us are commanded in. The authority of God is our noblest educator For more than all else it wakens up our life and impregnates our sentiments with all that is heroi- cally true and good. When the soldiers of .Testis Christ throng in, after their great campaign is over, what will be more surely discovered in them, than their everlasting ennoblement in Christ's great will and commandment." I have been speaking of home mission work in the narrower sense in which we are actustonied to regard it It has wider meanings. It includes the whole work of the church at home. — s- Kvcjy coM^fivj^iitioii Mhoiihl be an or^i^aiii/iitioii for doiiij^ homo iiiissioM work. VVt» do not luu'd to leave our own uarislies to find HinneiH ontsiile of the chui-ch to eonvert. Tliey exist all aiuund us. Our Hi.st duty is to them. The thurches of the old countries recognize this. They nearly all employ mibsion aKcncies beyond the pastors work. 1 see that the cliiirch in your city recoKnizes tills. And in this direction is the nmst usef.d Held for Htudent traininp^ and for the employn»ent of students. I speak from per- sonal experience, having spent my last year in theology between this kind of work and tiu' duties of the hall. Tlie people of To- ronto are favored in having ii college to draw upon for agents in this field. This mission agency is of the kind called by the Lutheran church the " Inner Mission.'' It deals with things temporal and physical, as well as things spiritual. This is the niost fruitful effect of foreign missions on the church at home. That these teach us more fully what go? pel work means. That it means not only preaching, but teaching and healing and caring for the poor, the sick, the friendless, the orphan, and the widow. Under the shadow of our churches an unchristian ized popula- tion is growing up. That is ti ue in rural centres as well as in the city. The need of directing attention to this view of the subject is attested by two painful facts : 1. First, that in not a few districts and towns, while the population has increased and other denotninationshave increased, our own chinch has ri^mained stationary. In some towns whose population has initreased thei'e are no moie congregations than there were twenty years ago It was shown a few years ago in the census returns, that there was a large number of Presbyteri- ans who were not accounted for in the statistics of our church. The second fact is, that in the neighborhood of all our congrega- tions, other agencies are at work to reach people who are not connected with any of the churches. When each congregation becomes a centre of mission life in its own district, the spiritual life of the church will be revived. A greater interest will be taken in mission work both at home and abroad The church would increase not only by the natural growth of its membership, but by the in gathering of those outside of the fold. There is nothing to boast of in the fact, that in comparison with a few years ago our numbers have increased. Only some calamity, or disruption, could have prevented this. There is no thing t() boast of in the fact, that the man is stronger and wiser and richer than the boy. It would only be a matter to thank God for if we could show, that any increase was the result of enlarged activity and zeal in bringing the people under the power t-^ the -0 gospel . But a(2:ain, let lis enlarpje our ideas still further in respect to the work of the church at home. The vhurch is the great educating power in the land. Religion exercises a deeper influence over the minds of men than any other agency. E«enthede nominational form which religi >n takes, shows itself in the life of the people. We have an it.astration of this fact in many countries but very uianifestly in the people of Scotland. They are intellectually and morally the product of their religion. And they are marked by very distinct denominational characters. No where probably are seen so clearly both the coarser or finer shades, indeed all the i: hades of Presbyterianism. A fact that is made much of in a humorous way by rtt ent Scottish writers. The mfitience of tbe church was exerted upon the country as it ever is, through the ministry. An educated ministry in each parish from generation to gene- ration, preaching Bible truths, affected the life of the people pro foi?ndIy Those who were interested in spiritual questions found a counsellor in their pastor. Those who had literary aspirations found a friend and guide in Him. It IS the church which has had such a niinistiy, which has been the great educating power in the land. It is the church which has kept alive the conscience, which under all defects and errors, makes that people conspicuous for their integrity. As is the ministry so are the poople. Scot- land under the reign of moderation illustrates the s»»nie truth. There is no virtue in Presbyterianism, nor in any ism, to preserve it from corruption. We have seen it sink into Unitarianism in England, developing Arianism m Irehuid, and Moderatism in Scotland. So it is not the ism there is any virtue in. It is only the church as the temple of the HolyGhost that has power. It is only a church spiritually alive that call escape corruption. The purpose of the church whether at home or abioad is Npirit\ial. It is to make good men out of bad men. So long as sh(^ does this there is no danger of her over- throw. Her strength is in her product A gos|3el that can gather a church out of 'Jerusalem, the city of priests ; out of Antioch, the city of lovers of pleasure; out of Corinth, the vanity fair of the Roman Empire, at once the London and the Paris of the first century after Christ ; out of Ronje, the city of imperial power," is a gospel that cannot be despised by anyone. To do this, IS the best answer the church can make to her assailants No criticism can harm a gospel which can show such trophies of her teaching. The influence of the church is felt in every department of life. Education in this Province, it is said, lacks the religious element If it does so. it is not so much the defect of the laws as it is the fault of the people, and of the church. It is because the min- isters, the trustees, and the parents do not take the trouble to see —10 more in this field. Ciirist- the world. The churches as ours do, and yet do not the education given in the weak. Weak in intellectual that the schools are religioMs. The law permits them to be so, if the people desire them to be so There is nothing in the hiw to prevent any Board of Trustees from being careful to appoint a person of Christian character to teach There is nothing in the the law to prevent the trustees giving their teacher to understand that they net only desire the religious exercises which the law prescribes t » be used, but that they desire the teacher to impress on the young minds the authority of that divine law which they are required to teach them, once a week. That they desire him to enforce his instruction by a refer^^nce to the principles of the Christian religion. And there is nothing in the law to prevent, but there is a distinct provision to encourage the ministeis of the different ci urches. giving all diligence to see that this is done. The church to-day is disposed to lean too much upon the Govern- ment, and to ascribe to a defect in the law that which is due to the weakness not of the gospel buh the ministers. The church should make her influence felt much ianity i& the educating element of which exist alongside of the school make their power felt in moulding school, are churches which are v power and in spiritual power. A<jain. The religious life of the family in our parent churches was due to their teaching. They held that it is in the home that the beginnings of character are made. The home has the chief influcMice in making a religions and moral people. To make good men is i,. made good citizer s. That was the theory. The church set herself more to the attacking of sin in the heart than to crusades against particular sins. It is not a successful method of work to divide up the sins of thecomnumity too much, and letting sin alone, to make a great stir over sins. It is injurious to the conscience, and has been so m this land, to maguify one sin, to the hidir.g of others. The avarice which is the root of all evil, lies comfortably undisturbed in our churches, while the offspring of it in particular instances, is assailed with exaggerated violence. Let us remember that it is only by attacking sin we will get rid of sins. The life of a people is measured by the life of the home. The church is responsible for the character of the homes, the state is not Such is the wide spreading influence of a living church Such the work that is to de done at home. To do her work effectually requires the indwelling in her of the Holy Spirit. As one working in the fleld I simply add my testimony to that of others when I say, that the great duty to which we sho.ild address ourselves, is to maintain at a high standard the religious life of the people. What is nee.led is that we should unite in one great effort to lift up the whole church to a higher plane of life. Not separating -11. in our recfard, or in oar advocacy, one part of her operations from another, but putting first that which God has put first the life of the church as a whole, and the mission she has to fu'fll in the j)lace where by God she has been put. The question is, how is this to be done ? It is a question which toe courts of the church might profitably spend some time in the study of. Those who are placed oy Providence as eaders in the church, should hold before her a high standard as to what is required, and what is to be undertaken. There is now a painful acquisence in low standards. When one considers the doles and driblets meted out for God's work at home, compared with what is required, it is dis- couraging. Through all our home work, as well as home mission work, more means are required. We should not set before the people the minimum but the maximum of our need And we should ask for it, not as those who ask a favor, but as those who are. appointed to show to the people the will of our Master and the openings set before them in His service. 2nd. We should not separate in the regard of the people, one part of the church's operations from another. W«. should adopt the divine order in presenting claims For there is a, divine order We should follow it. If we did, I think that in some cases, that which is now last would be first. The wants oi the house- hold, the providing for the family, the widows and orphans, the aged, and the educ'ating of the family would be first— and after these every outlying enterprize. There are required in the church at present those three things : 1 Unity. The whole chnrch being enlisted for the whole of her operations. There should be not only an alumni associa- tion of tTiis college or that, but of all the colleges. An association in which men of all schools and from every part of the church at home or abroad should be enlisted. To such an association let your schemes be submitted, endowment schemes and all other schemes which require to be lifted up. Are those ministers who have been trained abroad not worthy to associate with you ? Are they not interested in the colleges and in the church as much as yourselves? Appeals enamating from such a source embracing all the ministry would come home to the church with more hope- fulness of success. I think it is needed in the direction of jjfreater unity. Unity of policy, and plan and spirit. 2. There IS much to be desired a larger measure of enthusiasm in the ministry, and membership, on behalf of the operations of the church. Enthusiasm for the life, and the good name, and the prosperity of the chrich as a whole Such a spirit would lift us out of our localism and our hobbyism, and make all parts of the church equally the subject of thought and prayer, and all the schemes equally the object of our care and -12- synipathy. 3. There is needed further an increase of our faith in God. It is His work we are engaged in. He will supply tWe means for accomplishing it. He will iionor a large faith. It will be unto us as it ever is according to our faith. He will send the means for generous undertakings. Let us cast ourselves anew on him, and attempt and expect greater things. Union, enthusiasm, and faith, these are a trinity <.>f great power. As the rising tide Will lift the heaviest vessel in the channel from the place into which she has been left to sink by the outgoing tide, so the tide niust flow in upon the church, the tide of divine grace and of aivine enthusiasm and faith — then those who are in charge of her operations shall have clearer and ^larger views of her great duties ; then all jealousies shall be swept away, then the church with all' her attendant in- stitutions and schemes, shall be lifted out of her worldliness and unbelief, into a spirit more worthy of her high calling, and shall go forward witn new power on her mission of divine beneScence throughout all tiie regions of this wide Dominion, and unto thb uttermost parts of the earths ,a** ^