Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

ministers'
ances"
Report of The Synod of 1955
WHICH MET AT GENEVA COLLEGE, JUNE 8-14.
(Continued from last week)
THURSDAY 8:45 A. M.
Those of us who have attended many Synods
recognize it has a routine program. Prayer, roll call,
devotional period, reading of minutes, etc.
But the devotional periods are new every morning
and refreshing. The program for the week follows ;
While the praise and prayer programs are very im
portant and the names
interesting we will give only
the condensed form and hope to print the addresses
later.
DEVOTIONAL SERVICES
Theme :
Having Done All, To Stand
Thursday, June 9
"How to be an Example" (I Pet. 5:1-4)
Speaker: S. Bruce Willson, D.D.
Presiding: Rev. T. Richard Hutcheson
Friday, June 10
"How to Meet Personal Discouragement"
(I Kings 19:9, 10)
Speaker: Rev. E. Raymond Hemphill
Presiding: J. Renwick Patterson, D.D.
Saturday,'
June 11
"How to Encourage the Flock" (II Chron. 32:
6-8)
Speaker: D. Howard Elliott
Presiding: T. F. Harsh
Monday, June 13
"How to Redeem the Time" (Eph. 5:16)
Speaker : M. K. Carson, D.D.
Presiding: Rev. Harold Thompson
Tuesday, June 14
"How to Increase our Vision" (II Kings 6:15-
17)
Speaker: Dr. Remo I. Robb
Presiding: D. Ray Wilcox, D.D.
Thursday is the time for the Memorial Service ;
ministers, wives, missionaries, and elders,
called Home during the year are memorialized. The
writer does not remember any former year when
there were no ministers or ministers' wives on this
list. There was but one missionary, but there were
eight elders, as follows :
Zenas McMurtry
Thomas J. Armstrong
Thomas M. Pattison
John T. Doig
George H. Arnott
Edwin L. Dodds
Andrew S. Brodie
Timothy Sanderson
ELDERS
MISSIONARIES
Dr. Ida M. Scott
Morning Sun
Third Philadelphia
New Castle
Walton
Coldenham
Los Angeles
Delburne
Walton
Later: Word came Monday evening of the death of
388
Dr. Paul Coleman, and a memorial prepared by Dr.
P. D. McCracken was read at a later session.
Papers concerning matters of discipline or pol
icy from sessions, or individuals are presented by
the clerks.
Reports Boards of Trustees, all
treasurers,
treasurers'
etc. follow. All
reports are concerned
with four more important figures six column fig
ures more or less, "Receipts," "Expenditures" "Bal
at beginning and end of the year. But those
details ! Much bookkeeping and headaches are a
weariness to the flesh. Can you visualize two hours
of
figures, read rapidly If they were mimeo
graphed, or microfilmed and projected on a screen it
would be easier. Maybe some day we will have an
auditing committee to examine all books and certify
to the honesty and wisdom of the receipts and ex
penditures. One hundred men, two hours each, mini
mum wages $1.00 per hour- -count it yourself. Such
is the expense of hearing the reports !
But there are more interesting intervals. Rev.
Harold Harrington read the report of the Coordinat
ing Committee's results of two grinding sessions of
condensing the irreducible minimum requirements of
the various Boards from $126,900 to $120,000, the
maximum reasonable asking from the contributors.
The report adopted will be published later.
The Stewardship committee told us that 1066
tithers were reported last year and 1700 enrolled
during the current year. Synod voted to set a goal
of 2200 for the coming year. The committee was
commended for its efficient work of increasing the
number of enrolled tithers, and promoting the over
subscribed budget. Dr. D. H. Elliot was the chairman
of the committee.
THURSDAY P. M.
Elder W. J. Adams of Kansas City opened the
session with prayer.
Representatives as follows were heard. Rev.
Dilworth of Philadelphia brought a message
from the American Bible Society, encouraging us to
continue our co-operation in sending out 15 billion
portions of scripture to all nations, tongues, kin
dreds and languages.
Rev. DeBoer of
Washington, D. C. brought fra
ternal greetings of the Christian Reformed Church.
He told us he had just come from a meeting in their
college
Calvin, to our meeting in Geneva College
which showed the close relation in faith of our two
denominations. A request of our Synod of 1948 for
their help in forwarding the Christian Amendment
Movement had lain dormant until it was revived by
the appointment of a committee to study the matter
in their meeting of 1955. Also the proposal of our
Synod of last year for a mutual study of each other's
distinctive teachings was welcomed as a possible step
toward union.
Business resumed The Jewish mission. The
Philadelphia building has been sold on a long time
COVENANTER WITNESS