Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

The Editor's PageRetrenchments Forced by Social ChangesA statistical graph of our mission work, Homeand Foreign during the past fifty years could bemade to look very drab, indeed. During this periodwe had in our Home Mission work three special missions, the Southern Mission which had at that timeKnox Academy with many students and teachersand which is now continuing as a congregation butwithout the large school of elementary and advancedwork. The Indian Mission had at that time a largeschool of boys and girls and quite a corps of workerswho were mostly doing the work on a voluntarybasis and the congregation was flourishing becauseit centered around the children in the school. Therewas also the Jewish mission which at sundry timeshad a varied number of workers and was reachingaffectively some Jewish families. This work is nowentirely quiescent, though funds are available torevive the work if the way should seem propitious.Over against the picture that has lost much of itsrosy hue we have the Kentucky Mission which isreaching hundreds of families, though not so manyas we were a few years back.Looking at the Foreign Field we had at thebeginning of that period a mission in Turkey and amission in Syria which had a medical departmentand also a medical department on the island ofCyprus, along with the beginnings of our schoolsthere. These medical departments are no longer functioning but otherwise the work seems to be as prosperous as at any previous period. During the fiftyyear period we had in China as many as fifteen ormore adult missionaries at one time and various boyand girl schools functioning, with several out stations and this work spread to Canton both as a medical school and as a preaching center as well as toother stations that were open up until circumstancesshut us out of that field as it did all other evangelistic agencies. Work was opened in Manchuria andthis work is now extinct as far as outward evidenceis concerned. Over against this picture we may citethe work in Hong Kong which is still being carriedon and the opening of work in Japan which is quitepromising. The impression seems to be that the timemay be very short there.If we take a superficial view of this graph itmight look as though our church has fallen down verydecidedly in its effort to preach the gospel to everycreature in all the world. However, it should be saidthat most of these changes are due to circumstancesbe chargedover which we had no control and mayto the general progress of history. The school workboth in Selma, Alabama, and in Apache, Oklahoma,has been taken over by the public schools to whichit properly belongs. The closing of the medical centers in Syria and Cyprus was due to the fact thatlocal medical facilities had made such an advancethat medical missions were no longer necessary. Theclosing down of the work in South China and inManchuria was strictly a result of Communism andwe may truly believe that it is God's will that thiswork should be closed down for the present time asit was during the Boxer uprising of 1900. We believe324that in no way are we censurable for these changeswhich are rather the' changes of history than changeof our attitude toward the work outlined above.Retrenchments Due to MisapprehensionsBut the retrenchment of our church in a worldwide field is what is now on the heart and mind ofthe writer of which I wish to speak here. For thosesame fifty years, I suppose, we have been the leadingcontributor in per capita giving and congregationalgiving of all denominations contributing to the American Bible Society. Our mark was so far ahead ofany other denomination that they were continuallypointing ours out as a mark to shoot at for othercontributors. So that while our contributions did notamount to a great deal in the general budget of theSociety, they had an influence which multiplied theirefficiency many times. What has transpired in thefalling off in our contributions during the past threeyears is appalling.Here are the Figures :1951 1952 1953Gifts $5,256.00 $3,013.00 $2,996.00Cents per Capita __.98^ .58y2 .58Dollars per Church 70.08 40.17 39.95A decrease in giving from 1951 to 1953 of42.9%.The United Bible Society publishes the Bibleor portions in 1,070 languages or dialects. Roughlyspeaking, our $5,000 contributed in 1951 divided by1,000 languages means that we contributed $5.00 forpublication in each of the languages, but in 1952 and1953 our contributions had fallen off to $3.00 for eachlanguage. Or if we take $5.00 for each language asa standard for our contributions then we have ceasedto publish in 400 languages; that is, we have retrenched by 400 languages in the last three years.How is that for going out into all the world andTHE COVENANTER WITNESSIssued each Wednesday by the Publication Board of theREFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHOF NORTH AMERICAat 129 West 6th Street, Newton, Kansas orthrough its editorial office at 1209 Boswell Avenue, Topeka Kansasto promote Bible Standards ofDoctrine, Worship and LifeFor individuals, churches and nationsOpinions expressed in our columns are those of the individual writers :not necessarily the views of the Covenanter Church or of the Editor.Dr. Raymond Taggart, D.D., Editor1209 Boswell Avenue, Topeka KansasContributing EditorsFrank E. Allen, D.D.Prof. William H. RussellWalter McCarroll, D.D.Remo I. Robb. D.D.Subscription10 cents.The Rev. R.British Isles.rates,iEnf!eref under the Act of March 3, 1879.Departmental EditorsRev. John O. EdgarMrs. J. O. EdgarMrs. Ross Latimer$2.50 per year ; Overseas, $3.00 : Single CopiesB. Lyons, B.A., Limavady, N. Ireland, Agent for thefi3.af9ond class matter at the Post Office in Newton, KansasAddress communications to the Topeka office.COVENANTER WITNESS