Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

gether"The One Hundred andTwenty-FifthSynodMost of the officials of the Young People's Or_ganization arrived on Tuesday and are ready for thebusiness ofregistering on Wednesday morning.There seems to be a long line of waiting personsready to fill out their registration blanks and paytheir money, so there is plenty of time to talk. Naturally, the weather is the first subject of conversation and opinions differ as to how hot it is. To thosewho have come from Canada and other regions closerto the pole the weather is very, very torrid. To thosearriving from such tropics as Oklahoma, Kansas,Missouri and other points south of the Mason-DixonLine the weather is moderately mild. The first day ortwo was plenty warm for all of us but there are manyremarks to the effect that it is pleasant now afterthat first heat wave passed onward. Something like600 registered during the first day and by Sabbathevening the number had passed to 916, some of whomhad already departed.The first "get-together" in the dining hall wasthe evening meal, call it dinner, supper, or whatever you choose. More interesting than the name ofthe meal were the many faces that you had seen before, some of which you could attach the proper nameto, and sometimes make the wrong guess. That guessis bad because everybody likes to be greeted as if hewere the one person you have been thinking about forthe last four years.Evening ProgramAt 7:30 or soon thereafter the program began.Mr. Remo Robb is presiding and of course the meeting was opened with prayer. The President of the College has resigned and there was no one to representthe College with an address of welcome but Mr. Robbwelcomed us all. Introduction of officers followedwhich included the officers of the Young People'sOrganization, the Intermediate leaders and the leaderof the Juniors, the President of the Women's Synodical and the Moderator of Synod. Paul Robb, beingpresident of the Young People's Organization, gavethe President's address urging that this time ofsigning the Covenant was the important occasion inour life and ought to mean reconsecration and additional activity in Christian life. This was followed bythe sermon by the retiring Moderator of Synod whichwas published in last week's number. The court wasthen constituted with prayer by the Moderator andthe election of officers followed, but first of all therewas the making up of the roll and this was made interesting by the presentation by the Clerks of Presbyteries of such men as had been ordained during theyear. There were eight but David Hanson was absentin Kobe, Japan, and James Carson had not yet arrived. The other names are Roy Blackwood, J. PaulMcCracken, George Price, Robert B. Tweed, DonaldRobb and John Tweed. These men are now filling vacancies in congregations from coast to coast. TheElders who are attending Synod for their first timeas delegates were then presented and the list follows :(See News Notes) All of these men faced the Synodand it was a long impressive row in each case. Itshould be said here that Mr. Awad who has comefrom Syria to be present at this meeting was also inthe line for the first time to be introduced.July 28, 1954Election of OfficersThe Moderator then called for the nominationsfor the Moderator of the Synod, and Dr. T. C. McKnight presented the name of Dr. F. E. Allen andthis nomination was seconded by Dr. R. J. G. McKnight. No further nominations were offered and hewas elected and gave a brief address.The Clerk and assistant Clerk were continuedin office on motion. They are: Rev. D. Howard Elliott, Clerk and Rev. Waldo Mitchell, Assistant. Theseofficers of course concern the meeting of Synod only.The program tells us there is to be a "Mix up get toat 9 :45. I think it was a little later than thatbefore we were able to adjourn but were adjournedwith prayer by Dr. F. E. Allen, the new moderator.When 600 Covenanters from all parts of the land andother lands get together for the first time in fouryears there is no difficulty about conversation. Thiswas made more interesting by the punch and cookiesthat were served. Curfew didn't ring that night butI believe that most people eventually went to bed,Thursday MorningGrinnell Campus quadrangle is bordered on oneside by dormitories, which consist of brick buildingsthree stories high with a basement. There is a separate dormitory for the girls; families and men aremostly in these quadrangle buildings. This makes aconvenient grouping for devotional meetings eachmorning as each building has its own lounge and witha set time for these meetings there is the equivalentof family worship for parties concerned about suchthings and we believe for the most part people wereconcerned. At 8:45 groups all convene in Darby Hallfor a devotional address. This was presided over bythe President of the Young People's Convention forthe first two mornings ; Robert McCracken, first vicepresident for the second two ; James Tempelton, second vice president for the third two. The list ofspeakers and subjects follow and you will observethat all these are centered about the matter oftakingthe Covenant.Dr. R. C. Fullerton spoke on our declaration offaith, Psalm 64, Thursday. Rev. C. E. Caskey spokeon our confession of sin, Psalm 166, Friday. Saturdaymorning our Covenant obligations was spoken on byRev. S. B. Willson, his assigned Scripture being Exodus 24:7. On Monday in reliance upon God's Grace,Isaiah 40:31. Tuesday morning, A Blessing and aCurse Dueteronomy 11:26-28, Speaker, Rev. J. A.Hill.Wednesday morning the Ways before us. Hebrews 12:1, Speaker Rev. K. S. Edgar. We hope thatall these addresses and many of the other addressesof the convention will appear in the Covenanter Witness in the near future. Arrangements are also madefor having these addresses published in a MemorialVolume. It will be on sale, we hope, before anotherSynod, at a reasonable price and will be somethingthat everybody's library ought to contain and too,every person should read.After devotional periods the groups separated totheir various assignments ard the following notes51