TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF HOME MISSION WORK IN THE Presbytery of Mecklenburg, Synod of North Carolina. REV. WM. E. McILWAIN, Birmingham, Ala. I 1893. BY REQUEST OF THE PRESBYTERY, Birmingham, Ala.: Dispatch Printing Co., Printers and Binders, 1893. Action taken by the Presbytery at an adjourned meeting held in Statesville, N. C, during the session of Synod : "The Presbytery of Mecklenburg endorses this manuscript as a trustworthy record of its Home Mis- sion Work, and extends its thanks to Rev. Wm. E. Mcllwain for his faithful and painstaking labor in pre- paring it, and requests him to publish the same in such form and quantity as will secure its easiest and widest distribution. " Attest : R. Z. Johnston, Stated Clerk. Lincolnton, N. C, Oct. 21, 1892. CONTENTS. CHAPTEK I. Page This Presbytery a Mission Presbytery 7 CHAPTER II. New Churches Organized since the Formation of the Presbytery in 1869 11 CHAPTER III. Manses Built Since 1869 12. CHAPTER IV. The Work of the Year 1891 , 12; CHAPTER V. Home Missions Over Done 14 CHAPTER VI. the grroavth of the presbytery as a whole in twenty- three Years 19 CHAPTER VII. The Plan of the Presbytery by which these Results were Attained 21 CHAPTER VIII. A New Presbytery 24 CHAPTER IX. General Statistics of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and in the World 27 NOTE. The origin of this contribution to Home Mission Work is as follows : The author was for seventeen years intimately con- nected with this work in the Presbytery of Mecklen- burg, and having as Chairman of the Committee of Home Missions made his last annual report to the Presbytery before leaving its bounds, the Presbytery approved of this report and requested its publication for circulation among its churches. After long delay on account of constant and pres- sing duties in the Evangelistic work in North Carolina and Alabama this little book is at last prepared, pub- lished and sent forth on its mission to serve the great cause of Home Missions. My purpose has been to show what can be done to extend Presbyterianism in one of the Old States of the Union and where there are no rapidly growing cities and practically no immigration. Author. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/twentythreeyearsOOmcil TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF HOME MISSION WORK IN THE Presbytery of Mecklenburg, synod of north carolina. CHAPTER I. When this Presbytery was organized by order of the Synod of North Carolina, October 16, 1869, a large mission territory was assigned the new Presbytery. It was originally composed of the following counties, viz : Anson, Union, the greater part of Mecklenburg, Lincoln, Gaston, Cleaveland, Polk, Rutherford, Bun- come, Henderson, Transylvania, Madison, Haywood, \ Jackson, Clay, Macon and Cherokee. These seven- teen counties were afterwards increased to nineteen by the erection of the two new counties, Graham and Swain, which are located in the extreme western part of the Presbytery, and every one of these were missionary counties, with perhaps the two exceptions of Gaston and Mecklenburg. We can scarcely realize to-day how few and feeble Presbyterian churches were in most of these counties in 1869. Let us glance at the facts as they appear in the minutes of 1870. We had then only one church (Lebanon) in Anson county, and this church though credited with fifty- nine members, had given nothing the year previous for any cause, not even for pastoral support. 8 HOME MISSION WORK OF THE In Union county in 1869, Bethlehem was our only- church, and although credited with forty members, such was its isolation and consequent neglect by the Presbytery that it was in a very feeble state. It reported nothing given for any cause 'in 1869. In Lin- coln county there were three churches, viz : Lincoln- ton, Unity and Machpelah, with a combined mem- bership of 116. In Rutherford county there were two churches, Rutherfordton and Brittain, having a mem- bership of 113. In Polk county we had only one church, Sandy Plains, with eight members. In Hen- derson county there were two churches, Henderson- ville with twenty-nine members, and Mills' River with forty-one members. In Buncome county two churches, Asheville with eighty-three members, and Swannanoa with forty-six members. In Macon county, two churches, Franklin with twenty-three members, and Morrison with forty-three members. In Clay county, one church, Hiawassee, with thirty members. Hay- wood county had only one church, Bethel, with thirty-one members. In the following- counties there was no organized church, viz : Cleaveland, Jackson, Madison and Cherokee, and in each of the counties, Union, Anson, Polk, Haywood and Clay, there was only one weak, discouraged country church. In other words, not counting Mecklenburg and Gaston coun- ties, the former with eleven churches and 2,084 mem- bers, and the latter with seven churches and 563 members, and we have fifteen counties with only eighteen organized churches, and these containing only about 729 members, or less than fifty members to a county and paying less than $2,000 for the sup- port of the gospel. Surely this was a Mission Pres- bytery when of its 3,376 members not less than 2,647 were found in the two counties of Mecklenburg and Gaston, and of its thirty-six churches one-half of them were found in these two counties. Now let us consider the work done in a few of PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. 9 these mission counties. Let us begin with Anson county on the east. As already stated, we then had only one church (then kno\Vn as Lebanon and now as Morven) in that county, and the minutes of 1870 do not credit that church with one dollar given for any cause, not even for pastoral support. How dif- ferent to day ! The old church has been torn down and rebuilt at Morven, a station on the Carolina Cen- tral railroad, where we have a church of four elders, five deacons and seventy-three members, contributing annually about $500 for all purposes and owning church property worth $1,000. At Wadesboro we have a church of thirty-three members giving annually about $600 for all purposes and having church and manse property worth about $3,500. At Polkton, in the same county, we have an or- ganized church with a small membership, owning church property valued at $800 and giving annually about $100 for all purposes. So then, where a few years ago, we had only one organized church, we have now three ; where we had almost no church property we now have $5,300 worth, and where our only church then paid nothing our churches are now contributing annually about $1,200 for all objects. In Union county, instead of one small, neglected, dying coun:ry church, we to day have the following churches: Monroe Church with 4 elders, 5 deacons, 1 19 members, owning church property worth $4,000, and contributing annually for all purposes about $1,000; Waxhaw Church with 3 elders, 2 deacons, 46 members, owning church property worth $1,000, and paying annually about $200 for all purposes ; Banks Church with 3 elders, 2 deacons, 55 members, owning church property worth $900, and paying annually $500 or $600 ; Bethlehem Church with 2 elders, 2 deacons, 36 members, paying annually about $100, and owning church property worth per- haps $400; Stephens Church has 2 elders, 1 deacon, IO HOME MISSION WORK OF THE 35 members, and is making preparations to build a house of worship ; Beulah Church has now I elder and 27 members, and Barclay Church has 2 elders, 2 deacons and 18 members. Therefore, instead of one church (Bethlehem) in Union county, and that one church so weak and discouraged that it was grad- ually dying out, we have to day seven churches in Union county with 300 members, owning $6,500 worth of church propt rty, and giving not less than $2,000 annually for all purposes. To sum up, we have these facts: We had only two churches in Union and Anson counties and these were in the country and so feeble and inactive as to count almost nothing in the active work of the Presbytery. To day instead of these two churches, with less than 100 members, we have three churches in Anson county, and 7 in Union county with a combined mem- bership of about 450, at d owning church property worth at least $12,000 and paying annually not less than $3,000 for all purposes. In the beginning of our mission work in these two coun- ties, one man, Rev. S. C. Alexander, was employed and the Presbytery paid the greater part of his salary. Now we employ three men in this work, viz: Rev. M. R. Kirkpatrick, Rev. H. M. Dixon and Rev. Wm. Black, and such has been the growth of the churches in pastoral support that all these are sup- ported with very little more expense to the Presbytery- than one man originally. In Cleaveland county we had no organized churck in 1870. The name of the Shelby church was on the roll of the Presbytery and it was credited with fourteen members but that was all. There was no elder, no deacon, no Sabbath-school pupil, no church property, and not one dollar given for any purpose, whilst to day we have a thoroughly organized church in Shelby with 4 elders, 4 deacons, 70 pupils in the Sabbath-school, received last year 19 members into PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. the communion of the church, has on its roll 69 mem- bers, owns about $4,000 worth of church property, and gave last year $700 for all purposes. At King's Mountain in the same county, we have an organized church with 2 elders, 1 deacon, 27 members, owning a house of worship valued at $900, and at Waco, on the Carolina Central railroad, we have recently organized a church with one elder and 19 members. CHAPTER II. New Churches Organized Since the Formation of the Presbytery in 1869. The roll is as follows : In Mecklenburg county, Charlotte Second Church, Graham Street, Williams, Mulberry, Amity, Newells, Robinson, Huntersviile, Pineville, Matthews and Cooks. In Union county, Monroe, Waxhaw, Banks, Stephens, Beulah and Bar- clay. In Anson county Wadesboro and Polkton. In Gaston county, Gastonia, Lowell, Belmont and Stanley Creek. In Cleaveland county, Shelby, King's Mountain and Waco. In Rutherford county, Weaverton. In Buncome county, Oak Forrest^ South Side and Bethany. In Transylvania county, Brevard. In Haywood county, Waynesville. In Lin- coln county, Ironton. In Swain county, Bryson City. In Jackson county, Dillsboro, and in Macon county, Nantahala. This makes a total of thirty-six churches organized by the Presbytery since its formation in 1869. These new churches now represent about 100 elders, 90 deacons, 2, 300 Sabbath-school pupils, 2,680 church members, received in 1891 225 members on examination, own not less than $100,000 worth of church and manse property, and gave in 1891 about $28,000 for pastoral support and other purposes. I may remark in* closing this chapter, that the new churches alone of this Presbytery would constitute a Presbytery larger in church members, Sabbath- schooL 12 HOME MISSION WORK OF THE pupils and church property than one-half of the Presbyteries of our General Assembly. For exhibit of new churches see Appendix A. CHAPTER III. Manses Built Since 1869. When this Presbytery was formed not a single church within its bounds owned a manse. To day the following churches furnish homes for their minis- ters, viz : Charlotte First Church, Charlotte Second Church, Sugar Creek, Mallard Creek, Philadelphia, Providence, Sharon, Pineville and Pleasant Hill, Steele Creek, Paw Creek, Hopewell, Monroe, Wades- boro, Gastonia, Union, Lincolnton, Castanea and Unity, Shelby, Rutherfordton, Brittain, Henderson- ville, Waynesville, Bethel, Franklin and Newells. Therefore, there are now in the Presbytery twenty- five manses, valued at about $40,000. The whole amount of church property now in the Presbytery may be safely estimated at $200,000 and is increas- ing steadily each year. The following churches are now building houses of worship : Goshen Church at Mount Holly, to cost $900; Stanley Creek, $1,000; Davidson River, $1,500; Lincolnton, about $5,000; .Second Church, Charlotte, with grounds and build- ing when complete, $47,000. Whilst Duncan's Creek and South Side Avenue in Asheville have just dedicated new houses of worship, the former at a cost of $800 and the latter $2,700. CHAPTER IV. THE WORK OF THE YEAR 1 89 1. As to visible results the year 1891 was one of the ■very best of our history as a Presbytery. Liberal things were devised. We sowed abundantly. We :raised more money, employed more men, did more work, and as a consequence gathered a more abun- PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. IS dant harvest. We held at least forty protracted meetings, conducted by pastors and evangelists. We built and occupied six new churches. We received into our churches 881 members, 552 of these on ex- amination and 329 on certificate. This Dumber re- ceived on examination exceeds the number received by any other Presbytery of the General Assembly. The five Presbyteries receiving the largest numbers- were North Alabama, 376; Concord, 336; Dallas, 313; East Hanover, 360, and Mecklenburg, 552. The following Synods received a smaller number on examination : Florida, 272 ; Arkansas, 392 ; Mem- phis, 482, and Georgia, 503. And to this work must be added the organization of the following new churches in a single year, extending from October 1, 1890, to October 1, 1 891 . Newells, in Mecklenburg county, organized November 15, 1890, with 2 elders, 2 deacons and 35 members. Belmont, Gaston coun- ty, November 15, with 4 elders, 2 deacons and 32: members. Dillsboro, Jackson county, December 8, with 10 members, and afterwards 2 elders and 2 dea- cons were elected. Stevens in Union county, De- cember 13, with 2 elders, 1 deacon and 27 members. Waco, Cleveland county, February 21, 1891, with 1 elder and 16 members. Ironton, Lincoln county, March 29, with 3 elders, 2 deacons and 20 members. Weaverton, Rutherford county, April 12, with 1 elder, 1 deacon and 10 members. Banks, in Union county, May 27, with 3 elders, 2 deacons and 40 members. Bethany, Buncome county, September 20, with 1 elder, 1 deacon and 10 members. Brevard, Transylvania county, with 2 elders, 2 deacons and 29. members. Thus making in all, from one fall meet- ing of Presbytery to another, 10 new churches organ- ized, containing 21 elders, 15 deacons and 234 mem- bers. And since October 1, 1891, the number of new churches has been increased by the organization of Stanley Creek, in Gaston county, November 27,, 14 HOME MISSION WORK OF THE with 2 elders, 2 deacons and 16 members ; and Cook's Church, in Mecklenburg county, December 19, 1891, with 2 elders, 2 deacons and 37 members. From the facts stated above it will be seen that within thir- teen months 12 new churches were organized con- taining 25 elders, 19 deacons and 287 members. And of these 12 new churches 10 are regularly supplied with the gospel and the following have their own houses of worship, viz.: Banks, Newells, Brevard, Ironton, Belmont and Cook's Church, whilst Stanley Creek is making good progress in this direction. CHAPTER V. HOME MISSIONS OVER DONE. When strangers hear or read of the great progress of this Presbytery in its home mission work they may entertain fears lest other causes have suffered because of the excessive development of this one department of church work. But the facts prove that there is not the least ground for such fears. Instead of being dwarfed by the overshadowing influences of home missions every other department of church work has been correspondingly quickened and intensified. Let us consider first ministerial education in the Presby- tery. When this Presbytery was formed there were assigned to its care the following candidates for the ministry, viz.: C. N. Hutchinson, Charles M. Doug- las, George Summey and James H. Morrison. There- fore the new Presbytery at its very first meeting began the great work of training a ministry for Christ and His church. And the Presbytery certainly has no reason to be in the least ashamed of the number or the character of the men trained under her super- vision and licensed by her to preach the gospel to a lost world. Her sons to-day are found in almost every synod of our General Assembly, and every- where they are rendering a most faithful service, and PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. 15 in some cases they are occupying and adorning the most prominent and responsible positions in our Southern Presbyterian Church. Some of them are no longer with us, but have finished their work on earth and, as we trust, are rendering a far nobler service in the "General Assembly and Church of the first born in Heaven." The roll of the living is as follows: Rev. J. W. Query, pastor of Wellford and other churches in South Carolina; Rev. George Sum- mer, D. D., Chancellor of the Southwestern Presby- terian University, Clarksville, Tenn.; Rev. John H. Dixon, pastor of Florence Church, S. C; Rev. James C. Ochler, pastor at Aiken, S. C; Rev. W. T. Mat- thews, Evangelist of South Carolina Presbytery ; Rev. Walter W. Moore, D. D., L.L. D., professor in Union Theological Seminary in Virginia; Rev. George W. Belk, pastor at Chatham, Va.; Rev. Joseph K. Hall, pastor at Ashland, Va.; Rev. James H. Mor- rison, general evangelist of the synod of Nashville ; Rev. A. G. Buckner, pastor at Cynthiana, Ky.; Rev. Win. H. Neel, pastor of Madison Avenue Church, Covington, Ky. ; Rev. John F. Cannon, D. D., pas- tor Grand Avenue Church, St. Louis, Mo.; Rev. E. P. Davis, pastor First Church, Montgomery, Ala.; Rev. Wm. B. Arrowood, pastor at Laurinburg, N. C; Rev. E. A. Sample, pastor at Hendersonville, N. C; Rev. M. A. Henderson, pastor of Unity and Franklin churches, N. C; Rev. Chalmers Moore, pastor of Hopewell Church, N. C; Rev. J. S. Mor- row, pastor of Bethany Church, Asheville, N. C; Rev. John W. Moore, missionary to Japan ; Rev. H. M. Dixon, pastor of Monroe Church, N. C; Rev. Robt. S. Arrowood, pastor of Third Creek and other churches in North Carolina; Rev. J. W. Siler, pastor of Providence and Banks Churches in North Carolina; Rev. E. L. Siler, pastor Caldwell Church, Texas ; Rev. George F. Robertson, Evangelist of Synod of Alabama; Rev. S. H. Spencer, pastor at Humboldt, i6 HOME MISSION WORK OF THE Term.; Rev. W. J. Secrest, pastor at Rusk, Texas; Rev. Wm. E. Mcllwain, superintendent of evangel- istic work in the Synod of Alabama ; Rev. Luther A. Oates, pastor in Delaware City, Del.; Rev. John B. Swann, pastor of Bullock's Creek Church, S. C. Here are twenty-nine sons of the Presbytery labor- ing in not less than eleven different synods and in one heathen land. The roll of the honored dead among the sons of the Presbytery is as follows: Charles M. Douglas, who died whilst in college preparing for his work ; Rev. Alfred J. Morrison, pastor of Broad-street, Selma, Ala. j who died at the home of his friend and relative. Col. C. C. Graham, Memphis, Tenn.; Rev. James L. Williams, who died at his residence in Gaston county, N. C, and candidate Henry Rees, who died whilst a student of Union Seminary in Virginia. In all thirty- one ministers have been reared in our bounds and sent forth to preach the gospel throughout our whole Church by this Presbytery. The following young men are now under the care of the Presbytery pre- paring for the ministry: R. L. McNair, W. C. Un- derwood, John H. Grey, L. H. Query, J. R. Wilson, E. D. Brown, M. W. Hunter, R. J. Hunter, John Yandle, C. F. Hunter, W. O. Sample, D. F. Hun- ter, W. L. Walker, W. H. A. Williams, W. W. Williams, M. C. Arrowood, R. C. Morrison, J. M. W. Elder, Mack M. Ratchford, J. W. Hunter and Charles Orr. We have then this summary : Twenty- nine ministers from this Presbytery preaching the gospel in 1 1 synods and one heathen land and 21 stu- dents preparing for their life work. And it is a mat- ter of record that not one dollar has ever been drawn from the General Assembly or any outside source to bear the expenses of their education. The Presby- tery in her generosity bears the whole burden of their preparation and presents them as a free gift to the Church at large. And how does this record compare PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. 17 with that of other Presbyteries even in our own Synod ? Let Synod's Agent of Education in his an- nual report for 1891 answer this question. Says he: "Forty-five of our 71 candidates receive aid from the Church. The amount promised them was $4,000, whilst the amount contributed during the year to this cause by the Churches was only $3,420. Of this sum Mecklenburg Presbytery, which conducts its own educational work, contributed $1,200, which is more than one-half of the amount contributed by all the other five Presbyteries which co-operate with the As- sembly's committee. These Presbyteries contributed $2,220 and drew back from the Assembly's commit- tee $2,725, more than $500 in excess of their con- tributions." Surely when we consider the number and character of the men trained and sent forth to> preach the gospel and the annual contributions to the cause of ministerial education, it cannot be said that the rapid development of home missions has dam- aged this cause in Mecklenburg Presbytery. Now let us turn to the minutes of the General As- sembly and see what has been the record of this Pres- bytery in behalf of foreign missions. The Presbytery gave for foreign missions in 1870 $ 738 1871 523 1872 349 1873 793 1874 569 1875 695 1876 1,166 1877 940 1878 1,037 1879 1,203 1880 1,266 1881 1,505 1882 1,948 1883 2,285 1884 2,652 1885 2,925, 1886 4,844 1887... 3,857 HOME MISSION WORK OF THE 1888. 1889. 1890. 1891. 1892. 4,350 5,112 6,120 7,015 8,781 From the above it will be seen that the Presby- tery has increased its contributions from $349, given in 1872, to $8,781, given in 1892, a gain of more than $8,000 in twenty years, and since the Presbytery was organized the sum of its contributions has amounted to more than $60,000. This gain will be the more appreciated when it is remembered that there are 72 Presbyteries in our General Assembly, some of these embracing such cities as Louisville, Ky. , Atlanta, Ga., Nashville, Tenn., and Richmond, Va., and y^t this Presbytery in its gifts to foreign missions exceeds any other Presbytery in the Assembly by more than $1,000. Its standing among the Presbyteries will be better understood when it is known that for 1892 its contributions for foreign missions exceed those of the following synods. The figures are as follows : The Synod of Arkansas gave $2,168, Florida $1,926, Memphis $3,133, Texas $3,249, Missouri $5,662, Mississippi $5,330, and Georgia $7,784, whilst the Presbytery of Mecklenburg gave $8,781. It is now and has been for a number of years, as to foreign mis- sions, the banner Presbytery of the General Assem- bly. One reason of this is that at least four churches within its bounds support each one or more foreign missionaries. These Churches are Gastonia, Second Church, Charlotte ; First Church, Asheville, and First Church, Charlotte, and their gifts last year amounted to $6,458, more than any one of 70 Pres- byteries or of 5 Synods in our Assembly. The First Church, Charlotte, for so long under the teaching and example of that grand preacher and eloquent advocate of foreign missions, Rev. A. W. Miller, D. D., who organized, as far as I know, the first Gentleman's Missionary Society in our General Assembly, gave PRESBYSERY OF MECKLENBURG. 1 9 nearly $3,000 last year for foreign missions, which makes that church easily the banner foreign mission church in our General Assembly. With such an array of facts before us, surely it can never be said that an earnest, aggressive home mission policy has in the least damaged the great cause of foreign mis- sions in the Presb) tery of Mecklenburg. So far from this being true foreign missions, education and every other department of church service have grown and flourished through the abundant life and energy of our home mission work. And this, it would seem, must be the natural and necessary result in every Presbytery and Synod of our General Assembly. Home missions, therefore, have not been over done in the Presbytery of Mecklenburg, and are not likely to be over done anywhere. CHAPTER VI. THE GROWTH OF THE PRESBYTERY AS A WHOLE IN TWENTY-THREE YEARS. By comparing the statistics of 1870 and 1892 it will be evident that there has been a constant growth in the Presbytery along every line of church work. Then (1870) there were 23 ministers, 38 churches, 1524 Sabbath-school pupils, 3376 church members; owning church property valued at about $80,000 and paying annually about $19,000 for pastors' salaries and all other purposes. Now (1892) there are 35 ministers, 75 churches, 3 chapels, 418 1 Sabbath-school pupils, 7454 members, owning church and manse property worth at least $225,000, and giving annually for pastors' salaries and other purposes not less than $65,000. Then we had five candidates for the minis- try ; now we have twenty-one candidates. Then all our churches received about 100 members annually on profession of faith ; now they receive from 300 to 500 members. Then there was not a church in the 20 HOME MISSION WORK OF THE Presbytery which owned a manse , now there are 25 churches which furnish homes for their ministers. Then we had only one church in Asheville with 60 Sabbath-school pupils, 83 members, and owning church property worth about $2,000, and paying annually about $2, 100 for all purposes. To-day we have in Asheville 3 churches, (2 white and 1 colored) with 385 Sabbath-school pupils and 360 members, contributing annually not less than $8,000 for all pur- poses, and owning church property worth about $45,000. Then we had only one church in Charlotte with 260 members, 330 Sabbath-school pupils, receiv- ing the year previous 1 1 members on examination and 15 on certificate, owning church property valued at $30,000 and contributing each year about $8,500* for all purposes. Now we have 3 regularly organized churches in Charlotte with 700 Sabbath- school pupils, and more than 1, 200 members, receiving annually from 150 to 200 members on examination and certificate, owning 3 church buildings, 2 chapels and 2 manses valued at $100,000 and contributing to all objects about $27,000 annually. From the above facts it is evident that there has been a net gain in the Presbytery in 23 years of 35 churches, 25 manses, 2,675 Sabbath-school pupils, $145,000 worth of church property, more than 4,000 church members and $46,000 in annual contributions for church purposes. At this rate of progress for the next twenty years there will be 100 churches, 50 manses and 10,000 members of the Presbyterian, church within the present limits of the Presbytery of Mecklenburg. And why should not the progress be even greater ? With railways penetrating almost every part of our large territory both east and west, with 4,000 more members, twice as many self-support- ing churches and more than three times as many young men coming forward to preach the gospel as- PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. 21 we had in 1870, why should we be satisfied with the past rate of progress? CHAPTER VII. THE PLAN OF THE PRESBYTERY BY WHICH SUCH RESULTS HAVE BEEN SECURED. 1 . At its first meeting the new Presbytery appointed a large and enthusiastic committee of home missions with Rev. G. D. Parks as chairman, whose praise, for missionary zeal, is in all the churches. This devoted servant of the Presbytery, and Col. John L. Brown, of Charlotte, no less faithful to this great interest of the church, have been members of this committee from the organization of the Presbytery until the present time. These gentlemen with others, minis- ters, elders and deacons, have rendered long, self- denying- and invaluable service to the Presbytery, and .have had their reward as they have witnessed from year to year the abundant success of the work com- mitted to their hands. 2. It was made a standing rule of the Presbytery that full reports should be made by this committee to the Presbytery at both its spring and fall sessions, ■detailing the work done in the past six months and outlining the work to be done for the next year. And it was further made a standing rule that this re- port on home missions, which really marked the advance or decline of the Presbytery in every great interest, should not be read at the close of the session, when there was neither time nor inclination to give that consideration which the subject deserved, but should be read invariably at 1 1 a. m. on the second day of each regular session of Presbytery. In this way it was never slighted, but given the place of honor which it has held for twenty-three years, and no subject has served to elicit such general interest on the part of ministers and elders and people as the cause of home missions. 22 HOME MISSION WORK OF THE 3. At each fall session Presbytery decided what amount of missionary work should be undertaken during the year, and what sum of money would be necessary to sustain this work. This amount was- then apportioned among the churches, and at the following spring meeting inquiry was publicly made as to how many churches had raised their apportion- ments. This plan has been, on the whole, so suc- cessful that not a missionary of the Presbytery, in the twenty-three years of her history, has failed to receive in full the amount promised, and for some years past they have been receiving their salaries at the close of each quarter. Some Presbyteries do not distribute a definite sum among their churches to be raised within a definite time, and insist upon every church, strong and weak alike, collecting this sum, and consequently their finances are in confusion and their promises to their missionaries are too often unfulfilled. 4. Many of the pastors of this Presbytery have made full proof of their ministry as evangelists in ter- ritory adjacent to their charges. Such was their conception of ministerial fidelity that they were not content to preach once or even twice on Sabbath in the old established church. They went out on Sabbath evenings to neglected places in town and country, and there organized Sabbath schools, established preaching stations, built chapels and cultivated these missions with such zeal and care that already at least ten of these mission stations have grown into churches. Bank's Church, Matthews, Stevens, Mulberry, Wil- liams, Cooks, Huntersville, Amity, Robinson, Iron- ton, Brevard, Lowell, Belmont, Gastonia, and per- haps other churches, with a membership of at least 1,200, are the fruits of evangelistic service on the part of zealous, faithful, pastors, who count not the cost of time or labor or sacrifice in their Master's work. With this record before us, let us stop to make this inquiry : There are more than one hundred active PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. 23 ministers in the Synod of North Carolina, and about twelve hundred in the Southern Presbyterian Church, now suppose that each one of these ministers would establish one or more missions in connection with his regular charge, how long until fifty new churches would be organized in ihe Synod ol North Carolina, and five hundred new churches in our General As- sembly? And how long, under such an aggressive policy, until thousands who now never attend our churches would be won for Christ and Presbyterian- ism ? Let the record of this Presbytery answer that question, 5. The Presbytery, through its committee of home missions, has frequently arranged for a summer cam- paign by which a protracted meeting was held, not only in all vacant churches, but in every church, sup- ported in part by the funds of the Presbytery. The wisdom of such a plan is self-evident. Many of these mission churches are weak in numbers and resources, discouraged by deaths and removals, far removed from other churches of our faith and order, and often vacant for months, and sometimes for years, therefore the annual protracted meeting in such churches is looked forward to by parents and children, old and young, with an interest and a delight which stronger churches with regular service cannot fully understand. And the results of such meetings are always benefi- cial. These feeble churches are saved from extinc- tion, their membership is often doubled in a single meeting, they become enthused with a new life and arise and build new houses of worship, and from the membership of such churches we often secure many of our most valuable candidates for the gospel minis- try. For a Presbytery to adjourn at its regular spring meeting and not provide for such a summer campaign, fixing as far as possible times and places and ministers for such meetings is a great mistake. This is the one great opportunity of the year for 24 HOME MISSION WORK OF THE combining the entire force of the Presbytery in one master effort of aggressive work. 6. All the foregoing plans have proven valuable in the Presbytery, but not one nor all of them combined enabled the Presbytery to dispense with the evangel- ist. Early in the history of the Presbytery this Scrip- tural officer was employed to lay foundations in Union and Anson counties, where to-day we have not less than ten active, growing churches as the fruit of evangelistic work. New churches have been organ- ized, and old and decaying churches have been filled with new life and energy. Rev. Arnold W. Miller, D. D., lately called away from the church on earth, spent his vacations for twenty-five years or more as evangelist in our mountain country, and the good accomplished by him in visiting from house to house, in long journeys to the most inaccessible parts of the country, in distributing sound religious literature and in preaching the gospel, can never be known in full until the secrets of eternity are revealed. Other faithful evangelists made their homes in this region of country, and through their self-denying labors churches and manses have been built, new churches organized, and several hundred souls won for Christ. About one year ago Rev. Jonas Barclay was elected evangelist, and was located in Union and Anson counties, with headquarters at Polkton. And already the Presbytery is rejoicing in the precious fruits of his labors. One house of worship has been b .iilt at a cost of about $600; three elders and three deacons have been elected, and two new churches have been organized in communities where our church was recently almost entirely unknown. CHAPTER VIII. A NEW PRESBYTERY. The history of the 'home mission work of this Presbytery would probably be incomplete without PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. ^5 touching upon the possibility of organizing a new Presbytery from this Presbytery at no very distant day. In 1869 Concord Presbytery consisted of 44 ministers, 69 churches and 6, 545 members, and such was its large extent of territory, and in consequence, such was the distance which must be traveled twice a year to attend the meetings of the Presbytery, that after mature deliberation, a division into two Presby- teries, to be known as Concord and Mecklenburg was finally determined upon. And such has been the constant and substantial growth of both Presbyteries that none can be found who will to day seriously question the wisdom of this division. At that time Concord Presbytery had about 17 ministers, 32 churches, and 3159 members, whilst it now (1892) numbers 26 ministers, 49 churches and 4,669 mem- bers. Mecklenburg Presbytery, at this division, was given 23 ministers, 38 churches and 3, 376 members, and reported to the last Assembly 35 ministers, 73 churches and 7,454 members, thus giving a total in the two Presbyteries of 61 ministers to-day against 44 in 1869, of 122 churches against 70, and 12,123 members against 6,545. In other words, the two Presbyteries combined represent a gain in 23 years of about 50 per cent, in ministers, 70 per cent, in churches and almost 100 per cent, in church mem- bers. And now, Mecklenburg Presbytery having today more churches and nearly 1,000 more mem- bers than the mother Presbytery before division, may we not confidently hope to see a new Presbytery formed out of the western counties of this Presbytery? It may be some years yet before this division can be judiciously made on account of the small number of self-sustaining churches in that part of the Presbytery. If the Blue* Ridge was made the dividing line there would then be seven counties in the old or eastern Presbytery, as follows: Anson, Union, Mecklenburg, Gaston, Lincoln, Rutherford and Polk, and the 26 HOME MISSION WORK OF THE Presbytery would consist of about 26 ministers, 85 churches and 6,500 members. Whilst the new or western Presbytery would embrace eleven counties, as follows: Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania, Haywood, Madison, Jackson, Macon, Swain, Graham, Clay and Cherokee, and would consist of 9 or 10 ministers (supposing the churches to be suppiled), 17 churches and about 1,000 members. It will thus be seen that as to strength and extent of missionary territory, this would be a very unequal division. But this difficulty could be remedied by the mother Presbytery stipulating at the time of division to pay to the new Presbytery a certain per cent, of her home mission, educational and commissioner's fund. This plan could be tried for five or ten years and if it proved unsatisfactory, then the new Pre-bytery could be dissolved and its minis ers and churches return to Mecklenburg Presbytery. This new Presbytery would not be large, but it must be borne in mind that it would be as large or larger in ministers and members than the following Presbyteries of our General Assembly, viz.: Pine Bluff, Washburne Muhlenburg, Chicasaw, and Louisiana. The ad- vantages of such a Presbytery would be many. 1. Our Elders in the mountain country who now seldom attend Presbytery on account of distance and expense could then attend frequently and their inter- est in the work of the Presbytery would thereby be greatly increased. 2. Our churches in the mountain country, which very seldom have the pleasure of a meeting of Pres- bytery among them, would then have two regular meetings each year, and such meetings are indispen- sable for the edification of our own people, and the removal of wrong impressions on the part of others. 3. A new Presbytery with headquarters in the heart of this mountain country could more easily acquaint itself with the condition of every church in PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. 2? its bounds, and thus would be more likely to guard and promote their interests than a Presbytery whose Committee of Missions was located in Charlotte, 150 or 200 miles distant. How few men in Mecklenburg Presbytery have ever been in Clay, Graham, Cherokee or Madison Counties? The writer of these lines after seventeen years of service in the Presbytery has to confess that he was never in one of these four counties, and yet they contain a population of over 35,00c souls, When will the Presbytery as now constituted ever become acquainted with this vast region which it never visits, and can not visit except with very great inconvenience and expense ? But how different ►the conditions with a Presbytery on the ground and not more than fifty miles from the center to its utmost extreme. 4. One of the greatest difficulties in our home mission work in this part of the Presbytery has been the very slow progress of many of the churches towards self-support. And now would not the setting up of a new Presbytery, laying upon the ministers, elders and churches the responsibility of self-govern- ment, the management of their own home mission, foreign mission, and educational work, serve to greatly develope their latent powers of self-support ? This is the natural tendency in all lands, at home and abroad, and why should this favored section prove an exception to the general rule? Could not the Synod of North Carolina aid in the erection and support of this new Presbytery in the extreme west, as it has so generously and successfully done in the case of the new Presbytery of Albemarle in the far east ? CHAPTER IX. PRESBYTERIAN STATISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES ANI> IN THE WORLD. For the information of our Presbyterian people who- HOME MISSION WORK OF THE have not access to sources of authority, I submit a few general statistics so that they may know some- thing of the strength of Presbyterianism in this and other lands. THE SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. This church was organized in 1S61, and consisted originally of 10 Synods, 47 Presbyteries, 700 minis- ters, 1000 churches, and 75,000 communicants, about 10,000 of whom belonged to the African race. To day, thirty-two yearsafter its organization, it consists of 13 Synods, 72 Presbyteries, 1 , 239 ministers, nearly 500 candidates and licentiates, 2,572 churches and 182,516 communicants. Last year about 100 new churches were organized and more than 11,000 mem- bers were received on profession of faith in Christ. The population of the United States has in the last thirty years increased 60 per cent., and the Southern Church more than 130 per cent. PRESBYTERIANISM IN THE UNITED STATES. How feeble its beginnings in some of our great cities, and how strong, confident and aggressive to- day ! On the 23d day of January, 1707, in New York City, Rev. Join Hampton and Rev. Frances MaKe- mie. Presbyterian ministers, were imprisoned for the offense of preaching the gospel in a private house by order of Lord Corn bury, a representative of the British government and the established church of England. To-day, in New York and Brooklyn, in a single branch of the Presbyterian church, there are about 100 churches, 235 ministers, 31,000 Sabbath school pupils, and 41,500 church members, giving annually more than § 1.000,000 for the support of the gospel at home and abroad. In Philadelphia, the metropolis of Presbyterianism in this country, there has been a steady growth for PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. 2 9 . the last century. In 1800 there were 4 churches with 500 members in a population of 70,000, or one Presbyterian to 140 ot the population. In 1850 there were 37 churches with 1 1,000 communicants in a population of 408,000, or 1 Presbyterian to every 37 of the population. Whilst in 1883, in all branches of the Presbyterian church, there were 112 churches, 42,000 communicants, in a population of 800,000, or 1 to every 19 of population. The first Presbyterian church in this country* was organized about the year 1700. The first Presbytery was formed in 1705, and consisted of 7 members, 4 of whom were from Ireland, 2 from Scotland, and 1 from New England, and was styled the Presbytery of Philadelphia. To day there are in all the churches 500 Presbyteries in the United States. The first Synod was formed in 1841, and was known as the Synod of Philadelphia, and the first General Assem- bly met in Philadelphia on the 3d Thursday of May, 1789. When that Assembly met it represented 431 churches, 177 ministers and 18,000 communicants. In 1837, J ust before the division into old and new school, it represented 2,856 churches, 2, 140 ministers and 220,557 communicants. In 1887, or 98 years after the formation of the Assembly, there were in the two branches, North and South, 8,672 churches, 6,770 ministers, and 848,233 communicants; whilst to-day (1893) the two churches represent 9,780 churches, 7,560 ministers, 1,012,695 communicants. In 1789 the churches gave less than $1,000 for benevo- lent objects, whilst in 1892 they gave for all purposes $16,000,000. Since 1789 the population of the United States has multiplied fifteen fold, and in the same time the Presbyterian church multiplied fifty fold. To aid in showing the strength of Presbyte- rianism in the United States the following table is- presented : :3o HOME MISSION WORK OF THE HURCHES JNISTERS OMMUNI- CANTS O O Presbyterian, Northern 7,208 6,333 830.179 .Presbyterian, Southern 2,572 1,239 182,516 2,916 1,670 171,609 Presbyterian Cumberland (colored. 500 200 15,000 Presbyterian, Reformed Outch 920 796 109,018 590 592 95,963 116 79 9,346 Presbyterian, Welsh Calvanistic 197 94 10,758 Reformed (German) 54 41 7,650 1,654 902 206,727 Svnod of Christian Reformed 56 60 7,600 Total 16,923 12,142 1,657,579 These different Presbyterian bodies are all steadily increasing and doing a grand work. They are receiv- ing annually more than 100,000 persons on profession and organizing more than 400 new churches, or more than one new church for every day in the year. PRESBYTERIAN1SM THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. Rev. Dr. R. P. Kerr, of Richmond, Va. , after careful study of the " Year Books " of the Methodist and Baptist and other churches, says: ' 4 These statis- tics show that the Presbyterian is by far the largest Protestant church on the globe." The largest Pres- byterian communion in any one country is in the United States, with 1,650,000 communicants. The next largest is in Scotland. A recent writer, Rev. J. H. Davis, Jr., of Virginia, then in Scotland, uses this language: ''The land of Knox is to day and has been since his day the stronghold of Presbyterianism. Scotland is more Presbyterian than England is Epis- copalian, than Germany is Lutheran, than Italy is Roman Catholic, than even Russia, with all its despotism, is Greek. The largest religious denomi- nation in the United States can lay claim to no more than ten per cent, of its christian inhabitants, eighty per cent, of Scottish church members are Presbyte- PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. 31 dan." The simple meaning of this is that where there is one Methodist or Baptist or Episcopalian or Catholic in Scotland there are four Presbyterians. The three principal Presbyterian churches in Scot- land are the Church of Scotland (established), the Free Church and the United Presbyterian church. In these three churches there are 33 Synods, 187 Presbyteries, 3,199 congregations, 3,348 ministers, 529 candidates for the ministry, and 1,098,282 com- municants. As illustrating the strength of Presbyterianism in Scotland, a traveler tells us that in the city of Aber- deen, with a population of 125,000, the Methodists have one church, the Catholics three, the Episcopa- lians none, the Baptists none, and the Presbyterians fifty-two churches. The Presbyterian church of Canada is one of the largest and most influential churches in the Dominion. In 1875 the four Presby- terian churches of Canada were happily united in one General Assembly, and to-day numbers over 1,000 ministers, 1, 769 churches, 698 missions, and 170,000 communicants. The Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church Is Presby terian both in doctrine and in government. In 1740 the great division took place between Calvinists and Arminians in the Methodist body in England, but Welsh Methodists were Calvinists from the beginning. The word Methodist, in the name of this Church, is to be understood as defining not a system of doctrine, but methods of Christian life and work. It is gov- erned by elders and has its Presbyteries, Synods, and General Assembly. It is by far the largest church in Wales and now numbers 1,012 ministers, 1,439 churches and 142,051 communicants. In Ireland, all the Protestant churches are in a minority, but the Presbyterian Church stands foremost in the Province of Ulster, which is by far the strongest Protestant portion of Ireland. The statistics are as follows: 32 HOME MISSION WORK OF THE Roman Catholics, 744,464; Presbyterians, 427,810; Episcopalians, 361,297; Methodists, 40,526; Jews, 276, and all other denominations, 43,374. Prof. Wm. Henry Roberts, D. D., one of the sec- retaries of the Presbyterian Alliance, sends me the following statistics of Presbyterianism throughout the world : Countries. America — United States Canada West Indies Mexico and Central America.. South America Europe, Great Britain— Scotland England Wales Ireland Europe the Continent — Austria proper Bohemia M oravia Hungary Belgium France Germany Holland Italy Russia Spain Switzerland Africa Asia— Japan Persia Missions Australasia— Australia New Hebrides New Zealand 1,700,000 170,000 11,000 6,350 7.500 1,110,000 67.000 143,000 115,000 7,000 20,000 8,000 1,500 140,000 9,000 2,500 23.000 35,000 3,700 19,000 Total.. As will be seen, the table of communicants is in- complete. This can be remedied and the whole num- ber of members of the Presbyterian Church in the world approximated by dividing the number of ad- PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. 33 herents by four. In this way we have an aggregate 5,209,000 communicants in the Presbyterian churches of the world. Dr. Kerr, of Richmond, Va., after thorough study of statistics from all lands, estimates the Baptists of the world at 3,313,026; the Meth- odists at 5,849,371, and the Presbyterians at 8,- 894,546. APPENDIX A. In order to present an intelligent exhibit of the new churches of Mecklenburg Presbytery, the fol- lowing table is added as an appendix, showing name of Church, date of organization, number of elders and deacons, Sabbath-school pupils, number received last year on examination and by certificate, total membership and contributions for one year to all purposes : 34 HOME MISSION WORK OF THE snox^ 180 !3«i*a*3 igsssssssssms lining IIIII|IIIl|l s ililllilla!l|ll«llilil If!lllllllfll4lllllllllfl!ll!llllll w H >< PQ in W o Id w hJ w w u tn u lllllIIIIII PRESBYTERY OF MECKLENBURG. 35 APPENDIX B. Having secured valuable statistics from Rev. George McFarland, D. D., Secretary of the General Assem- bly of Ireland, I give them a place on my last page. There are four Provinces in Ireland with a popula- tion as follows : Leinster 1,187,760 Minister 1,172,402 Ulster 1,619,814 Connaught 724,774 Total 4,704,750 Religious Census of 1891. Leinster Munster Ulster Connaugh Roman Catholics 1,012,007 744,839 1,098,172 692,369 Episcopalians 147,520 362,791 62,722 27,070 Presbvterian and Methodist 20,230 466,773 8.867 4,604 Roman Catholics total 3,547,307 Episcopalians " 600,103 Presbyterians " 444,947 Methodists " 55,500 PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION. Roman Catholics Episcopalians Presbyterians Methodists Other Denominations, 75.4 12.7 9.5 1.2 1.2 PEJCE IJIIIIITE . * * RALEIGH, A/. C. For Young Ladies and Girls. The Great Presbyterian School of North Carolina. Its advantages are first-class in every de- partment. Its terms low. Send for Catalogue to the Principal. JAS. DINWIDDIE, A. M. Univ. of Va. He normal and Collegiate Institute FOR YOUNG WOMEN. Asheville, North Carolina. FOUR SEPARATE COURSES OF STUDY ARE OFFERED TO THE STUDENT. 1. The Normal Course for thorough Training of Teachers. 2. Seminary or Collegiate Course, including Ancient and Modern Languages, Sciences, Music, Drawing, Etc. 3. Commercial Course, including Stenography, Typewriting, Bookkeeping, Etc. 4. Department of Domestic Science, (a) Scientific Cooking. (/>) Sewing — embracing the Cutting and Fitting of Garments, Mil- linery, Etc. The School is divided into two terms : Cost to pupil, $50 per term or $100 per year, which barely covers the expenses of board, the School being practically free, having been provided for by a few liberal friends of female education. For further particulars address Rev. Thomas Lawrence, ASHEVILLE, N. G. DAVIDSON COLLEGE, Davidson, N. C. FACULTY : J. B. Shearer, D. D., LL. D. — Pres. and Prof, of Biblical Ins. W. J. Martin, LL. D. — Vice-Pres. and Professor of Chemistry. W. D. Vinson, M. A.— Professor of Mathematics. W. S. Graves, M. A. — Professor of Latin and French. W. S. Currell, Ph. D.— Professor of English. H. L. Smith, Ph. I).— Professor of Natural Philosophy. C. R. Harding, Ph. D. — Professor of Greek and German. W. L. Lingee, A. B. — Assistant in Mathematics. J. E. Brown, Jr. — Instructor in Gymnasium. A. K Pooe — Vocal Music. COURSES OF STUDY. A regular curriculum is followed in the Freshmen and Sopho- more years. In the Junior and Senior years the University or Elective system is adopted, and twenty-two elections are open to the student, under the guidance and control of the Faculty. The courses are full and thorough, comprising four consecutive years in Latin, Greek, Mathematics and English ; three in Bible, Physics, and Chemistry, and others in proportion. Regular laboratory and practical work is performed by the students in Chemistry, Physics, Mineralogy, Geology, Astronomy and Meteorology. Post-gradu- ate courses, leading to the M. A. degree are given, each year. EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES. The College occupies fourteen buildings, erected at a cost of $120,000. There are students' Laboratories in Quantitative Chemi- cal Analysis, Qualitative Analysis, Physics and Mineralogy. The Cabinet of Minerals embraces 5,000 specimens, the Geological Mu- seum about 6,000 fossils. A week-day Reading Room, a Sunday Reading Room, a large and well selected College Library, three elegantly furnished Literary and Y. M. C. A. Halls, and five Y. M. C. A. and Fraternity Parlors, aid in the literary and social cul- ture of the students. The Y. M. C. A. Association, occupying a large and well-appointed building, erected solely for its own use, numbers seven-eighths of the students, and stands first among s imilar associations in the South. For Catalogue Address the President. Columtiia Tneoioglcal Seminary FACULTY. J. D. Tadlock, D. D., LL. D. Chairman of Faculty and Professor of Church History and Polity. John L. Girardeau, D. D., LL. D. Professor of Polemic and Didactic Theology. Francis K. Beattie, D. D., Ph. D. Librarian and Perkins Professor of Natural Science in con- nection with Revelation and Christian Apologetics. William M. McPheeters, D. I). Professor of Biblical Literature. D. J. Brimm, A. M. Clerk of Faculty and Associate Professor of Biblical Litera- ture. S. C. Byrd, A. M. Tutor in Hebrew. For Catalogue and other information write to the Chairman of Faculty, COLUMBIA, S. C. Union Theological Seminary IN VIRGINIA. The Session opens always on the first Wednesday of September at five p. m. FACULTY. T. E. Peck, D. D., Professor of Systematic Theology. W. W. Moore, D. D., Professor of the Hebrew Language and Literature. C. C. Hersman, D. D. LL. D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Interpretation of the New Testament. T. Cary Johnston, D. D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Polity. , Stuart Kobinson, Professor of the English Bible and Pastoral Theology. To be filled at the next meeting of the Board of Directors. For information about rooms and scholarships, address COL. J. P. FITZGEKALD, Intendant, Farmvidxe, Va. About other matters, catalogues, etc. T. E. PECK, Hampden Sidney, Va.