THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND. JANUARY 15, 1911.
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST TO ASSEMBLE
National Convention of Christian Church to Be Held in Portland Next July.
Tive Thousand Believers in Early Creed to Attend Week's Session.
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Br c. r. SWANDER.
D13CIP1.ES or Christ, as mtrnbin of
tho Christian Church are known
ail over the Northwest, are looking
forward eagerly to Portland. July 4 to
11. lfll. They will wiu by tho train
load. National convention of the
church have about Sooe In attendance.
Peine usually eM In the Middle Weat.
where thla church la vary strong, tho
local attendance ta large. But It ta safe
to aay that attendance at Portland will
be heavier than ever before.
The Christian Church Is one of the
growing rellirloua botites In the North
wml Early etatlatlca are not avail
able. Organized work, such as would
publish reliable statistics, only dates
back a few years. From those at hand
It la gleaned that the rhurrh baa more
than doubled 'ta membership In Ore
icon. Washlnrton and Idaho In the last
five years. The total number of mem
bers In those states la about 40.000.
The first Disciples emigrated to Ore
son In the early '4s. There are still
living In McMinnvllle persons wbo
crossed the plains In 19 41. and who had
born and bred In them the spirit and
principles of the Ilsciples of Christ.
The first Christian Church In Ore
icon sm organized at Pleasant Hill In
August. Hill. This congregation beara
the remarkable and enviable distinc
tion of having; missed meeting: for the
romrounion srrvlce only .two or three
times since Its organisation. Tbe first
church building in the state la still
standing at Kola. It was constructed
In Hit.
For many years the churches of the
Willamette Valley enrt for "annual
meetings" of 10 days or two weeks
each, and enjoyed dally preaching and
fellowship. At one of these meetings,
held In I'allas In June. 1177. an orga
nization was formed for state mission
ary work. Thirty churches were In this
state co-operation, and they began at
once to raise money for state mis
sions The writer has In his posses
sion a portion of a copy of the 1'sciflc
Christian Messenger, edited by T. F.
Campbell. In Monmouth, In which the
organisation Is reported. At a meeting
' of the btate Board In 1ST a commit
tee waa appointed to solicit funds with
which to help buy a location for a
church In Portland. The report of thla
committee shows that $.400 waa sub
scribed outside the city of Portland.
Thus' the pioneers of our missionary
work were wise In recognizing the
strategic Importance of establishing
tbe cause In the city of Portland.
la 111 the reported membership of
the church In Oregon was !. At
the last- state convention there was
reported 15.417. a gain of nearly 0o
per cent In 1 years. The first mis
sionary offering of these churches in
1(7 amounted to 1429.30. The mis
sionary offerlnr last year amounted
to I.1JJ.0S.
The work In the three states of the
Northwest Is similarly organised. The
work Is done through a State Board
which has one officer who devotes his
whole time to the administration of
the work and who Is the correspond
ing secretary, or superintendent of
missions, tiregon ha Its headquarters
in Portland. Davis Errett. of Dalem.
Is president, and -C. K. Swander. of
Portland. Is corresponding secretary.
There are now 120 churches In the
state. Two state evangelists are kept
busy In the f.eld. and 10 different lo
calities receive pastoral support.
West Washington and Kast Wash
ington are organised separately on ac
count of the range of mountains cut
ting the state In two. Of the west
side. U. E. Harmon, a lawyer of Che
hall. Is president, and J. W. Baker,
of Tacoma. Is corresponding secretary.
They have 4 churches in that district.
They keep a man busy In the field
organising churches and building
meeting-houses. East Washington has
for Ita president. V- 8. llornaday. of
Walla Walla, and J. A. Pine, of Bur
bank, for corresponding secretary.
t. .M.w.r, as eons-reaatlonsL
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presided over by A. U Chapman, of
, . v V Janes, of CaldwelL la
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corresponding secretary. They have 1
hurches. North Idaho Is presided
ver by Dr. J. H- Lewis, tit Nes Perce,
ind Oeorge IL Ellis, of Nes Perce. Is
;he correspond Ins; secretary. They
have 14 churrhea.
Portland, the convention city, naa
six
fhorch has a membership of over too, I ever written on American sou.
tst-red to by . r. tteag-er: the I Alexani
..tL with nearlv 400 members, J,
F Ghormley. pastor: Rodney avenue,
with nearly J00 member. Thomaa .
pic ton rmior: Wc-slUwn. about 100
members. Edward Wright, pastor: .
Johns, ahout ISO members. J. R. John
ton, pastor; K.ern J-axk. about 10 mem-
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bers. A. J. Adams, pastor: Bellwood.
about 50 members. E. E. Jones, pastor.
Thomas Campbell, who founded the
church, was a native of Scotland
and a preacher In the Beceder
Church, an. oft-anoot from the Eetab
lished Church of Scotland. Thla church
"was divided Into four branches; all
held the same creed, but each claimed
that It was the true church. Thomaa
Campbell soufht to unlto these bodlee
but failed."
In 107 he visited America on ao
count of 111 health. He located In
Washington County. Pennsylvania. The
people were few and of many reli
gious beliefs. "He Invited all who
felt that they were Christians to oome
to the Lord table, whether they be
longed to the branch of the oburcb to
which he belonged or not. . . He
was accused of heresy and brought to
trial and found guilty. He had In
vited aome people who held the same
creed, but differed in some minute de
tails, to the Holy Supper. . . Be
cause of thla ungenerous treatment he
withdrew from the synod, . . . but
continued to teach and preach as he
found opportunity. He spoke In private
homes, and. In groves when the weather
permitted. Feeling that his position
was somewhat abnormal, he called his
friends together to consider what
should be done. He had no thought of
organlilng a new party. He wished
to put an end to all parties and unite
all Christians upon the Bible as the
only authoritative rule of faith and
practice. It was at that meeting that
Thomaa Campbell proposed as a rule of
action the famous maxim, 'Where the
Scriptures speak, we speak; where the
Scriptures are silent, we are silent.
. w. .. v ..I vmA a form
II was mem uu " . . - - -
the Christian Association of Washlng-
Thle waa not a enure n. out
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Idaho Is also divided into two mis-I ton. This waa not a court". -slonary
societies. The south section is I clety for the promotion of Christian
nv.r br A L. Chapman, of I union.
union.
In this time Thomaa v-ampoeu pre
pared the -Declaration and Address." a
statement of the principles upon which
he proposed to act. Thla has become
an immortal document among Disciples
of Christ, and has been called the
vim.! fharter" of the movement. It
has been regarded aa "one of the great-
rtlano. me rv n iruiiuu cur, lias I naa rrn".
Christian churches. The First i est. If not the very greatest, document
Oamnbell. a son of Thomaa
Campbell, was also born In Ireland, and
reared In the same faith as his father.
He received a thorough classical educa
tion. He became a Christian, and "his
soul was filled with wonder at the
. . ..ti .inn. m.1 e rAnnd hi ill
Catholics, EpiscopaUals. Preeby tertana
at once took hold upon his soul. He
at once threw himself into the cause
which his father had Inaugurated.
During the succeeding years father
and son preached these principles of
the Protestant reformation, the res
toration of the primitive church upon
a basis of "thus salth the Lord." Con
verts were added. Difficulties and per
plexities, trials and tribulations har
assed them on every hand, but still the
cause grew. Gradually the father de
creased while the son increased, until
Alexander was the recognized leader
of the movement.
After a few years, two other move
ments quite similar to this were dis
covered led by Barton W. Stone in
Kentucky and Walter Scott In Ohio. It
was not long until these three move
ments adjusted their slight differences
and united In ..ielr labors. In the
course of time' this movement, which
started simply as a society and not as
a church, was segregated by external
conditions to assume a separate and
distinct existence.
a. in iwn with a. society oi w
"""l""8 .1" . ZL ....H until tO-
memoers mej
day they number nearly one and a halt
millions, with missions In nearly every
country on the globe.
The principles of the Christian
Church are today what they were a
century ago In the beginning of the
movement. They may be cited con
cisely as follows:
1. "The unity which existed In the
New Testament church, and which
Christ prayed might continue to exist.
2. "The rejection of all human
creeds as authoritative and for the
restoration of the Bible, and the Bible
alone, as the only authoritative rule
of faith and of practlve.
3. "The rejection of all party names
In religion and the use of those com
mon names' which suitably describe all
the followers of Christ as Christians,
or disciples of Christ, or churches of
Christ thus giving pre-eminence to
Christ in all things.
4. "The restoration of the New Tes
tament creed or confession of faith J
namely, the old confession- of Simon
Peter on which Jesus said he would
build his church, 'Thou art the, Christ,
the son of the living God."
5. "The restoration of the two ordi
nances of Christianity, baptism and
the Lord's supper, to their original
place and meaning.
6 "The restoration of the New Tes
tament method of evangelization
through the simple preaching of the
gospel of Christ, and the baptizing of
penitent believars, who signify their
willingness to confess the Lord Jesus
and to walk In obedience to hts com
mandments. 7. "The organization of baptized be
lievers into local congregations or
churches which have the right of self
government in all subjects that per
tain to their local welfare with the
two classes of local officers recognized
In the New Testament as bishops or
elders and deacons. .
8 "For the manifestation of the
slpirt of unity by co-operation with
other followers of Christ. ... in
sofar as this may be done without sac
rificing any truth er principle which
Its mission Is to emphasize."
This movement celebrated its centen
nial at Pittsburg, Pa., in 1909 at a
gathering that aggregated nearly 50.
nn i- ti. i o un m communion or
people w.ill assemble In Portland. It
bids fair to De ine isru
ventlon ever assembled in mis i-'i
- nnT t twA months in tnt suo
i inn. ket.h nf "Old Ed" Howe,
af editor of the Atchison' Globe, waa
written by Walt Mason. A few days
since Mr. How retired from the Globe,
giving a half Interest In the concern
to his son, Eugene, who for a time waa
a. reporter on The Oregonlan. and sell
ing the other half to several employes
of the Globe. He made equal provision
In money for his aon Joseph P. Howe,
who waa also an Oregonlan reporter,
and bis daughter, Mateel, recently mar.
rtetl to Dwlght Farnham, of 6eattle.
BT WALT MASON.
It seema probable that the most In
dustrious man In the United States Is
Edgar Watson Howo. editor and pub
lisher of the Atchison Globe, more gen
erally known aa Old Ed Howe.
To be called "old" In Kansas Is not
necessarily' an Indication of a burden
or years; t merely Implies popularity.
When a man has distinguished himself
In a praiseworthy .way. so that bis
lithographed portrait Is In demand and
Infants are named after him, he at once
becomes "old."
Mr. Howe's newspaper la one of the
most prosperous Institutions of Its kind
In the West. It yields him a large in
come and he could easily afford to sit
in gloomy grandeur In a handsomely
appointed office and do nothing but
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boss the hirelings arouuu, oo v
fers to toil In the vineyard. He ap
pears at his office early In the morning
and works until late In the afternoon
and never wastes a minute.
He goes forth upon the street, like
the youngest reporter, and hustles for
local news. He returns to the office
and writes an obituary or chronicles
some new achievement of the town
drunkard, and whatever he writes Is
literature. He has a peculiar, original
way of expressing himself that makes
the most trivial Item Interesting.
When his day's work Is done, he gath
ers up some of his favorite magazines
and newspapers, arid goes to his subur
ban home, and the world sees no more
of him until he appears for duty tha
next morning.
The home In question Is a beautiful
place, commanding a fine view of the
winding Missouri River, and a lot of
landscape that would be hard to beat.
An ordinary man having such a place
would bestow upon It a high-sounding
namt. something ending with "hurst"
or "crest" but Howe christened his
place potato Hill, which fact gives a
small sidelight upon his character. He
has a deep-seated hatred of anything
. ..t..i.itnnfl. Me carries
Jeltersonlan simplicity to extremes In I
hla own life and has little use for tlnk
, 1 n. . kn I.
llllfC I J 111 un."..
He hopes to spend nis aecuninn j -
I In peace and comfort at Potato win-
Peace and comfort do not mean Indo
lence with him. He will have a print
shop down in the basement and will
I publish a quarterly, writing It all him
self and setting the type. That s h s
dream ef bliss. If the quarterly ever is
established It will be the most Inde
pendent publication In the world. It
will be published for the amusement of
the editor, and no win
pleases. He has the Idea that under
such conditions he can discuss many
things which have to be sidestepped by
a newspaper. , ,
About once a year Mr. Howe takes
a vacation. His Idea of a vacation Is
to double the usual amount of work
and do It while traveling. He has been
nround the world, and to all sorts of
out-of-the-way nooks and corners, and
the books he has written about his
wanderings are more interesting than
any of the Goose Girl stories or other
Summer fiction. He has the rare facul
ty of seeing what others overlook.
Ninety-nine men will go Into the
British museum, or a restaurant in
Bombay, or an igloo near Spitsbergen,
and their accounts of what they see
will be almost identical. Ed Howe
visits the same places and overlooks
Ihe obvious and commonplace, and notes
v. vtr. that hasn't been de
iki n it is threadbare. What
v.. ...,. i written in a remarkable
incisive, straightforward style that
can be understood by a child, and which
appeals to the crank on good English.
He writes such good English that he
can take a fall out of grammatical rules
without being rebuked.
He never had any of the education
imparted by the schoools, but being an
omnivorous reader, and having a great
memory, he has piled ul a non-technical
education that enables him to write
wonderfully interesting sketches, treat
ing of all things under the sun. He is,
perhaps, best known for his paragraphs,
which are read everywhere. They are
humorous or cynical or tinged with
gentle satire, and they could be written
only by a man who has read and
thought and observed a great deal.
There Is no writer with a more dis
tinct style than Howe's. It is not an
..imA nr hnrrowed or Invented style:
It came natural to him. He has a cu-
counla of lines he can make a man or
a cause seem ridiculous.
Ha has been a familiar figure in Aicn-
mnr than 20 years. He went
there a young man, with no other as
sets than his tireless Industry, and tha
paper he established was barely large
enough to wrap up S cents' worth of
candy In. He worked day and night
aa an editor, and found time to write a
book that is an American classic, and
others which weec unusually successful.
Now. in his middle age. he Is well-to-do,
but he works as hard as ever, just
for the work's sake.
He is a quiet, polite, unassuming cit
izen who has two great detestations
a drinking man and a lazy man. He
likes to do things for the public good
In his own original way. He has never
presented Atchison with a public drink
ing fountain, but he celebrates the
birthday of his newspaper each year by
engaging the best and biggest band
that can be procured, uu BiuB 4
it came natural to him. He has a cu- I inai . "u 11, h.
Sou's, way of looking, at things. He ; c'""'- n 0." Hue?
nous v j xx ..r ------
,1.. ..mnothl... U'ltVl t 1 0 ITIAfl WhO
uBUHui j - .r
is generally denounced, and roasts the
one who is a popular .idol. If some
public movement gains the applause of
the people, and begins to make head
way, "ha is pretty sure to Jump it. His
favorite weapon Is ridicule, and there
la no one more skillful with it. In &
a .ictcui"'""
tratlng his various voyages 10 s.hhb
places, and he sometimes delivers a lec
ture. In most cases to help some Insti
tution that appeals to him.
He is a public benefactor, and only
asks permission to do his bcnefltlng la
his Own wav