ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOUTH-WESTERN CONFERENCE.
REV. W. S. ALEXANDER.
New Iberia was the place selected for our Annual Meeting this year, April 3-5, and one more attractive, or more important to the general interests of our work, could not have been chosen. This church was organized in 1866, and has a membership of 117, of which thirty have been received on profession of faith the past year. The population of the city is about 3,000, of whom nearly, if not quite, fifty per cent. are colored.
The South-western Conference is composed of fourteen Congregational churches, of which twelve were represented at our Annual Meeting.
The reports from the churches showed very clearly that the past year had been one of marked activity and spiritual prosperity. Several churches, as the Central, in New Orleans, and St. Mark’s, in Terrebonne, have been blessed with revivals of great power. Other churches have been cutting off dead branches, and putting themselves in condition for better service. In tabulating the reports, I find that the present membership of the churches of our Conference is 806. There have been added on profession during the year (ending April 1st, 1878,) one hundred and thirteen, and four by letter. Forty-seven adults and eighty babies have been baptized.
As I have already spoken of the precious revival in Central Church, in which more than fifty were converted, and the church itself greatly quickened and refreshed, I will not recite the facts again. The church of Brother Clay (one of the veterans and pioneers of Congregationalism in Louisiana), in Terrebonne, has passed through joyful and glorious experiences. The church has been thronged for days and weeks. Mr. Clay said: “I did not know where all the people came from. The church and church-yard were filled with a dense mass of people. It seemed as though they sprung out of the ground.” Night after night the earnest truths of the Gospel were preached, and night after night “mourners” crowded the anxious seats, crying for mercy. The people came from long distances, five and seven miles. God put honor upon His word, and many have been converted, and still the good work goes on. Pastor Clay’s heart is filled with joy and thankfulness.
QUESTIONS DISCUSSED.
Among the topics considered at the Conference were the following:
Revivals: The best method of promoting and conducting them. Education: The demand of the hour; how shall we meet it? Faith: Its nature; how can we secure greater faith? Its joys and its triumphs. What more can we do to reach the people with the Gospel?
These questions were discussed with vigor and interest. Of course, no speeches had been prepared in advance, and I was surprised at the real excellence of the addresses. Mistakes in grammar were sometimes made, and there were not many classical allusions, but the speeches had the true ring, and good will come of them.
PUBLIC SERVICES.
The opening sermon was given by the Moderator, Mr. Alexander, from Matthew 1, 23: “They shall call his name Emmanuel; which being interpreted is, God with us.” It was a great pleasure to speak to such an audience. The church was densely packed, the entry was filled; people took positions under the windows on the outside, and fully one hundred, having sought admission in vain, went reluctantly away. Mr. Hall, of New Orleans, preached the second evening; after which, the Moderator made an address on “Christian Unity,” in the hope of removing or modifying some of the asperities and jealousies existing among the colored churches. The address was received with strong expressions of sympathy. One good old “auntie” said the next day: “Don’t you say anything against that minister. He is trying to build up both sides. He don’t wish to break down anybody.”
ORDINATION.
On Friday evening Mr. Homer Jones, a member of the church at New Iberia, but a resident at Lake Piegneur, having passed a faithful examination before the Conference regarding his Christian experience, his religious belief, and his ability to preach, was ordained as an Evangelist.
Bro. Jones is a warm-hearted Christian, and will make an able and successful minister. He has served the churches faithfully for two years or more without compensation. He owns a small farm of eighteen acres on the shore of the beautiful Lake Piegneur. His worthy wife was for a short time a student in Straight University. He expresses his willingness to leave his beautiful home, and go anywhere, even to Africa, where God may call him.
FAREWELL MEETING.
Friday morning was devoted to a “farewell prayer-meeting.” It was a most tender and impressive scene. As one after another spoke, “the fire burned”; every eye was wet with manly tears, and when the entire Conference rose and joined hands, and they sang or chanted an old refrain, peculiar to themselves, beginning “Good-by, and shake hands,” and we entered into covenant with God and with each other to go forth to another year of labor and self-denial, those dear brethren, in the excess of religious emotion, laughed and cried together. Thus was our meeting of 1878 brought to a close. The good pastor at New Iberia said: “Such a light was never kindled here before.” The Conference adjourned to meet in New Iberia next year, at the call of the Moderator.
Dear brethren of the North, pray for us, and remember that we are trying to hold this distant outpost of the Church, and to extend, in this beautiful and fruitful land, the cherished faith and polity of our fathers.