Thirty Years in the Itinerancy

by W. G. Miller

The Pastor was Rev. Delos Hale, who entered the Conference in 1854. He had shirked duty for several years, and had been known as a reliable business man at Summit. But finally, accepting his responsibilities, he was appointed first to Oak Creek, and then West Bend. He was now on his second year, and was in the midst of a revival.

At my visit in the following summer, I attended a Camp-Meeting on grounds a short distance east of the Church. The meeting was largely attended, and many souls were brought into the Kingdom.

I was greatly pleased with my visit to Watertown. The Church I had left in an unfinished condition in 1848, was completed by Rev. David Brooks two years later, when I returned and performed the dedicatory service.

Brother Brooks entered the Rock River Conference in 1844, and was stationed at Dixon, Illinois. On coming to Watertown, he entered upon his work with spirit, and success crowned his efforts. After leaving Watertown, he rendered effective service in the regular work until 1852, when he was elected Agent of the Lawrence University. In 1853 he was appointed Presiding Elder of the Minnesota District, since which time he has continued to labor on both stations and Districts in that field with great acceptability.

Brother Brooks is a man of sterling qualities. Sound in the Faith, circumspect in demeanor, faithful in his work, and true to every interest of the Church, he could not fail to make a good record.

I found Rev. A.C. Huntley the Pastor at Watertown. Brother Huntley entered the traveling connection in Western New York, and came to the Wisconsin Conference by transfer in 1858. He had already held a protracted meeting, and a large number had professed conversion, giving considerable additional strength to the charge. The Church edifice had now become too small to meet the demands of the charge, and Brother Huntley had entered upon the labor of enlargement. In this good work he had not only planned and superintended, but had also put his own hands to the actual labor. He succeeded so well in the enterprise, that he finally decided to make the extension large enough to furnish also a good Parsonage in the rear of the Church edifice. The dedicatory services were conducted by the writer on Saturday, July 16th.

The Brookfield Camp-Meeting was held in the latter part of June. The grove on the farm of Robert Curren, Esq., was secured for a term of years, and through the assistance of Brothers Aplin and Bassett, and the brethren on adjacent charges, it was well fitted up for the purposes of a Camp-Meeting. At this meeting we adopted the plan of making our Camp-Meetings self supporting. Instead of relying upon the brethren in the neighborhood to do all the work and keep open doors for the week, we determined to pay our own bills, and thus permit the good people in the vicinity to enjoy the meeting, as well as those who came from abroad. The change was deemed a great improvement. There was a good show of tents, and the attendance was large. The preaching was excellent, as the good brethren were more intent upon saving souls than ventilating their great sermons. The meeting resulted in the conversion of many souls, while the membership was greatly quickened.

In these latter days the question is sometimes raised, "Of what advantage are these Camp-Meetings, now that we have good Churches in which to worship God?" The question might be answered by another, "Of what advantage is it to have picnics and other excursions in the open air, and pleasant groves, since we have houses to dwell in and restaurants to supply the cravings of the appetite?" The fact is, Camp-Meetings are as thoroughly in harmony with the laws of Philosophy as they are in keeping with the principles of Religion.

To intensify either the mental or spiritual forces, it is necessary to break up, at times, their monotonous habits, and send them off into new channels of thought and feeling. A lesson may be learned in this direction from the picnic excursion. It is not the little ones alone who, relieved of the confinement of the parlor, gambol in half frantic ecstasy, but the sedate matron and the grave sire renew their youth, and in their exhuberance of spirit, join in the recreations with the zest of childhood. The same law obtains in Camp-Meetings. Why not go out into the woods, beneath the spreading branches of the trees, or even under the uncurtained canopy of Heaven, and enjoy a grand unbending of the spirit? With the shackles thrown off that have so long fettered the soul, what a Heaven of felicity there is in its conscious freedom. The eagle, long confined in a cage, after stretching his wings to satisfy himself that he is really free, gambols in the air with an indescribable ecstasy. So there are thousands of Christians shut up in the Churches who are dying for a little spiritual freedom. Their poor souls need a holiday. Let them go out to a good thorough-going Camp-Meeting, and obtain a new lease of life. And in saying this, I am not advocating undue license. I am only pleading for the inalienable rights of a human soul. Such freedom of spirit is entirely consonant with the highest culture and absolute decorum. Communing thus with nature in her purest and most lovely moods, the soul is dwelling in the vestibule of God's own sanctuary. No wonder that prayer and song find such grand perfection in the Camp-Meeting. It is there they find their highest inspiration.

But another advantage of the Camp-Meeting lies in the unbroken chain of religious thought and feeling which it affords. In the ordinary experiences of life, the secular and the religious strongly mingle and intercept each other. But in the tented grove the secular is shut away from the mind, and the religious holds complete mastery. One service follows another, and one religious impulse succeeds another so rapidly that the soul finds no interval for communion with the world. And as the ore, by long tarrying in the furnace, where no breath of cooling currents can reach it, flows as a liquid and is ready to take any form, so the soul, held in hallowed communion with the Divine spirit, is prepared to receive the perfect image of God.