• Preface
• Index
• Chapter I. Adelaide in the Eighteen-Forties
• Chapter II. Pioneers of the Restoration Movement
• Chapter III. The American Evangelists
• Chapter IV. Training Australian Evangelists
• Chapter V. Co-operative Evangelism
• Chapter VI. Evangelistic Union
• Chapter VII. Steady Progress
• Chapter VIII. Floodtide
• Chapter IX. The First World War and After
• Chapter X. Difficult Years
• Chapter XI. That the World May Believe
• Chapter XII. The Child and the Church
• Chapter XIII. For Christ and the Church
• Chapter XIV. Social Aspect of Christianity
• Chapter XV. Women's Part in the Movement
• Chapter XVI. Future of the Movement

      It is our purpose to sketch the main lines of the Restoration Movement in South Australia during the past century. We have refrained from attempting to trace the history of each local Church of Christ. For one thing, the task was too great.

      Then the publication of a complete history would have been very expensive. We have simply tried to follow a movement a growth. It was said through the prophet long ago, "As the days of a tree so shall be the days of my people" (Isaiah 65:22).

      Conditions in the colony in the early days provided a suitable soil for the establishment of the cause. The trunk of the tree was supplied by the pioneers. Sturdy, indeed, was the stock! The roots reached to Great Britain and America, where great leaders helped to nourish the minds of the pioneers and their successors through their literature and correspondence. The branches appear as the story unfolds. Fruit, much of it unto eternal life, has been gathered in abundance, with some exceptional seasons. The sap of the tree is the spirit of intense evangelism, inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is not without reason that the association of churches is still known as "The Churches of Christ Evangelistic Union."

      Churches of Christ have made a big contribution to the religious life of South Australia. The pioneers were as a voice in the wilderness when they first pleaded for Christian union on a New Testament basis. Far and wide to-day the cry is heard to close the ranks of those who profess Christian discipleship. The evangelistic mission of the church is being, recognised generally as never before, for the vital needs of the nation

and the world at large can be met only by the gospel of redemption and resurrection.

      The writer has used his spare hours, snatched from a busy hospital ministry, to gather material and put it into readable form. His service to the Brotherhood, if it has permanent value, is offered as an expression of gratitude to God for the church through which he found Christ. He will be content, as a result, to find his fellow Christians stimulated in applying the message of the church to the new age with increased courage and self-devotion.

      Thanks are due to several brethren who have read the manuscript, offered suggestions, and provided some of the material of the book. C. L. Johnston, A.A.I.S., has kindly prepared the chapter on "The Child and the Church." The writer is alone responsible for any views expressed which are not in the line of the general story.

      Main sources of material: "The British Millennial Harbinger," "The Australian Christian Pioneer," "The Australian Christian Watchman," "The Australian Christian," "Jubilee History of Churches of Christ," "Early Recollections: Sir Joseph Verco," "South Australian Register," and official records. Extracts are acknowledged where they appear in the course of the story.

A
Aird, John, 25, 30.
Adelphian Society, 42.
Alma Church, 34.
American Evangelists, 36-44.
Annual Meetings, 49.
Annual Offering, 66, 71, 72.
Anniversaries, Church, 53, 54.

B
Bader, Jesse, 86.
Balaklava Church, 53.
Baptist Church, 9, 11, 76, 77.
Baptists, Scotch, 9, 11, 14, 17, 18, 23, 24.
Baptism: Significance of, 57, 125.
Barmera Church, 82.
Beulah Road Church, 81.
Berri Church, 82.
Bible College, Adelaide, 45-48.
Blackwood Church, 81.
Black, J. Wycliffe, 86.
Bordertown Circuit, 74.
"British Millennial Harbinger," 12, 15, 18, 25, 26, 28, 38, 42.
Brooker, T. H., 109.
Brooker, W. C. 49, 52, 80.
Broken Hill Church, 62, 63.
Brooklyn Park Church, 82.
Brown, J. T., 72.
Burford, W. H., 24, 27.
Burford, William, 61, 62, 69, 70, 83, 85.
Butler Church, 75.
Burra Church, 30, 31.

C
Campbell, Alexander, 15, 21, 22, 26.
Central Eyre Peninsula, 87, 88.
Chandler-Clay Missions, 80.
Churches in Adelaide (1845), 9-11.
Church Extension Building Fund, 76, 82, 90.
Church Membership, Decline of, 87, 88.
Christian Character, 125.
Christian Endeavour Society, 112, 113.
Christian Fellowship Association, 116.
Christian Rest Home, 91, 115.
Christian Union, 124, 125.
Colbourne, Jesse, 49, 50, 54, 63.
Colonel Light Gardens Church, 82.
Communion, Open or Close, 50-60.
Conference
      Inter-Colonial, 64, 65.
      Sermon, 69.
      Essays, 69.
Cottonville Church, 81.
Croydon Church, 74.

D
Dalkey Church, 53.
Dulwich Church, 74.

E
Earl, Henry S., 36, 39, 43-46, 53.
Edwardstown West Church, 89.
Enterprise Colony, 115.
Evangelists, Semi-Itinerant, 65;
      Training, 45-48;
Evangelists' Fund. Aged, 68, 69.
Evangelism, Co-operative, 49-55.
Evangelism, Personal, 123.
Evangelistic Union, 56-61, 77.
Ewers, D. A., 33, 34, 51, 77-80.
Executive Committee, 90.

F
Federal F.M. Committee, 97.
"Fellowship News," 91.
Flinders Park Church, 82.
Foreign Missions, 66, 93-97.
Forestville Church, 74.
Franklin Street Church
      Chapel, 15-17.
      Thomas Jackson, 12, 18, 19;
      Bishop Murphy, 16;
      Church of Christ, 18;
      Disciples of Christ, 19-22;
      Effect of Gold Rush, 24, 25.
Fullarton Church, 82.

G
Gawler Church, 81.
Girls' Collegiate School, 84, 85.
Glenelg Church, 68.
Gore, T. J., 38-44, 46, 47, 50, 53, 65.
Goolwa Church, 74.
Green, M. Wood, 47, 51, 62, 66, 117.
Griffiths, S. G., 73.
Grote Street Church, 26-28, 43, 44, 85, 86.

H
Haley, J. J., 58.
Hindmarsh Church, 21, 31, 32.
Harkness, Robert, 75.
Harris, W. T. S., 76.
Harward, H. G., 72.
Hinrichsen-Stewart Missions. 81.
Horsell, H. J., 72, 80.
Henley Beach Church, 68.
Hussey, Henry, 21, 32.

J
Jackson, Thomas, 12, 18, 19.

K
Kadina Church, 75.
Kellems-Richards Mission, 81.

L
Lawrie, John, 28, 29.
Lyle, T. S., 21.
League of Five Hundred, 90.

M
Magarey, Thomas, 12, 13, 15, 20, 21, 26, 37, 38.
Magarey, A. T., 47, 65, 96.
Martin, W. H., 51.
Maylands Church, 74.
Men's Movement, 84.
Messent, Philip, 23, 24.
Milang Church, 33.
Missionaries, South Australian, 97.
Mile End Church, 74.
Moonta Church, 75.
Morialta Protestant Children's Homes, 115.
Mount Compass Church, 74.
Mount Gambier Church, 52.
Moysey, G. B., 34, 75.
Murray Bridge Church, 74.
Mutual Ministry, 34, 35.

N
Nailsworth Church, 82.
Naracoorte Church, 52, 74.
Neill, Thomas, 15, 19, 20.
Norwood Church, 44.
North Adelaide Church, 62.

O
Organ Question, 63-65.

P
Pearce, George, 27, 28, 31-33.
Pioneers, Appreciation of, 33, 34.
"Pioneer, Australian Christian," 41, 42.
Pittman, J. C. F., 72.
Pittman, E. W., 72.
Point Stuart Church, 32-33.
Port Adelaide Church, 51-52.
Port Pirie Church, 52, 76, 77, 81.
Preliminary Co-operation Meeting, 49, 50.
Preacher Placement and Advisory Board, 90, 91.
Prospect Church, 68.

Q
Queenstown Church, 51, 52.

R
Rankine, A. C., 44, 69.
Raymond, Roy, 75, 82.
Religious instruction in State Schools, 90.
Religious Liberty, 13, 14, 59.

S
Santo, Philip, 16, 19, 27, 31, 38.
Scott, Captain, 15, 17, 18, 22-24.
Scoville Mission, 73.
Sealholders, 77, 84.
Semaphore Church, 74.
Sisters' Auxiliary Conference, 117-121
Six O'clock Closing, 114, 115.
Smith, H. D., 57, 62, 68.
Social Service, 114, 115, 124.
Statistics, 36, 42, 50, 51, 67, 71, 80, 87.
Stirling East Church, 53.
Strathalbyn Church, 53.
Sunday School and Church, 123, 124.

T
Temperance Reform, 114, 115.
Tent Missions, 71-73, 80, 81.
Training Classes, 47, 48, 108.
Tumby Bay Church, 75, 76.

U
Ungarra Church, 75, 70.
Union Trust Fund, 83, 84.
Unley Church, 61, 62.

V
Verco, James Crabbe, 16, 19, 120.
Verco, Sir Joseph, 17, 27, 28, 62.
Verco, John, 55, 56, 61, 69.
Verco, T. B., 75.
Victor Harbour Church, 89.

W
Walden, G. T, 70.
Wallaroo Church, 75.
Warren, Henry, 24-26, 32.
Western Australian Mission, 64, 65.
Wharton, G. L., 66.
White's Assembly Room, 37, 39.
Williamstown Church, 69.
Whyalla Church, 89.
Willunga Church, 28, 29, 30.
Women and the Church. 66, 67, 117-121.

Y
York Church, 62.
Youth Work, 98-111.

      AT the time when our story opens Adelaide was a town, of between seven and eight thousand people, one-third of the population of the whole colony. Colonel Light had surveyed a city in a delightful situation on the plain between the hills and the gulf, the northern and southern parts, divided by the River Torrens, and the whole surrounded by extensive park lands. In 1845 most of the main streets had taken shape. Hindley Street was the principal place of business, with all the bustle of a flourishing town. There were only 1547 houses in Adelaide in March, 1846. Of these slightly more than half were of stone, some of wood, and the remainder of other materials, generally of "pise," mud built up in frames, hardened by the sun, and afterwards whitewashed. Adelaide had few churches (they increased greatly later), but plenty of public houses, and it is said that morning, noon, and night, they were full, and amidst the jingling of glasses might be heard the adventurous speculator holding forth on the capabilities of his horse or cattle, or showing the favourable position of some town lot he was willing to sell to a "friend." Besides Trinity Church, on North Terrace, another Anglican church had been built in Halifax Street. Roman Catholics met in a church hall, where St. Patrick's now stands, near West Terrace. Presbyterians worshipped in the Scotch Secession Church, Gouger Street (the remains of the building are incorporated in the People's Store), and in the Established Church of Scotland, St. Andrew's, in Grenfell Street. There were several churches adhering to Methodist forms of government and worship, the principal ones being the Wesleyan, in Gawler Place (then known as Freeman Street), Franklin Street, and Kermode Street; and the Methodist New Connexion, in Hobson's Place, near Wright Street. A few years later the present Maughan Church became the headquarters of this Methodist section. Another branch, the Primitive Methodists, had their building in Light Square. The Independents, or Congregationalists, gathered in a chapel in Freeman Street. According to their own historian the Baptist folk experienced several heart-breaking divisions in the early days, chiefly owing to conflicting views on the question of open or closed membership. At the end of the first decade

of the colony the Scotch Baptists were meeting in Franklin Street in a chapel opened in the name of "Church of Christ." This was a close membership church. Others, with different views, met in North Adelaide, under the unpaid ministry of Mr. James Allen, in the first Baptist place of worship erected in South Australia, on a block of land in Bower Street, between Brougham Place and Kermode Street. It was called "Ebenezer Chapel." Another body of Christian people, the Society of Friends, held their services in a weatherboard structure, which still stands behind St. Peter's Cathedral, where interested visitors may see a little bit of century-old Adelaide.

      Clearings had been made among the timber beyond the confines of the city and little homes erected by the pioneers. The writer was told by one of them how, as a little girl, her feet hurried along the beaten path through the scrub to her home beyond the park lands, fearful lest the blacks might molest her. The park lands had much the appearance of English parks, the main difference being in the heavy timber, which consisted mostly of white gums. Settlers have written of the abundance of native flowers, those of yellow shades preponderating, the mimosa or yellow wattle and the acacias, lupin, daisies, buttercups, sweet peas, hyacinths, narcissi, and various bulbs.

      Villages sprang up a few miles from the city, proper--MacGill (Magill), Payneham, Mitcham, and Hindmarsh. Handsome gum trees lined the banks of the River Torrens, which was a chain of pools, and became the favorite resort of countless hosts of parrots, their constant chattering filling the air and their gay plumage sparkling in the sun.

      In the spring of 1845 a young man, Thomas Magarey, landed at McLaren's Wharf, Port Adelaide, from Nelson, New Zealand. Seeds of the Restoration Movement in Australia were first sown by this gifted young Irish business man. He was born on February 25th, 1825, in the north of Ireland, but spent most of his youth in the English county of Lancashire. With his elder brother he migrated to New Zealand in 1841, settling in the Nelson district. Here he came under the influence of the teaching of Thomas Jackson, who arrived in Nelson in 1843, bringing with him the principles which were slowly being accepted in various parts of the mother country. Thomas Jackson was of the stuff of which religious reformers and pioneers are made. Writing to the editor of the "British Millennial Harbinger" in August 1844, he said: "When I arrived there was not one Christian disciple to be found in this part of the island, and I am much persecuted for assuming such a name. It is with great pleasure that I have to impart the gratifying intelligence that I have tried to plant in that place a small congregation according to apostolic order. On March 2nd, 1844, I preached the same gospel that Peter did at Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. I have baptized the house of Thomas Butler and this makes us five in number."

      Another letter, dated January 4th, 1846, from the three elders of the infant church, including Thomas Jackson, informed the British brethren that the number of disciples in Nelson had increased to sixteen. The letter continues: "This does not include one brother who left some time ago for South Australia, who, we hope, may be useful in promoting the truth as it is in Jesus." Thus Thomas Magarey is linked with the cause in our sister dominion a century ago. What brought the young man who had barely attained his majority to the distant and little known colony of South Australia? Maybe there was something in him of the adventurer. Youth likes to leap into the unknown.

      However, we can be sure that he saw economic opportunities here which were not offering in New Zealand. In and around the tiny settlement of Nelson settlers were glad to work for two shillings a day. Some were leaving for other parts. It is more than likely that Magarey's interest in milling turned his eyes in the direction of South Australia. Not long since John Ridley had invented a reaping machine which overcame the difficulty of handling the harvests from the continually extending wheat lands in the neighbourhood of Adelaide. He also established a steam driven flour mill at Hindmarsh. Small shipments of wheat and flour were sent to New Zealand to open up new markets for surplus production, and the quality was such as to suggest possibilities of advancement to an ambitious young business man.

      The minds of the colonists in the land where Thomas Magarey chose to make his home were open to new religious ideas. There was a love of independence and a desire for freedom of thought untrammelled by custom and State interference. The wide open spaces of virgin land had something

to do with the development of this spirit. Shiploads of German settlers, seeking religious liberty, had arrived within the first few years of the colony's history. They were established on the banks of the River Torrens in the village of Klemzig, named after the German town from which Pastor Kavel had led his flock to the land where freedom of conscience was promised. Another German colony was established in the Mount Lofty ranges at Hahndorf, to which Captain Hahn, of the ship which brought them out, gave his name. These group migrations were due to attempts on the part of the Prussian government to force on the Lutherans a form of worship of which many of them disapproved. George Fife Angas, the father of South Australia, and a prominent Baptist, promoted the movement and settlement of these splendid people. Religious freedom in the colony was endangered by the persistent efforts of some of the early Governors, notably Governor Robe, who took over from Governor Grey in 1846, to give State aid for religion. The new Governor was a high churchman and felt no sympathy towards the pioneers who did not desire an Established Church in their adopted, country. It was argued by the advocates of State aid that it was necessary to use public funds in order to build up a Christian community. Others just as strenuously stood for the voluntary principle because the Church and the State were two distinct spheres. Governor Robe took the initiative and secured from his Council their approval of State aid. He said, "Apportioning of Government aid among the different sects of professing Christians is a matter of some difficulty, but it is not, I trust, insurmountable." Petition and counter petition were submitted to the Governor. He remained obdurate. A league was formed for the "maintenance of religious liberty in the province," and the members asserted that Government aid corrupted religion, made it formal, and interfered with the right of conscience, for no individual should be compelled to support teaching which he disapproved. Some £900 was paid over to the churches the first half year. The coming of a new Governor (Sir Henry Young), a broad-minded church man, gave more political freedom, and the colonists were allowed the main voice in the election of the Legislative Council. At the first meeting of the legislators a Bill for the continuance of State aid was thrown out. In South Australia, as indeed, in the whole of the Commonwealth, the Restoration Movement has never had to contend with the conservative spirit in the religious life which has imposed such an obstacle to progress in the old world.

      First-hand knowledge of the earliest religions experiences of Thomas Magarey in Adelaide is found in a letter he wrote

to William Wallis the editor of the "British Millennial Harbinger" on August 10th, 1847. It runs as follows:--

      "Beloved Brother Wallis: May favour, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. In a letter from an entire stranger some explanation seems necessary. I was received some time ago into the church in New Zealand by immersion for the remission of sins, having been in this colony" (South Australia) "nearly two years. I am in connection with a congregation professing New Testament principles, led in part by means of your valuable 'Messenger' to discard sectarian names, taking the New Testament alone as their standard and guide. For a time baptism for the remission of sins was the stumbling block, it being admitted only in a formal sense. A free discussion has been conducted in the most brotherly manner. Bro. Campbell's essay on the Remission of Sins, sent by you to this country, has been received and produced its usual effects. A fortnight ago one was immersed, a presage, we hope, of a rich and abundant harvest. Verily the harvest is great but the reapers are few and illiterate. We shall pray to the Lord to send more and well-instructed labourers into this field. Two young females have since been added to our number. T. MAJANY" (mistake for "MAGAREY").

      The story of the first two years is somewhat clouded in obscurity and some historical imagination is needed to picture what may reasonably he supposed to have taken place as the new ideas were disseminated among the members of the little church of Scotch Baptists. They met in a mud cottage in Morphett Street until January 4th, 1846, when the congregation moved into a stone building in Franklin Street, just west of the Maughan church. In the "Adelaide Register" of January 7th, 1846, there is a brief report of the opening of the new building: "The body of Christians, commonly known as Scotch Baptists, but who eschewing all denominational badges of distinction, call themselves merely the Church of Christ, and whose retiring and unostentatious habits occasioned the absence of even the ordinary publicity which is expected upon such an event as the opening of a new place of worship, especially as affording to strangers an opportunity of informing themselves as to the peculiar views and mode of worship intended to be identical with the place of assembly, opened their new place of worship for the first time on Sunday last, the 4th inst. After the breaking of bread, for which purpose they meet every Lord's Day morning, Captain Scott delivered an interesting discourse from 1 Sam. 7:12, 'Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.' The afternoon service was conducted by Mr. Neale" (Thomas Neill), "who preached from 1 Peter 2:4: 'To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious.' And as there was no evening service, this closed for the day the simple but interesting public worship of this quiet body of professing Christians. The building which is substantial but plain is capable of holding about 100 hearers and

cost £65, and being paid for previous to the opening (a circumstance almost unprecedented in the annals of chapel building even in this colony, where Christian liberality has been evidenced in so many remarkable instances) there was no collection. As begging was excluded there was no boasting about money matters or any parade to 'get steam up,' a trick too often resorted to by those who ought to give freely as they have received without the aid of unsanctified stimulants."

      Sir Joseph Verco, in his "Early Recollections," tells us that the little chapel was built of Glen Osmond or Dry Creek stone (as it was then called), and roofed with slate. Philip Santo was the carpenter and James C. Verco the mason, who also did the roofing. Mr. Angas, of the South Australian Company, owned an acre in Franklin Street and put it up for sale. Bishop Murphy, Roman Catholic ecclesiastic, bought one-third, Mr. Amos Armour, another one-third, and the Church of Christ the remainder, and built their meeting-place upon it, as they supposed. But after this had been done, on examining the title deed it was discovered that the chapel had been erected on the part purchased by Bishop Murphy. "Here," Sir Joseph wrote, "was a dreadful dilemma! What was to be done? The only course was to interview the R. C. ecclesiastic and tell him the simple facts and hear what he had to say. This they did in some fear and trembling. They laid the whole matter before him, and he not only received them very courteously but to their gratification and almost their surprise he entered quite pleasantly into their difficulty, told them they were at liberty to worship there according to their own tenets as long as he did not want the land, and if at any time they wished to remove the building they were perfectly free to do so without let or hindrance from him. When in 1856 the chapel in Grote Street was erected, the little chapel was taken down and with its materials the vestries of the Grote Street chapel were built." Sir Joseph added, "Ever afterwards they had a soft place in their hearts for Bishop Murphy." The seats removed from the Franklin Street building were placed in the vestry of Grote Street chapel and on the platform.

      The author of the articles appearing in the "Australian Christian" in 1898 tells us that the Franklin Street chapel had no vestries, nor was there a baptistery. All baptisms in the very early days took place in the River Torrens. "Those who belong to the present generation," he wrote, "can just recall the little stone edifice, its central aisle, with the row of railed forms on either side; its candles fixed in small tin candlesticks projected by a plain wire bracket from the walls, and can remember how their mothers sat just within the door on summer evenings to

listen to the discourse and at the same time to watch the children as they played in 'the acre' with the tethered goats."

      Seeing that the chapel in Franklin Street was opened three or four months after the arrival in the colony of Thomas Magarey and he was not received into fellowship for eighteen months, some other influence must also have been at work among the Scotch Baptist folk. Younger men in the church had been dissatisfied with the rigid Calvinistic teaching of Captain Scott and his followers. The coming of Magarey strengthened their hands. When the new chapel was built, it was opened in the name of "Church of Christ." By the time he wrote his first letter to William Wallis his "unorthodox views" no longer debarred him from fellowship, and he could report, "I am in connection with a congregation professing New Testament principles," having been led "to discard sectarian names and connections, and taking the New Testament alone as their standard and guide." As we shall see all the matters under discussion had not been completely settled at this stage, and the preponderating influence until the arrival of Thomas Jackson was Scotch Baptist.

      Some knowledge of the Scotch Baptists will be necessary to show the kind of soil into which the seeds of the Restoration Movement were sown by zealous teachers and disputants. David McLaren, the first manager of the South Australian Company, was the father of Alexander McLaren, the famous Baptist preacher of Manchester, England. Much of the success of the Company in the early days is due to his practical common sense and buoyant faith. He was a Scotch Baptist and an "excellent preacher," and until his return to England in 1841 was the backbone of the congregation. Captain Scott, who lived at Port Adelaide, then assumed the position of leader. The Scotch Baptists were highly Calvinistic, standing for divine election, foreordination, and the final perseverance of the saints, or "once saved always saved." They contended that the direct operation of the Holy Spirit, i.e., action of the Holy Spirit apart from the word of God, as well as the acceptance of the gospel, produced faith in Jesus Christ, and that as soon as the sinner believed he received the Holy Spirit, was born again, and entered the family of God. Immersion simply set the seal upon what had already taken place between the sinner and his Lord. Most of the little church who worshipped in the mud cottage adhered to the views of Captain Scott. As the church grew by the addition of newcomers, some leaned to the opinion of a salvation free to all and the word of God as the instrument of the Spirit in conversion: and pardon, sonship, and the indwelling--Spirit as the promises given to those who received

the gospel by faith, repentance, and immersion. Those who were dissatisfied with the Calvinism of Captain Scott eventually sought freedom of thought elsewhere. Thomas Playford, a recent arrival from England, had formed a new church called the "Christian Church," professing New Testament principles, which met in a building in Hindley Street, close to the site of the present Theatre Royal, and once used by the Wesleyan Methodists. Among those who broke away from the cottage church and associated with this group were Messrs. Neill, Santo, Jones, and Verco. They soon discovered that Mr. Playford advocated open membership and returned to the Scotch Baptists.

      The arrival of Thomas Jackson from New Zealand on December 14th, 1847, altered the complexion of things, and the controversy soon reached an acute stage in the Franklin Street chapel. Thomas Jackson may be allowed to tell what happened in his own words in a letter to the editor of the "British Millennial Harbinger," written April 4th, 1849. He says:--

      "I expected to find a church here founded on the true principles of Christian union, but my expectations were disappointed. My wife and I applied on the 17th to join the church, but they required a week to examine us. Consequently we appeared on the 24th, when the pastor put the following question to us: 'Do you believe in baptismal regeneration?' I answered, 'We believe that faith in the Son of God, repentance, and baptism are regeneration, and all the regenerated are called to walk in a new life in hope of immortality with the redeemed for ever.' We joined the church by a majority of votes. But it did not stop here; it was the cause of bringing up old discussions amongst them, which ultimately led to the pastor (Captain Scott) and about one-half of the members leaving the church, the whole blame of which was laid to you and Bro. Campbell; yet it would be much better to censure the Holy Spirit than either you or him. We had two or three still left in the church who contended that Paul's sins were all pardoned, and that he knew it to be the case, before Ananias went to him. 1 asked for their testimony, but this they could not give from the Book, and yet they had not the candour to say so. One of these persons, being formerly a deacon, was chosen pastor in place of him who left: but his reign was short. On the 23rd of July, 1848, he collected all his forces to overwhelm our arguments, but it was all in vain. He felt the word of God, the sword of the Spirit, to be too, powerful for him and his party. He gave way, and he and the others who supported him left us in possession of a neat stone chapel. The wooden throne" (the pulpit) "we have cast away, gently turning it out of doors, and filled its place with a table, around which we assemble to show forth the Lord's death on every first day. Glory, be to the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. Our number is thirteen. We meet twice on the Lord's Day and on the Wednesday evening. We want some hymn books, which please send us immediately.

I remain, yours sincerely,

THOMAS JACKSON."

      Several points of historical interest appear in this rather lengthy letter: (a) Admission to the fellowship of the church was

by a vote of the church, (b) the Church of Christ section of the Franklin Street church were charged with teaching that baptism, with other conditions, was for the remission of sins, a serious heresy in the eyes of brethren of Scotch Baptist persuasion (our Baptist brethren to this day have always been shy of what is termed "water salvation," which is a misunderstanding of the real position of Churches of Christ), (c) the "British Millennial Harbinger" and Alexander Campbell's writings played a big part in guiding the thought of the little band of disciples in the remote Australian colony.

      We have seen now from the letter of Thomas Jackson that he and twelve others were left in possession of the Franklin Street chapel in July, 1848. There are no recorded details of what actually occurred during the next twelve months. It is not known how many brethren continued with Thomas Jackson, how long he led his little flock, or what ultimately happened to the ardent restorer of the primitive faith. He simply disappeared from the picture. The Royal South Australian Almanac of 1849 gives us some particulars of the church: "The Church of Christ meeting in Franklin Street is a congregation of immersed believers who meet together oil the first day of the week at 11 o'clock to break bread and read the Scripture, as also for mutual exhortation among the brethren. The evening service for the preaching of the Gospel commences at six o'clock, and there is also an evening service at six o'clock on Wednesday. This body of believers, for the better preservation of peace amongst themselves, and as they believe ill furtherance of the triumph of Jesus Christ, have resolved to substitute the bond of union prescribed by Christ and His apostles in place of the abstract theories of hereditary dogmas of human invention, which they say have nothing to do with the religion of the Son of God."

      It is more than likely that Thomas Jackson left Adelaide within a few months after Scott's defection, and a handful of brethren was all that remained of the original Church of Christ, Philip Santo, Thomas Neill, and James C. Verco forming the nucleus (Philip Santo went to the Burra late in 1849). As we shall see the first-named presided over a morning service when Philip Messent arrived in the colony in 1849 and immediately made his way to the Franklin Street church. Five or six brethren constituted the depleted congregation, and he was not impressed with the service. But in 1850 our feet are on substantial historical ground. An old "Minute Book of the Disciples of Christ assembling for worship, Franklin Street, Adelaide," covers the period from 1850 to the opening of the Grote Street chapel on December 14th, 1856. On the first page of the

minute book a record appears of the organization of the Disciples of Christ (may we not speak of it as the re-organization of the Church of Christ under a new Scriptural name'). The statement reads: "At a meeting held in the house of Brother Thomas Neill, North Terrace, it was resolved that the following persons should meet to attend to the institutions of the Lord's house:--Thomas Neill, Jean Neill, Agnes Neill, James Verco, Ann Verco,--Duke, Joseph Penfold,--Penfold, Joseph Dicks,--Haines,--Brock, Thomas Magarey, Elizabeth Magarey,--Brock, Johanna Isamann,--Smith, Samuel McKay,---McKay, James Magarey, Matthew Ferguson, Betsy Ferguson, Archibald Aird." The next entries were made on June 23^rd "Brother Neill, chosen to preside; Brother Verco, chosen treasurer; Brother Magarey, chosen secretary," and Franklin Street chapel was obtained at the weekly rent of 6 shillings as a place of worship, in which the brethren assembled June 23rd."

      A full and connected story of the next six years is not given, but important events are recorded. We will give them, or the gist of them, in the order of their occurrence:

      1852.

      "Phillip Santo, Sarah Santo, George Pearce, Mary Ann Pearce, Henry Pearce, Amos Armour, Sister Armour, Joseph Oliver, were received on the first day of the week."

      1853.

      Lord's Day evening meetings were begun, and "Brother George Pearce was appointed to speak at these meetings for the period of three months."

      "Resolved that members shall be received by the right hand of fellowship."

      Resolved that Brethren Henry Pearce and James Verco be deacons."

      1854.

      "On resignation of Thomas Neill as president, George Pearce and Thomas Magarey were appointed. Amos Armour replaced James Verco as a deacon."

      November 5^th--"Brother Magarey offered a building at Hindmarsh for the proclamation of the Gospel. The kind offer of Bro. Magarey was accepted, and the Gospel proclaimed in the same, November 12, 1854."

      From November, 1854 to February, 1855, there was an influx of "immersed believers from another church" received into membership. Names: Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Brookman, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Thompson, Jane and Jessie Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, sen., Mr. and Mrs. Warren, and Mr. Ireland.

      Feb. 21, 1855.

      It was "agreed that a Sabbath School be established and that the expense attending same be defrayed by the church. It was also agreed that Brother Andrew Thompson be manager of the school."

      April 4, 1855.

      "Bro. Brookman was appointed to act as secretary."

      "The introduction of strangers to the fellowship of the church was brought under consideration. It was resolved that brethren from distant churches should be referred to the President, who would, if satisfied with their credentials, introduce them to the fellowship of the church, and that brethren who intended to reside permanently here should produce testimonials from the church they had left."

      April 8, 1855.

      "Brother and Sister Lyall" (T. S. Lyle and wife) "from the church at Parang" (Prahran, Vic.) "were introduced by Brother Warren and received into the fellowship of the church."

      April 15, 1855.

      "Bro. and Sister Santo and family were again received into fellowship on their return from England."

      June 3, 1855.

      "Bro. Magarey intimated that those brethren and sisters residing at Hindmarsh had resolved on forming themselves into a church to meet in future in that capacity on the first day of the week in that village, viz., Thomas Magarey, Mrs. Magarey, Miss Elizabeth Magarey, Ellen Mann, Jas. Warren, Mrs. Jas. Warren,--Oliver,--Ireland, Marian Warren."

      June 17, 1855.

      "Henry Hussey, an immersed brother, was received into the fellowship of the church, and handed the following testimonial from Brother Campbell, of Bethany, Virginia, U. S. of America.

Bethany, Virginia, Aug. 14, 1854      

      To our brethren in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom these presents may come, greeting--

      "It gives me pleasure to introduce to your acquaintance and fellowship the bearer, our beloved brother, in the faith and hope of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, Henry Hussey, who, on the confession of his faith in the original Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, was immersed into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and united with the Church of Christ in this place, August 6th. We recommend him to the Lord and to the fellowship of all our brethren in Christ amongst whom his lot may be cast.

(Signed) ALEXANDER CAMPBELL,

One of the elders of the Church of Christ, at Bethany Virginia, U. S. America."

      The church also received the following letter from Alexander Campbell, which has special interest in that it stresses the importance of evangelism:--

Bethany, Virginia, Aug. 14, 1854      

      "To our brethren in Jesus Christ, residing in the city of Adelaide, Australia--May grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord.

      "It has afforded me much pleasure to have heard of your devotion to the truth as it is in Jesus Christ our Lord, by the bearer, our beloved Brother, Henry Hussey, who has spent a few days with us here, and who oil forming our acquaintance was immersed into the faith once delivered to the saints, and 1 trust that he will be with you a co-operant in building up the good cause of original apostolic Christianity in your

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growing city and colony. If the sects around you have the vantage ground in popular prejudice, you have the true vantage ground in having the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as your faith and your law. For your own comfort and growth in grace you need no more. But for your being a light of life in the world, and for the conversion of your contemporaries, you must have the labours of evangelists, men who will devote an enlightened understanding, a zeal according to knowledge, and a benevolent heart, to preaching Jesus the Christ. 'Daily in the temple, and from house to house, they ceased not to preach and teach' (or 'to teach and preach') 'Jesus Christ. The Gospel must be preached, as well as the church must be edified, and grow in grace in order to grow in fruitfulness, as well as in personal holiness and happiness. Preaching, teaching, exhorting in season and out of season, are the great instrumentalities by which Christians in faith, love and hope' (increase) 'in usefulness and happiness. They used to say in good old Scotland and England that God works by means and without means. They made too much of their proverb. God did, indeed, work without means in creating the materials of the universe; in one sense only, that He did not use any pre-existent matter: but He used His Word: 'God said, Let there be light, and light was.' He therefore, did not originally work without means; only in a restricted sense. 'The word of God is living and effectual.' It breaks the rock in atoms, it spreads out the heavens as a curtain, it gives to the ocean its decree, and the winds and the waves obey His mandate. We must, therefore, use the word of the Lord, preach it in season and out of season, that is, on all occasions when good may be done. But, brethren, I need not remind you of your obligations to the Lord. I trust you will find our brother a good accession to your cause, and that you will all strive together for the faith given in charge to us by the holy apostles. I pray that the good Lord may multiply and bless you exceedingly, and that you may be preserved blameless to His everlasting kingdom, and that it may be our glorious destiny to meet together in His heavenly kingdom, where congregations never break up, and Sabbaths never end. In one faith, in one Lord, and in one hope, Your brother,

(Signed) ALEXANDER CAMPBELL,

Church of Christ, Adelaide. Australia.

Favour of Brother Henry Hussey.

      September 27, 1855.

      "Brothers Santo and Brookman were appointed to the office of Presidents."

      November 6, 1855

      "The following brethren and sisters, formerly members of the Baptist Church, under the pastoral charge of Captain Scott, were received into the fellowship of the church, viz., W. H. Burford, Philip Messent, Wm. Pollard, Geo. Hammond, Sisters Mrs. Berry, Mrs. Gall. Mrs. Donaldson, Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Cook, Jane Vincent Sister Pollard, Charlotte Envor (?), Mrs. McLaren." (They came from Zion Chapel, Pulteney Street).

      "The undermentioned members have removed from Adelaide to the new township of Milang, viz., Bro. and Sister Crawford, Brother Geo. Duke, Brother and Sister Pearce. Brother Pearce, sen., Brother and Sister Dewar, Brother and Sister Mann, and Brother and Sister Taylor." (The number of members left in the church roll was 65).

      January 12, 1856.

      "The office of deacon, vacant by the removal of Brother Pearce, sen., to Milang, the church appointed Brother Burford to fill that office."

      Going back to July, 1848, we may trace the future course of the Scotch Baptist leader and his followers. After leaving the church in Franklin Street they used the lodgeroom of Abbott's public house, at the corner of Bower Street and Kermode Street, North Adelaide, for their services. Another larger group of Baptist folk met in a schoolroom on the south side of Kermode Street known as Salem Chapel."

      Information concerning these two groups is gathered from the pen of Philip Messent, who came to South Australia in 1849, and who, after a religious pilgrimage of some six years in search of a church home, ultimately identified himself with the Franklin Street church. Philip Messent went to the Franklin Street chapel on the first Sunday after his arrival. There were five or six brethren at the service, which was so strange that he felt he could not make his spiritual home there. Philip Santo presided.

      When the meeting was over he invited the stranger to his home for dinner. Being, as he said overcautious, he refused, and when he was afterwards misled into thinking that the church in Franklin Street taught baptismal regeneration, he was convinced that he had acted rightly. He attended the services conducted in Salem Chapel, North Adelaide, but owing to the liberality of this group of Baptists in admitting the unbaptized to membership, he subsequently went across the street to the church led by Captain Scott. Another well-known figure in early Church of Christ history, W. H. Burford, soon afterwards joined this body. At the end of 1851 Scott and his followers united with a Baptist Church which met in Zion Chapel, Pulteney Street, where William Pollard, another pioneer of the Restoration Movement, was then in membership. A compromise had been effected between the two groups on the open or close membership question, and it was also agreed that the Lord's Supper should be observed weekly. After a few years there arose some dissatisfaction with the state of affairs at Pulteney Street.

      A conference between brethren in Franklin Street and Pulteney Street paved the way for the return of most of the pilgrims to the original church in 1855, the party strengthened by the inclusion of several men who afterwards took an important place in the life of the Brotherhood. Philip Messent concludes his brief history of this period with the words: "One thing that was singular respecting this church was that the males sat on the left and the females on the right."

      In the early fifties Adelaide was almost an empty town owing to the gold rush to Ballarat, Bendigo, and other goldmining centres in Victoria. It was hardly worth while for any man of energy to remain in the town seeing that there was no business to be done. During the prevalence of the gold mania it is estimated that upwards 20,000 people left the colony. When the gold escorts arrived with huge quantities of the precious metal, the town seethed with excitement, and stirred up more men to try their luck. But gold diggers like every one else must eat and drink. The price of grain soared, and some of the farmers who refused to be stampeded to Victoria, plodded along on their sections and made tidy fortunes in the prosaic business of catering for the needs of the diggers through the sale of the golden grain. Two letters written about this time in 1852 show the effect of the gold rush upon the church. One, evidently a reply to inquiries made by Henry Warren as to the

conditions in the colony for immigration from the British Isles, says:--

      "Your letter reached me at a time of great commercial depression, caused by the desertion of the colony by its male population--they had gone to the gold diggings in the adjacent colony; and as a necessary consequence every other branch of industry in this part was for the time ruined, or very much cramped."

      The other letter, addressed to the editor of "The Millennial Harbinger," describes the effect on the church:--

      "Since you heard from us we have added about fourteen by immersion; we numbered then about seventy members in fellowship with the three churches" (Franklin Street, Willunga, and Burra Burra) "and with every prospect of a speedy increase. Such were our expectations, when they were disappointed by the discovery of gold in the neighbouring colonies. . . . When men are excited about the things of this life, all their thoughts are engaged; they forget for a time that they are accountable beings and will listen to no message from heaven or concerning their salvation. Besides, the majority of our male population were attracted to the diggings. For every two that went, a third was thrown out of his ordinary occupation. At length the greater number of our brethren have had occasion to go, too, and some of our more zealous brethren are now in the neighbourhood of the gold diggings. . . . Our greatest hope is that our brethren may soon be restored to their families, find subsistence in the ordinary course of industry, and may be enabled amongst a settled and contented population to hold forth the Word of Life."

      At the end of the same year Thomas Magarey wrote in a more hopeful strain. After having dragged through their existence as a church until this time, with scarcely enough brethren to conduct the worship, "We have now," he proceeded, "under the blessing of God, enjoyed some months of worldly prosperity, and as the diggings are becoming every day less profitable to individuals, though on the whole more productive, our brethren are gradually returning to their accustomed avocations, thankful for the wealth God has given them, and for the happiness of being re-united to the church and to their families."

      Adverting to the former of the two letters addressed to Henry Warren, Magarey wrote:--

      "We have a wide field of usefulness for you; we have no good public speakers in Adelaide" (i.e., in the church at Franklin Street).

      "Bro. Aird can labour well amongst the Scotch, but is not so intelligible to an English audience; besides, his station is in the country. For myself, the only way I can be useful is in circulating the printed thoughts of others" (he subscribed for 40 copies of the 'Millennial Harbinger' and distributed them among his friends) "having neither the health nor the gifts necessary to a public speaker. . . . Much injury has been done to the cause by the inconsiderate zeal of half informed men, wounds having been made which will take a long time to heal. This church was originally Scotch Baptist, and if you have had any connection

      with this self-righteous people you will know that the most prudent and cautious conduct towards them is required, and even then there is but little hope of saving them from their predestinarian notions. . . . Were I to begin again in Adelaide to advocate a return to the original Gospel, I certainly would not waste my efforts on these obdurate people."

      We learn a little later that Campbell's writings were becoming well known and held in high esteem, with the result that the church members were better informed.

      The first minute book of the Grote Street Church records the steps taken to erect a chapel on a new site. The Minute book is deposited in the Archives, North Terrace, Adelaide. The entry reads: "The church of Christian disciples, meeting in Franklin Street, Adelaide, having Ion, felt the importance of procuring a larger place of meeting,, made two or three efforts to accomplish this object, which were not successful. Brother Magarey, of the church of Hindmarsh, previous to his leaving for England, had placed the sum of £400 in the hands of Bro. H. Hussey to be appropriated for the purpose of building a meeting-house, provided the sum of £800 was raised by the church within a period of two years. At a special meeting of the church, held on Monday, May 26 (1856) for the purpose of determining whether Bro. Magarey's offer should be made available for the purpose for which it was given, it was resolved that the building be proceeded with, and that the building committee

be composed of Brethren Armour, Brookman, H. Hussey, Messent, Santo, and Verco." Amos Armour was appointed treasurer. A block of land was offered in Grote Street by James Verco, 60 x 120 feet, for the sum of £330, and accepted. Trustees of the property were W. H. Burford, A. Brookman, W. Bloor, W. Brooker, W. Pollard, and R. Verco. Br. W. Lines contracted to erect the chapel and a room at the rear for £760. A complete list of the contributors has been preserved, showing how generous were the brethren and sisters and the churches at Hindmarsh and Point Sturt, which also assisted the mother church to build her new home. The chapel was opened on Sunday, December 14th, 1856. The order of the morning service was as usual, and W. H. Burford preached the Gospel at night. An early morning prayer-meeting at 7 o'clock was held to invoke the Divine, blessing. At the time the church roll showed a membership of 78.

      For over ten years the responsibility for the oversight of the Grote Street Church and the platform work fell largely upon a few brethren. In his "Early Recollections," Sir Joseph Verco tells of his impressions of the speakers when he was quite a lad:--

      "W. H. Burford was the deepest thinker of them all. He was a more philosophical speaker than the others, used frequently to take his texts from the Gospel of John, and had a forceful and emphatic manner. But his subject matter was rather above the capacity of the boys. He spoke much longer than the others. So they used to get fired and sleepy under his ministry. . . . Mr. Santo was better liked by the boys because his sermons were shorter and simpler and much more pathetic. He often shed tears which would run down his cheeks and have to be caught in his pocket-handkerchief. Mr. James C. Verco, was also an occasional preacher. He wrote out his sermon in full and read it verbatim to his audience, and not infrequently it ended with the mournful strain of the unconverted, 'The harvest is passing, the summer is ended, and I am not saved.' One man whom they all and always listened to with pleasure and profit was Mr. George Pearce, of Point Sturt, a welcome personality on the Grote Street platform. He had been a Benjamite or Primitive Methodist, and when living at the Burra was regarded as one of the rising young men in that denomination. He was certainly a naturally gifted man. He had a remarkable memory and so had a mind stored with historical and scientific facts, and with the doctrine and incidents found in the word of God, his addresses to the church were quite original, full of information of various kinds, well and simply constructed, never aggressive, or tending to excite unnecessary prejudice, and clothed in telling and accurate diction. He had had little or no training from any master and was almost wholly self-taught. He simply stood before his audience with his eyes closed, and only occasionally looked out of them between scarcely separated lids. His pronunciation of foreign proper names was as they were spelt, and seldom as they were rendered by the learned. 'So-crates' was a word of two syllables, instead of three. 'Themistocles' became a word 'Themis-tokles'; 'Saturn' was

      'Sa-turn,' and Saturn's rings were 'luminious' instead of 'luminous.' Among illiterate people who knew but little, it made not much difference. They absorbed his ideas and enjoyed them, and were carried along by his simple eloquence and instructed by his exceedingly informing and yet simple and refreshing style. He was also a sort of mechanical genius. When Ridley invented his reaping machine, the cost was rather too high for Mr. Pearce's pocket. So he set to work and made one for himself and reaped his corn-fields at Point Sturt. When some years later he had given up farming and had some leisure, he made a large reflecting telescope about ten feet long. He and his father ground their own reflecting fell., and manufactured all but the more intricate and delicate pieces of mechanism which were indispensable."

      Sir Joseph describes in some detail the worship of the church in those distant days:--

      "The children of a family in those days sat together on one bench and did not sit where they pleased. Mrs. Verco and five boys sat together on the third seat from the front until two of them were old enough to sit on the platform, Mrs. Santo and her five daughters sat on the fourth. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Verco and their seven children on the seat behind them, and so on. Smaller families sat in the smaller side seats near the walls. In the middle of the platform stood a large table, behind which was a form to accommodate the three elders, and on the table in the morning were displayed the loaf on two silver plates, also the tankard and two silver goblets. At night a desk was placed on the table, bearing a large Bible, and on each side was a large electro-plated candlestick. On each aisle, suspended by a chain, was a kerosene lamp. At each end of the platform were three benches. On the foremost on each side sat two deacons, Mr. Lyle and Mr. Pollard, and Mr. Messent and Mr. Upton. The benches behind them were filled with young men. As these grew up and were able to undertake the duty of reading the Scriptures in public and otherwise acting as 'helps' so they were elevated to the platform. There was no instrumental music and no choir, but general congregational singing. In the very early days Mr. Thomas Jones used to find the starting note on a pitch pipe, and he would lead the song service. Later Mr. W. H. Burford was the leader, and he struck the keynote with one of his tuning forks which lay, on the table before him. He was a properly instructed and trained singer, and had a fine tenor voice. In fact, he had been a concert singer behind the footlights."

      In one respect a cause founded at Willunga in 1847 was more distinctively Church of Christ than the Franklin Street Church, with its strong Scotch Baptist atmosphere. John Lawrie wrote to the editor of "The British Millennial Harbinger" in 1851:--

      "In the summer of 1847 a small band of brethren from the churches of Brith and New Mills emigrated to South Australia. By concert a few of the more faithful of that band settled themselves near the residence of my brother Robert Lawrie (also a disciple) in the town of Walungo" (Willunga) "and formed themselves into a little church under the teaching of our excellent brother, John Aird. They

have since had to struggle with a great difficulty arising from the brethren being so much scattered in ' these wild prairies and the irregular attendance of the brethren at the meetings on the first days."

      John Aird was an elder of the church at New Mills, in Scotland. His fellow elder, John Lawrie, urged him to come out to the colony to help establish the little church in the "wild prairies." After reporting to the church at Franklin Street, he went south and organized the church at Willunga on 17th March, 1847. Meetings were also held on alternative Sundays at Towinga, seven miles south of the city. Services lasted three hours, and at the close the brethren lit their pipes (meetings were held in Mr. Aird's home) and they smoked while the dinner was being prepared. Mr. Aird could read printed matter, but could not write longhand, so the notes and headings of his discourses he used to print in Roman characters as he found them in the Bible.

      Completing the story of the original church in the Willunga district we skip over a few years and find ourselves in company with the Lawrie families on the Alma Plains, 50 miles north of Adelaide. John Lawrie with other members of the New Mills Church came to South Australia in 1853 and linked himself with a small group of dispersed Willunga members who had moved to the Myponga Hills, further south. Five years later John, Robert, and Alexander Lawrie went to Alma Plains. A little company began to break bread in a hut, and then in a barn, which served the purpose until the members having increased a chapel was built, and afterwards a larger place of meeting. At one time the membership reached 140. It was gradually reduced by removals from the district. The building was closed, and in recent years it has been dismantled. The most familiar name in the Alma Church was that of John Lawrie. He had been educated for the Presbyterian ministry, but an impediment in his speech handicapped him and he dropped the idea. He was an excellent teacher and undertook the chief responsibility of the ministry at Alma whilst carrying on his farm work. Regular articles from his pen appeared in the "Australian Christian Pioneer" over the pseudonym of "Y. Z." His solid thinking and strong convictions gave him great influence. The Alma Church has gone, but its sturdy Christian witness continues through the descendants of the leading families which constituted its membership. Other honoured names, beside Lawrie, were associated with the church: McLachlan, Hammond, Harkness, Greenshields, Finlayson, Toseland, Wilson, and Howard.

      Turning our eyes further to the north we find a small cause established at Burra Burra mines, or Kooringa, at the beginning

of 1850. Interest in mining had been aroused very early in the colony's history by the discovery of copper ore near Noarlunga, and silver lead at Glen Osmond, and the working of copper and lead mines at Rapid Bay. Then two station owners at Kapunda in the north noticed green stones cropping out from the ground, which proved to be carbonate of copper. A shepherd discovered rich deposits of copper at Burra Burra in 1845 which threw all other finds into the shade. The money value of the copper obtained from this mine over a period of about 30 years was between four and five million pounds. It helped to set the colony on its feet financially. A letter to the British journal, written December 5th, 1850, by a certain William Brooker (not the Adelaide Brooker) tells the story of the planting of a Church of Christ in the district. We give excerpts:--

      "Towards the latter part of the year 1849 our brother, Philip Santo, was in his occupation called to leave his brethren in Adelaide and to work and reside at Burra Burra. At an early day his attention was directed to a building having the appearance of a meeting house. He entered and remained much interested with the discourse delivered from the 42nd verse of the 2nd chapter of Acts of Apostles. From this passage of Scripture the speaker clearly showed it was the custom of the primitive Christians to meet on the first day of the week to break bread. At the close of the service our brother made for an interview with the speaker, and remarking his desire to meet with a people who observed and practised the same institutions as did the primitive Christians, he wanted to know if as a body they did such. The speaker replied, 'No; we do not, but simply preach to the people and do the best we can.'"

      Philip Santo was not slow to seize the opportunity of putting into effect the implications of the teaching he had heard from the stranger. Inquiries In the township brought to his knowledge several residents who were immersed believers. A small church of seven members was formed in the home of Mr. Santo on January 6th, 1850. During the year seven others were immersed, among them being George Pearce, a Methodist local preacher, who afterwards took such an active part in the life of the church of the city and the south. A small chapel was built a year later. But the church enjoyed only a short period of existence. Trade depression affected Burra Burra and the rest of the colony. The gold discovery in Victoria drew the men away in search for elusive wealth. The church disbanded, but its influence remains through the ministry of George Pearce, Philip Santo, and others.

      In the middle of 1855 a group moved out from the Franklin Street Church to constitute a cause at Hindmarsh. Thomas Magarey had purchased a flour mill in Robert Street, and after conducting meetings for the breaking of bread in his own house,

converted a dwelling on the property into a place of worship by knocking down some of the partition walls. Some of his employees in the mill belonged to the church. Henry Warren, who, while in England, had corresponded with Magarey, and had spent some time in Victoria, assisted the newly-formed church. Henry Hussey, on his return from America in 1855, took an early opportunity to visit the brethren at Hindmarsh. He wrote: "As the church has only recently met here to attend to the ordinances, and being those who are resident in Hindmarsh, the number is small, viz., 13. In the afternoon I attended the Sunday School and addressed the children. There was a good number present, and I think it is likely that this institution will be extensively useful." This cautious statement on the value of the Sunday School sounds strange in the light of future developments. He adds: "The total number of members in regular attendance at the meetings of the churches in this colony is between 80 and 90." An attractive place of worship, enlarged later, was built alongside the original meeting house, and opened in 1866.

      Near the end of 1855 a small party of settlers moved southward over the Tiers, as the Mount Lofty hills were then called, along the bullock track through Mount Barker, across Lake Plains, and pitched their pioneer tents in the scrub at Point Sturt, on the shore of the beautiful Lake Alexandrina. In the party was the young man, George Pearce. "We resolved when we went there," he said, "to follow the admonition of the Apostle Paul by not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. And at the first we regularly met on the Lord's Day morning in the tent of Bro. and Sister Crawford. And in the afternoon we generally met by appointment at the tent of one of the other brethren, where, sometimes under canvas but often under the shade of a tree, we spent the remainder of the day in social conversation, prayer, and praise, and one or other of the brethren would generally read a portion of the divine word and give a brief address." Meetings were held in a private house as soon as one was available. "God blessed our feeble efforts in His work," George Pearce continued, "and as proof that He can use the feeblest instrumentality to accomplish his purposes, it was not long before we were called upon to assemble on the shores of the Lake Alexandrina and use its waters for the first time in the period of its existence as the emblematic grave of our dying and risen Lord. On the second occasion of baptizing in the lake, a number of natives had assembled and were silently and attentively watching the proceedings in stupid wonder at the performance of the white fellows. At the close one of them accosted a brother who had taken the most prominent part in it with the question, 'What for

you put Mrs. -------- under water and then take um up again like a that?' 'Because God tell me to do it,' was the reply. A solemn 'umph' was the only response, and on subsequent occasions they often showed the interest they felt by their attendance, and I have overheard them repeating to each other, 'God tell him do it.'"

      The irreligious condition of the people of Milang, six miles away, distressed the souls of the Point Sturt brethren, and led them to begin services in a wheelwright's shop. A letter to Grote Street Church from the Point Sturt elders, dated February 15th, 1857, and signed by Henry Pearce (father of George Pearce'), W. H. Turner, and Adam Taylor, made an appeal for financial help in putting up the Milang chapel, which was opened eight months later. The letter is too long to give in full. A few lines will reveal the downright earnestness of the pioneers.

      "While feeling grateful to the Father of all mercies for the peace and hope we enjoy in the Gospel of His dear son, we cannot but feel solicitous that our fellow-men around us should become partakers of like precious faith, and share with us the rich blessings of Divine grace, and to this end we have been prayerfully endeavouring to improve the small talent committed to our trust, both in our immediate neighbourhood, and also in Milang, where there seems to be a rich field for Gospel labour."

      The writers pointed out that the township was "entirely destitute of any means of grace" apart from the humble efforts of the Point Sturt brethren. As the wheelwright's shop was no longer available as a place of meeting, the Grote Street church was asked to raise £100 towards a chapel 16 feet by 22 feet, to cost £140. How much the city brethren contributed is not known. But at the opening ceremony it was stated that it "was built through the liberality of brethren in the colony." Two years after the completion of the Milang chapel, a place of worship, one of the smallest in Australia, was opened at Point Sturt.

      In appreciation of the pioneers D. A. Ewers wrote in his editorial notes in the "Australian Christian Pioneer":--

      "How much the cause of primitive Christianity owes to the consecrated zeal of its pioneers is sometimes overlooked. They had, in those early days, no regular preachers to do the work, nor the means to support them, but the work was done, and well done. They had imbibed the Spirit of One Who said, 'My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me,' and with untiring energy and unfaltering zeal, they pressed on, not only keeping the old flag flying, but ever establishing new outposts and gaining ground from the enemy. Many of our strongest churches today were founded by faithfulness of a few who through evil report and good report toiled on with resistless perseverance

until permanent victory was achieved. It was the work of such heroes that made possible the advent of men like Earl, Gore, and Surber, and others, who, building upon the foundations so well and truly laid, were thus enabled to at once bring into public prominence the distinctive plea of the disciples of Christ. And what was true of our larger cities was true also of scores of our country districts, where brethren meeting in twos and threes to break the memorial loaf and as occasion offered proclaiming the ancient Gospel to their neighbours, thus planted causes that are flourishing to-day."

      G. B. Moysey was also well fitted to extol the spirit of the pioneers, which he did in the Brotherhood publication of 1909, "That They All May Be One." He wrote:--

      "The pioneers were characterised by deep and unfeigned piety in times when ungodliness abounded, and many who left the old country with fair reputations for religion made shipwreck of faith. They were devoted to Bible study. To them the Bible was THE BOOK--their mine of truth, wherein they searched as for hidden treasures: their armoury, whence they took their weapons for constant conflict with sectarianism and sin; their storehouse of spiritual good, whence they gained their daily bread. They were fearlessly aggressive, The circumstances of the times tended to make them controversial. They were condemned, opposed, misunderstood, and misrepresented, and in defence and by necessity, if not by choice, they became warriors, and built the walls of their Jerusalem with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the other. They were uncompromisingly opposed to clericalism and priestcraft of every kind. They sought to maintain a high standard of discipline in the churches, and took scrupulous care that the members were not only sound in the faith but consistent in life, as disciples of Christ. They were strenuous advocates of equality of rights and liberty of ministry among the brethren. The right of each one, as a member of the royal priesthood, to serve in the spiritual temple, was accepted as an axiom. 'Liberty of ministry' limited only by 'ability to edify' was a charter right of the pioneers. The pioneer churches were intensely democratic. They loved to settle points of difference in public assembly. Questions of discipline were often thus dealt with. Sharp divergences of opinion frequently arose and division threatened to become the bane of the churches. They were slow to recognize and accept official authority, and to this characteristic may be traced, in part at least, the fact that even to-day, while the New Testament order of elders is universally admitted in theory, there has been largely a failure to restore it in practice. Their convictions of truth were deeper, their grip more tenacious, and their individual efforts to extend the Gospel more general and energetic, than those of the present day, while defections and losses were relatively fewer. The fruits they gathered into God's basket were hand picked, and that is usually the finest and keeps the longest."

      The pioneers laid stress upon the principle of "liberty of ministry," or "mutual ministry," and it has been carried into these modern days and not always wisely or successfully applied. The writer drops the thread of the story of a century to express the views of an increasing number of leaders throughout the Brotherhood. Increasingly high educational standards are required of men who are trained for the ministry to enable

them to expound the word of God acceptably to all the members of the congregation. They are taught not only the art of public speaking, but also the often more difficult art of producing an atmosphere of worship in which men and women are made conscious of the presence of God in His house. Churches of Christ have centralized the Lord's Table in the worship of the church in accordance with New Testament practice. But how rarely are brethren without special training naturally endowed to prepare worshippers for the sacred act of communing with their Lord! Failing this, attendance at the communion service becomes perfunctory and valueless. We are taught that "there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord." Opportunities to serve the Lord in the modern church have multiplied exceedingly. Every talent may find room for exercise. The ministry of brethren is not confined to an hour and a half on the Lord's Day morning. The principle of "mutual ministry" covers all the diverse activities of the local church which is organized to meet the religious needs of the community throughout the whole week. Whilst the trained preacher and other men, qualified by their experience in the Christian life and their knowledge of the Scriptures, give themselves to the public ministry of the church, those with varied talents will find ample scope for their exercise in less public ways. Thus the body of Christ--the church, will fulfil all its functions as it seeks to advance the kingdom of God in a new age. "We are the body of Christ and severally" (each in his part) "members thereof."

      HENRY S. EARL, a British-American evangelist (he was an Englishman by birth), arrived in Melbourne on July 25th, 1864, after the completion en route of an evangelistic tour in Great Britain. His coming to Australia marks the beginning of an era of successful evangelism and paved the way for other American evangelists of honoured memory, some of whom gave their lives to the cause of primitive Christianity in the Southland. The total number of church members in Australia in the middle sixties was about 650. In Victoria there were roughly 400, the remainder being in South Australia and New South Wales. Earl was the first to devote his full energies to the presentation of the plea of Churches of Christ in this part of the world. He at once saw the potentialities of the field and urged other evangelists to follow him, promising them almost certain success and the cordial and liberal support of the brethren. Earl's silver-tongued oratory immediately drew immense crowds to hear him in St. George's Hall, Melbourne. In six months 193 were added to the church. He came to Adelaide for a short visit for the good of his health at the end

of the year, and preached in White's Assembly Room (where the Majestic Theatre now stands in King William Street) on December 3rd and successive Sundays. The building, was filled to capacity, for the fame of the preacher had preceded him. Thirty-two were added to the church. He returned to Adelaide at the beginning of June, the next year, and even greater crowds flocked to White's Room. On August 26th the new Town Hall was used to accommodate the people. In his own words "the largest audience ever congregated for religious purposes in South Australia, upwards 2200, were present, and more than 500 were unable to gain admittance." All classes and creeds were represented, including the Mayor, Councillors, and Members of Parliament. No less than 43 were baptised during the month of August. "Thus," wrote the evangelist in a burst of enthusiasm, "the cause of pure Christianity is advancing more gloriously in South Australia, and will soon occupy the foremost rank in power if we could only get several able and devoted evangelists in the field." Altogether, during his second visit, 123 people linked with the churches, swayed by Earl's overmastering oratory, impassioned appeals, and irrefutable New Testament teaching.

      The spirit of evangelism had now been thoroughly awakened in Australia. Henry S. Earl's unparalleled success in soul-winning strengthened the conviction of Thomas Magarey and others n the eastern colonies that the time was long over-due for the importation of trained evangelists from abroad who could give their full time to the work. Eyes had been directed towards Great Britain for help which did not come. Indeed, the need there was almost as great as in the colonies. Thomas Magarey, in 1864, sent his Macedonian cry across the Pacific.

      Again there was disappointment. A committee was formed to make another appeal. Magarey, as their spokesman, wrote a letter to "The American Christian Review" of November, 1865, again urging the claims of the Australian colonies for assistance. "You would excuse our impatience," he wrote, "if you were aware that it is fourteen years since our first organized attempt to obtain preachers. We did not apply to America because we were unacquainted and not in communication with any of the brethren there. We have contributed towards the support of preachers in England for the last ten or twelve years, and now that our hairs are becoming grey, we want to see a pure Christianity established in our adopted country and the birthplace of our children. Bro. Earl has spent about three months with us in all, and the success attending his powerful discourses and appeals makes us bitterly regret the loss of the last twenty years in this ripe field of labour."

      Magarey pointed out that a dozen preachers could he located at once in the Australian colonies. In some of the colonies the churches could meet their own financial obligations in supporting evangelists, and the American Christian Missionary Society was urged to assist Queensland and New Zealand for a short time. He stated that nearly 600 persons had been added to the churches throughout the province of Victoria through Henry S. Earl's eighteen months' labours. These astounding results, and what had occurred in Adelaide led the writer to conclude, "If so much has been done by the labours of one, how much more would have been done if he could have had timely assistance to have enabled him to hold protracted meetings when the inquiry was at its height."

      The editor of the "British Millennial Harbinger," who also published the letter, supported the appeal: "We shall be glad to have two or three evangelists of the right sort from America in this land, but we would not conceal the fact that the men, whoever they may be, would reap a hundred-fold greater success in Australia than in the Old Country--the condition of religious society, the greater freedom from State church dominance, and other circumstances not less favourable, tend to that result. Send, then, men to Australia!"

      At the time when these words were written two American evangelists were already on their way to Australia, via England, T. J. Gore, who was booked for Adelaide, and G. L. Surber, for Melbourne. They arrived in Melbourne on February 19th, 1867, and after a warm welcome, and having preached at Lygon Street, T. J. Gore, accompanied by Henry S. Earl, continued his journey to Adelaide. These entries are taken from his journal:--

      "Friday, March 1, 1867.

      "This morning early we reached Adelaide (by sea). We left our baggage in at Bro. Magarey's and went to the station, where we met Bro. Santo and other brethren. Bro. Santo introduced me to his house of business. We went to Bro. Kidner's for dinner. After dinner we went back to the office and then to Bro. Verco's for tea. After this we drove out to Bro. Santo's, some four miles from town (at Clapham) Bro. Santo lives in a pretty place. I like everything thus far very much. The family are very kind'.

      "Saturday, March 2.

      "To-day I have spent mostly at Bro. Santo's. We went this afternoon to Bro. Magarey's. He is not at home. We spent a very pleasant time. Took tea there. The home is by the seaside. Sea bathing can be had at any time. I saw Bro. Earl's intended. She is quite pretty. The family are kind.

      "Sunday, March 3.

      "I attended chapel this morning and spoke from the Epistle of Jude. This was read by one of the brethren. I like the order very

much. At night I spoke on 'Salvation Through Christ' (Acts 4:12). I like the chapel very well. House was quite full. Three decisions for Christ--one from Baptists, one from Wesleyans, one from world. I hope we will have a joyous season.

      "Monday, March 4.

      "Today we spent mostly at Bro. Kidner's. Here, in company with Bro. Earl and Sister Santo (wife of Philip Santo, jun.) I took dinner. Senior Bro. Santo was there also. After tea Bro. Santo and myself visited Bro. Bloor. He has not been well. Went to prayer meeting. I must bring this prayer meeting out of its present state. May the Lord give us the spirit of prayer!"

      The public welcome to the two evangelists was not given until April 4th, when a tea and public meeting were held in White's Rooms. About 400 persons sat down to tea. The Room was crowded for the public meeting. Philip Santo, presided. In expressing regret for the absence of Thomas Magarey, he stated that this brother had successfully conducted the correspondence with the brethren in America up to the present satisfactory result. A resolution was moved by the Rev. Silas Mead (Baptist minister) and seconded by George Pearce, "That this meeting is desirous of cordially welcoming among us Messrs. H. S. Earl and T. J. Gore, evangelists from America, and rejoices in the accession to the number of faithful ministers of the Gospel in this colony."

      T. J. Gore thus auspiciously began his ministry at Grote Street extending over twenty years. After his marriage, Henry S. Earl spent a few months at Hindmarsh (his wife was a daughter of Thomas Magarey, then a leading figure at Hindmarsh), and then went to New Zealand, returning again to South Australia for a fruitful ministry in White's Rooms. J. W. Porter succeeded him at Hindmarsh.

      The story of the church's progress in South Australia cannot be written without an account of the life of the "Grand Old Man" of the Brotherhood, the American evangelist, Thomas Jefferson Gore, whose ministry extended to over fifty years. He was born at Bloomfield, Kentucky, U. S. A., on March 23rd, 1839, and obtained his Master of Arts degree at the Kentucky University, Lexington. The latter part of his university life was spent in the home of the President, Robert Milligan, "the man he admired more than any other man." Someone has said that the character of Robert Milligan was influenced greatly by Thomas Campbell, and that T. J. Gore imbibed the spirit of Milligan, so that in the line of true succession, he, with his capacious heart, intense devotion to the word of God, and

splendid charity and toleration towards all who differed from his views, passed on to those who were privileged to come within the range of his personality the spiritual mantle of the father of the Restoration Movement. After his arrival from America he first laboured at Grote Street, his ministry there extending over twenty years. His other fields were at Norwood, York, Glenelg Unley and Henley Beach. But his ministry touched the whole of the Brotherhood, for frequent visits were paid to country churches for anniversaries and other special occasions. T. J. Gore's work was essentially that of a builder. He was largely instrumental in thoroughly establishing the foundations of the movement in South Australia, and steadily built thereon the stable structure of a big and influential body of Christian people. The "Adelaide Bible Students' Training Class" was opened soon after his arrival to meet the need of preachers. Unsurpassed as a teacher, his love for young men attracted them and helped to mould their character. He often invited them to assist him in conducting Sunday evening services, and encouraged and advised them in

their religions work. As a preacher he was mighty in the Scriptures and excelled as an expositor. When a lad in the country the writer of this appreciation listened with rapt attention to great sermons, which he remembers to this day, on themes such as "Abraham's Faith," "The Will of God," and "The Power of God." The editor of the "Quiz," an Adelaide journal, once attended Grote Street for a Sunday evening service in the course of a round of visits to sum up city churches and their preachers. He wrote of T. J. Gore:--

      "There stands the preacher, a long, powerful man, a man of strong sympathies but of rather ruthless judgment. He cannot conceive why others do not agree with him. And yet Mr. Gore does not rant. There is at first no suspicion of the orator. He stands most of the time with his hands by his sides. Action you think is out of the question. . . . Presently he livens up. He tosses his long arms about until they look like the sails of a windmill in distress. . . . He evidently determines that every sentence shall tell. He lashes, he scarifies his congregation in one breath, and in the next he is pleading earnestly in a subdued voice with them. You forgive him all his Americanisms and eccentricities of style, because the earnestness of the man is abundantly apparent."

      As a pastor T. J. Gore never failed his people. On foot, or by pony and phaeton, often accompanied by Mrs. Gore, he ministered to the flock in sickness and distress and led back to the fold the straying sheep and lambs. As a writer his articles in the "Christian Pioneer" and other journals were full of meat. His thought was always clearly and powerfully expressed. Rarely did he engage in controversy on theological questions, but when he did enter the arena to meet opponents through the printed page, his logic was irresistible. The retirement of Mr. Gore from his active ministry in 1915 drew this tribute from one who knew him best: "He has done more, under the blessing of God, than any one man to mould the thought and direct the energies of the Brotherhood in South Australia." The earthly life of Thomas Jefferson Gore closed on July 4, 1923.

      Religious journalism among Churches of Christ in Australia began with the publication of a monthly magazine in Adelaide under the title, "The Australian Christian Pioneer."

      It was an apt title, for the field was mostly new ground which had to be cleared and sown with the word of God. The first editors were T. J. Gore and H. S. Earl, and co-editor, G. L. Surber. The prospectus set out the purpose of the publication: "It will not be devoted to the interests of any party, but will unflinchingly oppose all departures from the simplicity of apostolic

      Christianity . . . It will be our endeavour to plead for a restoration of the ancient order of things. In order to do that we shall advocate the Bible, and the Bible alone, as our only rule of faith and practice, believing that if its teachings were more widely known and better understood the progress of Christianity would be accelerated and Christian union promoted."

      The editor of the "British Millennial Harbinger" showed some anxiety lest the proposed journal should, under the influence of American thought, tone down to denominationalism, and in particular, compromise with the other religious bodies on the question of open communion. But when the prospectus appeared this fear was somewhat allayed by the apparent soundness of the young editors in relation to primitive faith and order. The first number of the new publication drew from that worthy British brother the unqualified encomium, "The matter is all of the right sort." So the "Australian Christian Pioneer" began its lengthy course as a medium of publicity and education for the whole of the Australian Brotherhood. Its articles were well written, although the phrasing was heavy according to modern standards. But people in those days were accustomed to strong meat, and thrived on it.

      At the end of 1866 James W. Webb, then evangelist at Hindmarsh, and Samuel Kidner, conducted a service in the district schoolroom at Cox's Creek. The latter and S. J. Magarey followed with other meetings. These young men belonged to a group who had been trained in the Adelphian Society, composed of members of the Grote Street and Hindmarsh churches. A church was formed at Cox's Creek in 1867, the foundation members being transferred from the Hindmarsh roll. The well-known Stirling East church grew out of these early, efforts. Aldgate Valley chapel was built in 1888 when D. McCrackett served as evangelist.

      When the first issue of the "Australian Christian Pioneer" appeared in August, 1868, the news column published reports from seven churches: Grote Street reported 256 members; Robert Street, Hindmarsh, 250; East Stirling, 40; Auburn, 25; Alma Plains, 60; Point Sturt, 48; and Two Wells, 22. Both Grote Street and Robert Street chapels were taxed to the utmost to accommodate the Sunday evening congregations. A correspondent of the Lygon Street church, Melbourne, took the brethren in Adelaide to task for their lack of enterprise, and wrote: "Often the question is asked, 'Why do not the brethren

in Adelaide make a bolder effort in their city? Is their caution too highly developed?' " The criticism may be a just one, yet today the number of members and churches in the metropolitan area is greater in proportion than that in any of the capital cities. But dark days were in store for the work in Adelaide.

      The "Items of News" section of the "British Millennial Harbinger" of December, 1869, contained the following information:--

      "Grote Street, Adelaide:--The once flourishing church in Grote Street is now numbered among the things that were. It no longer exists. The meeting-house is sold and closed to the church. Some of the members have joined other religious bodies, some have united with H. S. Earl in White's Rooms, some have returned to the world, and about sixty of us meet in a room we have hired for the purpose, resolved by the help of God to bear testimony to the truth, and though deeply humbled, live down the reproach."

      "Two years ago last March we were a happy, hard-working and prosperous church of about 215 members, and the Lord was continually adding to our number. We had a chapel which cost about £1200, on which was a debt of only £170. Now the church is broken up, the chapel sold for half what it cost, and for purposes of worship closed. Such is the end of the chapter."

      The letters breathe a spirit of deep sorrow and disappointment. The editor of the journal commented thus: "These extracts are from two of several letters sent to the 'B.H.' on this painful subject. The several letters are from parties who view the matter very differently, and who are at opposites as to where they place the blame. In the fact that the church is scattered they all agree, and that the immediate cause is conflict between the elders and their supporters and those who adhere to the evangelist. Each side, of course, throws the blame upon the other. It is certain that were we to publish the letters, the result would be counter statements to end no one knows when. We simply record the fact and leave those who are nearer the scene of action to determine as to the blame. The best service we can render to the parties concerned, and to all others, is to bring into careful survey, during the coming year, the duties and relationships of elders and evangelists. This we shall hope to do so as to afford a useful contribution towards the settlement of questions which have tended to disunion."

      Early in 1873 the chapel was again in the hands of the city church. The T-end was added to provide seating for 600 persons, and the building was re-opened for worship on July 6th, 1873, with T. J. Gore as evangelist. In the interval Henry S.

      Earl had rendered invaluable service to the cause in South Australia through his fruitful ministry in White's Rooms. The church meeting there became the future Grote Street church. It was reported at the annual meeting of the Grote Street church in 1874 that eighty-two had been added to the membership during the previous year, the first after the return to the chapel. Henry S. Earl finally left Adelaide for Melbourne in August, 1872. The writer had the privilege of meeting him at Pittsburg in 1909. He was then 78 years of age. Still physically robust and mentally alert, his appearance and voice reminded us of the days when his impressive oratory carried Adelaide by storm, and his Christian personality, mighty power in the Scriptures, and evangelistic zeal, carried for him a deservedly high place in the history of evangelism in South Australia. He found the field ripe unto harvest, and invested his God-given powers in gathering the precious grain.

      While Grote Street was closed T. J. Gore organized a church at Norwood. Some members of the Christian Church at Stepney had broken away from the parent body and met for worship in a small building in Chapel Street, Norwood. This little group served as the nucleus of the Norwood church which, under the ministry of A. C. Rankine, became and continued for several years one of the largest churches in South Australia, and eventually gave birth to the Maylands church on Wellington Road. The story of the beginnings of this church comes much later.

      EARLY in the history of our Movement in Australia, the brethren were seized with the importance of securing trained men to work the evangelistic fields. The words of the Lord, "The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the labourers are few," often appear in letters sent abroad and in public addresses. The splendid success of the American evangelists both in South Australia and Victoria emphasized the need. A call for help came from New Zealand in 1869, requesting that an able evangelist should be spared for a year or more to fill the place of a brother who was leaving Nelson. No one could be sent, although at the time five men were being trained in Melbourne by O. A. Carr and G. L. Surber, and one in Adelaide by T. J. Gore. Apparently the time was ripe for the establishment of a college after the pattern of the college in Lexington, U. S. A. But the churches were not wealthy enough to raise the required money without outside help. Henry S. Earl was therefore commissioned as financial agent to tour the American churches to gather funds and furnished with the following letter of commendation:--

"Adelaide, South Australia,      

"January 3rd, 1870.

      "We take great pleasure in introducing and commending to your confidence our esteemed brother, Henry S. Earl, whose labours in Australia in the Lord's cause have been abundant and successful, and who is now about to visit America to present the claims of 'The Bible College of Australia,' of which he is the authorized financial agent. We trust his appeals on behalf of this necessary institution will be heartily responded to by the brethren, and that he will return to us laden with substantial assurances that the brethren in America feel a deep interest in the Lord's work in this important field of labour. We have commenced the work in earnest and in faith by educating, under many difficulties and disadvantages, several suitable young brethren who have presented themselves for Biblical instruction, and we have determined by the Lord's help to complete this much needed auxiliary to the Church of Christ. One brother has promised four thousand pounds sterling--nearly equal to twenty thousand dollars--upon condition of an equal amount being subscribed. Owing to the commercial and pastoral distress which has so long existed in Australia, we feel it impossible to raise the required sum without being largely assisted by the liberality of the friends of Jesus in America. To you, therefore, we appeal. Enable us to say, by the assistance of loving American Disciples of Christ, we have been enabled to establish the first Bible College in Australia.--Thos. J. Gore, Thos. Magarey, Philip

      Santo, Samuel Kidner, G. L. Surber, Oliver A. Carr, Andrew Thompson, Wm. Robertson, John S. Perry."

      In his appeal to American churches through the American "Christian Standard," H. S. Earl gave striking facts regarding, the work in Australia. Six years previously the cause was almost unknown. Now thousands listened to its claims every Lord's Day. Then, not one evangelist was in Australia. Now, thirteen men were wholly engaged in preaching the Gospel. Then, there were a few small churches meeting in cheap and unsuitable buildings. Now, they had large and flourishing churches meeting in neat, and commodious chapels. Then, a baptism was a rare occurrence. Now, numbers were baptized into Christ every week. Then, the number of brethren did not exceed seven hundred. Now, they numbered about three thousand. During the same period the membership of the South Australian churches had risen from about 150 to over 800.

      H. S. Earl, accompanied by A. T. Magarey, sailed from Sydney on 20th January, 1870, and returned to Australia ten months later. He met with only fair success, for he had struck a period of commercial depression in America, and outside Kentucky the response to his appeal was negligible. The total amount raised was five thousand dollars. He closed his report on his tour with an appeal to the Australian churches, on which, he felt, rested the chief, responsibility of establishing a college: "We must all double our diligence and increase our liberality in order to place our Bible College upon a firm basis."

      To launch the projected college more capital was required. The need of trained evangelists was ever in the minds of the leaders of the Movement. T. J. Gore, who was always in the forefront in advocating evangelism, urged in the columns of the "Australian Christian Pioneer," July, 1875, that the church needed evangelists whose time and energies were devoted to the preaching of the Gospel. "We have no idea that any church is answering the great end of its existence," he wrote, "when it quietly sits down to the work of edifying the brethren while the Gospel is hidden from those in the very shadow of the walls where it assembles for worship. In South Australia and Victoria the brethren are alive to the necessity of having evangelists to proclaim the Gospel." As to the sources of evangelists, he adds: "We must look to ourselves. In order to have evangelists the churches ought to sharply observe their own young men, and if they promise to be useful as preachers of the Gospel, give them encouragement. All other things being equal it would be better to have Australian evangelists than those from America. We want preachers native to the soil. To this end

we are trying to establish a Bible College in our midst where young men may be prepared for usefulness as preachers of the Gospel. We hope the churches will feel that this institution has a noble object in view, and will not forget it either in their prayers or their works."

      Six years later the college fund amounted to £2340. A Trust Deed was then executed, the original trustees being Philip Santo, Alexander Thomas Magarey, and Silvanus James Magarey. A Committee of Management of not more than seven members, including the three trustees, was given sole control of the affairs of the Trust. Adelaide was named as the location of the college. The project had aroused some interest in the other colonies, but not enough to induce brethren to invest their money in it. There was a difference of opinion as to the capital city where the college should be located. Whilst the trustees were "anxious to meet the views and to secure the earnest co-operation of the Brotherhood" they were not prepared to set aside the provisions of the Trust Deed in favour of Melbourne as the home of the college. At that time, speaking for the trustees, A. T. Magarey stated that they had decided to take immediate steps to start the Bible College as a working institution. This was in 1887.

      In the same year M. Wood Green left Australia for America and Great Britain to solicit further gifts to the college on the basis of certain conditions to be incorporated in a Supplemental Trust Deed, viz., that the college should be an intercolonial institution owned and controlled by the Australian and New Zealand colonies, and that the representation on the Board of Control should be in proportion to the amount of money contributed by the various colonies. Mr. Green's tour brought in the sum of 3790 dollars from America and a promise by the Christian Missionary Society to pay 700 dollars per year for five years after the college was opened. English and Scottish brethren subscribed £93.

      Lectures in connection with the college began in 1888 and continued for two-and-a-half years, during which time seven young men received training under the tuition of T. J. Gore. In addition evening classes were carried on for the benefit of "speaking brethren." The inadequacy of the funds in the hands of the trustees to maintain a college staff and assist students while they were being trained, and the disinclination of the colonies to co-operate by raising funds and thus qualifying for representation on the Board of Management, led to the suspension of activities until a more favourable season arrived.

      After the establishment of the College of the Bible in Melbourne in 1907, considerable correspondence was exchanged between their representatives and the trustees of the fund located in Adelaide with a view to the application of its income to the institution established under the auspices of the Federal Conference. Eminent legal opinion was against the diversion of the funds, and the matter was finally dropped.

      Although a college, as such, has not yet been founded in Adelaide, the income from the invested Trust Fund has been of untold value to the Brotherhood through the training classes conducted for many years by the following brethren:--T. J. Gore, M.A., A. C. Rankine, I. A. Paternoster. T. Hagger, G. T. Walden, M.A., A. G. Saunders, B.A., Dr. A. C. Garnett, M.A., J. Wiltshire, R. Harkness, B.A., C. Schwab, and H. R. Taylor, B.A. A training class, conducted by W. C. Brooker at Queenstown, has benefited the local work and fields beyond. In addition other suburban classes were assisted. Financial assistance has been given youth leaders to conduct Bible Institutes and Schools of Method. A library is available for students and preachers.

      The present Board of Management of the Trust Fund consists of John Fisher, F. P. Langlois, C. L. Johnston (trustees), Dr. Trevor Turner, T. P. Richardson, D. K. Beiler, and H, R. Taylor.

      ANNUAL meetings of the Victorian churches were held in 1866-1868, and then abandoned. A fear was prevalent in the colonies that such conferences might result in the exercise of an assumed authority over the churches through the setting up of an ecclesiastical body. When these meetings were resumed in the sister colony in 1873, their purpose was very clearly defined. They were intended to spread the Gospel in those localities where there was either no church able to undertake the work or actually no congregation of the brethren located. The stronger churches were expected to enter into a voluntary undertaking to assist those less able than themselves and thus fulfil the law of Christ in bearing one another's burdens. Group co-operation among the churches was, therefore, specifically restricted to the evangelistic enterprise. It was fitting in this colony that the missionary-minded church at Hindmarsh should originate the annual conference. A "Preliminary Co-operation Meeting," consisting of delegates from the churches, met at Grote Street, on Monday, 29th March, 1875, "to devise some measures for securing further evangelistic power." The churches represented were Adelaide, Alma, Dalkey, Hindmarsh, Mallala, Milang, Mt. Gambier, Norwood, Pt. Adelaide, Stirling East, Strathalbyn, and Two Wells. Philip Santo was voted to the chair. He asked Jesse Colbourne, of Hindmarsh, to state the object of the meeting. Mr. Colbourne said that it had been a matter of consideration at Hindmarsh for some time to devise some system of cooperation to secure further evangelistic aid for country churches especially. Appeals for assistance had been made to the brethren at Hindmarsh by these churches. Many of the churches in the country were in a helpless condition. Brethren thought a little given by all the churches would enable needy fields to receive aid, and an evangelist might be kept in the field for this purpose. In the discussion that followed all the delegates favoured the proposal. The discussion revolved around the question as to where a general evangelist should be employed, a strong appeal being made for the northern fields. The following resolution was finally adopted: "That it is desirable to place one or more additional evangelists in the field to assist such country churches as need assistance, and to open tip new

fields of labour by the proclamation of the Gospel." It was further decided to appoint an Evangelist Committee to raise funds and carry out the wishes of the brethren.

      A committee of thirteen was elected. Philip Santo, W. Burford, Thos. Magarey, A. T. Magarey (Adelaide), W. H. Taylor, W. Shearing, S. Kidner, J. Weekes, T. Harkness, F. Reeves (Hindmarsh,), Jas. Hales (Norwood), G. W. Smith (Port Adelaide), and--Stoddart (Stirling East).

      The first general evangelist employed by the Evangelist Committee was Jesse Colbourne. He went to Norwood for a short time at the end of September, 1875, and then transferred to Strathalbyn

      At the second annual meeting of delegates held the next year it was resolved to keep J. Colbourne at Strathalbyn for at least another six months, and, if possible, to secure an additional evangelist. Statistics of the churches showed that 105 persons had been immersed during the past twelve months, and the total number on the rolls of the seventeen churches was now 1204. Five evangelists were giving full time to the work, An able address was delivered by T. J. Gore at the evening session on the subject "Our Work" (Matt. 28:18, 20), in which he stressed the double task of the church to preach and to teach. "Our work, our great work," he said, "is to preach the Gospel. By our work, we mean the work of the church. Most assuredly the church is not answering the object of its creation and existence unless it is earnest and diligent in the proclamation of the Gospel. Not a single brother or sister should for a moment rest satisfied unless he or she is doing something towards this object. We know what a work might be accomplished if every Christian would bear in mind that it is the duty of the church to preach the Gospel. The church calls certain men to devote their talents, yea, their lives to this work, and pledges itself to support them as far as concerns temporal matters. If a church once settles down into the comfortable notion that it has nothing to do but edify itself, it is on the highway to a cold and selfish state, the end of which is death."

      Strong words! They apply with equal force to the church of seventy years later. T. J. Gore and others with him had faith in the power of the simple Gospel of New Testament days to convert men, and were convinced that the plea of Churches of Christ had only to be made known to ensure its success.

      The third annual meeting showed that the names of 1172 persons were on the rolls of 16 churches (three churches did

not report). An advance had been made into the south-east by the appointment of R. Woolcock to spend twelve months in that area.

      Twenty churches appeared in the statistical schedule in 1878. Baptisms numbered 106, and church members, 1227. R. Woolcock was sent back to the south-east to be stationed at Millicent, where a church had been recently formed. An interesting sentence in the report of the annual meeting reads: "The Evangelist Committee introduced Bro. D. A. Ewers to the notice of the delegates, recommending that he be supported as a preacher of the Gospel during the next year." It was thereupon resolved "That Bro. D. A. Ewers be stationed at Two Wells, labouring also at Reeve's Plains and in the surrounding district for one year, co-operating with Bro. J. Colbourne of Mallala." The employment of a third evangelist was decided upon, funds permitting.

      The scene of the fifth annual meeting shifted from the city to Alma, a testimony to the importance of this flourishing country cause, and the respect with which its leaders were held. The total membership was now 1315. Grote Street reported 71 baptisms. Mr. Henry Varley, the world-famed evangelist, had visited the city and stirred it to its depths, and the interest he aroused gave an impetus to a series of evangelistic meetings conducted by M. Wood Green, who was brought over from Melbourne for the purpose. The result was 48 baptisms. Increasing practical support of co-operative evangelism is revealed by the treasurer's statement of £366 having been contributed, and promises had been obtained for the sum of £401 for the next year.

      In the metropolitan area it was not until 1875 that any effective work was done at Port Adelaide, which at the time had a resident population of 10,000 besides a floating population of many thousands of sailors who visited the port. It was felt by the brethren of several of the churches that a golden opportunity presented itself of "conveying the glad tidings to others in distant parts of the earth" from this strategic base for missionary work. Practical support was given to enable W. H. Martin, an American evangelist, to locate there. Prior to his coming services had been held at Portland but were discontinued on account of the little interest shown by the public. The Town Hall was used for his meetings and many additions resulted. He returned to America at the end of 1878. In 1891

the Queenstown Church carried on the work of what was previously known as the Port Adelaide Church in a chapel with a belfry and bell purchased from the Methodists on the consummation of the union of their three separate communions. W. Moffit became the first full-time preacher. He was a British brother, who had laboured at Port Pirie in the church as well as carrying on his daily business. W. C. Brooker, the present evangelist, has ministered to the church for over forty years, as far as we know, a record for Australia.

      At the middle of 1876 T. J. Gore spent a few weeks in the important south-eastern town of Mount Gambier, where a small cause then existed. His visit increased the membership to between 30 and 40. McDonnell Bay was also visited, where five people met for worship in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Rossell (afterwards identified with the City Temple, Sydney). Mr. Gore saw possibilities of successful preaching at Millicent, Naracoorte, Kingston, as well as places nearer the Victorian border. Although small groups were formed in each of the places named the removal of their leaders to other parts led eventually to the abandonment of all except Naracoorte. Closer settlement in this fertile south-eastern area, with its assured rainfall, may yet invite a watchful and enterprising Home Mission Committee to create more than one self-supporting circuit.

      Towns were rapidly growing in the north owing to the clearing of the mallee scrub and the opening tip of the great wheat belt. The first report from Port Pirie appeared in the

      "Australian Christian Pioneer" in September, 1878. Meetings for worship had been held in Henry Warren's house, and it was felt that the time had come for a more public witness. With faith in the future of the church, which had 21 members, the brethren purchased a block of land and planned a building, to cost £430. The building committee consisted of H. Warren; W. Moffit, Wm. Liddle, T. Kent, and Kossuth Duncan. The chapel was opened on August 31st, 1879, George Pearce, then of Crystal Brook, presiding at the worship meeting, and T. J. Gore giving the address. Other causes in the neighbourhood of Port Pirie were located at Wandearah, Telowie, and Crystal Brook.

      A "Church in the Home" has been the beginning of several substantial causes in various parts of the State. In reporting his visit to the northern parts T. J. Gore had something to say on this aspect of our Movement: "They" (speaking of a family at Wandearah) "are setting a good example to other brethren scattered through the areas. Brethren lose very much by neglecting their privileges, simply because they are not numerous in any place. If brethren would walk conscientiously in all the Lord's ways wherever they might be,

many churches would spring up from their labours. As it is there are those who when they are isolated from centres of population put their light under a bushel, or perhaps let it go out well-nigh altogether."

      Eight brethren in Balaklava first met in a private house on June 18th, 1878. In October, 1879, when T. J. Gore spent ten days in the district, there were 53 members housed in their own chapel. Two young men, John Verco and David Hammond, were the chief speakers. Another church was formed at this time at Dalkey, eight miles distant. Donald Gordon, formerly of Strathalbyn, promoted this extension. The Dalkey Church merged later into the Owen Church.

      In the southern part of the colony Henry S. Earl paid a visit to Willunga in 1867 and was impressed with the prospects of the field (the band of pioneers of twenty years earlier had all gone elsewhere). T. J. Gore and Thos. Porter preached on successive Sundays in March, 1869, and they were followed by Henry S. Earl with a series of successful meetings against strong local opposition. A church, organized on August 4th, remained in existence for over 30 years.

      The "Australian Christian Pioneer" of November, 1869, contains a report from the indefatigable Henry S. Earl of the results of his visits to Strathalbyn: "On Lord's Day, October 3rd, I preached at Strathalbyn, a flourishing town about 35 miles from Adelaide. The services were held in Mr. Colman's large new store" (Mr. Colman was the local flour miller). "It is capable of seating comfortably about 500 persons. In the morning it was well-filled and in the evening it was crowded to overflowing." Several baptisms took place in the River Angas. A crowd of 600 persons gathered to witness the strange sight. On October 27th a church of 23 members was constituted. The way had been prepared for Earl's visit by the work of Geo. Goudy and S. Judd at Milang and Belvidere. A devoted sister, like Lydia of old, a Mrs. Burkitt, who was a foundation member, hospitably entertained visiting preachers for many years afterwards.

      In the early days the greatest annual events in the churches were the anniversary celebrations. Even in the city the church people, who were not surfeited then with social gatherings and entertainments as they are now, looked forward with keen enthusiasm to the Sunday meetings, with their visiting speakers, and the tea and public meeting that followed on a week-night.

      Sisters provided the delicacies for the tables and vied with one another in healthy competition. Children revelled in the event. The public meetings were well-attended. Appetites for spiritual food and solid teaching were as keen as the desire for the rich cakes and dainties of the tea table. We wonder whether a modern congregation could mentally digest the programme which, for example, was presented in Robert Street chapel on November 21st, 1877. The report reads: "The chair was ably filled by Mr. D. Gall, whose quaint speech" (evidently an appetizer for what followed) "will not soon be forgotten. The other subjects spoken to were:--'God's People Willing in the Day of His Power,' by T. J. Gore: 'The Faithfulness of God to His Promises,' by J. Colbourne; 'Importance of Individual and United Effort,' by J. McEwin (Congregational Minister). 'Certainty of Success in the Christian Life,' by H. Hussey; 'Being True Witnesses for Christ,' by T. Lees, 'Proofs of Progress in Christianity,' by A. T. Magarey." The reporter naively commented: "All of which were instructive and interesting." Such a programme was apparently within the capacity of the grownup folks to enjoy. Speakers rose to the occasion with the best they could select from the "barrel." They did not mince matters relating to the distinctive plea of the Churches of Christ. Strangers present provided an excellent opportunity not to be despised. The older members had not only food for thought but matter for criticism. Many knew their Bibles which they held in their hands at the meetings and looked up the passages quoted from the Book, and woe betide any speaker whose memory slipped.

      At another similar gathering at Mallala in the "good old days" of simple living and high thinking it is recorded that "Interesting and profitable addresses were given by Bros. Woolcock upon 'Prejudice and its Power in the Way of the Reception of the Truth': Strang, 'Salvation under Moses and under Christ'; Crawford, 'Great 'Men and the Example they Furnish, and the Necessity of Copying the One Example'; Gore, 'Progress of the Gospel of the Grace of God; Lawrie, 'Apathy'; Colbourne, 'Personal Testimony for Christ!' These were not "a few remarks" or "short talks," but real sermons, full of substance and delivered under the inspiration of a chapel full of eager listeners. Such meetings often continued until ten o'clock. We have heard the last-named speaker on more than one occasion talking in his inimitable way in a lighter vein to relieve the strain of listening to heavy addresses. He was a Cornishman and found delight in telling Cornish stories in his realistic style, and staid elderly folk were disarmed, when inclined to criticise him for his levity, by his infective and irresistible laughter.

      When the annual meeting was again held at Alma in 1883 the total membership in the colony was 1270 (three churches did not report). Land and buildings were valued at £12,597, and total debts stood at £1200. A discussion took place at the same conference on forming a proper basis of co-operation. John Verco discussed the question and delegates gave considerable thought to it. It was felt that a constitution was needed, for a cloud had appeared on the horizon and the ship had to be put into shape to meet the fast-gathering storm.

      A MEETING was held at Kermode Street chapel on December 28th, 1883, to inaugurate an Evangelistic Union. Churches represented were Kermode Street (Dr. J. C, Verco), Pt. Pirie and Baroota (W. Moffit), Balaklava (W. J. Verco), Dalkey (D. Finlayson), Cameron (A. L. Greenshield), Langhorne's Creek (H. Saltmarsh), and Yatina (J. B. Carr). Jas. Manning, of New Thebarton, apologized for his absence. H. Saltmarsh was appointed chairman and John Verco secretary pro tem. In his report John Verco said that the meeting owed its existence to a widely-spread and freely expressed sentiment circulating amongst the brotherhood of Churches of Christ in South Australia to the effect that a more intimate and operative association should be established among them. Articles of union had been compiled based on those in force in Great Britain and Victoria, which would be considered by the first general meeting and ratified or altered according to the will of the churches.

      Eleven churches had already given their approval to the proposal, viz., Kermode Street, Dalkey, Langhorne's Creek, Pt. Pirie, Balaklava, Cameron, Mt. Gambier, New Thebarton, Willunga, and Yatina. It was thereupon decided that the churches named should form themselves into an association for evangelistic purposes. The meeting further resolved that the name should be "The Evangelistic Union of Churches of Christ in

      South Australia." Nineteen articles of association were adopted. Those which were to arouse most discussion were--

      2. That no church shall be admitted to this Union that knowingly has fellowship with the unimmersed at the Lord's Table.

      16. That no evangelist shall be employed who will knowingly fellowship with the unimmersed at the Lord's Table.

      19. That in order to prevent any misconception or misrepresentation as to the powers or purposes of this Union, it is hereby resolved:

      (a) That the sole object of this Union shall be the co-operation of those Churches of Christ which are disposed to combine for the purpose of evangelisation.

      (b) That the General Meeting shall have no legislative power over any of the Churches of Christ, even over those in this Union; any resolution passed having reference to the evangelistic work shall be binding upon the co-operating churches so long as they are in the Union. If any church is unable or unwilling to conform to such resolutions, its privilege and remedy will be to withdraw from the Union.

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      (c) That this Union shall have no power to settle matters of discipline or dispute in any church. Any resolution on practice among the churches shall be considered only as an expression of opinion of the whole or a majority of the brethren present at such meeting, and shall not be deemed law to any of the churches, and shall not bind any of the churches in the matter of doctrine or practice, or their communion with other churches. But the General Meeting shall have power to decide whether or not it will admit a church into co-operation which maintains certain doctrines or practices.

      The South Australian churches have always been regarded as holding liberal views on some practices relating to the Restoration Movement. Archibald McLean, the prominent American foreign mission leader, in his account of his visit to Australia in 1898, draws this conclusion from his contact with church leaders. He wrote: "I think, speaking broadly, the churches in New South Wales are the most conservative in Australia, those in South Australia the least so, and those in Victoria are between the two." Whether this is true or not, the early eighties saw a controversy coming to a head in this colony which at one time threatened to split the cause in twain. Those influenced by British thought strongly deprecated the American viewpoint, with which Alexander Campbell sympathized, that the unimmersed should neither be invited to nor debarred from the Lord's Table.

      A section of the South Australian brethren had also moved towards the Baptist position as to the significance of baptism, based on the interpretation of Acts 2:38 and kindred passages. A journal, under the joint editorship of H. D. Smith and R. Woolcock, was causing grave concern on account of its "latitudinarian views."

      Evidence that the position as regards "open communion" question was serious, is found in the existence of two groups of churches, the one group represented by the newly-created "Evangelistic Union," and the other more liberal group represented by "The Evangelist Committee of South Australia" (formed, as we have seen, in 1875), on which preachers of the strongest churches had membership. A conference between the two parties was arranged at Grote Street chapel on 20th May, 1884. The following resolutions were passed:--

      1. That the Churches of Christ in South Australia advocating the one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, do form an association for the proclamation of the Gospel in South Australia.

      2. That the Association be called "The Evangelistic Union of Churches of Christ in South Australia."

      3. That the Association adopt the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, as its rule of faith and practice.

      4. That no church shall be admitted into this Association that knowingly has fellowship with the unimmersed at the Lord's Table.

      These resolutions, amending those carried at the earlier conference, were not acceptable as a whole to the churches of the liberal party, when referred to them for their consideration. The fourth was left out, but the other three, worded substantially the same, were sent on to the next annual meeting of the Evangelistic Union as the basis on which they, were willing to co-operate.

      Meanwhile the editor of the "Australian Christian Watchman" J. J. Haley) discussed the matter in dispute in a leading article, under the heading. "Matters in South Australia." He sounded a note of warning that the churches in the neighbouring colony were drifting towards disunion, and the condition of affairs had reached a critical stage. "The immediate cause of the agitation," he wrote, "which has culminated in a lengthy annual meeting debate and a strenuous effort to modify the constitution of the existing Evangelistic Association, is the alleged open communion practice of some of the churches. Instead of the collective conscience of the church fixing the limitation of communion rights, this important function is handed over to the individual conscience of the applicant for fellowship." The writer warned the more conservative South Australian brethren against setting up a creed to "keep out heresy." The more serious question which they had to face, he considered, was not the creed question, nor yet the communion question on its own merits, but this--Should they allow a difference of opinion on a simple phase of the communion question to become the occasion of division among the churches? On the principle of a choice of evils, division of the body of Christ under any pretext was a much greater sin than open communion.

      September 1st, 1884, was a solemn and memorable day in the history of the Restoration Movement in South Australia, for the dismemberment of the brotherhood was seriously threatened, and much depended on the way the matter in dispute was handled. All the speakers agreed that the Union, by adopting the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, could not conscientiously permit those who were disobedient to their Lord in baptism to commune with them at the Lord's Table. One speaker said: "Co-operation with churches practising open communion is an impossibility, that practice being illogical and irreconcilable with the assertion that baptism is a condition of the remission of sins." It was carried

unanimously--"That this Union is desirous and willing to co-operate with all churches that adopt the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, as their rule of faith and practice, but we cannot co-operate with the South Australian Evangelist Committee, as at present constituted, because it consists in part of churches that knowingly fellowship with the unimmersed, in contravention of this basis. And we plead with the churches that admit the unimmersed to the Lord's Table (but hold to the doctrine of baptism as one of the conditions of salvation and forgiveness of sins) to abandon such practice for the sake of union."

      But before long wiser counsels prevailed and most of the brethren came to feel that they had gone too far in adopting numbers 2 and 16 among the original articles of the Evangelistic Union. These articles, it was thought by estimable brethren, constituted a creed, and in deference to them the promoters of the Union decided that the articles that outlawed churches and individuals encouraging open communion should be expunged. Every application for admission into the Union should, however, be treated on its merits.

      All will admire the strength of convictions which dominated the minds of worthy brethren and leaders of that time. No one living now will ever know how near the brotherhood was to being shipwrecked on the rock of private opinion. Nearly twenty years earlier the churches in Britain had passed the resolution: "We hereby decline to sanction evangelistic cooperation with any brother, whether from America or elsewhere, who knowingly communes with unbaptized believers, or who in any way advocates such communion." In this colony the views of leaders, influenced by British or American thought, had clashed before on questions of religious practice. Happily, freedom of thought in matters of opinion was maintained. It is fairly generally held today that if the communion table is recognized as belonging to the Lord and every communicant is but a guest, no one has the right to assume the priestly prerogative of deciding who shall and who shall not share the fellowship of the sacred memorial feast. The individual worshipper, whether baptized or not, must decide this personal question in the light of his own conscience. But the church is not absolved from the responsibility, as occasion may offer, of setting out the New Testament doctrine of conversion.

      How difficult the more conservative brethren have found it to be consistent in their attitude towards the unimmersed, may be illustrated from an incident in those days. We have a vivid recollection of a godly elder of a country church who

not only refused fellowship at the Lord's Table to the unimmersed but also returned money to unbaptized pious people who happened to be worshipping at the morning service, and who incurred his displeasure by daring to place an offering in the collection box. One Lord's Day, his niece, who was a guest in his home over the week-end and a member of a paedo-Baptist church, came to the service, and much to the surprise of the congregation she was permitted to commune. A deacon approached the elder after the service and asked, "How is it, Brother --------", that at other times you refuse to let the unbaptized partake of the Supper, but this morning, your niece, Mrs. --------, was given the privilege?" "Ah, John," the old Scotchman answered, "but she is a guid woman."

      Much more unanimity was displayed at the second annual meeting of the Union in 1885. Thirteen churches were cooperating under the constitution. Most of the non-co-operating churches also had representatives at the meeting, viz., Grote Street, Alma, Hindmarsh, Mallala, Norwood, Strathalbyn, Stirling East, and Wild Horse Plains. All present were invited

by the chairman to freely express themselves on any matter brought before the meeting. The secretary (John Verco) reported that he had written to all known Churches of Christ in the colony, extending a cordial invitation for their co-operation upon the basis of the amended articles of association, and the replies he had received inspired the hope that no obstacle would now exist to prevent united action.

      After further slight amendments had been made to the rules of the association, John Verco moved "That the following Churches of Christ in South Australia be now recognized as members of the Evangelistic Union of Churches of Christ in South Australia, viz., Hindmarsh, Grote Street, North Adelaide, Baroota, Balaklava, Cameron, Dalkey, Millicent, Mount Gambier, Langhorne's Creek, Port Pirie, Yatina, Norwood, Stirling Fast, Unley, Wild Horse Plains, Long Plains, Mallala, Milang, Point Sturt, Strathalbyn, Willunga, Alma, Hall, Halbury." The resolution was carried unanimously. But several years passed before all the churches came into line.

      Encouraged by the Grote Street church a few brethren living in that suburb became interested in opening a cause in Unley at the end of 1882. William Burford was one of the moving spirits. On Sunday evening, December 10th, T. J. Gore conducted the first service in the local Town Hall, and on the following Sunday morning fourteen people gathered at the Lord's Table. Steps were taken almost immediately to secure an evangelist and Jesse Colbourne was brought over from Melbourne. In his chatty style William Burford reported to the "Australian Christian Watchman" of the arrival of the preacher: "Our esteemed Bro. Colbourne arrived after a smooth water passage, with face beaming with joy, on 13th January, 1883. The following day he addressed the few brethren who have commenced worship of our Lord in His own appointed way in the town of Unley. I should tell you that many brethren were awaiting his arrival, and sisters, too, all anxious to welcome him back. On the 28th he commenced his labours here to an increased congregation." The writer concluded by saying: "There is a splendid prospect here for the formation of a large church. The brethren have rented the Town Hall, a new and really handsome building, and as convenient as it is handsome. Already the expenses of the hall are being met by voluntary contributions, and our good brother's salary is also ready for the first year." (It is more than likely that Mr. Burford himself saw to the salary part). The Unley

      Church was formed on February 18th with 24 members. Before the end of the year there were 61 names on the roll. About twelve months later the foundation of a chapel was laid by Mrs. Burford. Owing to the builder's failure to fulfil his contract at the agreed cost, another contractor completed the work at double the amount, the extra financial burden being accepted by Mr. Burford.

      Two churches in the district united to form the North Adelaide Church: one started by the Grote Street Church was under the leadership of A. T. Magarey, John Anderson, Will. Matthews, and J. Tonkin, and the other, which originally met in the M.U. Hall, Franklin Street, had for its elders W. H. Burford, and Dr. J. C. Verco, and deacons, Philip Messent and T. S. Lyle. The church was organized 1885 and met in Kermode Street. A room in Archer Street was used for mission purposes and afterwards as a Women's Bible Class room. Within a few years a strong church developed. Dr. (afterwards Sir Joseph C. Verco), an outstanding city physician and University lecturer, worshipped at North Adelaide until his death. The neat chapel was built by him, rented to the church during his lifetime, and-given to the church at his death.

      Like the church at Philippi, the York Church began in a prayer-meeting. H. D. Smith, of Hindmarsh, conducted a cottage prayer-meeting and Bible study in the district for several months during 1884. Then the Rechabite Hall on the Port Road was rented and meetings for breaking of bread were held from 20th July onwards. Fostered by the Hindmarsh Church, the devout group of Christian people received formal discharge from the membership of the mother-church in 1889. For many years afterwards a feature of the church's life was an officers' prayer-meeting held in the vestry prior to the Sunday morning service, which all the officers were expected to attend, and did attend.

      The year 1888 opened with a great silver boom consequent upon mineral discoveries in the Barrier Ranges, within the boundary of New South Wales, especially at Broken Hill. People flocked there from South Australia, among them a score or more brethren. In 1891 the population of the mining town was estimated at 26,000. M. Wood Green visited the "silver city" and found F. Plant and a few other church folk. Near the end of 1890 the Evangelist Committee were in touch with this worthy man, who advised delay in opening a cause until a strike then in progress had been settled. The executives in New South Wales and Victoria were asked for their co-operation

in establishing a cause, but their replies after some delay were unfavourable. Jesse Colbourne thoroughly canvassed the city and discovered twenty-three members, who were organized Into a church by H. D. Smith early in 1891 and received into the Union the same year.

      The introduction of the organ into the church services had long threatened the peace of the churches before the question was ultimately raised in the annual meeting in 1886. It was moved "That the delegates of the various churches now assembled express regret at the introduction of instrumental music into some of our churches, as such is offensive to many of the brethren and is likely, to prove disastrous to the peace and prosperity of the Churches of Christ in this colony. We would, therefore, respectfully urge that the brethren who have introduced this innovation give the matter their best and earnest consideration and have the organ removed as early as possible." This motion called forth a counter amendment, "That this Meeting considers it inexpedient at the present time to express any judgment upon the subject." A long and lively discussion ensued, and no unanimity, having been obtained, the motion was allowed to stand over until the next annual meeting. At that meeting it was withdrawn after a short debate.

      The organ question was not a storm in a tea cup to many estimable brethren, and the refusal of the annual meeting to commit itself and relegate the organ to the limbo of forbidden things only threw the question back to the local churches for settlement. Here it caused some sleepless nights. Brethren were concerned because the organ is not mentioned as an accessory to the worship of the New Testament church. A "Thus saith the Lord," or even a principle that might be applied was wanting. The older folks generally were quite satisfied to carry on their worship without an instrument. It did not distress them very much when the tune was pitched too high or too low for the congregation to follow, and the leader called for a halt and a fresh start. They were used to such failures, for they were many. But the young people were beginning to make their presence felt in the churches, and wanted music of a higher quality, with a greater diversity of tunes. So the fathers had to sink their feelings to attract and hold youth. One good brother in a country church referred most disparagingly to the organ as "a kist of whistles," and opined, "The devil put it into the chapel." But whether the presence of the organ is due to the agency of the evil spirit or not, it

came, and it came to stay. The said brother left his home church and went to another out of the hearing of the "whistles," but the devil followed him there with the "kist," and as the brother had no where else to go for worship and escape the devil, he carried on his good work in spite of the serious handicap, and, we trust, became accustomed to the organ as others did. His family, who were growing up at the time, were quite musical. Whilst appreciating the loyalty of the older brethren to the Book, it was suggested by the "liberal" folk that it was quite as unscriptural to use a tuning fork as an organ. However, let it be said, in support of the brethren who condemned the use of the organ, when the proper pitch of the tune was struck, the congregation did really sing in the days of the "pipe" and the "tuning fork." After all said and done the use of the organ in worship is a question of expediency and not of faith.

      From 1883 to 1891 the colony passed through a period of depression. Widespread distress resulted from the failure of the Commercial Bank, one of the greatest financial calamities that has ever befallen South Australia. Hundreds of thousands of pounds were lost to the public directly and indirectly in the city by incendiary fires. In 1886 and succeeding years the colony suffered a severe drought. Wool depreciated in value in overseas markets. It was during this period that direct taxation was introduced against strong opposition. Naturally the commercial conditions affected the churches. It was difficult to obtain funds to extend evangelistic work or even maintain what had been started. Preachers were few in number, though not wanting in zeal. The secretary of the Union opened his report at the 1886 annual meeting by saying: "If any apology be needed for a meagre report from your committee on this occasion, it is to be found in the fact that its functions have not yet reached beyond the primary steps in evangelization, and, in the prosecution even of this work, its opportunities have been circumscribed by a modest exchequer and few preachers." In those days no annual offering was received from the churches for evangelism. Promises were sought at the annual meeting, and the fulfilment of these and private subscriptions usually enabled the treasurer to balance his accounts.

      That the South Australian brethren were alive to the possibilities of evangelistic activities in wide fields is seen in a decision at the committee meeting in October, 1888, to ask the Unions in other colonies to what extent they would be prepared

to co-operate with South Australia in a Western Australian mission. At the same time the secretary wrote to Henry Wright and Albany Bell, of Perth, seeking information. Later the matter was referred to the first inter-colonial conference in Melbourne, on October 21st, 1889 (the initiation of this conference may be credited to far-sighted South Australian brethren). T. H. Bates went to the western field to establish the work and was partly supported by churches in this colony.

      Evangelists employed by the committee were usually of the semi-itinerant type. They spent most of their time with one church, but several months of each year were devoted to churches scattered through the colony. In an address delivered at the annual meeting in 1890 T. J. Gore urged the churches to make a more determined effort to evangelize the country districts. He personally was always a friend of the little, struggling causes. "the number of evangelists," he said, "should be doubled and a general evangelist employed, a man wholly detached from any local responsibility who can go to any point where it may seem his services are needed." At the same meeting A. T. Magarey advocated the utilization of the talents of young men by sending them out by twos and threes to preach in rented rooms in unworked districts in and around the city. With the changes incidental to the settlement of a new country it was desirable, he thought, that brethren in country towns should meet at the Lord's Table and form radiating centres for the truth in that region."

      INTEREST in Foreign 'Missions had been aroused by the visit of Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Wharton, American missionaries from India, in 1889. As a result the women of the

churches organized Mission Bands at Grote Street, Hindmarsh, and Unley. At the annual meeting in 1891 it was decided to embark on overseas enterprises. The same conference resolved to establish a Sunday School Union. Several suggestions were put forward for the next conference, indicating that brethren were becoming alive to the needs of the work generally. Among the ideas favourably received were (1) that three or four days be devoted to the business of conference; (2) that arrangements be made for a meeting of sisters to consult and present reports on various departments of Christian efforts in which they might be engaged; (3) that there be a special Sunday School session; and (4) that each church supply a brief account of its work with suggestions for the consideration of the committee. The conference was referred to in the report as "the largest and most enthusiastic gathering ever held under the auspices of the Evangelist Union," "unlike previous meetings large numbers of interested and interesting sisters attended," and not one jarring note was struck."

      The position of women in the church received much attention in the nineties owing to the demand for political rights and the agitation for woman suffrage, the prominence of women in philanthropic organizations and the temperance movement, and the increasing interest taken by women in the enterprises of the church, especially in foreign missions. Elderly brethren were somewhat dubious on the point whether women were trespassing on the sphere of men in the churches, and the Apostle Paul's well-known prohibition, "Let the women keep silence in the churches," was in some quarters cautiously applied. M. Wood Green, at the 1893 conference, expounded the subject at considerable length in an essay on "The Position of Women in the Church," and reasoned that the restrictions placed upon women in Oriental countries arose out of the social customs of the times, but the same degree of silence and retirement requisite in the apostolic age is not now demanded. The address may be regarded as somewhat of the nature of

the "Magna Charta" of women's rights in the future history of Churches of Christ in South Australia.

      The period from 1892 to 1902 is marked by an increase of over 50 per cent. in the total membership of the churches in the Union, the numbers rising from 2190 to 3388. Some of the strongest churches of more recent years were building up their membership through the sound preaching and teaching of able men and tinder the blessing of God. Grote Street Church increased from 477 to 484, Balaklava, 29 to 131, Queenstown, 20 to 156, Hindmarsh, 308 to 505, Glenelg, 57 to 101, Unley, 230 to 332, Norwood, 134 to 539. The Evangelist Committee employed few evangelists, and the era of tent missions had not yet arrived. The funds at the disposal of the committee were pitifully inadequate to meet the crying needs of country districts. Some fields are dropping out of the picture, notably several in the south-east where such persistent efforts had been made for twenty years to establish strong causes. A pessimistic note was sounded by the secretary in his report to the conference in 1894, when he stated that the situation was "destitute of interest except that which attaches to the consideration of the problem as to how best to revive it." Some churches were not contributing anything to the general evangelistic funds, but singly or in groups were acting independently, with a parochial outlook. Conference took a serious view of the situation and decided that the committee "forthwith secure evangelistic aid" (employ more evangelists) and depend on the assurance that the churches in the union would supply the necessary funds. In other words, the implied rebuke of the Committee was their lack of faith in the Brotherhood. Every conference year began in high hopes of a more generous response from the churches in support of resolutions passed by the delegates. It was forgotten then, as it is now, that conference resolutions are a poor substitute for enthusiastic and generous cooperation locally. Some one has satirically suggested that the nerve that leads the hand to the pocket should be as equally well-developed as the nerve that controls the tongue. Records show the embarrassment of a harassed committee when appeals for help from struggling causes had to be set aside owing to a depleted treasury. Under the anonymity of "Faith" a brother wrote to the committee in 1897 suggesting that envelopes should be distributed among the churches with the request that a quarterly collection should be taken for general evangelism. A five pound note was enclosed as proof of the sincerity of the writer. Whether this action was taken or not we do not know. However, the deficits in the funds were a common complaint. It seems that at one time the committee,

in despair of ever being able to meet the persistent calls for help that come from north and south, as a possible way out of the difficulty proposed to shift the responsibility of evangelizing those big fields by the formation of northern and southern circuits which would raise their own funds and employ their own evangelists. At the annual meeting in 1899 a stirring appeal came from the committee: "We would urge it upon all the churches in this association to make one determined effort in God's name to, increase the number of evangelists in the field. What is needed is for consecrated men to go forth into many of the large towns hitherto untouched by us as a people and there present the primitive and apostolic Christianity." Of course, these were the days before the annual offering with its publicity campaign and urgent appeals, and before the churches had developed a Home Mission conscience. An awakening foreign mission spirit had probably diverted some attention from home evangelism until the churches saw that the success of the latter supplied a strong base for overseas work.

      The story of the Glenelg Church opened with the small meeting in the local Town Hall on Christmas morning, 1887. William Burford and family had established their home in the town and took an active part in establishing the cause. A few people continued to meet until T. J. Gore was engaged as evangelist in 1892. He thoroughly established the church. The chapel was not built until the ministry of W. A. Keay which began in 1899.

      A handful of disciples met in the public school building at Fulham for a time prior to 1891, their organization being the direct result of a Bible Class conducted by H. D. Smith. When the meetings for worship were discontinued, over a hundred pounds were left in trust for some future work. The opportunity came when Robert Lawrie, his wife, and family, of the Grote Street Church, removed to Henley Beach. Members of the late Fulham Church were called together to discuss the possibility of forming a church at Henley Beach, where meetings were begun on September 6th, 1891. The following attended the first meeting for the breaking of bread at the seaside town:--George Noble, Samuel Lewis, Robert Lawrie, Margaret Lawrie, Alexander, and Sarah Lawrie and their children. The chapel was opened on January 22nd, 1893, the Fulham Church trust fund forming the nucleus of the cost.

      Prospect Church was the fruit of a mission in Pulsford Road and then in Oddfellows' Hall, Prospect Road. Theo. Fisher, of the North Adelaide Church, gave valued leadership to the infant cause. The church was organized in 1893.

      Nestling among the hills some twenty miles from Adelaide, the picturesque little town of Williamstown saw a cause opened on August 27th, 1893. A group of Baptist people decided to follow New Testament teaching more closely and erected a galvanized iron building for worship. In spite of keen local opposition the church grew with the assistance of preachers from the city churches. The present chapel was built in 1900.

      It is noteworthy that the date of the conference was changed in 1894 from March to September, the reason given being the likelihood of experiencing extremely hot weather in the summer months. The sisters at North Adelaide, owing to the hot spell, had had a severe gruelling in providing for the delegates at the 1893 conference, which was held in their building. The change over to September was marked by the preaching of the first conference sermon by A. C. Rankine, of the Norwood Church, who took as his text, "The love of Christ constraineth us" (2 Cor. 5:14). Conference essays had been a regular feature up to this time and they continued for several years but with dwindling importance. Business reports and discussions encroached upon the time allotted to essayists. The trend of thought of the times can be judged by following through the list of subjects contributed by capable brethren throughout the years. Beginning with the second annual meeting in 1885 the following essays were presented at successive meetings

      "Individual Evangelism," Dr. I. C. Verco; "Our Position and Duty," M. Wood Green; "How Can we Best Advance the Cause of Christ in the Colony?" T. H. Bates; "The Church: Its Position, Work, and Obligation," Jesse Colbourne: "Mutual Edification," Dr. J. C. Verco. The last essay was contributed by T. J. Gore at the 1909 conference on "The Silver Lining." Much has been lost through the deletion of the essay from the conference agenda. It supplied light on questions which once agitated the church, and able brethren had an opportunity to express and thoroughly expound views which provided a touchstone of the principles and practice of the Restoration Movement. Conference sermons have usually proved informative and their practical value cannot be overlooked, but they must necessarily have a popular appeal.

      John Verco resigned as secretary of the Union in 1896, owing to ill-health. He had done a monumental work in laying the foundation of the Evangelistic Union. His immediate successor was Jesse Colbourne.

      As early as 1898 William Burford, always a friend of the preacher, was keenly alive to the need of providing assistance to preachers who by reason of advancing years and sickness

could no longer continue their work. He moved in conference "That an Aged Evangelists' Sustentation Fund be formed and that a scheme for its administration be formulated by the Executive Committee." The resolution aroused an animated discussion before it was carried. Mr. Burford intended that the other colonies and New Zealand should be invited to cooperate in the creation of an Australasian fund to be raised by subscriptions from the churches on the basis of one shilling per member annually. The distribution of financial help was to be left to the various executive committees. That the scheme did not receive much support does not reflect upon the wisdom of the originator, but suggests rather that he was ahead of his time in placing upon the churches the onus of caring for devoted men who had worn themselves out in the service of the Brotherhood, and who, in many cases, received such a meagre salary that it was impossible to provide for future contingencies. Ultimately, the Federal Conference established the Preachers' Provident Fund.

      During July and August, 1902, G. T, Walden, then in the midst of his long ministry at Enmore Tabernacle, Sydney, spent five weeks in a united mission at Grote Street, with the amazing result of 196 confessions. Such a mission was needed to awaken the churches to the success to be expected from a well-organized campaign of aggressive evangelism. The effect generally is seen in the years that followed.

      THE period from 1902 to 1914 was one of rapid progress, and the total membership doubled. Churches of Christ became numerically the fourth strongest body in the State.

      The following table will indicate the strides that were made:--

      The Scoville Mission converts were reported at the 1913 conference. This period may be called the "Era of Tent Evangelism." Chapels were built through the operations of the Church Extension Building Fund. The women of the churches organized their work and liberally supported both Home and Foreign Missions. We will review several outstanding phases of the period, leaving the activities of the sisters for separate treatment.

      It was proposed at the 1902 conference to hold a series of missions in the weaker country churches. A tent was purchased for £50, and seating provided for 250 persons. It was first used in March, 1903, when J. E. Thomas held a mission at Stirling East with ten decisions. Missions at Willunga, Gilles Street, Adelaide, Hamley Bridge, and Croydon followed. The immediate results totalled 108. The report of the Evangelistic Committee at the conference expressed unwonted optimism: "The indirect results of these missions cannot be tabulated. The churches have been stirred up and the cause has received a great advertisement among those who previously hardly knew of our existence. We feel sure the brethren will agree that the tent was a good investment." Funds were not available to support a tent missioner full-time in the State fields, so the Committee suggested to the other States that an American evangelist should be invited to conduct missions in all the States. Nothing was done owing to the lack of the spirit of co-operation. Up to the end of the century sporadic appeals had been made to the churches to supply funds for evangelistic work. The first annual offerings taken up on the

first Sunday in January were not very encouraging. Other appeals had to be made at conference and throughout the year. Consequently the work usually remained on a precarious footing. At the 1903 conference the committee urged the employment of a capable State evangelist. He would be able to strike at the great centres and reach the masses of the people. Three leading American brethren, J. W. McGarvey, A. McLean, and Mark Collis (an old Adelaide boy) consented to invite applications for a suitable man. But several years elapsed before a State evangelist could be found and fully employed. A depleted treasury forbade a forward movement. The committee had not learned to go ahead and "trust the brotherhood," which almost became an adage in later times.

      In November, 1903, H. J. Horsell took the place of G. P. Pittman as secretary to the committee. Except for a period of five years, from 1910-1915, when D. A. Ewers was financial secretary and part-time preacher, and then full-time organizer, H. J. Horsell filled the office until 1940, giving the Brotherhood self-devoted and painstaking service. During the year 1903-4 the tent was used only once, but in the next year J. C. F. Pittman spent four or five months as general evangelist, with 81 additions. The tent had again proved its worth. However, this effort had drained the available funds. An SOS to the churches, and a warning to the preachers employed by the committee that owing to the seriousness of the position their services might not be required after conference, created a depressing outlook, and discouraged the men.

      The year 1906 saw further successes in general evangelism. J. C. F. Pittman conducted several missions, and John T. Brown, an American evangelist, assisted by E. W. Pittman, as song leader, had striking results in a series of meetings in the Norwood Tabernacle, with 135 confessions, and in a tent mission in the heart of the city on a vacant allotment at the corner of Gouger Street and Victoria Square (the site of Moore's Emporium), where there were 203 decisions. Such a harvest was reminiscent of the days of Henry S. Earl. The annual offering in the following February, so far the largest received in this way, totalled £240. H. G. Harward and E. W. Pittman were associated in efforts at Hindmarsh and North Adelaide early in the next conference year. Promise of bigger days ahead was found in the development of a ring of new suburbs around the city, to which members of the older churches were moving, and in the fact that another aggressive leader had appeared in the State in the person of D. A. Ewers.

      S. G. Griffiths came to South Australia in 1909 and his acceptance of the position of State evangelist gave an impetus to tent mission work over the next three years. During that period he threw himself energetically into his task and conducted campaigns in a new tent at Maylands, Mallala, Semaphore, Broken Hill, Naracoorte, Williamstown, Long Plains, Owen, Balaklava, Mile End, York, Kadina, Wallaroo, Tumby Bay, Stirling East, Port Pirie, Hindmarsh, Strathalbyn, Port Pirie South, and Murray Bridge. Altogether there were upwards of 700 confessions.

      For a long time reports had been received of the outstanding success of Charles Reign Scoville, the American evangelist, in missions on a big scale. Plans were made for him to come to Australia in 1912 to conduct campaigns in some of the capital cities. On August 4th he opened a united mission in the Exhibition Building, Adelaide. All the forces of the churches were harnessed in the task of organization. A census was taken of the church affiliation of people in the city and suburbs. Prayerful interest resulted from a week's preliminary services in all the city and suburban churches. Literature had been distributed freely from house to house in successive waves. Who will forget the novel advertisement of the "Everlasting Seeds," the replica of a seedman's envelope, containing suitable passages of Scripture and an announcement of the mission, which, while it may have momentarily deceived many, was of such publicity value that it aroused the curious attention of thousands of people? A huge choir was trained by A. J. Gard in readiness for

      Charles Marty, the evangelistic team's song leader. Night after night crowds flocked to the Exhibition Building. The audiences were thrilled by the singing and held by the magnetic personality of the missioner. During the extended invitation at the close of the address, personal workers, who had been trained by H. F. Phillippi, moved quietly among the audience, encouraging men and women to make their decision. A canvas baptistery was used each night, and whilst in the opinion of many, the dignity and solemnity of the sacred ordinance inevitably suffered, this demonstration of the mode of baptism enjoined by the Lord left a permanent effect on people who had not previously seen the ordinance administered. The evangelistic party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Scoville, C. R. L. Vawter, H. F. Phillippi, and Charles Marty. As a direct result about 957 persons confessed their faith in Christ, and of these some 526 united with the churches. The mission cost a little over £1000.

      With the growth of the membership of the churches and an awakened interest in evangelism there came an increase in

the practical support of the work. Whereas in 1903 the total income for the year was £350, in 1914 it was £2242. The annual offering respectively was £287 and £846 (an appeal at conference brought in an additional £300), The Duplex Envelope System was introduced in 1912. Only ten churches adopted it the first year, but it has gradually won its way into favour.

      The Union was strengthened by the addition of twenty churches during this period, viz., Goolwa, Wallaroo, Mt. Hill, Naracoorte, Mile End, Mount Compass, Maylands, Croydon, Semaphore, Tumby Bay, Railway Town, Murray Bridge, Moonta, Ungarra, Berri, Mundalla, Dulwich, and Forestville. Naracoorte was transferred from the Victorian conference, as were Bordertown and Wampoony at an earlier date. Six churches were established in the suburbs of the city. The 1907 conference recommended the opening of a cause at Mile End (many years before a small company had met at New Thebarton, but had dispersed). In May of the following year a church was formed in the new chapel by D. A. Ewers, who had been brought from Victoria to undertake the work. The building proved to be an excellent illustration of the potentialities of the Church Extension Building Fund. A mission was opened at Maylands in 1907 in an old furniture factory by the Norwood Young Men's Class, conducted by J. H. M. Hawkes, supported by a strong choir under the leadership of G. D Wright. Furniture in various stages of completion occupied a part of the building, and all manner of creeping things disputed possession of the rest of the space. Out of this laudable effort grew the Maylands Church, which first met in a hall built on a site chosen by H. D. Smith, opposite the Wellington Road public school. Sunday School and church grew with the growth of the suburb. The Croydon Church was an offshoot of the Hindmarsh Church, and the church at Semaphore came into being through the enterprise of the Queenstown brethren. Dulwich Church drew the nucleus of its membership largely from Norwood, and Forestville from Grote Street and the southern suburban churches.

      In the south of the State H. J. Horsell, evangelist at Strathalbyn, in 1902 reached out into Goolwa, where several families gave stability to the infant cause and converted a carpenter's shop into a neat place of worship. In 1912 J. T. Train, of Goolwa, visited Murray Bridge and gathered together the foundation members of a church in this important river town. The Willunga Church, which was never a strong cause, gradually declined, and as the result of the settlement of the Jacobs families at Mount Compass on the rich peat swamps, a church

sprang up there and became the chief religions force in the community.

      The extension of the Restoration Movement to the two peninsulas, Yorke and Eyre, which cover such large areas of South Australia, provides a story each with its own local colouring. The Port Pirie Church has already received attention. Further south on Yorke Peninsula three towns appeared as the result of the discovery of copper in the area about 1860. Specimens, rich in this mineral, were picked up by a shepherd in the employment of Mr. (afterwards Sir) Walter Watson Hughes on a run near where the town of Kadina now stands. Some Cornish miners appeared on the scene, saw possibilities in the find, and the result was the opening up of what was known as the Wallaroo Mines. Copper was also found, again by a shepherd, a few miles westward, and the even richer Moonta Mines were started. In full swing these mines gave employment to upwards of 3000 men and boys. The population consisted largely of Cornish folk and the towns became Methodist strongholds. In spite of this the Evangelistic Committee felt that Churches of Christ had a message for these communities. During 1900 representatives went to Kadina and district to survey the field. Kadina cause was opened on August 12^th of that year, by W. A. Keay, evangelist, and then G. B. Moysey began his splendid five years' ministry in the town. A handful of people met in Moonta for several years prior to the appointment of G. P. Cuttriss as evangelist in 1913 and the purchase of the commodious Bible Christian chapel. Many will remember the big, booming voice of "Captain" McGregor as he appealed year after year in conference for help for "Munta." The Committee did not seriously entertain work at Wallaroo until 1911 when P. Warhurst began a brief ministry. J. Wiltshire succeeded him and with characteristic zeal built up a strong church. The hum of busy mining plants has long since ceased in the area owing to the exhaustion of payable copper deposits and the movement of people elsewhere has affected the strength of the churches.

      Many farmers settled in Eyre Peninsula at the beginning of the century in the hilly neighbourhood of Tumby Bay. Faithful brethren were among them. Only a short time elapsed before a small group started meetings at Butler. A little chapel was built, and G. B. Moysey organized a church on 24th September, 1905. The Committee was urged by R. W. Barr to send a preacher. O. Forrester and then Robert Harkness were sent. The latter laid the foundation of a strong circuit. Roy Raymond succeeded him. Their work resulted in the addition of the

churches at Tumby Bay and Ungarra. It is interesting to learn that the chapel at Tumby Bay was constructed of granite blocks brought as ballast in a sailing ship from South America and deposited on the then vacant block. The shipping company paid £25 for permission to unload the stone on the block.

      R. S. Caldicott presented a resolution at the 1906 conference that a "Debt Extinction Fund" should be raised within three years by all the churches combined through straight-out gifts from the members with idea of paying off the existing debts on all church property. An amendment was moved by W. T. S. Harris, the President-elect, and carried, that T. H. Verco should be asked to draw up a scheme that money for the purpose should be lent free of interest by members. In May of 1907, on the suggestion of Mr. Harris, a sub-committee, convened by T. B. Verco, set out a scheme before the Evangelistic Committee for a "Church Extension Building Fund." The extinction of property debts did not appear practicable. In general lines the plan was the same as is covered by the present constitution, its main purpose being to provide loans at a low rate of interest to churches to purchase land and buildings or to build chapels. To attain this end it was proposed to raise money by an annual offering, personal gifts, and loans without interest. The capital sum, resulting from gifts and offerings, could be lent to churches, and having been paid within fifteen years, could be re-lent, and so ad infinitum. The scheme received endorsement at the next conference without a dissentient voice and an immediate appeal realized £700, which, with additional amounts, was applied for the erection of a chapel at Mile End. Loans followed to the churches at Broken Hill, Maylands, Croydon, Railway Town, Moonta, Semaphore. Tumby Bay, and Murray Bridge, and at the 1914 conference the report stated that the fund had £1467 in capital, distinct from loans without interest.

      Fraternal intercourse has always been enjoyed between the two religious bodies. At one time a united meeting was held at successive annual conferences. There has always been a tacit understanding that the churches in opening new causes would not overlap. A serious attempt to permanently constitute one church of the two immersionist congregations was

made at Port Pirie. They formed what was known as the "Christian Church" in that town, and at the end of 1911 were apparently well consolidated. Two-thirds of the church were previously Baptists. The question of a full or partial affiliation with the Baptist Union caused some discussion until it was settled by the granting of complete recognition. The rules of the united church confined the membership to immersed believers. But this requirement ultimately became a rock of offence to some worthy people and wrecked the organization.

      For several years ten representatives from each Union formed a committee in the city and freely discussed matters affecting union and practical co-operation. More recently a new united committee held meetings. It is strongly felt by some of the brethren in both fellowships that the two bodies may at least co-operate in several Christian enterprises and thus be drawn closer together through their mutual interests.

      New rules and regulations of the association of churches were passed at the 1912 conference with a view to the incorporation of the Union, thus enabling the Brotherhood to receive and hold property in its own right. Six sealholders were elected in the persons of W. C. Brooker, A. J. Gard,. A. L. Read, James Manning, G. D. Wright, and D. A. Ewers. Other brethren who have acted:--W. J. Manning, H. J. Horsell, and John Harkness. Present sealholders:--W. C. Brooker, F. P. Langlois, C. M. Verco, Albert Anderson, T. Butler, and H. R. Taylor.

      In an address on the above subject delivered in the Exhibition Building at the 1914 conference, D. A. Ewers issued a challenge to the churches. The first World War had begun, and the church faced a serious crisis. He said: "Among and in importance far above all other conflicts is that between the forces of good and evil. This struggle between right and wrong is world-wide and permanent, while its effects reach beyond the grave into eternity. Among the factors in this warfare our co-operative work as churches takes its place with the forces that make for righteousness. In the past we have had our struggles but also our ever-advancing victories. And now we come to a critical stage in our work. In addition to the forces

of evil we have to face the prospect of financial weakness. Drought and war threaten to cut off our supplies of ammunition. Can we possibly hold our own? Shall we continue to hold sixteen fields along the firing line, where our forces have done such splendid service, or are we to be beaten back. The situation gives us cause for anxiety." The churches were urged to make substantial sacrifices with the assurance of final victory. He closed with the lines:--

      D. A. EWERS, who had already done much for evangelism in South Australia, was unanimously appointed fulltime organizer at the 1914 conference, for the responsibility of the work had become too heavy to carry in addition to that of ministering to a local church. With great zeal the organizer plunged into the tasks for which he was so eminently fitted by character and long experience. The disastrous world war would light the fires of suspicion and hatred which would burn for years to come; the minds of church folk were distracted on tram and train, in field, and workshop they thought and talked of the war; many fine young men enlisted from the churches for the defence of the Empire; patriotic appeals were continually being made; in addition faith in the church had weakened, for it had failed to restrain the dogs of war and show the world the better way to settle international differences--all these things and much else reacted upon church life and its enterprises. Then one of the worst droughts ever known was experienced in 1914-1915. But whatever the drawbacks the church rose magnificently to meet the war situation. The first conference in war time revealed all improved financial position and a small decrease in total membership, for revision of rolls was unusually heavy. The Committee placed on record their high appreciation of the services of the organizing secretary, expressing admiration of the splendid work he had done under very trying circumstances. It was probably the most strenuous year of his busy career, and it took toll of his strength. At the Committee meeting in November he spoke of retiring from his position, owing to falling health and the financial position, and said that he thought his illness (he had been unwell for two months) was the beginning of the end. A few days later David E. Ewers had passed to his reward. The Editor of "The Australian Christian" wrote: "The grief we have will be shared by thousands of the brethren in Australia, for, in the Commonwealth, at least, there was probably no brother more widely known, more highly esteemed, or more deeply loved than was Bro. D. A. Ewers. Our brother died, as he would have wished, in harness. In all the States our brother has exercised an influence beyond the local churches with which he has laboured. Every good work found in him a ready helper. The brethren realized his gifts as an organizer

and his value as a counsellor. Thus he gave his closing days to the planning of State enterprises, and to the furthering the cause of Home Missions, which had been the means of introducing him to the wider service of the church of Jesus Christ." From far and near came tributes from those who knew David Ewers best, who testified to his worth in such phrases as these: "A brave exponent of our plea"; "loyal to the Book"; "universally loved"; "a master of details"; "a manly and winning personality"; "a great worker"; "a wise counsellor."

      The death of D. A. Ewers was a severe blow to the work in South Australia. But "God buries the worker and carries on the work." H. J. Horsell was appointed full-time organizer and gave solid service, until he retired in 1940.

      During the period covered by the above table the total increase in membership was over 20 per cent. The spirit of evangelism was well maintained during the war. Gilbert Chandler and W, H. Clay conducted a tent mission at Balaklava with over 60 confessions. Two years later (in 1920) striking results were obtained from a similar effort at Moonta, where over 100 were added to the church. Unfortunately, the closing of the Moonta Mines affected the consolidation of the work in this Cornish town. Volunteer or pastoral missions had some success generally and W. C. Brooker conducted a very successful

series of tent missions among Port Line churches. The following two years saw W. Beiler doing tent work. The outstanding feature of the period under review was the united mission in the Exhibition Building from October 28th to November 25th, 1923. Dr. Jesse R. Kellems and C. H. Richards, both from America, were associated. Average attendances approximately were:--Week-nights, 1500; Sunday afternoons, 1800, Sunday evenings, 3500. Dr. Kellems was a finished preacher and eloquently and clearly expounded the great truths of the Christian faith. Again, as in the Scoville mission, the singing of the massed choir was an inspiration. There were 465 confessions, and it is estimated that 333 were added to the churches. This united effort was followed by another series of volunteer missions. Then in 1925 and 1926 A. E. Forbes and J. Warren undertook tent missions. Eight campaigns gained 87 confessions of faith. Other tent meetings by various preachers recorded over 100 decisions. At the close of the period E. C. Hinrichsen and D. Stewart pitched the tent at Maylands, Mile End, Prospect, and Broken Hill, the results tabulated being over 400.

      The income of the Committee increased from £2241 (1914) to £3399 (1928), the latter figure including £844 in subsidies from assisted churches. The comparative annual offerings were £846 and £1156 respectively.

      From 1914 to 1929 thirteen new churches appeared. At Blackwood two or three families, including T. B. Verco's, began a cause in 1915. The Cottonville Church, originally identified with the parent body at Unley, formed its own organization and entered the Union in 1917. After the break with the Baptists on the question of open membership the Port Pirie Church was re-organized in July, 1916. A Bible School at St. Morris, conducted in a hall erected for the purpose, paved the way for a church in 1918. This body is now known as the Beulah Road Church and meets in an attractive little chapel not far from the original meeting place. The Gawler Church began in the Foresters' Hall. The River Murray towns, when the irrigated areas were being settled, attracted a good deal of attention from the Committee. W. L. Ewers visited several settlements at the end of 1913, including Renmark and Berri, and his favourable report of the interest of isolated brethren in the proposal to open up a cause along the higher reaches of the river and their readiness to give it financial support, led the

Committee to invite Roy Raymond to labour at Berri and nearby settlements.

      The Winkie Church grew out of a Bible School sponsored by the Sunday School Union of that time. Barmera, a prettily-situated settlement on Lake Bonney, was also occupied. A frame building erected by the Building Extension Committee, was destroyed by a severe storm and afterwards re-erected. After the cause lapsed the chapel was transferred to Wudinna, Central Eyre Peninsula. Churches at Brooklyn Park, Fullarton, Colonel Light Gardens, and Flinders Park were normal extensions from older churches--Mile End, Unley, Cottonville, and York respectively. In the northern suburbs the origin of the Nailsworth Church may, be traced back to a mission started by Norwood young men in the sample room of a de-licensed hotel some ten years earlier. The prospects of establishing a church in the immediate neighbourhood did not warrant a heavy financial outlay by the Committee. Nailsworth, a new suburb, to the north of Walkerville, offered better opportunities for progressive work.. A school hall was erected in 1923. A. C. Garnett, M.A. (now, Dr. Garnett) carried on part time work from January, 1924, under the auspices of the Committee. He was succeeded by H. L. Davie. Then Roy Raymond entered upon a full-time ministry. The chapel was built in 1929.

      The value of the Church Extension Fund was further demonstrated over the period reviewed, for loans were made to the churches at Murray Bridge, Mount Compass, Berri, Barmera, Forestville, Gawler, Nailsworth, Cheltenham, and Flinders Park. From the inception of the fund to the 1928 conference the total advances to fifteen churches was nearly £12,000. An effort in the early twenties to augment the capital sum by £5000 received only meagre support from the churches. A little over £1000 was raised. It was originally intended to lend money to churches at a nominal interest of one per cent., sufficient to cover working expenses. This was done until 1922, for loans to the committee by liberal brethren and sisters, free of interest, were forthcoming. In 1922 most of the money had to be repaid to the lenders. The committee met their obligations, but to do this they had to borrow other money from the bank and individuals at current rates of interest, such rates being passed on to the churches. Thus the churches of a later date were placed at a disadvantage compared with those of the earlier period. Loans to the fund, free of interest, have not been forthcoming in recent years. No better investment in the interests of the kingdom of God can be imagined.

      As an expression of gratitude to God for His rich blessings, Mr. William Burford, when he reached his 70th birthday in 1917, decided to transfer 7200 shares in the firm of

      Burford & Sons, Ltd., to the Churches of Christ Evangelistic Union, Inc., the income therefrom to be given to named beneficiaries:--The College of the Bible, Glen Iris (£50 per year), State Home Missions (£50), Church Extension Building Fund (£50), Foreign Missions (£30), Preachers' Provident Fund (£30) S. A. Auxiliary British & Foreign Bible Society (£20), Daltonganj Indian Mission (£26), and Glenelg Church of Christ, the church of the donor (£34). Sixty pounds per year was granted the Day Kindergarten, conducted in the premises of the Glenelg Church. When this school removed to another building the sum was diverted to the Ellerslie Girls' College Funds until such time as the affairs of the College were wound up. For 29 years the income has been disbursed according to the Deed of Trust, the total amount received being £15,043.

      Having met the payments to the beneficiaries, the Union is permitted to apply any excess income as it may think fit. It was decided at the 1944 conference to build up a new Trust Fund out of the accumulated surpluses until an amount equal to the original gift has been reached.

      An additional 1200 shares in the same firm were given to the Union in 1922, the distribution of the dividends from which was not covered by the original Trust Deed. The income from these shares, by decision of the General Conference, is now paid to the administration fund of the Executive Committee of the Union.

      According to the constitution of the Union the Sealholders are responsible, subject to conference, for the receipt and expenditure of the income of the Union Trust Fund.

      A meeting of men of the city and suburban churches held during the 1921-1922 conference year led to the formation of groups in the suburban areas, with the aim of co-operating with the Home Mission Committee in a movement to strengthen the local causes and grasp fresh opportunities. Ultimately five groups were organized:--Western (Mile End, Cowandilla, Brooklyn Park, Henley Beach, and Glenelg); Port Line (Hindmarsh, Croydon, York, Cheltenham, Queenstown, and Semaphore), Eastern (Norwood, Maylands, Beulah Road, and Dulwich); Northern (Grote Street, North Adelaide, Prospect, and Nailsworth); Southern (Unley, Cottonville, Colonel Light Gardens, Forestville, and Fullarton). Considerable success marked the united efforts of the Port Line group in evangelism, a tent being purchased for the purpose. Doctrinal and other subjects of special interest to men have been discussed at quarterly meetings of the groups. Men have rallied to the support of sister churches engaged in special evangelistic missions. Almost unlimited possibilities are presented for group activities, but unfortunately all groups have not continued to function.

      A "certain brother" in 1919 offered a property in the Unley district as a home for orphan and other needy children of the churches. William Burford thus displayed the same munificent spirit which had created the Union Trust Fund. The conference questioned whether the institution could be financed.

      Two years later an offer of the property was again made, this time as a "Churches of Christ Collegiate School," where a first class education could be obtained by daughters of church members. A primary school was established under the leadership of Miss Eva Uncle. Several leading brethren formed the Board of Management. During the following year the "Ellerslie Girls' College" was opened in a fine property near Magill. Robert Harkness, B.A., became the principal. The property in Unley had been sold. This worthy man threw himself heart and soul into the task of putting the college on its feet both scholastically and financially. Girls of all ages were catered for, from beginners up to leaving standard. At one time the school was in a fair way to becoming self-supporting. But the depression came, and "Ellerslie College," as such, ceased to exist. The full responsibility of the college was never undertaken by the conference, although several brethren, including the Hon. William Morrow, M.L.C., with true Brotherhood spirit, helped to organize it and sponsored it after the death of the founder.

      The development of the Brotherhood and the increasing duties of the organizer and financial secretary (H. J. Horsell) made it imperative that assistance should be given him to cope with the detail work. With the co-operation of the Foreign Mission Committee rooms were secured in the Liberal Club Buildings on North Terrace in 1925. A bookroom was opened on the premises. The vestries of the old Grote Street chapel were afterwards occupied. More recently rooms in the heart of the city have been rented. The Executive Committee has in view an extension of the bookroom business and an office and committee-room in larger premises.

      Time, with its inevitable decay, had affected the old, historic meeting house in Grote Street. With commendable faith and the spirit of enterprise and self-sacrifice the brethren set themselves to the task of erecting a new chapel. It was planned on a scale to provide extra accommodation for conference meetings and was opened during 1926, seventy years after the first Grote Street chapel was occupied. The centennial year of the church has seen the debt extinguished, with some help from the Union Trust Fund. The old, vacated chapel was afterwards used as a printery by a city firm. Ultimately

the land on which it stood was sold. A quantity of the stone now forms a wall around the Rose Park Congregational Church property.

      Among the distinguished visitors from overseas who have come to Adelaide none was more welcome than Jesse M. Bader, representing the United Christian Missionary Society of U. S. A. He held conferences in the city in August, 1927, on evangelism with church officers, preachers, Bible School staffs, young people's organizations, and the women of the churches. His broad and refreshing outlook gave an impetus to the work of evangelism at home and abroad.

      J. Wycliffe Black, of Birmingham, England, was a fraternal delegate at the 1933 conference and strengthened the ties with the homeland churches.

      THE financial depression, followed by the second World War formed the background of the church for sixteen years, and the wheels dragged heavily. Statistics for the period:--

      The almost unbroken annual advances in the numerical strength of the churches in the State came to a halt in 1934. The zenith was reached the previous year, when the total membership climbed to 8359. Successive years saw a steady decline. From 1934 to 1945 the numbers were reduced to 6534, or a falling away of 1825. Total baptisms over the twelve years were 2128 and total of names removed from the church rolls, 4287, about twice as many. Anticipating the continuous serious shrinkage, the retention of members in active membership was made the subject of an inquiry by a special committee, who presented several recommendations to the 1935 conference, viz., that (1) more definite practical Christian teaching should be given at both morning and evening services; (2) an increasing regard should be paid to the preparation for the morning meetings to provide an improved atmosphere of worship; (3) pastoral visitation by preachers and officers better organized and more faithfully carried out; and (4) names and addresses of members removing from one district to another should be forwarded to the nearest church officials. Five years later the position was further investigated and it was suggested that (1) a better transfer system should be used to offset the leakage of members when changing their places of residence; (2) a proper system of membership enrolment should be followed to obviate the necessity of heavy periodical revisions; (3) a closer bond of fellowship should be cultivated within the local church: (4) isolated members should be kept

in touch with the home church; and (5) an intense spirit of church and personal evangelism should be developed. Once more in 1942 the question was taken up, this time with more emphasis upon evangelism. Several points were agreed upon at a united meeting of Home Mission and Youth Departments, preachers, and officers:--Preachers freed from less important duties to allow more time for personal work; the encouragement of home evangelism among friends and personal acquaintances: increased attendances at prayer meetings; co-operation of groups of young people in soul winning campaigns; group evangelism by means of after-church services in local Institute Halls, and Bible School evangelism., A review of the period of decline confirms us in the view that the weaknesses of the work generally are covered by the findings of the special committees and leaders, as far as the churches themselves are concerned.

      Conditions outside the churches were not conducive to religious progress. This is borne out by the fact that all denominational bodies suffered during the same period. Throughout the industrial depression people's minds were so occupied with obtaining satisfaction for their material needs that there was little room for thought upon the things of the spirit. Perhaps some of the very poor had the mistaken notion, being not fully aware of the true mission of the church, that they were not wanted in the house of God. The depression was bad enough in itself. On top of it came the shadow of an impending world war, and then the war drums sounded their call to arms. In addition a deplorable epidemic of infantile paralysis closed the Bible Schools around the city for three months during 1938, and on resumption many, adolescent children did not come back, thus limiting the scope of evangelism among the young for several years to come. Whatever explanation is accepted of the declining church membership it must be admitted that in recent years there is, speaking generally, a revolt from the churches and a growing pagan outlook.

      The financial position deteriorated for ten years. Church incomes and preachers' salaries suffered and new fields could not be occupied by the Home Mission Committee. Annual offerings for general evangelism dropped about £300 from 1931 to 1940. More recently the trend has been upwards.

      Only six new fields were opened in eighteen years. Up to 1929 the west coast of Eyre Peninsula had been served by three churches, but nothing had been done to reach the central area. It is a land of wide horizons and long distances, with

an uncertain rainfall in most parts and small settlements. Isolated members of Churches of Christ were scattered over these parts. The Horne Mission Committee felt it an obligation not only to help those lonely settlers by providing them with the opportunity to worship, but to bring to others the blessings of the Gospel. F. Hollams was equipped with a motor van and a supply of religious books, and began work in central Eyre Peninsula in April, 1929. He covered a wide circuit over rough tracks and unmade roads in real pioneering style, and finally decided to create a centre at Wudinna. Other stations for preaching services were Minnipa, Warramboo, and Wadicke Rock, with later extensions to Kopi, Yaninee, Cootra East, Pin Bong, Palabie, and Pildappa. But a more restricted area was afterwards found to be more advantageous. A framed building, previously at Barmera, was erected at Wudinna. This gave some stability to the work. It was Home Mission evangelism in every sense of the term. H. G. Norris, H. R. Fitch, and M. T. Lawrie succeeded F. Hollams. After a few years about 50 per cent. of the settlers left the central part of the peninsula, where a living had proved so precarious on small holdings. The committee also found the financial burden too heavy to carry as about half of the annual offerings was required to sustain a preacher in the field and equip him to carry on his work. The withdrawal of the preacher threw the responsibility upon the local brethren, who, with the help of the Tumby Bay Church chiefly, have since maintained a steady witness at Wudinna. The evangelist at Tumby Bay pays periodical visits to this centre and other preaching stations.

      Small churches were organized at Moorook, on the River Murray, Lenswood, in the Mount Lofty ranges, and Port Lincoln through the enterprise of a few families.

      Supported by the Goolwa and Mount Compass churches, the Victor Harbour cause was established by the committee in 1929 in the local Masonic Hall. B. W. Manning and a little band of prayer-minded people accomplished the task of raising sufficient money throughout the Brotherhood to build a chapel free of debt. It was opened in 1940.

      Edwardstown West church, as so many other churches, began in a private home. T. Edwards and others from Forestville gathered a school together, which soon led to the formation of a church and the erection of a neat hall.

      Within the past few years Whyalla, a big industrial town of 8000, has grown up near the head of Spencer's Gulf on the Eyre Peninsula side. At first, a few brethren met for the

      Lord's Supper in a private house. Then a room in the Institute Hall was rented. The congregation became known as "The Church of the Upper Room." A violinist led the singing of the hymns of the faith. A Bible School of 40 members was soon built up, through the kindness of the owners, in a newly-erected private home. Today the church occupies its own premises.

      The Church Building Extension Fund made advances to Central Eyre Peninsula circuit for the erection of the framed building, to Cowandilla, Brooklyn Park, Lenswood, Moorook, Edwardstown West, and Whyalla. It is interesting to record that the Fund's summarized capital account now reveals the assets to be over £9000, inclusive of loans to churches, property held for future use, Commonwealth bonds, and cash in the bank. Under the title of a "League of Five Hundred," a scheme was launched at the 1941 conference by W. L. Ewers with the object of assisting new fields to erect a building by making a straight-out gift of a portion of the cost. Members of the League pledged themselves to give at least one pound whenever a call was made to help an infant church. Over £500 has so far been raised by this method.

      Changes in the Constitution were effected at the 1935 conference to provide for the separation of the Executive Committee of the Union from the Home Mission Department to enable this department to give undivided attention to the work of evangelization, and at the same time to co-ordinate the activities of the Brotherhood through a central body on which all departments could be represented. The management of all the general business of the Union fell to the Executive Committee which is also required to carry out all the decisions of the conference which are not specifically within the province of any other committee. Standing committees are expected to supply monthly reports of their plans and activities. The cost of administration is met by the churches by means of conference fees on a proportionate basis, and some of the income of the Trust Fund, the disposition of which was not set out in the original Trust Deed.

      A Preacher Placement and Advisory Board elected in 1940 handles all matters related to changes of preachers from one field to another in the interests of both preachers and churches, and advises churches on knotty problems which may

arise within any local church. The committee has functioned well without unduly, trespassing upon the liberties of the self-governing churches which constitute the Brotherhood. Other activities of the Brotherhood are covered by the State Aborigines' Committee, working in conjunction with the Federal Aborigines' Board in Western Australia, the Federal College of the Bible State Committee, and the recently formed Committee for the Promotion of Christian Union.

      To celebrate the Centenary of the South Australian Brotherhood an effort has been made to raise a fund of £5000, chiefly with the object of establishing a "Christian Rest Home" for aged members. With the aid of the Sisters' Auxiliary Conference one-half of the amount has already been given, Other interests covered by the fund were evangelism and Christian education.

      Nothing had been done since the "Australian Christian Pioneer" ceased publication as a State periodical to produce a journal in this part of the Commonwealth devoted exclusively to Brotherhood interests, until the "Challenge" was issued in 1925 under the editorship of J. Wiltshire. A decreasing circulation and a heavy deficit in the accounts led to the discontinuance of the paper after fifteen years of useful service. The "S. A. Fellowship News" made its appearance in 1944, with A. H. Wilson, as editor, and T. Butler, as business manager. An improved financial basis guarantees many years of successful publication.

      In the parliamentary session of 1875 the Boucaut Ministry secured the passage of an Education Bill which provided for a system of free, secular, and compulsory, education. Provision was made for Bible reading during the quarter of an hour preceding secular instruction: but the schoolrooms were to be closed against all denominational teaching at any time. After more than sixty years of agitation the State Schools were opened for religions instruction in 1941. Ministers of religion and accredited teachers are allowed to give half-an-hour's lesson each week during school sessions. Whilst the work of the preachers has been greatly increased, the youth of the State generally will grow up with some knowledge of the Christian faith and the principles of life and conduct which lie at the foundation of true citizenship.

      PRIOR to 1893 little was done by the South Australian churches to answer the call for the Gospel from distant lands. In 1889 G. L. Wharton working in India under the Foreign Christian Missionary Society of America, visited Australia and gave educational and inspirational addresses in the capital cities on world-wide evangelisation. Churches and individuals caught the vision of the Light of the world piercing the darkness of heathenism. Foreign Mission Committees were formed almost immediately in Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia. The 1891 conference, held at Unley, resolved "That in the opinion of this conference the time has fully come when foreign missionary work should be entered upon: that this conference decides to take independent action in foreign missionary efforts for the present; and that a committee, consisting of five brethren and four sisters, be appointed by this conference, with power to add to their number, to be known as the Foreign Missionary Committee, to confer with the executives of the different foreign missionary bands of the colony and arrange a basis of missionary effort under the guidance of the conference, the committee to have power to take such immediate action as it may deem wise." A further resolution requested the Evangelist Committee to elect the Foreign Missionary Committee, and it was urged that the committee should meet early, "So that work may be commenced forthwith." The Brotherhood was now awake to its responsibility. Evidently it felt that it had slumbered too long. The first committee consisted of T. Colebatch (treasurer), M. Wood Green, A. T. Magarey, H. D. Smith (secretary), John Verco, and Mesdames S. J. Magarey, Rose Reeves, Mary Burford, and Miss Hannah Jones. Inspired by the addresses of G. L. Wharton the women of Grote Street, Hindmarsh, and Unley had formed mission bands. The Hindmarsh Band quickly developed into the Hindmarsh Foreign Missionary Society with the object of enlisting the support of all the members of the church.

      It was stated in the first report of the Foreign Missionary Committee, presented to the 1892 conference, that "Bro. T. Colebatch holds one boy's donation to date, viz., 2s. 6d." The boy's name is not known. If he is not now with us, his spirit of foreign missionary enthusiasm remains. We may ask, How

did the lad come by his half-crown? Did he earn it, or was it given him to indulge in some personal pleasure? The gift may have meant much self-sacrifice on his part. We read in the Gospel of john that when the disciples were estimating their resources to feed the hungry multitude oil the shore of the Lake of Galilee Andrew said to Jesus, "There is a lad here who hath five barley loaves and two fishes; but what are they among so many?" Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." From that unknown lad's small gift the thousands were fed. One boy's donation of half-a-crown heads the list of donations that have passed through the hands of the treasurer of the Foreign Missionary Committee. In 53 years (not including the 1945-46 offerings) a grand total of approximately £82,000 has been given from all sources and for all purposes within the State for world evangelisation, or an average of some £1540 per year for the whole period. The annual income rose from £127 (first financial statement in 1893) to £3479 (1945). It was the privilege of South Australia in 1911 to be the first State to reach £1000 as an animal contribution for overseas work. Grote Street Church (the "Jerusalem" of our churches) has the honour of becoming the first Living Link church. This was in 1913, and Frank G. Filmer was supported.

      Inquiries were made of brethren engaged in India, China, and Japan concerning openings for missionary enterprise, and it was discovered that doors were ajar everywhere. Seeing that available and prospective resources were not sufficient to justify the occupation of any one of the fields, the committee decided to wait for the Federal Conference in Sydney and urge co-operation between the colonies. At this conference the three colonies where committees were formed resolved to pool their incomes and work together. The committees framed rules for their own guidance. Some of the rules are of special interest:--The committee in Melbourne was selected as the executive body of the General Committee, which consisted of representatives from each colony. Neither the members forming that portion of the General Committee resident in Victoria, nor those forming portion of such committee resident in any colony connected with the union, should act independently the one of the other except in matters of detail in their respective colonies. Business motions might emanate from each colony connected with the Union, but each and every motion emanating from any colony should be sent to the committee in Melbourne, which in turn should forward a copy or copies of all or any such motion to the members of the General Committee resident in each colony connected

with the Union. All monies allocated by the respective colonies should be placed in the hands of the treasurer in Melbourne to one common fund. No monies should be expended (except in the way of petty cash) without the vote of the General Committee being first had and obtained for such expenditure. The rules have a distinctly legal flavour and reveal that the colonies carefully protected themselves against possible unilateral action.

      Obviously the spirit of federation in the Lord's work had not developed at that stage of our history. The plan was cumbersome, and would have been most ineffective today. The first Lord's Day in August was selected as "Missionary Sunday" in 1892. The next year it was the corresponding Lord's Day in September. Not until 1899 did the July date receive approval.

      First and foremost Miss Mary Thompson, the pioneer missionary of the Australian Brotherhood, who went to Harda in India in 1891, under the American Board, received the hearty support of the South Australian churches. John Thompson, of Queensland, visited the colony in 1892 to seek the churches' co-operation in establishing a mission among the South Sea islanders, known as "Kanakas," who were indentured labourers in the sugar plantations of the northern colony. This made a strong appeal to the churches and liberal contributions continued from 1893 to the close of the mission in 1907. The return of the Kanakas to their island home, due to the enforcement of the so-called "White Australia Policy," led to urgent appeals from Tabymancon on behalf of his people for a white missionary to be sent out to the New Hebrides. Frank G. Filmer, of the Norwood Church, answered the call. Dr. (later Sir) J. C. Verco was a liberal supporter of the Kanaka mission in Queensland, and gave substantial help in building a chapel at Childers. Private subscriptions from that open-handed brother, William Burford, helped G. L. Wharton, Harda, India, and Robert Middleton, a member of an Adelaide church, who had gone to China under the China Inland Mission. Henry H. Strutton of the Hindmarsh Church, went to India to work with the Poona Mission in 1899. His home church supplied £40 annually towards his salary. Rosa L. Tonkin, who was vitally associated with Grote Street Church, and its auxiliaries, heard the call of China's millions and in 1901, under the American Society, began her long period of devoted service in Shanghai, China, in the uplift of the women of the city and the education of the children. Miss Tonkin was the first missionary of the Australian Brotherhood in China.

      At the 1906 conference Robert Lyall, of Melbourne, spoke of the need of a bungalow residence for missionaries at Baramati, India. A suggestion that the South Australian churches should raise £200 for the purpose was eagerly taken up, and it was erected as a memorial to the life and work of A. T. Magarey, so long and closely associated with the progress of the churches in the State, and called the "Magarey Bungalow."

      In line with the Chinese work in Melbourne and Sydney the Adelaide brethren conducted a Chinese class and then a Chinese mission at Grote Street under the early superintendency of W. Jackson. Teachers came from the city churches. Interested Chinese were each supplied with a teacher and taught to read the English New Testament. This gave a unique opportunity to impart Christian teaching, and whilst some of the pupils attended to learn English for the sake of material advantages that might follow, others were susceptible to the message of faithful men and women who patiently instructed them in the first principles of the Gospel of Christ. W. Jackson resigned the superintendency in 1906 and his place was taken by E. McPhee, who, except for one short break, carried on the leadership until 1934.

      A Chinese church was formed in 1915 under the guidance of one of the Grote Street elders. Ultimately the church appointed its own elder. Contributions were given towards Home and Foreign Missions, and the little church assisted in the support

of Chinese missionaries sent to their own land by the Chinese Christians in Australia. These brethren also supported their own evangelist to move from one capital city to another proclaiming Christ to his countrymen in an alien land. The most outstanding was W. Jame. Dr. Koo came to Adelaide in 1931 and encouraged his countrymen in the Christian life.

      The Chinese church in Adelaide closed in 1935 when there were but two brethren left. A full story of the Chinese mission in Adelaide and elsewhere in Australia can never be written. Loyal brethren and sisters laboured to bring the light of the Gospel to the souls of men steeped in thousands of years of inherited superstition. To-day in that far-off land, with its suffering millions, who knows but that the seed, sown often in tears, has sprung up in unknown fields to reproduce an eternal harvest.

      Since the transfer of the Federal Foreign Mission Board to South Australia, the following brethren have served as members:--J. E. Thomas, J. W. Cosh, Ira A. Paternoster, W. Charlick, W. Morrow, J. Fisher, A. L. Read, L. W. Baker, O. V. Mann, J. Wiltshire, A. G. Saunders, T. Hagger, A. C. Garnett, G. T. Walden, A. J. Gard, J. E. Allan, G. P. Pittman, R. J. Finlayson, A. Anderson, K. A. Jones, C. Schwab, T. P. Richardson, and Dr. P. S. Messent (present chairman).

      THE development of Churches of Christ in South Australia is closely associated with the establishment of Sunday Schools and youth work. The first Church of Christ Sunday School in this State was formed at Hindmarsh in 1853, and it is claimed that it was "the earliest Sunday School amongst the disciples in Australia." Grote Street was not far behind. We have advanced considerably in Sunday School organization and methods since those days. Sir Joseph Verco, in his "Early Recollections," tells us that the Sunday School was "conducted with simplicity." Children went to it twice on Sunday, in the morning for an hour or one-and-a-half hours, and in the afternoon. They also attended the morning and evening church services. Each Sunday afternoon scholars were expected to repeat in class six verses of Scripture committed to memory through the week, and these were the first six verses of the chapter which formed the lesson of the day. The teacher of the little children used a few large cards on which were printed in large letters three or four lines of monosyllabic lines, such as, "God is love," "Do as you are bid," "A bad way has a bad end," and "Go not into the way of sin." The children had to spell out these words and repeat them until they were thoroughly impressed on their minds. Henry Hussey, on his return from America, visited Grote Street Sunday School on June 17th, 1855, and wrote that he was well pleased both as regarded numbers and the Scripture information possessed by the children. On the following Sunday he went to the Hindmarsh school, and said, "I think it likely that this institution will be extensively useful."

      There was a time when brethren regarded the Sunday School as an unscriptural institution. Some of the churches took little or no interest in the work among the young. T. J. Gore wrote in the "Australian Christian Pioneer" in 1877:--Sunday School teachers constitute a class which are beginning to be more and more highly appreciated. This is a good omen and speaks well for the church. However, it has been generally the case that the teachers have been left not only to teach the children, but also to furnish the money necessary to carry on the school. The teacher who devotes his or her time to this work should not be expected to pay more than any other member of the church." Teachers also paid for the annual school "treat" out of their own pockets.

      There are records of the existence of what was called the "South Australian Christian Sunday School Union" as early as 1877, which held quarterly meetings. The names of S. Kidner, H. D. Smith, W. H. Martin, and Dr. Magarey appear in the records. H. D. Smith was the secretary of the Union. Details of only two quarterly meetings have been preserved. At the one held on May 8th, 1877, among other matters of business it was stated that the "second Lord's Day in January was generally observed as a day of special prayer for Sunday Schools and Sunday School work." It was decided to urge the schools of the Union to take part in a competitive examination to be held on or about September 30th, the scope of the lessons to be Acts 13th to 20th chapters inclusive. A paper was read at the same meeting by Dr. S. J. Magarey on "Some Qualifications and Duties of the Sunday School Teacher." At the succeeding meeting it was agreed to amend the rules of the Union, making the membership fee of individual teachers one shilling instead of sixpence. The competitive examination had been conducted on October 2nd for teachers and October 4th for scholars. The competing schools were Adelaide, Port Adelaide, Mallala, Hindmarsh, Norwood, Kingston, and Enfield. Examiners: W. H. Martin (Port Adelaide), W. Brooker (Hindmarsh), and Dr. S. J. Magarey (Adelaide). Of the 80 papers submitted in the four divisions, 33 competitors failed, having obtained under 50 per cent. of marks. It is interesting to read that certificates were awarded to Stanley Weir (Norwood), and George Walden (Adelaide). At the same quarterly meeting it was decided to pay £2-2-0 admission fee to the South Australian Sunday School Union. This probably explains why no further quarterly meetings of the "Christian Sunday School Union" were reported. In 1876 the first school statistics were given at the conference, when there were 82 teachers and 764 scholars in nine schools of the 17 churches listed. In 1880 14 schools reported 101 teachers and 911 scholars.

      At the State Conference in March, 1891, the following resolution was passed:--"That in the opinion of this conference the time has now arrived when the churches in the Union should establish a Sunday School Union for the more effective instruction of children in the Word of God and for the spread of improved literature." J. Colbourne, J. C. Dickson and John Verco were appointed a committee to arrange for a conference between representatives of the various Sunday Schools. The committee met at Park Street chapel on 22nd April, 1891, to

discuss the matter and decided to call a representative meeting of Sunday School workers in the Grote Street vestry on 12th May, 1891. J. C. Dickson and John Verco attended on behalf of the committee as well as the following delegates:--

      From Grote Street--T. A. Magarey, Richard Verco; North Adelaide--Hannah Jones, Dr. Verco, P. Messent, T. Forsyth Sr., R. Forsyth, T. B. Verco; Hindmarsh--J. Warren Cosh; Unley--J. C. Dickson, J. Leigh, T. G. Storer: Norwood--H. Hannam, Robt. Redman; York--Wm. Brooker, C. Fielder, A. Webb; Stirling East--G. Rudd.

      John Verco was voted to the chair and explained the objects of the meeting. "After an expression of full and hearty concurrence with the object of the meeting it was unanimously resolved that the time had now arrived for forming a school union in connection with the Churches of Christ in South Australia and that steps should be taken forthwith for its organisation." Following this decision a sub-committee consisting of Dr. Verco, J. C. Dickson, T. A. Magarey, Wm. Brooker, W. Hannam, G. Rudd, J. W. Cosh and M. Wood Green were appointed to draw up a code of rules for submission to the Sunday Schools.

      A little later the Grote Street teachers advised the committee that "we as teachers do not consider the formation of another union either necessary or advisable," and a meeting of delegates of the proposed Union asked Grote Street to reconsider its decision. At the next meeting T. H. Brooker advised that "the Hindmarsh school had decided not to join the Union seeing that Grote Street, the parent school, still held to their former decision." York and Norwood delegates did not feel like casting in their lot under such circumstances, thinking that the organisation would be comparatively weak without the then two leading schools. Such is a lesson on example by "parents." But it was not long afterwards that the schools were brought into agreement through the visitation of a provisional committee who were requested to wait upon the schools and explain the necessity of united action in such a worthy cause. At a meeting at Grote Street on 15th September, 1891, T. B. Verco proposed "that a Sunday School Union in connection with the Churches of Christ be now formed," which was seconded by J. Leigh and carried unanimously. Thus began the Sunday School Union of the Churches of Christ in South Australia now known as the Young People's Department.

      The first officers elected were:--President, Wm. Burford: Vice-President, H. D. Smith; Secretary, R. Forsyth; Assistant

Secretary, J. Warren Cosh; Treasurer, D. Verco; Visitors to Schools, T. Forsyth and A. Glastonbury. The early meetings were held at Kermode Street, North Adelaide, and then transferred to Grote Street, Adelaide. In the report for the first year (1892) it was recorded that all the city and suburban schools were in the Union (8), and presented "a united front with the intention of working shoulder to shoulder for a common end."

      After a few years' experience with the Union discussions took place as to what "desirable objects" should be included in the "policy," which resulted in a committee visiting all schools connected with the Union to gather ideas. The "policy" included subjects such as training of teachers, giving lectures, discussing Scripture examinations and competitions, formation of libraries, exchange of books between schools, occasional entertainments for senior scholars, introducing periodicals, especially those published by the brethren in America and England, interchange of teachers between schools for the purpose of addressing the various Sunday Schools and exchanging ideas. Although varied in some ways and called by different names this "policy" forms the basis of much of the work carried on at the present time. The policy in its application helped to stimulate and encourage teachers to greater exertions in the promotion of religious education. Carrying these objects into effect the Union undertook not to interfere with the private concerns of the individual schools.

      All the schools in Adelaide and suburbs paid an affiliation fee and all teachers and scholars were considered members of the Union. In addition any member of the Churches of Christ could become an honorary member of the Union by subscribing the sum of one shilling per annum, or become a life member by subscribing not less than £2-2-0 at one time. There is no record of any roll of life-members.

      In 1910 efforts were made to amend the constitution to make a closer affiliation with the State Conference and a resolution was passed "that the affairs and funds of this Union shall be under the direction of an Executive Sunday School Committee consisting of ten members to be elected by conference who will act to-ether with one representative from each school in connection with the Union." This arrangement lasted until 1925, when the Bible Schools' and Young People's Department was formed consisting of ten members elected by conference, together with three representatives from the C. E. Union and one delegate from each school. This department then controlled

all the sporting activities as well as the Bible Schools. In 1931, however, a further amendment to the constitution was made which provided for a separate Young People's Department to control the physical, social and sporting activities: this section consisted of four representatives from the Bible Schools' Department and the C. E. Executive. Separate reports were submitted to conference on the working of the Y. P. Department until 1943 when a Young People's Department was formed co-ordinating all activities of young people, such as Bible School, C. E. and sporting activities. The new Department consists of 16 members, 12 to be elected by conference--six to represent C. E. interests and six Bible Schools; power to co-opt four members as representatives of affiliated youth activities was left to the 12 elected members. This is the committee which now controls the young people's work in this State.

      With the formation of the Union in 1891 it was possible to commence many activities to--unite the work in the schools: quarterly conferences, the reading of papers by "our most prominent teachers," lectures and demonstrations were all soon in operation. In May, 1893, the Union approved of a scheme for Scripture examinations on the "Life of the Apostle Paul." Seventy-two scholars competed, but 43 failed to gain the required pass marks. York school proved the possessors of the highest number of awards, gaining three firsts and two seconds. The examinations became all annual feature, and by 1909 the* entries had risen to 452.

      In 1893 the Union requested the Evangelistic Union of our churches to allow the Sunday School Union one evening for publicising their work at the next conference gatherings, and so the practice began of setting aside a special night for the Sunday Schools at conference times.

      Visitation by specially appointed persons from the Union in the early days did much to help the schools, and marks were awarded to each school after a visit.

      In the report of 1896 it was stated that only eight of the 13 associated schools possessed libraries, totalling 1891 volumes, which was less than an average of one book for each scholar. Much consideration was also given to the suitability of books for children, and the Union instituted a scheme for purchasing books for schools at a considerable discount.

      Many will remember the Marine Excursions on the Port River which were arranged on moonlight nights for many years. These outings provided favourable opportunities for

making friendships between members of the various schools, and some merged into a more serious relationship. In 1906 over 400 tickets were sold for one excursion on the tug "Wato."

      Many other activities were conducted by the Union in the interests of Sunday Schools and young people, and decisions included the urging of the Government to declare a holiday in November for school picnics and "other purposes," stressing the need for providing suitably equipped picnic grounds by the Government, censorship of films for children, temperance lessons and the use of pledge cards.

      At the end of the first year of the Union eight schools had joined the Union. The total scholars ill the State numbered 1510, with an average attendance of 1077, teachers and officers 122. Sixty-three scholars were immersed during the year, making 336 scholars members of the church. By 1894 the following schools were members of the Union: Alberton (72 scholars), Chapel Street, Norwood (220), Kermode Street, North Adelaide (154), Glenelg (60), York (163), Park Street, Unley (206), Henley Beach (34), Gilles Street, Adelaide (104), Grote Street (291), Robert Street, Hindmarsh (403). It was also reported at this time that the percentage of Churches of Christ Sunday School scholars in proportion to membership was the highest of any religious body in South Australia. The 21st report of the Union in 1912 stated that there were 24 schools in the Union and 36 not affiliated. The total enrolments were 442 teachers, and 4400 scholars. Two hundred and two scholars had joined the church for the 12 months. By 1935 the total number of schools had increased to 68, with 6510 scholars and 1040 teachers. Two hundred and nine scholars had joined the church in the previous 12 months, making 1300 scholars church members. A reduction was disclosed in 1945-schools 63. Teachers 790, scholars 4873 and 145 joined the church for the year, making 615 scholars church members. The falling off in attendances can possibly be attributed to many varied causes, including a falling birth rate prior to the Great War, the infantile paralysis epidemic in 1938, the lack of preparation and efficiency in planning and conduct of Sunday School work, inadequate equipment and accommodation to permit proper grading of the schools, insufficient "through the week" activities for scholars, and during the war years the enlistment of many of our young men and women in the service of their country.

      In 1937 a commission consisting of W. Beiler, C. L. Johnston, A. C. McLean, W. T. Matthews, A. E. Mauger and W. W.

Saunders, was appointed to consider causes and remedies for the decline in statistics in Sunday Schools. An excellent report was presented, full of practical suggestions, and copies were distributed to superintendents and preachers. A three-year plan was drawn up following this report, which included recommendations for combating the drift from Sunday Schools, some of the points being development of the camp idea, the issue of a quarterly bulletin on departmental work, increased Youth Week activities, week-end conferences, teacher training courses, new scholars increase drives, evangelistic work to-ether with a deeper spirituality of all workers, a greater sense of responsibility of churches towards youth work, further co-ordination of youth interests and activities; better trained teachers. Not all these aims were achieved, but much work was done towards that end.

      Around 1911 many schools asked for relief from paying the full affiliation fees, and others requested financial help to purchase equipment, and the Union then felt the need for a fund to help new and struggling schools, so a resolution was passed that "a fund be established for the purpose of extending Sunday School work in the State and each school be asked to make an offering for this purpose." By this means, and later when the Forward Movement Fund was established, many schools have been helped, some by loans, and others by donations towards their equipment with chairs, hymn books, picture rolls and other material. St. Morris school, established in 1917, received substantial financial help from the Union, and when the amount was repaid in 1922 it was advanced immediately to help in the erection of a building at Fullarton. A loan was granted to Winkie to erect a building during 1917. Forestville commenced a church in a private home in 1919, and through the help of the Bible School Department and Building Extension Fund in 1921 a building was erected. Schools were opened in various places from time to time, and in addition many other sites were explored. Flinders Park (where a building was put up in one day), and Edwardstown West (where a Kindergarten room was also erected in one day), received financial help from the Bible School Department.

      In 1908 the observance of a special Sunday School Day, was commenced to emphasise the responsibility of the church for the Sunday School, and the relation of the Sunday School to the church. For many years from 1912 these special days were

known as Children's Days and were held on the first Sunday in May, when a church offering throughout the State was taken for the work of the Union, the afternoon being visiting day for parents, and an offering received for some special purpose. The evening meeting took the form of a Decision Day Service. T. H. Brooker in 1912 suggested that a cot at the Children's Hospital should be maintained by the offerings given by the schools on Children's Days. The endowment of a cot at a cost of 30 guineas was arranged, and its support has continued regularly, in addition to contributions to Minda Home and the Morialta Protestant Children's Homes and other like institutions. The cost of the cot has increased considerably, and whenever the funds in hand permitted, a larger allocation has been made. The highest distributions were made in 1944 when £70 was paid to the Children's Hospital, and £10 each to Minda Home and the Morialta Protestant Children's Home.

      A teachers' library was established in 1913 with the expenditure of £5 for books. Boxes were provided for sets of books which were made available on loan to schools. Until 1945 these boxes, with periodical revisions, were used extensively throughout all the Sunday Schools. A teachers' and leaders' library has now been inaugurated from which selected books may be loaned or used in connection with training courses.

      For many years from 1910 special committees were appointed to arrange the Sunday School Day programmes, Children's Days and Foreign Mission Days, and to be responsible for literature and Schools of Methods. Publicity concerning the activities of Sunday School work was carried on through the State paper, "The Challenge" (which ceased a few years ago), then by means of the quarterly bulletins from the Bible School Department, and more recently by the Youth Supplement in the present State paper, "The Fellowship News."

      Scripture examinations were undertaken by the Union in 1893, and have continued regularly. Scripture memory tests have also been conducted. For many years the examinations were held on a week night, but recently examinations have been conducted on the second Sunday afternoon in July, which has resulted, in some cases, in the entire school entering the competition. Since 1928 the questions set by the Federal Board have been used in the State examination, and many South Australian entrants have won first prizes for Australia. The record number of entries was received in 1940 with 663 from 47 schools.

      An efficiency shield was offered by the Department in 1928 to encourage schools in general efficiency and, all-round activities. The award was made on a percentage basis and the following schools have won the shield:--Maylands, Unley and

Croydon. To enable the country schools to compete among themselves an Efficiency Star was donated by the Croydon school in 1935 and has been won by Balaklava, Berri and Strathalbyn. The competition for the shields was postponed in 1940 for the duration of the war.

      In 1931 late Sunday afternoon broadcasts through Station 5AD were commenced by the Council of Religious Education, and the Churches of Christ Sunday Schools have taken their turn in providing the half-hour programmes.

      Increase Scholar Campaigns, including points for punctuality and regularity of attendance, have been a feature for many years. The best results numerically occurred in 1927, when 405 new scholars were enrolled throughout the State (Forestville gaining 60 and Port Pirie 29); and in 1932 with 784 new scholars (Grote Street 40, and Port Pirie 42).

      Country conferences were held from 1933 on the King's Birthday holiday for many years with much success, proving helpful to both city and country teachers and workers. Many series of teacher training courses and conferences have been conducted to assist in the general efficiency of workers among the young people.

      Dr. Oldfield, in 1925, before proceeding to India, made an appeal to the Sunday School Department to unite with the Young people of other States in an effort to raise £800 annually which would be necessary to support the Dhond Hospital, which was then being built. The amount named for South Australia was £200 or the support of four beds at £50 per bed. The committee resolved to do its utmost to raise this money. The first effort was through the Children's Day Service on the first Sunday in November, 1925, when £78 was raised. While many schools and auxiliaries have continued to contribute regularly, the aim of £200 has not been reached in any year.

      In 1925 a young men's Christmas camp was suggested by, the President, Ira Paternoster, but no camp was held because it was said that a suitable site was not available. In 1926 a very successful boys' camp at Mylor was attended by 36 from 14 schools. A camp in 1927 was divided into two sections--the seniors with 39 boys, and juniors with 31 under 14 years. Harold Norris, now the preacher at Unley, won a "prize for conduct and character." The Gawler Training Camps at Faster commenced in 1935, when 44 young men and women attended from 15 centres under the leadership of Will Beiler, who continued to lead similar camps until 1944. In 1943 and 1944 the camps were held at Aldgate,

but reverted to Gawler in 1945 and 1946. The largest attendances were in 1940 with 108, and 1946 with 140. Training camps have also been conducted at Wallaroo, Tumby Pay, Murray Bridge and other centres.

      A Tennis Association was formed in 1912 with T. H. Brooker as President, and Clarrie Dockett as Secretary, and many happy friendships were formed by, players. A Football Association was also organised, but with the outbreak of war in 1914 the sporting activities had to be curtailed. In 1931 tennis, cricket and basketball associations were planned, and later table tennis. Several trips to Victoria were arranged at Christmas time for cricket and tennis teams to meet in friendly rivalry. Victorian teams have also visited South Australia. It is hoped that with the return of peace times there will be a resumption of these trips and a revival of all the sporting associations which were disrupted on the outbreak of war in 1939.

      Amongst all the other activities conducted for the young people the 271 Sunday School committees have never lost sight of the importance of evangelism. Decision days and special classes have been advocated, literature has been provided and conferences have been held to encourage decision for Christ by the young people. The number of scholars added each year to the church rolls shows the effectiveness of the teaching concerning Christ as a personal Saviour. Endeavours have been made to make the Christian experience a growing power in the hearts of the young people, so that they might continue in their adult life to serve their Master and advance His Kingdom on earth.

      The falling attendances in Bible Classes have received serious consideration from time to time, and Bible Class Fellowships have been formed and conferences held to discuss ways and means of holding our young people. The recent introduction of a Christian Youth Monthly Fellowship is helping to bind our young people together in happy Christian gatherings. Revised methods of conducting the young adult Bible Classes must be considered, and Christian citizenship in daily living must be studied if effective work is to be done.

      As a beginning to a new educational campaign in this Centennial Year, copies of Robinson's book, "About the Church," have been distributed to Sunday Schools and included in the

1946 Scripture Examinations for scholars of 12 years and over. In addition, copies of "The Church in a New Century" have been distributed to C. E. Societies and Y. P. groups

      As early as 1898 a special meeting was held to compile a quarter's lessons on "The First Principles of Christianity." Training classes and conferences have been held frequently to improve lesson material. The Adelaide Bible College has on many occasions assisted financially as well as conducted training classes and schools of method. The value of lesson books of various kinds has been discussed and suggestions made for the inclusion in Austral lesson books of material on subjects such as Our Plea Decision Days, Foreign Missions, Christian Citizenship, besides the need for every day application of Bible stories.

      A central Kindergarten Training Class was recommended in 1928, but it was not until March, 1933, that a class actually started under the leadership of Mrs. Will Beiler, with 44 teachers from 12 schools. Country schools were provided with notes. After four years of effective service Mrs. Beiler resigned. Since then several other capably trained kindergarten leaders have been in charge of the class, which is continuing beneficial training and advice.

      To help isolated families a Mail Bag Correspondence School was commenced in 1941, when Miss M. Bartlett was appointed superintendent. Several helpers have rendered excellent service in preparing lessons which have covered all grades. At present Miss Alice Kentish is superintendent and has scholars in 20 homes.

      In 1910 the value to Sunday Schools of Cradle Roll and Kindergarten Department was emphasised. These suggestions, plus the benefits of grading scholars according to age groups, followed a Teacher Training Campaign by Mr. Archibald, in 1912, which was attended by 130 teachers as well as parents. In 1913 Norwood School was reported to have a specially constructed school house for graded work. Most large schools nosy have superintendents for various grades such as Kindergarten and Primary, Junior, Intermediate and Senior. The school enables a worship and lesson programme to be prepared suitable to the appropriate age level. Lack of accommodation and equipment in many cases, however, makes a full application of the graded school principle a real difficulty, but Mr. Archibald's lectures and demonstrations have had a wide and permanent effect on Sunday School organisation and methods.

      Since the commencement of the Sunday School Union in South Australia, many loyal and devoted men have served in various capacities such as chairman, secretary, treasurer, official visitors and committee men. They have helped in the Christian education of the youth of our schools and churches and deserve our warmest thanks. It is not possible to mention all their names, but many will be recalled to mind as this record is read.

      William and T. H. Brooker stand out among devoted Sunday School workers and leaders with a record of well over 60 year's service. In 1923 the Sunday School Executive arranged a social in their honour at Hindmarsh, and made a presentation to them in recognition of their devotion. After the passing of T. H. Brooker in 1927, the following minute was recorded: "We place on record the deep sense of loss, and sincerely acknowledge the untiring energy, loyalty and devotion to Jesus and the work amongst the young people by our brother. His kindly criticisms, his wise counsels and his eagerness to advance the cause of the Master were always very manifest."

      The voluntary work of secretaries and treasurers has been of inestimable value in Departmental activities, but it was often felt that a full-time organiser and evangelist should be engaged and in 1911 such a suggestion was made to the Home Mission Committee. Difficulty was experienced in obtaining a suitable mail and finances were not sufficient to take immediate action. In order to have more direct contact with country schools, H. J. Horsell for many years represented the Sunday School Department when he visited outlying centres on behalf of the Home Mission Committee. In 1920 further definite steps were taken to secure an organiser, but it was not until 1922 that a committee appointed by the Sunday School Executive discussed with the Home Mission Committee the suggestion that J. Wiltshire he appointed on his return to Australia from England. Finance was a problem and the Sunday School Executive promised to raise £200 towards the expenses of a full-time organiser for the first year. By the end of December 1923, it was decided to make this forward move, which resulted in a welcome to Mr. Wiltshire in June, 1924, as a full-time organiser and evangelist. After approximately twelve months' splendid work he retired from full-time work and accepted a part-time engagement with a suburban church and also assisted the Sunday School Department. On accepting a call to Grote Street some time later, he resigned. Although finances were not strong the Sunday School Committee desired that another attempt should be made to secure a full-time organiser, but the secretaryship continued as an honorary position for some years. In 1931 Will Beiler, who had previously acted as secretary after the retirement of J. Wiltshire, was appointed secretary, and in 1934 became a full-time secretary and evangelist for the department. Finance, however, again made it necessary to revert to a part-time position in 1935. This was a disappointment to many, including Mr. Beiler, who had shown keen interest and ability in young people's work. He continued as a part-time secretary until 1944, when he resigned. Mr. Beiler's 18 years' association with the Bible School Department as secretary and organiser was marked by many progressive activities, in which his wife also shared. The devotion and excellence of their work are to be commended.

      With the reorganisation of the Young People's Department in 1944, consideration was given to the possibility of again securing a full-time Youth Director, and it was announced in January, 1945, that an invitation had been extended to Gordon Stirling, B. A., Youth Director in New Zealand, to become Youth Director in South Australia. He began his activities in July, 1945, and in the interest of youth, he has planned and conducted

leadership and training courses, prepared camp studies and directed the Centennial Easter Camp, held Happy Hours on week days, and attended conferences in all parts of the State, besides addressing many gatherings.

      The Young People's Department has pleasure in recording such a definite forward move in the Centennial Year, and trusts that the work among the young people will continue to grow in effectiveness.

      GROTE Street Church organized the first Christian Endeavour Society connected with Churches of Christ in Adelaide. On April 4th, 1892, a meeting was called to launch the Society, and the first consecration meeting was conducted on August 29th by M. Wood Green. Miss Rosa L. Tonkin became vice-president. When she was being farewelled, prior to leaving for China, she paid a striking tribute to the C. E. Society, stating that her interest in and devotion to the work of the mission field was the direct result of her connection with the Grote Street Society. Other missionaries and many preachers might well testify to their debt to this vital organization for young people, built on definitely spiritual lines and calling for complete self-dedication to Jesus Christ and the church. More than one will remember the first talk given in an Endeavour meeting, when with fear and in much trembling a simple message was directed to a patient group of listeners.

      That experience in many cases became the beginning of a full-time ministry of the Word. In the Christian Endeavour Society preachers have learned to take the first steps in preaching; teachers have prepared themselves to teach in the Bible School; singers have discovered their talent to convey the message of life on the wings of song, sensitive and shrinking spirits have felt the thrill of Christian service and invested their single talent in the business of the King Eternal: babes in Christ have learned to walk in His ways through fellowship with consecrated youth, and all have seen the vision of Christ touching all phases of human life when youth marches out into a needy world.

      The Christian Endeavour Union was formed on June 19th, 1908, at a meeting held in Grote Street Church lecture hall. Unley, Norwood, Glenelg, Hindmarsh, Balaklava, and Grote Street Societies were represented, and Broken Hill and Henley Beach groups sent a greeting. The first officers were:--Chairman, J. E. Thomas: vice-chairman, H. J. Horsell: secretary, Will Beiler; treasurer, Geo. Mauger, co-junior superintendents, Miss D. Fisher (Mrs. H. Lovell, U. S. A.) and E. Kentish. The second annual report revealed a strength of 16 Young People's, 12 junior, and two Intermediate Societies, with a total membership of 1253. Over £52 was given for missions. During the years since the strength of the Societies has varied. The Young

      People's section rose to over a thousand in number in 1915, dropped during succeeding years, and reached the apex of 1246 in 1934. The present figure is 428. Intermediates steadily increased to 366 in 1938 and have remained at about the same level. Juniors climbed to 1259 (1933), but have slipped back to 619. The highest total of Christian Endeavourers was attained in 1934 with 2685, after remaining in the vicinity of 2000 for several years. Conference statistics last Year showed a total of 1370. The decrease in the figures of the Young People's Society since 1940 is partly explained by the absence of young men and women on war-time service.

      Endeavourers have always taken a keen interest in missions both at home and abroad, especially overseas work.

      A feature of Christian Endeavour and Youth Department activities generally has been the successful Easter camps at Gawler for seven Years from 1935 to 1941. After having been discontinued for two years oil account of war conditions, they were resumed under the auspices of the Youth Department at a new site, Aldgate, in the Mount Lofty Ranges, and now again at Gawler. It is intended to erect permanent buildings on grounds dedicated to youth interests.

      Christian Endeavour, Bible School, and youth recreational groups are now united as a "Youth Department." The present director is Gordon R. Stirling, B.A.

      CHURCHES of Christ in South Australia have always given their support to any movement organized in opposition to the social evils that afflict humanity and make the task of evangelism and the development of Christian character more difficult. At the same times educational work along Social Service lines has not been neglected. A resolution was passed at the 1889 conference, the first of its kind, "that this meeting of the representatives of Churches of Christ in South Australia desires to express its earnest sympathy with all legitimate efforts to lessen the evils attendant upon the use of intoxicating liquors, and declares its firm conviction that it is highly expedient that an Act of Parliament should be passed placing the power of veto in the hands of the people, and that the chairman be authorized to sign a petition to Parliament to that effect." The next year the conference pledged itself to support the enactment of a Local Option law, and, convinced that education was needed through the church on the effects of strong drink, supported the South Australian Alliance in making the last Sunday in November a "Temperance Sunday."

      A temperance meeting took its place on the conference programme for the first time in 1899, on the evening preceding the opening of the business sessions. Thomas Adcock, a well-known temperance advocate of those days, and James Manning, a stalwart Church of Christ supporter, gave two of the addresses. A temperance committee was appointed in 1900. At subsequent conference gatherings Thomas Price, M.P. (afterwards Premier of the State), Thomas Ryan. M.P., T. H. Smeaton, M.P., and the Hon. John Verran (Premier), a virile and rugged personality, gave stirring addresses to crowded audiences. The temperance cause owed much to these outstanding public men, and especially Thomas Price, for their open advocacy of restrictions being placed upon the sale and consumption of alcoholic liquor. About this time an agitation was afoot for the abolition of barmaids in hotels, a reform which, happily, was soon brought about.

      The first World War accentuated the problems created by the drink traffic and gambling. Reformers were encouraged by restrictions placed upon the use of alcohol as a beverage in some

European countries and the advance of public opinion towards prohibition in the United States, to enter upon a campaign for six o'clock closing of hotel bars in South Australia. Setting the example to other States, the Peake Government granted a referendum, and the result was an overwhelming vote in favour of early closing. For six o'clock 100,418 votes were cast; for 11 o'clock, 61,362 votes; and for hours between, 14,757 votes. So unmistakable was the attitude of the people that the Vaughan Government gave legislative effect to the decision. Churches of Christ members united with those of other religious bodies in a house to house canvass, and J. J. Franklyn, a well-informed and forceful speaker, was employed for several months by the Temperance Committee in open-air work and indoor public meetings. After several years of advocacy an attempt was made later, without success, to secure another referendum, this time on the prohibition issue.

      The Temperance Committee extended the scope of its work in 1925 by affiliating with other religious bodies in the establishment of the Morialta Protestant Children's Homes on the payment of £200 towards the capital outlay. The first representatives on the Board were I. A. Paternoster, A. E. Forbes, and F. Lewis. The Home met a long-felt want. The church has been represented by the brethren mentioned, and T. M. Glover, G. McKie, J. Meyer, W. G. Oram, F. A. Halleday, and Mrs. W. Lyle, Mrs. R. J. Stokes, and Mrs. H. Bartlett, and especially by E. W. Peet, J.P., who eventually became the secretary of the institution, giving it financial stability in a time of crisis. His death in 1944 removed a devoted and capable worker.

      During the economic depression 400 acres of land were leased on the Finnis River, near Mount Compass, and several families given the opportunity in healthy surroundings to rehabilitate themselves in clearing and cultivating the soil, and to, provide for their wants independent of Government aid. The area became known as the "Enterprise Colony." Although the project did not meet with the success desired by its promoters, the churches had the satisfaction of knowing that a practical effort, at least, had been made to assist worthy brethren in a time of discouragement and distress. The colony finally came under the control of the Government.

      Another worthy objective, now in a fair way to being attained as a Brotherhood Centenary aim, was mooted in 1930--the establishment of a Rest Home, adjacent to one of the churches, where elderly people could live and share the ministry of the church.

      The 1945 conference took a decisive step in asking the Union Executive and the Social Service Department to bring the Christian Fellowship Association into being in this State. This organization, so successful in other parts of the Commonwealth, is intended to help members of churches in times of misfortune and personal need by tiding them over their difficulties.

      Publicity has been given through the daily press and the "Social Voice," a bi-monthly journal, first published in 1930, to the principles of the Christian order as applied to national and community problems. Churches are becoming keenly aware of the fact that there is a social aspect to the Gospel message. Long ago the prophet gave voice to the word of God for his day as well as ours: "He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

      IN the general trend of world affairs during the past half a century women have sought and found their rightful place in all institutions outside the home, including the church. A rhymster, in a satirical mood, once wrote the lines:--

which do not apply generally in the Churches of Christ. But within the period under review the women of the churches have emerged from their semi-retirement in the home to play an increasingly important part in the Restoration Movement, and have stood shoulder to shoulder with the men in the work of evangelisation, besides entering unitedly into fields of service where they alone can employ, their talents--the fields of the "Inasmuch."

      As far back as 1893, as we have seen, the coming emancipation of the women of the churches was reflected in an essay read by M. Wood Green to the annual conference on the subject, "Women's Position in the Church." The report of the conference states that there was a large audience in which the ladies predominated. The conclusions of the essayist were vigorously debated by some of the speakers who followed, and as vigorously defended by others. Mr. Green argued most convincingly that in countries bordering the Mediterranean where the apostle preached, the silence enjoined upon women arose from the special customs of the times. As customs changed the reasons for enjoining silence no longer existed. He concluded a masterly exposition of the Biblical texts and the subject so keenly discussed in those times by saying that there was nothing in relationship to man which forbade woman the exercise of the talents with which she might be endowed.

      More than ten years elapsed before the women of the churches were first given a big place in the annual conference. In 1904 one hour was allowed for the presentation and discussion of the reports of Dorcas Societies. The following year Miss Norman read an essay on "Women's Work in the Church," the topic significantly suggesting it was only necessary

at this stage of their hard-won freedom, seeing that their position was now assured, to define the scope of their activities. In June of the same year, women representing Dorcas Societies at Grote Street, Unley, Norwood, Hindmarsh, Queenstown, North Adelaide, and the Christian Church at Hindmarsh, had met, under the presidency of Mrs. J. Dumbrell, to consider the advisability of organizing a Sisters' Auxiliary to the general conference. The proposal met with strong opposition from some of the women, and it was decided to hold a united prayer meeting at Grote Street on the first Thursday in each month. At the annual meeting of the prayer group the following year, Mrs. E. W. Pittman and Mrs. D. A. Ewers spoke on the work of the women in Victoria and Western Australia respectively, with particular emphasis upon the Home and Foreign Mission activities. A resolution was carried by a majority vote to hold a Sisters' Auxiliary Conference in conjunction with the General Conference the next September. Brethren of the Home Mission Committee assisted Mrs. Pittman in planning the conference, which took place on Monday afternoon, September 10th, 1906, 170 women being present.

      It was with some trepidation that the women had launched the Auxiliary Conference, and a word of encouragement was given by the president in her address, based on Joshua 1:9, Be strong and of good courage; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Mrs. Burns, in her paper, stressed the importance of women's influence in the home, in which all other phases of life were rooted. Five committees were appointed--Home Mission, Foreign Mission, Dorcas, Prayer Meeting, and

      Hospital Visitation, with their respective superintendents:--Mrs. R. Burns, Mrs. E. W. Pittman, Mrs. Cutt, Miss McGregor, and Mrs. T. H. Brooker. Three other committees have been added since, viz., Temperance, Literature, and Catering,

      The women aimed to raise £50 for Home Missions during the first year. Throughout the forty years of devoted work the needs of the home and overseas mission fields have been uppermost in their plans. Thus they have faithfully fulfilled their function as an auxiliary to the Evangelistic Union. Large sums have been raised annually, mainly by accumulated small contributions, in which the penny per week system has played a big part. The grand total for Home Missions has been £4467, and for Foreign Missions, £3033. Annual support for overseas work over the past ten years has crept ahead of the former, the total being £1165 as against £1057.

      Since the Sisters' Auxiliary was brought into existence the women of the churches, both in the metropolitan area and the country, have multiplied their usefulness by co-operating in many forms of Christian service, not often on the main highways, but along the bypaths and in hidden places, where men and women languish in hospitals, institutions, and private homes, for the touch of a sympathetic hand stretched out to minister to human need. They have clothed the naked, fed the hungry, and cheered the faint in the homeland and far beyond. As the Master long ago saw Nathanael in his trysting-place of prayer under the fig-tree of the Galilean village, He is not unmindful of the holy ministry of supplication from the women of the churches, which began in the little prayer meetings at Grote Street and still continues month by month. Groups of women in the churches have been visited by auxiliary representatives, encouraged in their local work, and given a vision of the wider horizons of the enterprises of the church. The voice of the women in conference and elsewhere has ever been raised against the social evils which threaten the peace and security of the home and so often thwart the church in carrying out her saving mission. As in the past so in the future the work will go on under the guidance of capable and consecrated leaders. The chief executive offices have been filled by the following women:--

      WE do not presume to predict the exact course the church will follow in the years that lie ahead. The world seems ripe for a revival of religion. Who knows just how the Spirit will manifest His presence and the channels along which He will move? One thing we do know--Christ is the cure for the ills that afflict the world.

      Methods of bringing the Gospel into relation with the life of the world change with the passing years. This is apparent from our story. The pioneers were wise enough to see that a business man, as such, could not possibly cope with the demands upon his thought and energy, if the community was to be reached with the message. However great may have been their fear of clericalism by creating a distinct order of evangelists, they were forced by circumstances to employ full-time preachers, separated unto the Gospel, and supported by the churches. The effect is a part of the story. Again to reach the masses the preaching of the Gospel could not be confined to the chapel. Tent missions became the vogue for many years, but they now no longer attract people in large numbers. Times have changed. The need of the Gospel is the same as ever. Nothing can ever persuade us that, in this twentieth century, the Gospel is not the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. If some people prefer to stay at home and listen to the radio, then it is obvious the radio is one channel of communicating the knowledge of the grace of God to the non-churchgoing masses. It is used for political propaganda and for educational and cultural purposes--why not for publishing the Gospel? It is therefore the duty of the church to produce specialists in the art of radio preaching. If thousands of people, who live in the cities, prefer to gather on Sundays at health resorts--they escape city crowds to join other crowds--the open-air preacher has his opportunity, supported by the best music, to present the message. At the seaside, or among the, hills, people may find that God was in that place and they knew it not until the messenger came and told them. The religious film has still to find its place as a means of publishing the Gospel. Churches

of Christ will surely not refuse to co-operate with other religious bodies, if by this means men may be saved. We have yet to learn that the car is any more sacred than the eye in serving the Divine purposes. Such modern methods of publishing the Gospel may prove effective in reminding the masses of the people and making many of them aware of the Christian message, but there remains the privilege of the disciple to apply the Gospel to the individual. To a large extent the Restoration Movement succeeded in the early days as the result of the impact of men and women, charged with religious enthusiasm, upon their relatives, neighbours, and friends. Personal testimony, whether it be in business or the higher things of the spirit, far outweighs in its permanent effects any other method of persuading the people of the value of what is offered. The pioneers sought and used every opportunity of telling others of their discovery. They had found the truth, and they could not hold their peace. Apart from the evangelist the church membership itself has a heavy responsibility to engage in evangelism. If a man has entered into a rich and satisfying experience of Christ, and if his heart is warmed with the knowledge of the love of God, he is impelled to make it known. If, again, the souls of the masses are precious in the sight of God and are lost unless the blessings of the great salvation are appropriated--the word of God surely teaches us this!--how culpable must be the professing Christian who remains dumb in the face of the tragedy of a perishing world?

      Henry Hussey once cautiously referred to the Sunday School, introduced two years earlier into the Hindmarsh Church, as "likely to prove extensively useful." There is no doubt now of its value as all educational and evangelistic agency. Have the churches gone far enough in using it? Are the church and the school as closely and vitally related as they should be? A very small percentage of children link themselves with the church. They drift out of the school in their adolescent years, many of them scarcely aware of the significance of the church to their expanding personalities. The American churches can teach us something worth emulation. Their Bible School session on Sunday morning merges into the church service that follows, almost without a break. A big proportion of parents and adults attend the school and lead the children into the church. At the morning service the Gospel is preached as at the evening service, where one is held, and the invitation is given. The strength of the American churches depends, in large measure, upon the close association of church and school. Many years ago Archibald McLean, after his visit

to Australia, pointed out what he felt was our weakness in this respect as compared with the American churches.

      An Adelaide lecturer on sociology recently declared to a class of students that the church is missing a golden opportunity in the days when the handworker is pressing his claims to be lifted above the border line of poverty and sordidness by securing a more equitable share of the fruits of his labour, which is the capital he puts into big business and industry. The lecturer meant that it is the church's duty to ally itself with those who are seeking for economic justice. From the standpoint of the church, such an attitude would invite more sympathetic attention to its supreme spiritual message from the masses of men. Long ago the prophet Joel saw the relation between material prosperity and a revival of religion.

      Whilst luxury, and a superabundance of material goods blind the eyes to the beauty and desirability of the things of the Spirit, and render the soul less susceptible to the appeal of the Gospel, "lives which are strained and starved" (we quote George Adam Smith), "lives which are passed in rank discomfort and under grinding poverty, without the possibility of the independence of the individual or of the sacredness of the home, cannot be religions except in the most rudimentary sense of the word. For the revival of energetic religion among such lives," he continues, "we must wait for a better distribution, not of wealth, but of the bare means of comfort, leisure, and security." Material good and the things of the Spirit are correlative, indeed, indissolubly and vitally related. No better illustration can be found than the fact that when a man becomes a Christian he immediately seeks to improve his material surroundings. The church of the future simply cannot afford to view objectively the struggle of the masses for economic security. It must lend a hand.

      Thoughtful church leaders everywhere see the necessity of Christian union, but there is a disinclination to pay the price of union--submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Churches of Christ have still a solemn obligation to the Christian world to set out humbly and lovingly the foundation upon which the structure of a united church can be reared. Are we as a people failing in the fulfilment of our God-given task? We hear little these days from our platform about Christian union. Our fathers were more conscientious and perhaps bolder than we. They kept the subject in the forefront of their messages, and expounded it in season and sometimes out of season. We have two obligations (1) to publish the basis of Christian

union, first among our own people, and then to our religious neighbours; and (2) to practise Christian union, first again as concerns ourselves, demonstrating that the bonds which hold its together are solid and unyielding, and then, in every possible way, without compromising our position, consorting and co-operating with other religious bodies in fields of Christian service. The writer has in mind particularly our youth work and social reform movements.

      We, as Churches of Christ, have always stressed the importance of the ordinance of Christian baptism. We have tried to guard ourselves against the charge falsely laid against us in the early days, and sometimes revived now, of preaching baptismal regeneration (the pioneers may have been at fault in talking too much about baptism), but we stand for New Testament teaching concerning this ordinance as an act of obedience which testifies to our faith and repentance, and we are on unassailable ground. Moreover, we cannot ignore the plain teaching of Christ and His apostles which relates baptism to the remission of sins. What are known as the historic churches are with us in this. Baptism, is also important, standing as it does at the beginning of the Christian life. It demands a standard of consecration and conduct in harmony with its spiritual import. The baptized penitent believer rises to walk in newness of life and to seek the things which are above. The most impressive Gospel message is not presented in words that fall from the lips of men, but through the living word--the Christ incarnate in human personality. The future success of the Restoration Movement depends not only on a restored New Testament teaching, but, in the fullest sense, on a restored New Testament practice. As the life of Jesus Christ was the light of men, so the Christian in turn is the light of the world. We are not simply baptized in water. In our baptism we put on Christ. As a bride, clothed in a beautiful garment, is a cynosure for all eyes, the Christian clothed with Christ will attract the attention of the sin-stricken and heart-weary world, and the plea for Christian union, which is justly our pride, will command the hearing to which a pure Gospel and sincere practice entitle it. This is a contribution Churches of Christ may well make to the religious world as they move out into a new century of witness and Christian service. The writer of "The Story of a Century," makes no apology for this closing homily. It has been his message to the church and to himself for over forty years. '

      We, too, are pioneers. We pave the way for future generations. Our debt to those who blazed the track for us can only

be paid as we carry their faith, courage, and self-devotion into the tasks that await Christian men and women in the new age. Walt Whitman's lines provide a song for the road: