Phineas F. Bresee - A Prince In Israel - Media Sabda Org

almost to be inspired, and veritable waves of glory have swept over the people at the various
religious services, held in connection with the Assembly and home campmeeting. This great hymn
book contains one hundred of the glorious old battle songs of the church of Christ, the rich cream
of all hymnology, the proved, tried veterans of centuries of song, the hymns our fathers and mothers
sang, which inspired the devotions of our grandsires, and which wound themselves around our hearts
in the dim, mysterious realms of infancy and childhood--the songs which speak to us with authority,
and whose cadences march in might and majesty through all the halls and temples of our souls. It
also contains those beautiful and thrilling peans of praise which mark the life and progress of the
church of our own time; those songs of salvation which give us spiritual uplift. And in it are to be
found a multitude of choruses which have proved their right to exist, and which fit into all sorts of
occasions, requirements and emergencies.
"The singing has been a marked feature of all the devotional meetings.
Reports Of The Churches
"The reports of churches were encouraging, and showed the work is taking hold of the people in
different parts of the country; that providential opportunities are presenting themselves on every
hand; that the Spirit of God is helping us to reach the masses, and bringing them under conviction;
and that He is leading us on to victory. These reports come from quite a number of states, and
represent a vast area. The report of the committee on statistics shows that we have thirty-eight
churches, classes, and missions, extending from Ohio, on the East, to Washington, on the Northwest,
and Southern California in the Southwest. The aggregate membership of these churches is about
3,300; the total value of church property, exclusive of the Nazarene Messenger and Bible College,
is $103,000, and the total amount raised by the churches during the past year approximates $35,000.
The Nazarene Messenger
"Brother Coleman stated that a few years ago he carried the total issue of the paper to the
postoffice in a market basket, but that now it furnished a load for an express wagon. Too much can
not be said of the consecrated devotion to this branch of the work of Brother Kinne and Sister Ernest,
and of their special fitness for the positions which they occupy.
Legislation
"The most important legislation enacted by the Assembly was the explicit bestowal upon the
General Superintendent of the power of approving or disapproving of the pastors called by the local
churches, the enlargement of the scope and power of District Assemblies, and the requirement that
in future all applicants for church membership must be examined and recommended by the
membership committees of the various churches. A legislative commission was formed, consisting
of nine members, and to this commission was referred considerable proposed legislation.
Conspicuous among the measures submitted to this commission is the proposal to create a board of
three General Superintendents, each of whom shall preside at certain District Assemblies during the
church year."