The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1968

An Old Practice Is Revived The Fairfield Bapti t Church of Thur ton, Ohio ha revived the an– cient cu tom of "Covenant Meeting " and wonder if any other of our OARB Churche have imilar ob– servance. . In the earl1y American colonie , and 'extending practically through the nineteenth century, many churche held the e meeting , at which the member hip roll wa called, each present member re ponded to hi name and was expected to give ome word of te timony or encouragement to the Church. Al o, any per onal or \ church grievance of piritua l nature might be settled at the meeting or a I committee migh,t be appointed to : further inve tigate rtbe complaint a nd ~ report to the A embly at a future meeting. The Covenant Meetings were means of blessing to the churche and individual believers because they encouraged loyalty and purity, and because they facilitated New Te ta- "CHURCH- BUILDING" MISSIONARIES IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, ARE INVOLVED IN THESE AREAS· l MC TROPOLITAN MI SS IONS) 2 COLORED WORK CROWDED TENEMENT HOUSING J JEWISH EVANGELISM 4 URBAN WORK CONCERNED? ment hurch di c ipline. A Jong a Bapti t practiced the e meetings their churches did not become ocial clu 1 b with a religiou f lavor, nor were they fil 1 led with unregenerate and in– different member . The fir t Covenant Meeting of re– cent time - perhap the f.ir l in thi century in the Fairfield hurch wa ob erved Wedne day J anuary 31 t and wa attended by 28% of the member 1 hip. (The church ha no "i nactive member hip roll.") 33% were known to be providentially hin– dered from attending. The remain– ing 39 % were unaccounted for. The cau e for their ab e nce i un- WRITE Baptist Mid M1ss1ons 4205 Chester Ave Cleveland, Ohio 44103 known. One member ent word of encouragement ito the churoh from her ho pita! bed and her husband confe ed the Lord a hi aviour in the following Lord ' Day ervice! The Fairfield Church plan to con– duct a Covenant Meeting once each quarter year, on the fifth Wednesday o f May Jul y and October . P a to r anterbury ay, , "The e meeiti ng could di clo e critici m of the pa tor and large scale rebellion in ome churche . It could bring re– vival to til l other . We are pray ing for revival before our evangelistic meeting , April 14-21 with Rev. A . Don ald Moffat a gue t preacher. salm attb 2\ nem by Ralph T. Nordlund (Read PSALM XVIII in your Bible first) I love the Lord, who i my Strength , My Rock, my Fortress and High Tower, Who teache me to war and win , And girds me with victorious power: And yet, while battlung bitternes and hate, It i Hi s gentlene s that make me great. I call upon the Lord when floods Of godles men make me afraid; ·He shakes the earth and bow the heaven , And hail and lightning lend me aid: And yet, while these may welling tide abate, It is His gentlene that make me great. The Lord delights in righteou ne , Rewards me when my hand are cleain, Shows mercy to the merciful , And har hly treat~ the har h and mean: And yet, while I have sought the b tte r fate, It is His gentlenes that make me great. J l h ave fought through to victory, Arid felled the foes whom I pursued ; I did not turn aside for re t ntil ·the heathen were subdued : And yet, whi le God h as made r11e head f state, It is His gentleness that 111akes me great. O avid was a many- ided man, as -appears fi 111 thts ger11 1n the mid t of h is waTlike "" ighteenth P alm. " l hy fHE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIS:T gentlene hath made me great ;'' o r , a other translate it, ' 'Thy con.de cen ion ha multiplied or pro pe red me." Judging from Fir t and cond Samue,1, and from mo t of hi p ,aim , we mi ght gather that D avid wa a guerilla fighter who h ad the fortune to win and become a hero; but when we read hi devotional and penitential p alms, and of hi magnanin1ou treatn1ent of aul and aul's grand on and of hi orrow over the d ath of aul and J on a tha n, we have to ch ange our mind and mark him down a a deeply religiou man and a a lover f hu– manity. He wa indeed a fighter, who had n ne of the vac ill ation of will and c n ci nee our I ad r n1anit'-nJI" today. He rejoiced in victory and b a t d that h had utterly cru hed the heathen who ro e up again t hin1. et he gave od all the credit in the 35th ver He rec g– nized that God h ad to t p very far to Jiai e tip tich an unworthy n1an a hin1 If - had been very g ntl .. with him. In our p n1 we have re lated that c nf ~1 n \.\'1th each of the i1ot1r ccti n t the p~aln1. We have alsl1 111a le it 111 a n that d ' gcnll ne'i hacl cha11ged tl1c h 'art o David and n1ade h1n1 ge11tl' al\) , c1 11{i that it ,,,, s this that constittrted hi\ t1 tie gr tlt nc ') Da, ,i(i 111~1 ' 11 )t 11 :\'c r11cant th ,1t : but 'itnct: h <.lid n 111any l)C a i >11 !-ill " that transf 0 1111at1 11 , l 1 ' el that I l1a,, 11 1 " tl t h l n1 ' te t t ta1 . t atl)' n,1te, it i ' st1cl1 gc) l ly g\::r1tl~11 s" th t co11s titt1te~ trtl" greatnc ~, \\ 1 h ther tht: 111'1n l1 I v·d )f the 111an fan1c.) t1s n1e 11 wh h av fi lle l dn later hi "' tOI')'. APRIL, 1968 GE 13