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BX 5917 .V8 N4 1920 Neve, Frederick William,

1855-1948. The church of the living

waters

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THE CHURCH OF THE--.

LIVING WATERS /^^''

f JUN

BY ... V^'V,

FREDERICK W. NEVE

Archdeacon of the Blue Ridge

BOSTON

RICHARD G. BADGER

THE GORHAM PRESS

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V\ 1920

Copyright, 1920, by Frederick W. Neve

All Rights Reserved

Made in the United States of America

The Gorham Press, Boston, U S. A.

"Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house, and behold waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward." ******

"Then said he unto me, these waters issue out toward the East Country, and go down into the desert and go into the sea; which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed, and it shall come to pass that everything that liveth, which moveth whither- soever the river shall come shall live/'

Ezek. xlvii: i, 8, 9.

"He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of him shall flow rivers of Living Water, but this spake He of the spirit, which they that believe on Him shall receive." St. John vii: 38, 39.

"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, as clear as crystal proceeding out of the Throne of God, and of the Lamb." "And the Spirit and the Bride say come, and let him that heareth say come, and whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely."

Rev. xxii: i, 17.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

9

I A True Story

II Rivers of Living Waters

III A Vision

IV The Meeting of the Waters .

V "Let Him That Is Athirst Come and Drink of the Water of Life Freely'

VI The Spreading of the Waters

VII A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed

VIII A Little Child Shall Lead Them

IX ''As THE Waters Cover the Sea"

X The Order of the Thousandfold .

13

20

24

30

35 40

43 48

56

THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING WATERS

THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING

WATERS

CHAPTER I

A TRUE STORY

No one can tell how far the influence of a Church may reach, and it is for the encourage- ment of those who think perhaps that their Church is situated in too small or too remote a community to exert an influence which would reach far out into the world, that this story is written.

The history of this particular Church goes back beyond the Civil War to the early forties.

One of its founders, a layman, was so much interested in matters belonging to the Episcopal Church, that his only son, brought up in an atmosphere of reverence and love for the Church, went into the ministry, and the tradition passed on to the next generation, as four of his sons be- came clergymen, and two of them were afterwards raised to the episcopate, and one of them, a mis- sionary bishop, was the founder of an entirely new work in South America. So that, as in the vision

9

lo The Church of the Living Waters

of Ezekiel, a stream of holy influences began to flow forth from this temple of God in its early days, a stream which has spread far and wide.

Some years later during the Civil War, it was decided to move the Church down to the village, so it was therefore pulled down and rebuilt about a mile from the original site. For some twenty- five years it was a blessing to the community in which it was situated, and through the fact that many of the young people who received their religious training within its walls went out into the world to seek opportunities for success in life, which were denied them in their native village, the influence of the Church was extended to dis- tant parts of the country.

But again the Church was pulled down, rebuilt and beautified, on account of the unsafe condition of one of the walls, and the desire of the people for a more churchly building.

Even before the change had taken place a spiritual movement had begun in a small way like a spring of water, which was destined in after years to grow into a river of blessing. For a young minister had taken charge of the parish in 1888, and his attention had at once become at- tracted to the negected condition of the people in the mountains near by. His predecessor had given services in a schoolhouse in the mountains, and it was in taking up this work that he realized how

A True Story ii

much good could be done in this neglected field. And so he determined to build a Church for the mountain people, and in about two years suc- ceeded in doing so, and in building up a congrega- tion as well. And so a stream of influence flowing forth from the Mother Church, reached and made glad the wilderness near by.

As the years passed on the stream of influence grew stronger and the work prospered, more peo- ple being, year by year, added to this daughter Church and the community being more and more improved.

At the beginning of the new century an ad- ditional and larger stream of influence began to flow forth from the Mother Church. The min- ister had been so much impressed and encouraged by the good which had been done at the mission In the mountains near by, and had heard so much of the great needs of the people in the main Blue Ridge, he determined to launch out on a new venture of faith and open up as many new mis- sions as possible.

So one Sunday in November of 1900, he held a special service in the Mother Church to in- augurate this new missionary enterprise, and to commend to the protection of Almighty God the first missionary ever sent Into that field. ' He explained to the people his plan for evangel- izing the Blue Ridge, and expressed his convic-

12 The Church of the Living Waters

tlon that It might be looked upon as a spiritual movement, which beginning in a small way would eventually become far reaching in its beneficial results. This service of inauguration was a very impressive one and may well be regarded as a historic event, so far as the influence of the Mother Church is concerned. The stream of spiritual influence which then began to flow forth from the Temple of God, has been growing in power and volume ever since.

CHAPTER II

RIVERS OF LIVING WATERS

It is not the writer's intention to follow in de- tail the work which has grown out of that first venture of faith, as it would fill a large volume.

It must however be borne in mind, that a spiritual influence has been going forth from the Mother Church from that day to this, which has kept it ever in touch with the most remote mission station in the mountains.

For day by day about noon, the minister, whom we may now call the missionary, used to go up to the Church, ring the bell, and hold a solitary serv- ice, in which the work was commended to the pro- tection and guidance, and blessing of Almighty God. And the missionary prayed especially that the promise given by Christ in St. John VII. 38, might be abundantly fulfilled in his case, and that rivers of living water might flow forth from him.

We may, in fact, say that this wonderful prom- ise has been relied on and its complete fulfilment 'asked for, during the many years which have elapsed since this Prayer Service was first started.

13

14 The Church of the Living Waters

The too literal translation of the authorized and revised versions of this passage, has doubtless re- pelled many from its use in prayer, but the won- derful nature of the blessing promised, attracted the attention of the missionary and he was de- termined that he would gain the full benefit of it. He read it in this way: "He that believeth on Me," as the Scripture hath said, "out of him shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive ; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, be- cause that Jesus was not yet glorified." And the pleading of this promise in the Mother Church, day by day, was having its effect far up in the mountains and the river of Living Water was gradually finding its way, farther and farther, into the dry and thirsty places of the land.

When the first mission teacher was carried up there by the missionary, there was no schoolhouse to teach in and no funds to pay the teacher, except for the first two or three months. The idea was to gather a few children at a time together in one of the cabins and make a beginning, in the hope that a teacher's Influence might make an impres- sion on the people and open the way for greater things later on. But on their arrival on the moun- tain the way seemed to open at once, for the first man they met, as soon as he understood their er- rand, placed an empty house, which he had built.

Rivers of Living Waters 15

at the disposal of the teacher, and here for some months the school was held.

And when this spring dried up, through the house being no longer available, some one came forward without any solicitation, and undertook to supply the needed school room. God certainly seemed in those early days to be working hand in hand with the missionaries.

One morning about dawn the missionary, who was on a visit, awoke, and from the window of the cabin in which he was sleeping saw a beautiful sight. It was the Lost Mountain which rose towering to the clouds on the opposite side of the valley, and It was glorified with the rays of the rising sun.

The light blue haze which hung upon Its side was suffused with the rosy glow of dawn, making It look like a vision of the New Jerusalem. The thought which came to the missionary at that moment was this : — ^Why should not the Sun of Righteousness arise upon the poor Lost Moun- tain as well. The vision was soon followed by the coming of a deputation from the people of the Lost Mountain to ask him to extend the work and open a school on their mountain as well.

The call followed the vision just as In the case of St. Peter and Cornelius, and the river of in- fluence and blessing reached farther out Into the desert.

1 6 The Church of the Living Waters

Then came another answer to the prayers going up day by day in the Mother Church for the spread of the Living Waters. A boy of sixteen or seventeen, inspired from childhood with the desire and longing to be a minister, and brought up in the same old Church, volunteered to go up into the Blue Ridge for the summer and do all the good he could.

At first the people rather despised his youth, but his earnestness and zeal together with a con- siderable amount of personal magnetism, won the hearts of the people, and resulted in large con- gregations, and a new interest in religion. The new venture of faith — the work on the Lost Mountain, received a good share of his time and attention. As the schoolhouse had only just be- gun to be built he held services on the mountain- side, the people sitting on rocks and logs of wood, while lanterns were hung from branches of trees when the service was at night. The interest was intense, and the people were deeply moved. On one occasion it began to rain and the young mis- sionary suggested to the people that they should go home, but this they refused to do, saying that they would rather stay and listen to him, even if they did get wet. One morning very early he had a heart to heart talk by a great rock on the mountainside with a very old man ninety years of

Rivers of Living Waters 17

age. This man had been a great fighter in his day, and was notorious for his evil life. But his heart had softened of late, and this quiet talk with the boy missionary completed the work of his conversion, for just as the sun rose on the mountain, the light of the Sun of Righteousness seemed to rise in the darkened soul of the old man, and he rejoiced in the knowledge of the love of his Savior. And so there came a remarkable fulfilment of that early morning vision when the missionary had been inspired with the idea of bringing the Hght of the Sun of Righteousness to shine upon the Lost Mountain.

Yet another venture of faith was made about this time, and a new channel opened for the Liv- ing Waters to flow through and reach and bless another spot of desert ground. It came about in this way, — the boy missionary made his home with a worthy old couple who sympathized with the work that was being done and helped it in every way that they could. One damp and disagree- able day a poor young woman, who had sunk to a very low level, came in out of the rain and damp to find shelter, and while there she ap- pealed to the young man to come over to a neigh- boring mountain and hold services for her people. This appeal was not unheeded, and another mis- sion was started In this way, though for over a

1 8 The Church of the Living Waters

year there was no building of any kind for the services, and they had to be held in a grove of trees in the open air.

At the end of the second summer the people begged for a school, and a place where services could be held all the year round. This appeal could not be refused, as we had already gathered some of the people into the Church. So the mis- sionary instructed his young friend to secure the necessary lumber and arrange with some carpen- ters to do the work. He also provided him with a plan for the building. After a while he came down to see the missionary and told him that the lumber was secured, and that the carpenters would begin work on the building the following Monday.

This brought the missionary face to face with the problem of how to raise the necessary funds to pay for the work. And here again just as on former occasions, the Hand of the Lord mani- fested Itself, for on the very day on which the carpenters began the work he received a letter from a friend, saying that the next time he wanted to build a school-chapel he would be glad to fur- nish the money. Just as the waters of Jordan were divided, when the soles of the feet of the priests touched the water, and not till then, so it was In this case, the help came just at the hour when It was needed; for God works hand In hand with those who work hand In hand with Him.

Rivers of Living Waters 19

THE MAN OF FAITH

All things are possible to him Who has the faith of those priests of old, Who halted not on Jordan's brim Though the raging waters onward rolled.

For they bare the Ark of the Living God And the path of duty was plain and clear, Though Moses stood not with uplifted rod Yet the God of Moses they knew was near.

So the man of faith shall not daunted be. Though the mountain wall or the raging tide Seem to bar his way; for by faith he shall see His Master forever by his side.

CHAPTER III

A VISION

But the river of influence had been flowing and spreading elsewhere than in the mountains, for news of the work that was being done for the mountain people had gone out into the world, and had its influence there.

An address by the missionary before the Dio- cesan council had brought the Church in Virginia face to face with the problem, and the necessity for doing something for this class of our popula- tion which had been neglected for generations.

The appeal was not in vain, and the results were far-reaching. He had also an opportunity of bringing the matter before a meeting of the Dio- cesan Auxiliary, made up of representative women from all over the diocese. A great deal of inter- est was aroused in this way, and so the rivers of influence went out in all directions.

With the death of Bishop Whittle, the Chief Pastor for many years of the Diocese of Virginia, came the desire on the part of the various auxiliary branches to provide some memorial to him, and it was finally decided that it should take the form

20

A Vision 21

of a Church. The question of location was to be decided at the next annual meeting of the Dio- cesan Auxiliary, and the missionary made a point of being present that he might plead the claim of the mountains to be the beneficiary of their proposed act of loyalty to the memory of their beloved bishop.

At first it seemed as if he would be successful, and he felt confident that if the Church was placed in the mountains it would mean that the women of the diocese would be permanently interested in the work.

Things however did not work out as he had expected and it seemed as if he was going to lose the object he had striven so hard to gain. An- other disappointment befell him at the same time which it is not necessary to dwell upon. The result of this double disappointment was great discouragement, and on the day he left he went into the chapel close by the Church and kneeling down he prayed earnestly and commended him- self to God afresh for the work, though the out- look was very depressing.

All at once he became conscious of a vision for which he could give no natural explanation. It seemed to him that Christ was close to him, that is to say visibly present, and at the same time there was impressed upon his mind the words which our Lord spoke to Joshua outside the city

22 The Church of the Living Waters

of Jericho: — "As Captain of the Lord's Host am I now come." The Light of the Presence was gone as in a moment, but he was sure that just as He took command of the army of Israel, outside Jericho, so too was he to understand that the work that he was engaged in was not his but God's, and that he was merely serving under Him. Some years after, when the stress of circum- stances after the great war made him feel a long- ing to be able to strike some mighty blow for the Cause of his Master, he wrote the following poem, the latter part of which is a reminiscence of this earlier experience, though the vision as described above was not connected with the dawn.

EXCALIBUR

Lord, give to me Excalibur

That I may strike some blow for Thee Which in this dark tremendous hour

May help to set Thy people free. The night is dark, the conflict near

And I have neither sword nor spear.

'Twas said King Arthur would return

When the last dreadful battle came,

When pagan hosts o'erspread the land

And all the world was lit with flame;

But Arthur doth not yet appear

And I have neither sword nor spear!

A Vision 23

A light shone forth from out the dawn, It glowed as doth a seraph's wing

And near and nearer came until — It was the Presence of the King.

What recked I then that foes were near What recked I then of sword or spear!

"Thou dost not need Excalibur

It still may sleep beneath the mere.

The mighty blow Mine Arm shall give, For I, the Lord of Hosts, am here,

And victory comes when I am near

For I will be thy sword and spear."

CHAPTER IV

THE MEETING OF THE WATERS

It often happens in life that one set of influences meets and becomes merged in another set of influ- ences, or one personality is strongly influenced by another, or the influence may be mutual. And so it was with the spiritual adventure which has been described in these pages. There was another in- fluence at work other than that which flowed forth from the Church of the Living Waters. This influence, strangely enough, was hidden and unperceived till chance revealed its presence and its source.

It is necessary to go back some years in order to trace the course of this stream of additional influence to its beginning.

It seems that a good lady living in one of the towns in the Valley of Virginia, had come to make it her special work for God to visit the gaol and read to the prisoners. In this way she became very much interested in a certain hollow in the mountains because there were several men in the gaol who came from that particular place. One of the prisoners especially aroused her pity be-

24

The Meeting of the Waters 25

cause he was accused of murder, and when his trial came off he was condemned to die.

She labored faithfully for his conversion and had the joy of seeing her work crowned with success; for before his death he had repented and become an earnest Christian. He entreated the good lady to pray earnestly for the people of the Hollow from which he came, and that God would send some one there to minister to them. She gave the promise but at the same time told him that he must add his prayers to hers, not only while he was still on earth but in Paradise as well, and this he pledged himself to do. She kept dp her faithful ministrations to the end and had the satisfaction of knowing that she had smoothed the way through the dark valley for him and brought him to the Light. The good lady remembered her promise to the condemned man and to the day of her death her prayer went up to God for the people of the Hollow.

Later on there was another man from the same hollow brought to the gaol and in his case too the extreme penalty of the law had to be enforced. Her work of mercy was just as successful in the case of this second prisoner as it had been in the case of the first. He was brought to repentance and to a sincere belief in Jesus Christ as his Savior.

By this time the good lady had become so much

26 The Church of the Living Waters

interested in the forlorn condition of this moun- tain hollow that she made a journey there, and visited the poor man's family, which consisted of his wife and several children.

Christmas, near at hand, was the time set for the man's execution; but the good woman was determined that the children should have some toys and other things to mark the Holy Season, which was to be so sad and terrible a time for them. Among the things purchased was a small tea set and she took it with her to the gaol when she went with the clergyman who was to minister to the condemned man the Holy Communion. She wished to show the things to the man that he might know his children were being thought of and their happiness provided for.

When the Communion was celebrated it was found that the chalice could not be passed through the bars of the cell door, and as it was against the rules to open the door, the difficulty was overcome by the clergyman pouring some of the wine into one of the little teacups which was small enough to be passed through the barrier, and the poor man received the sign and assurance of his share in the redeeming blood of Christ in this manner. The cup used as a chalice was afterwards sent with the rest of the tea set to the lonely home in the distant hollow, and doubtless brought joy to

The Meeting of the Waters 27

the hearts of the children. And so, as the niece of the good lady has since beautifully said, the Holy Grail came to the Hollow in the Blue Ridge. That this hidden stream of Influence was min- gling with the other influences at work was not known to the missionary till some years later when the President of the Woman's Auxiliary of the Diocese told him the following story. It seems she had been on a visit to a neighboring diocese and had spoken at a meeting about the work that was being done in the Virginia Mountains. After the meeting an old lady came up and spoke to her. She told her that for years she had been praying

that God would send someone to S Hollow

to help the people as she had become Interested in that particular hollow through some prison work she had done years before. One day not long previous to this meeting she had picked up a copy of the ''Spirit of Missions," and turning over the pages her attention was attracted by the picture of a Church, the Inscription underneath being

W Memorial Chapel, In S Hollow. She

said her eyes filled with tears and the name shone out as If written In letters of gold, for it was the very place that she had been praying so earnestly for through many years, and perhaps her prayers had been helped by those of the pardoned criminal 'in Paradise.

28 The Church of the Living Waters

At any rate she knew the prayers had been an- swered, and that God had sent some servant of His to the Hollow.

The missionary when he heard the story won- dered; for this was the first time he had ever suspected the existence of this other stream of holy influence, and it was not till some years later that he came into possession of the full story as related in the early part of this chapter.

What he heard, however, threw light upon the circumstances under which he had first gone up into the Hollow and staked out a claim, as it were, for the Lord Christ. He was In very poor health and suffered acutely from nervous dyspepsia. But there seemed to be such an urgency In the call and he became so possessed with the Idea that work must be opened up In this particular Hollow, that he felt as if he must go.

The journey up there was a long one, and was made In a buggy, part of the way being over a very rough road. The heat was intense, and he had suffered from a severe attack the night be- fore, of the malady from which he was suffering, and he felt uncertain whether he would live through the trip. As he looked back upon that time he realized that there must have been a mighty Influence at work to constrain him to make the attempt, but now the secret was revealed. The

The Meeting of the Waters 29

power of prayer was at work and its influence prevailed.

Other wonders were brought about by the same means. When the missionary first started his mis- sion work up there, it was considered unsafe to hold any Christmas service at all as the only idea which the people had of this holy season was that it was a time for drinking and fighting, for as one person remarked, "The men are very wild up here."

It may be said, however, that a Christmas tree was held in spite of the warning.

Some years later, however, a great change had taken place, as when Christmas Day came some of the people got up at two o'clock in the morning and walked three miles through the snow in order that they might partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord at the Memorial Church in the Hollow.

Years before at the same Christmas season, the condemned criminal from this Hollow had re- ceived the same Holy Food, and the cup out of which he had drunk the wine had been sent to his home in the Hollow to be the forerunner of the better Christmas to come when his own people should partake of the same Holy Feast.

CHAPTER V

"let him that is athirst come and drink

OF THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY"

One of the most striking things in connection with the work has been from the very first, the thirst of the people for the Living Water which was brought to them.

On one occasion the missionary was returning from a visit to the Lost Mountain over twenty miles from his home, when he overtook a poor woman who was walking along the road. He offered her a ride in his buggy, which she gladly availed herself of. He soon found that she had been present at a service he had held the day be- fore and that in order to be there she had walked for a whole day, and that it would take her a whole day to walk home.

It seemed she had formerly lived on the Lost Mountain but had moved away to some distance. She was, however, anxious to be present at the ser- vice and so had made the journey on foot.

The missionary had also once had a service when the people were so loth to leave that he delivered three addresses, one after the other, be-

30

'^Conie and Drink of the Water of Life^' 31

fore they would go home. It was thirsty desert soil to which the Living Water was brought, and it drank it in eagerly.

But this thirst for the knowledge of God was manifested more particularly, by the coming of ambassadors from other communities farther off in the wilderness begging and entreating the mis- sionary and his helpers to extend their work so that they and their people might have a share in the blessing. The spread of the work has been due in a great measure to this Macedonian cry of outside communities.

One of the most remarkable of these appeals was that of an old man living on a remote moun- tain where there was neither school, nor church, nor work of any kind.

A summer student of the Virginia Seminary had found his way to this out-of-the-way place, and to the home of the old man. He told the student of a dream he had had, in which it seemed to him that he was lost in a gloomy forest, and that he tried to find his way out. Fighting his way through the thicket of briers and brambles, and becoming faint and exhausted with his efforts, he at last saw a light shining, and forcing his way towards it with his last remaining strength he came out into the open, and found himself in a beautiful world, lighted with an unearthly glory, and filled with music and singing birds.

32 The Church of the Living Waters

He interpreted this dream to mean that he and his people had been lost in the darkness of sin and ignorance, and that the light which he had seen was the light of faith which had brought him to the Truth, and that the beautiful day was the new day which was to dawn for him and his people, through the coming of the missionaries there in answer to his appeal.

He promised to give land to build a school- house and to do all in his power to help if the Church would send a teacher to instruct the chil- dren. The student was able to hold one service up there before he returned to the Seminary and there were between seventy and eighty people pres- ent. The good man had to wait some consider- able time before his request could be granted, and in the meantime he became very ill and thought he was going to die. There being no minister for many miles, he told his young daughter, about six- teen years old, that she must baptize him. She having been in the habit of walking over to a mission school some miles distant, had learned to read, and had been given a prayer book by the mission teacher. So, as he insisted upon it, she found the place in the prayer book and read through the service of Holy Baptism, performing the rite at the proper place.

Instead of dying, however, he recovered and

^^Come and Drink of the Water of Life" 33

was able to take further steps towards securing a school.

Hearing that the missionary was expected at the nearest mission point, on a certain day, he started out to walk over there from his mountain so as to be present at the night service, which had been arranged for. Unexpectedly the missionary had to change his plans and was not able to come till the next day. The old man, however, ap- peared at the mission and was greatly disappointed to find that the missionary was not there. He told his story to the workers and begged them to plead his cause and that of his people and then sadly turned his face towards home, walking the long distance through the forest, after nightfall.

When the missionary arrived the next day, the case was put before him and he was so much touched by the incident, that he determined to make this fresh venture of faith and send a teach- er. If one could be found.

The old man proved his willingness to help by promising to build a schoolhouse at once, so that it would be ready when the teacher arrived. A teacher was found who was willing to go up there and for three years she worked among the people and taught the children, but the old man unfortu- nately died before he could carry out, fully, his Intentions. From an old deed found among his

34 The Church of the Living Waters

possessions, it was shown that the land on that mountain was first settled in 1750 and it is almost certain that there had never been a school up there, until the missionary was able to open one as above described.

The lady teacher was succeeded by the same young student who had held the first service there, some four years previously, and it is his intention that, before long, the dream of the old man shall come true and a new and better day dawn on that mountain.

The incidents so far recorded, give only a small part of the history of the work, but they are sufficient to show its character and to make clear the wonderful way in which the Living Waters were spread abroad, bringing blessings wherever they went.

CHAPTER VI

THE SPREADING OF THE WATERS

One of the most wonderful things about the work which has been described, is the way in which it has interested those at a distance, and thus the Living Waters have been carried to the ends of the earth.

For, in the first place, there have been not a few who have received their first training as fish- ers of men in the Mountain Work, and afterwards have gone into the more distant mission fields of the Church.

Mountain missions form one of the very best schools for the training of missionaries, because it is a kind of work which brings out into active exercise and expression, every gift or latent faculty with which the worker is endowed. There is no such thing as keeping any talent laid up in a napkin.

The varied experiences of the mountain mis- sionary, and the fact that he is called upon to turn his hand to anything and everything within the range of human possibility renders it impossi- ble to hold anything back or in reserve. What-

35

26 The Church of the Living Waters

ever is in him has to come out and be put to use. The consequence is that when a man or a woman has had two or three years' experience in the mountain work he or she is ready to go anywhere or do anything.

One young clergyman who came direct from the Seminary to the mountains soon gained a reputa- tion for knowing everyone in the county. This feat he accompHshed by penetrating into the re- cesses of the Blue Ridge, making friends of people hidden away in lonely hollows, and ministering to their material needs as well as their spiritual.

After two or three years intensive training in the mountains, and a short rectorate in a North- ern city, he went out to help Bishop Brent in the Philippines, where he spent five years, using in that far away field the experience he had gained in the mountains.

Another young man who started in as teacher of the school on Lost Mountain, and for severaj years helped in various ways, and at different mis- sions, later on went to Alaska, where he has served for some years, and is now Dean of the Cathedral at Juneau.

One of our most valuable woman workers who for five years devoted her time and strength, at her own charge, to the Ragged Mountains, gave the last two years of her life to work among the

The Spreading of the Waters 37

Indians at Ketchikan in Alaska, where she laid down her life for the Master, by overtaxing her strength.

Another young man, a medical student, spent part of one summer in the mountains, and became familiar with the conditions existing there. This experience had such an eliect upon him that he determined to give himself to the work as soon as he had graduated. When the time came he offered his services; but it was in the early days of the work and we had no funds to support a doctor, and so he decided to go to China, where he has been doing immensely valuable work as a medical missionary, for a number of years.

A couple of instances will be given now of some indirect influences of the work which have served to help in spreading the Living Waters in various directions.

The missionary had been taking part in an Auxiliary Day at a town some miles distant. Here he met a lady who told him she had a message for him from some lady unknown to him. The message was to the effect that the sender had heard him speak about the work at the Episcopal Church at the Virginia Hot Springs, and that what she had heard had determined her to go home and open up work for the mountaineers in her own neighborhood. The message further stated that

38 The Church of the Living Waters

she had carried out her good resolution, and that she wanted the missionary to know what she was doing, and that her work had been a success. Her home lay In a different State, so the Living Waters had found a new channel of blessing.

Another and more remarkable Incident may be related as follows : The missionary had a number of years ago gone to a distant parish In another State to speak about the work and try to awaken Interest and secure help. He stayed with a cer- tain family, and while there made such a deep Im- pression on the mind of a small boy, through his story of the work and of what the missionaries were doing, that the boy, who had been thinking about the ministry, made up his mind then and there that he would become a clergyman. Neither he nor his mother have ever forgotten this Inci- dent. The last news received by the missionary was to the effect that the boy, now a man, had spent a year or more In China doing valuable mis- sion work, and that now he was taking charge of the religious work at one of our large Universities, and that his experience In China had given him a special aptness for dealing with Individual cases.

In a letter to the missionary he said: — "Two years in China have just given me new experi- ences in bringing people one by one to Christ. I

am at P now for a year, working mainly with

individuals. Miracles have happened already.

The Spreading of the Waters 39

Why do we not prove the miraculous in Christian- ity by having more of them today? My prayers are always for your success and your work. A few causes are always with me, and that is one."

CHAPTER VII

A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED

The missionary was fortunate in having, in the early days of his work in the mountains, the sym- pathy and help of a young lady who afterwards was in a position to render very valuable service. She was a member of one of his parish churches, and in that way became acquainted with the mis- sionary work he was doing in the mountains and became much interested in it.

The first booklet he ever wrote, entitled *'Light in Dark Places," was intended to be used as a means by which she could interest her friends at a distance in the work. And here it may be said that the literature sent out from time to time, and more especially the little monthly paper entitled ''Our Mountain Work," has gone all over the United States, and has been read by many thou- sands of people. The papers have been read out at auxiliary meetings, sent to friends, and some- times copied into other papers and publications. They have made the work known, and as a result a great deal of money has been raised for it.

But to return to the good friend of the mission-

40

A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed 41

ary and his work, already mentioned. Her mar- riage to a man of great wealth, of American birth but residing in England, enabled her to render much greater aid than had been possible formerly. On one occasion when on a visit to this country, she helped out the missionary in a large way by getting up some Tableaux in New York City, with the cooperation of her friends, and in this way raised a large sum of money, a considerable part of which was used to start an Industrial School for the mountain people.

The raising up of this friend to stand by the work and render it so much assistance was of the greatest help to the missionary, and an encourage- ment to him at times when the difficulties were well-nigh insuperable. For years a considerable sum of money could be counted upon from Eng- land, which made the burden of raising the funds needed to carry on the work, very much easier.

Strange to say this lady who was so closely identified with the mountain work, and whose old home is situated near the mountains where it was first started, has recently been brought before the eyes of the whole word through her plucky fight to win a seat in the English House of Commons, a fight which ended in a great victory.

Prayers have gone forth from the Mother Church that as she had been a blessing to the people of the mountains, so too a blessing might

42 The Church of the Living Waters

always rest upon her, and that her efforts for the good of others, In her position of influence as the first woman member of the English Parliament, might be crowned with a great success.

CHAPTER VIII

A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM

Back at the Mother Church the missionary kept up his Prayer Service for the work, and the world in general, every day at noon. The bell sounded forth and was heard for a long way, and was regarded as a call to prayer, though none ever came to the Church to join the missionary in his intercessions. He knew, however, that there were some, he knew not how many, who made it a prac- tice to say a prayer when they heard the bell.

A year or so before the war came to a close, the missionary felt that the time had come to pre- pare for peace, for he realized that the war after the war — the Spiritual Armageddon — would be even more decisive in its effects upon human his- tory than even the conflict then raging.

In the new civilization which was to take the place of the old, everything depended upon whether the principal formative influences were spiritual or material.

So he boldly started out to do his share In brlng-

'ing in the new Heavens and the new Earth by

trying to build up ideal communities, in the place

43

44 ^^hc Church of the Living Waters

where he lived, and throughout the mountains.

He prayed at his noonday Prayer Service that he might be made a thousand times more useful than ever before, reaHzing that the difficulties in the way of the New Order were very great.

He met with many setbacks and apparent de- feats, but though discouraged, instead of giving up he plucked up courage, and prayed earnestly that his usefulness might be more and more might- ily increased till at last his prayer had come to be that he might be made a billion times more useful than ever before, and he determined that this prayer should be kept up till the end.

He realized that they were Days of Destiny through which the world was passing, and that there was an opportunity for every one to do hero- ic service in helping to build up the New Order. But the months went on, and nothing special happened to show that the prayer was being an- swered. %

At last one day while he was praying alone in the chancel of the Church at mid-day after he had rung the bell, something strange did happen. He heard the door open and the pattering of feet up the aisle, and to his surprise he found his lit- tle girl of four years old kneeling near him; she had also brought her doll, which was made to kneel too. So they were all three kneeling in a row; the missionary, the child, and the doll.

A Little Child Shall Lead Them 45

Strange to say, the central window over the altar represented the Good Shepherd with a lamb in His arms; so the Good Shepherd and the lamb looked down upon the shepherd and his lamb nestling by his side.

It afterwards seemed to the missionary as if the child's guardian angel must have brought her there, and been kneeling there too, for things be- gan to happen which showed that this strange re- inforcement was more powerful and effective than outward appearances would indicate.

The child kept on coming, and when the mis- sionary was away from home she would go up with her mother and help her ring the bell, and would then kneel down, as she was accustomed to do when her father was there. The doll, however, soon stopped coming.

The Prayer Service was a simple one; the mis- sionary and the child kneeled down and first of all he placed his hand upon her head, and asked God to bless her and make her a blessing wher- ever she went and as long as she lived. Then they prayed for all missionaries everywhere and the child always repeated the amen fervently after her father. Then a few simple words were spoken which she repeated too, such as for the poor people everywhere, and the sick people, and the people everywhere who had no one else to pray for them, and all who asked to be prayed for.

46 The Church of the Living Waters

Then when the prayers were over, they stood up side by side, and the missionary, holding the child's hand with his left one, extended his right hand and blessed all those for whom they had been praying. This to the child was the ceremony of Blessing the World.

This incident, a brief sketch of which was pub- lished in the little mountain paper, afterwards found its way into a religious weekly which goes into over three hundred thousand homes, and to almost every country in the whole world, and doubtless touched the hearts of all who read it, and perhaps in many cases revived a desire to pray. It was copied from this weekly into other papers, and it is impossible to say how far it has spread. Letters came too asking that the writers might be remembered in the noon-tide prayers. Word came from far away England that an old lady over ninety years of age just hovering be- tween this life and the next, heard the story read during a conscious period. After hearing it she remarked "that little child will work for God," a prophecy which it is hoped will come true in due time.

The children too, round about, heard the story, and came to understand that when they heard the bell ring it was a time to pray, for children as well as grown people.

One child at the school near by could not be

A Little Child Shall Lead Them 47

Induced by the teacher to say her lessons just after the bell rang. She kept perfectly quiet and the teacher afterwards finding out the reason had noon-tide prayers for the school, and wrote a pray- er on the blackboard for the children to repeat. Another child too small to go to school, and liv- ing some distance from the Church, would listen for the bell to sound, and then run to tell his mother it was time to pray.

And thus the coming of the little child to break the loneliness of the missionary's Prayer Service, helped to open up, as it were, a new Spring of the Living Waters and they spread all the farther in consequence.

CHAPTER IX

"as the waters cover the sea"

One of the results of this Prayer Service and the desire to be mightily useful, to what might seem an extravagant degree, was a quickening of faith, and a belief in the possibility of things which had seemed, or would have seemed once, beyond all limits of attainment.

Any chance which presented itself for useful- ness was gladly taken advantage of, the mission- ary feeling that he had still left to him only a few years of service, and that therefore they must be taken advantage of to the fullest extent.

During the Nation-wide Campaign it did not seem to him that any hymn had been put forth for use in the Campaign, and as it was one of the greatest movements that had taken place in the Episcopal Church since its commencement In this country, he thought that it should be marked by some hymn or battle song which could be used to help in stirring up enthusiasm.

And so one night he sat down, and taking some notes which he had already set down, he composed

48

*'As the Waters Cover the Sea^' 49

a hymn which he sent on the next day to his bishop, then at the General Convention.

To his great pleasure and satisfaction a few days later he received the news that the hymn had been welcomed and would be sung at the General Convention. And so on October 15, 19 19, during a joint session of both houses in connection with the Nation-wide Campaign, a session which was afterwards described as being the most remark- able that had ever taken place in the history of the Church in America, the hymn was sung, and the missionary afterwards hoped that his prayers had been answered, and that the hymn might have helped in however slight a measure to give to the meeting the inspiration by which it seemed to have been marked. For he had prayed very earnestly during the night immediately previous to this meet- ing, that the hymn might be used by God to help the movement, and his faith in prayer had become very greatly strengthened by some significant things which had happened, and which seemed to him to have grown out of this earnest desire of his to be made useful to God and His Church.

Many years before, the idea had occurred to him that just as the utilization of the hidden stores of natural energy had resulted in a complete trans- , formation of the outward circumstances of human life, so too ought it to be possible for the Church through her members to liberate the vast stores

50 The Church of the Living Waters

of spiritual energy which lay ready to hand, and use it for the benefit of mankind.

And this idea, which had lain more or less dor- mant in his mind for years, was revived through the influence of the Nation-wide Campaign.

These stores of spiritual energy seemed to him just as illimitable as those of natural energy, and the promises contained in the New Testament put them entirely at the disposal of the Christian be- liever. The "what-so-ever" of Christ placed no limit upon the utilization or the spiritual resources of the Kingdom, and as the prayer of faith was the key which would open the gates of this treas- ure house, any believer might take advantage of the opportunity.

It was along these lines that the missionary's mind worked at this time, and it occurred to him that there was a chance for him to be of great and lasting service to the Church and to his fellow men.

He had been praying for years that the prom- ise of Christ might be fulfilled In him, that "he that belleveth on Me," as the Scripture hath said, "out of him shall flow rivers of living water." He had also been praying for a year or two that he might be made a billion times more useful than ever before, because he had felt that in days like those through which the world was passing, every- one ought to do his very utmost to increase the

*^As the Waters Cover the Sea'* 51

measure of his usefulness, and even dare to experi- ment and test the wiUingness of the Almighty to use His children to His greater glory, and the greater good of mankind. The analogy of the utilization of natural energy and the illimitable possibilities in this direction, which seemed to be before men, stimulated his interest in the question as to whether the same possibilities, only of a greater and higher kind, did not lie before the Christian Church.

The answer to the question seemed to depend upon a venture of faith — a great experiment — which should not be undertaken for his own ben- efit or his own glory, but for the good of the Church and his fellow men.

The Church had been busily engaged in per- fecting her organization and thus distributing the spiritual energy of her members in such a way as to render it as effective as possible. This wiser and more intelligent direction of the Church's energy was true statesmanship. But a still more important need the missionary felt was a great increase in spiritual power, such as would set for- ward the Kingdom much more rapidly than ever before. This power seemed to be certainly avail- able, as the New Testament promises were really Invitations to come forward and draw upon the 'Inexhaustible stores of the divine energy.

The missionary therefore determined that the

52 The Church of the Living Waters

rest of his life should be devoted to a great ven- ture of faith along the lines already laid down. He realized that so far as doing things was con- cerned, he had nearly reached the limit of his strength; but he knew also that God had at His command, all sorts of means and channels by which He might make use of his influence so that it would have far-reaching results.

If it could only be shown and proved that by the prayer of faith, spiritual power could be brought into play, on a much larger scale than ever before, and that just as there are millionaires and even one or more billionaires, who exert a powerful influence by means of their material wealth, so can there also be spiritual millionaires or even billionaires, so to speak, if men would gradually exercise their faith, so that it would grow and increase, until they were willing to set their minds and wills upon the attainment of this end.

He realized, however, that there could be no chance of success unless such persons fully under- stood that growth in humility must go hand in hand with the reaching out for the greater and higher usefulness; and he knew also that another condition must be the clear realization that any power gained must be used for the good of the Church and for the benefit of humanity and not for any selfish purposes, as for instance, to attract

^^As the Waters Cover the Sea'' 53

attention or to gain distinction among men. For St. Paul has made clear in the Thirteenth Chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, that the seeking for spiritual power for one's own ends deprives it of its value in God's sight, when he says: "And though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."

But on the other hand, if with childhke faith and a humble reaching forth, to open up the stores of the divine energy for the good of the world, by the faithful members of the Church throughout the land, the Living Waters were liberated in full volume, the words of the old Hebrew prophet would be fulfilled, and "the knowledge of the Lord would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea."

HYMN FOR THE NATION-WIDE CAMPAIGN

Dedicated to the Bishop of Virginia Tune, Aurelia

The Church had lost her vision;

The sheep were scattered wide Seeking forbidden pastures

On every mountain side; The world was full of evil.

The nations in dismay Beheld their hopes fast fading

Of a more perfect day.

54 The Church of the Living Waters

But Christ now sends His Spirit

With power from on high, And e'en His feeblest servant

Shall feel His presence nigh. Rise up, ye sons of Zion,

No longer fear your foes ! He hath gone forth before you

Mighty as when He rose.

Lead on, O Christian Bishops!

Apostles called to be. In the new age now dawning

What visions do ye see? Fear not to tell the people;

Sound forth a clarion call; The people look for leaders;

Let not your strength be small.

Lead on, ye priests and prophets !

Prove to the full that grace Which Christ Himself has given

That ye might show His Face, That so the people looking

May never fail to see Some vision of His Glory,

Some Hope that sets them free.

Be glad, be glad, ye people ! The day at last has come,

'*As the Waters Cover the Sea'' 55

The day of Christ's Redemption,

Let not your lips be dumb; Tell to the worn and weary,

Tell to the slaves of sin: — The Church at last is wakened;

The Church at last will win.

Be glad, be glad, ye children,

Hosannas once ye sang. When Jesus came in triumph

And all the city rang. Be glad! Ye too can follow

Him who was sacrificed. Be glad! Ye too are striving

To win the world for Christ.

We then in happy chorus

Sing, Christ our Lord to Thee, With every power awakened

From every sin set free. We know Thou are before us.

We feel Thy strength within. Be with us, lead us, help us

The world for Thee to win.

As sung at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, Detroit, Mich., Oct. 15, 1919, at a joint session of the House of Bishops and House of Deputies, in connection with the Nation- wide Campaign.

CHAPTER X

THE ORDER OF THE THOUSANDFOLD '^A little one shall become a thousand.^' Is. 60:22.

In meditating upon this subject, the missionary felt that while many things had happened, in his own experience, which would fully justify him in taking courage and going forward with his ven- ture of faith for the good of the Church, there was no reason why it should not be carried out on a larger scale. In scientific research a great deal of money is generally needed to provide the necessary equipment, before the investigation and research work can be carried out; but there is, perhaps, no better way in which our great philan- thropists can invest their money.

Many great discoveries have been made in this way, which have resulted in untold benefit to hu- manity, especially in connection with medical sci- ence. The rendering available of the illimitable stores of spiritual energy for the good of man- kind, is of an entirely different character, because man himself is the best instrument for the gen- eration and use of this energy; he has been created

56

The Order of the Thousandfold 57

by God for this very purpose, and has all the equipment needed, if he will but exercise and de- velop it.

Any child of God, no matter how humble his sphere in life may be, if he will exercise his faith and seek earnestly to be made an instrument through which the divine energy can work, may certainly look for great things to come out of it, even if only a small part of the influence which has radiated out from him be ever traced to its true source. And so it has seemed to him that others might be glad and willing to associate them- selves with him in a society, to be called, perhaps, "The Order of the Thousandfold." The idea would be that each member would daily, in his or her prayers, ask earnestly for a thousandfold increase in usefulness to God and man. This would not mean, necessarily, any increase in out- ward activities, for the time of many might be al- ready filled up, but an increase in spirtual power and energy, so that what is done or said. might exert an influence of such power and far-reaching influence as to really amount to a thousandfold increase in spiritual efficiency.

It is true that there are a large number of societies connected with the Church and that peo- ple are chary of adding to the number of their responsibilities of this kind; but if this object was set before any one as something to be earnestly

58 The Church of the Living Waters

desired and prayed for, it would add greatly to such an one's power and usefulness in the work of the society, or societies, of which he or she might be a member.

The Church is busily engaged in developing her organization, her machinery, in fact; what is need- ed now is a tremendous increase in power and God-given energy. This power is lying ready to hand, at our disposal, just as the natural energy which once lay unused and undreamed of, was as accessible and as available as now.

The faith of man is drawing forth from Nature an ever larger supply and is seeking all the time to gain a more complete control of this energy. Just as in the days of Christ, so now, the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the Children of Light; but with the same faith and the same daring spirit of adventure, the amount of power actually gained and made use of in the Church of God, could be enormously in- creased.

"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him, also freely give us all things." If this does not place the full extent of the divine resources at man's disposal, as far as it is possible for them to be utilized in this world, and in this life, what do the words mean?

The advantage of an Order of this kind would

The Order of the Thousandfold 59

be that it would provide for a much larger experi- ment than would be possible in the case of a soli- tary individual. It would also, the missionary be- lieves, result in such clear indications that the divine blessing was resting upon it, that it would commend itself to the Church as worthy of a much larger extension.

It has another advantage, viz. : that it would be free from all party bias and would not be re- garded as the child, or protege, of any school of thought but could be made use of by all.

It was along these lines that the missionary worked out his plan for the Order of the Thou- sandfold; and the Mother Church once more be- came the centre from which he hopes that a new and greater river of Living Water may flow and bless the world.

THE CALL TO THE CHURCH OF GOD

O Bride of Christ! beloved by Him,

Why are thine eyes of faith so dim?

Dost thou not know His mighty power Is thine to use this very hour?

The world In awful anguish lies.

And heavenward lifts Its pleading eyes;

Body of Christ — His Hands and Feet — Thou must the mighty Issue meet.

6o The Church of the Living Waters

Fullness of Him, Who filleth all,

Who never heedless hears thy call,

His glorious gifts are thine to share With all His creatures everywhere.

O Church of God! why dost thou deem His promises an empty dream?

Shake off thine unbelief and be His Angel to humanity.

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