Haichow has just calibrated most notable event in the whole hi tory of Mission Work in this. sec tion. "Yesterday (Sunday) at leven in the morning, a commission of five, consisting of Pastors An Tsih-ming, and Dai Tinge-gt of Suchow tu, and Pastor Dai Afing-ching of Pihsion, and Elders Meng and Yang, of Suchowfu and Sutsien res pectively, sent over by the liang Pei Presbytery, ordained Mfr. Tang Hsiang-poa as' the pastor of the This occasion is notable in a number of respects. In the first place, Mr. Tang Is the first Chinese pastor to be ordained inthe whole how District. This district is one of the last to be opened by the] Southern Presbyterian Sission China, and ie one of the fons of the North Kiangsu Missi the Southern Presbyterian Church. This district has been one of the most dificult in the whole North Kiengau field, and the event of yesterday marks & definite epoch the development of the work here, and it is most encouraging si progress.
the second place, Mr. Tang, the new pastor of the Haichow Church, has his salary paid wholly by the Chinese membership of his Church, though the membership is only Thi of the amahest, if not the scitaupporting church jo makes the ordination of Mr.
'Tang an event which is significa in the history. of Mission' Work in the whole of China. It shows what a small group of Christians, of the work of the church, can There are no wealthy members of this church, but there are—about twenty of the members who are] giving a tithe of their income to} the support of the charch work, and some of these tithe-payers are the Very poorest members of the church. The example has inspired some the members who have a better Li ing, to give liberally, and thas this small membership is able to support pastor.
The ceremony of ordination was} most impressive rite. One of the members of the visiting commission preached a sermon explaining the importance of the occasion, another gave a solemn charge to the people emphasizing the gra\ of the step they were taking and pressing them with the necessity of living up to the pledge which] they make the new Pastor _whom they have called to minister to them.
Another one of the commission delivered a direct and searching} charge to the pastor, empha the importance and the respon of his position as a leader in the work of the church here. The climax of the service was reached when the ceremony of laying on of hands was performed. The pastor-elect knelt while the members—of the visiting commission and the ordained members of the local missionary group laid their hands on him while the prayer of consecration was offered. Mr. Tang arose from hig knees a full-fledged pastor, with full authority in the matter of a¢ ministering Baptism and the Lord's Supper, with full rights as a mem ter of the Presbytery, with full Powers as an administrator in the work of the Church.
Such ati event as this does much to dispel the effect of the propagand fda conducted by the enemies of Christian missions in China, which represents the church out here as} a foreign organization conducted by self-secking foreigners for the accomplishing of ulterior designs inimical to the best interests of} the Chinese themselves. The large crowd who witnessed this ceremony] will have a clear conception of the fact that the Chinese Church belongs to the Chinese themselves and is under their control and is being fostered by their foreign friends for the benefit of the Chinese.
December 14, 1930, will be remombared by all those interested: in the work of the Christmas Church in this section as a red letter day in the history of the Church. The First Pastor of the First Independent Church in this section being! ordained on this date will forever all its own, stamp this day with a significance
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.