| ALEXANDRA PALACE, LONDON July 12, 1962 |
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| The change of location from Methodist Central Hall is explained by the following news clipping which apparently refers to the 1961 London special meetings |
Sect shock for UK Methodists |
A.J.G. It is thought well to take advantage of the presence here of
brethren from all parts of the world to let them know what is in mind in relation to ministry which we hope to make available to saints in the near future, the best steps to be taken to facilitate the dissemination of the truth, and certain steps which we trust will commend themselves to the brethren, with a view to stimulating the interest generally among the saints, in the ministry, so that it should be taken on and read. This is important, not only for the present time, but if the Lord is leaving us here a little time longer, in view of the generation that is growing up, the exhortation, "give thyself to reading", 1 Tim. 4: 13, being an important matter.
I might say, not to go into any detail, that the Depot, as brethren will know, is managed by our brother, Mr. David Burgess, assisted by our brother, Mr. Winston O'Prey, who work together constantly in close collaboration, and there are one or two things we wish to speak about particularly. One is arrangements for more effectively seeing that the ministry that is available reaches the brethren in every meeting, and secondly the matter of providing our dear brethren on the Continent, in their own languages, with the ministry that we ourselves receive in English-speaking countries. These are two matters that are felt to be of great importance, and which we believe the brethren will more and more take on and support in their interest and prayers.
We have in mind in the next twelve months, if the Lord leaves us here, to bring out something like from thirty to thirty-two volumes, in addition to the current ministry. That is, the current ministry, as the Lord gives it, will be made available in book form for the brethren, but in addition we recognise the importance of the whole of the ministries of J.T., F.E.R., J.N.D., and also the ministry of Mr. Stoney and Mr. Coates, being eventually made available in full for all the brethren.
I might say, as regards J.T.'s ministry, that there is still a certain amount of ministry by him that has never been published as yet, and that is being given priority (as regards his ministry), and that explains why certain volumes in the New Series of J.T.'s ministry are numbered in advance of the proper number in normal sequence; while the whole of the ministry available is being arranged as far as possible in chronological order, with the intention in the main of issuing it in that order, it is felt that ministry by him which has never yet been published ought to be brought out as quickly as possible, and hence the volumes of his ministry which are at present being issued are numbered 54, 56, 58, numbers such as that, which are considerably in advance of the last number of the reprints of his ministry, but the intention is that eventually the whole of his ministry will be available in this New Series, numbered sequentially according to chronological order.
Then, as regards Mr. Raven's ministry, a considerable amount of his ministry, which has never before appeared in print, has come to light. I will get Mr. Stott to speak about that at a later time. Then there is J.N.D.'s ministry, and we also have in view, as I have said, to reprint Mr. Stoney's ministry and Mr. Coates's. That, of course, will take time, but if things go as we hope they will, we trust that the position will be arrived at, if we are still here in five years' time, that by then, all of this ministry, much of which is at present out of print, and some of which has never yet appeared, will be available to the brethren.
Now I think I should say further, as regards our brethren on the Continent, that arrangements have already been made for the three monthly magazines that we have, to be translated and published in German and Swedish or Norwegian, and we hope that arrangements will soon be completed by which they will also come out in French – some of it is available in French already – and also in Spanish. There may be something done in Italian at a later date. Also it is in mind to translate and print in due course a considerable amount of Mr. Taylor's ministry, also certain ministry by F.E.R., and 'The Faith Once Delivered to the Saints', by J.N.D., all of which is ministry that is regarded as of special importance, of which up till now brethren on the Continent have had very little. We shall be able to say a little more in a few minutes as to the detail of the arrangements.
Now as regards the matter of encouraging the brethren to take on the ministry, it is suggested that a brother in each meeting should make it his business as a service to the Lord, to encourage each household to make sure that they have, or eventually obtain, the published ministry of J.N.D., F.E.R., and J.T., and of course, the current ministry which is of all importance, and also the other ministries I have mentioned, because there is no doubt that where the printed ministry is obtained and assiduously read and followed up, it has resulted in great spiritual increase. I think, later on, our brother, Mr. Bruce Hales, who can speak of the effect of certain new arrangements in Australia, will be able to enforce that point.
I do not know whether it is necessary to go into the details of what is before us at the moment, but we have in mind, as I say, to bring out possibly thirty volumes during the next twelve months, much of which, of course, will be reprints, but it will include a considerable amount of J.T.'s ministry not previously published; it will include current ministry, and it will include reprints, which we are quite sure many of the brethren will find they have not got. I do not know whether you wish to say anything at this point, Mr. Price.
G.H.S.P. I do not know that I can add anything at this stage, except that it is our feeling that every household walking in the truth, should be equipped with the full set of these great ministries that have come down to us from J.N.D.'s day to the present time.
A.J.G. That is definitely what we have in mind, and along with that, is the suggestion which, I think, as brethren weigh it over, will commend itself to them, and that is, that brethren should be encouraged – we are not coercing in any way, or anything of that sort – to pay in advance for a year's publication of ministry, and should, as far as possible, place a standing order for all that is coming out. It will not come to a great deal and it will greatly facilitate the keeping of accounts if every household, or every single brother or sister not included in a household, requiring the ministry, would just pay in advance for a year in the same way as we do already for our magazines. This will immensely reduce the amount of account-keeping and work at the Depot and facilitate the distribution of it. I might say that Mr. Hales has been a great help to us with his business experience of organisation, and he will explain it in greater detail in due course.
But the great thing that we do want to stress is, that in recognising the importance of the ministry the Lord has given through J.N.D., F.E.R., and J.T., especially, as well as the current speaking of the Spirit, and also the great value of J.B.S.'s and C.A.C.'s ministry, we do feel the importance of every household being fully equipped with this, and as the brethren will read it and take it on, I am sure they will find that the present revival which is evident in all parts of the world will be sustained. That is the great thing, that it should be sustained and, of course, developed.
Well now, I do not know whether you would like at this stage, Mr. Hales, to say a word as to what is suggested as to arranging certain areas and a brother in every meeting having to do with an agent of the Depot in those areas, rather than with the Depot direct. But I would just urge this, dear brethren, that while there is a certain amount of organisation necessary to make these things work properly, we are in no sense approaching it in spirit of the business world. The desire of the trustees is to serve the brethren and to bring within their reach what the Spirit has given; it is of such importance to us all, and our only desire is to serve the saints effectively, and to bring into this work a brother who will be zealous in each meeting and in a wider way in each area, who will help this forward and encourage the saints and serve them by bringing it within their reach. Perhaps you could say a little more, Mr. Hales, because you have some experience of how it has already been worked in Australia.
W.B.H. It was our desire about a year ago to take steps to ensure that the revival of interest among the brethren was maintained, and this will not be apart from the habit of reading being acquired early in life, as we had this morning from, say, the age of twelve to, say, twenty-five. For that reason we stimulated the brothers in each meeting who acted as agents to take up their work as doing it for the Lord, just as the gospel preacher serves the Lord, and that they should ascertain what each household is receiving, and if they are failing to get all the ministry, why? We felt that there should be no financial reason why persons, especially the young ones, should be deprived of growing up in a household without access to the ministry. Now the reason why we wanted to adopt pre-payments was that we wanted to ensure that you, in Stow Hill, would not be hindered by financial reasons, from the rapid reprinting of all these ministries that have gone before, and we felt that pre-payments would provide substantial working capital for that purpose. But once this principle of pre-payments was adopted, we did not need any coercion, the brethren found it much more convenient to pay a cheque, or a single sum once a year, than have to change coins at almost every prayer meeting, so that I am sure, if the brethren take it on willingly, they will find that it is to the advantage of everyone, customers as well as the distributors, added to which, I understand, Mr. Gardiner, that by adopting these methods you hope to have additional funds available to subsidise the very large expense of making available the ministry in the Continental languages.
A.J.G. Yes, that is an important matter that I had not mentioned. Whether it is the monthly magazines, or what is a much greater matter, the volumes of ministry which we hope to publish in Continental languages, the numbers taken up by the brethren in each country are so small, that the printing of them is obviously not an economic proposition, and, therefore, they will need to be subsidised substantially. We have already mentioned it in one of our circular letters, and it is a matter that the brethren can help in, according to their will, and, as has been said, the getting of money paid in advance, not only greatly simplifies the book-keeping, but it also provides us with needed capital to go forward with the programme that is in mind. Perhaps I might also say, that we value the presence with us now of the brethren, particularly Mr. —— and all the others whoare here with us, and we trust they will all be at liberty, whether on the platform or in the body of the hall, to offer useful suggestions and comments, and to give their counsel, and we shall be glad, in due course, to answer any enquiries that any wish to make.
—— The matter of payment is a question of righteousness. Pre-payment, that is just a form of expression, but an obligation entered into is a righteous obligation and therefore payment is right. The question is, how much is involved for younger brethren to set up their libraries of J.N.D.'s writings, F.E.R.'s and J.T.'s, how much it would involve, whether they would be able for that. I do not know what the figure would be, but perhaps you might know that in the Depot.
D.B. It would be about £10, I would think, for a year's books.
A.J.G. I was going to say £10 per annum would almost certainly amply cover it, which is just a small proportion of the amount that a young man in the world would spend on tobacco and other things.
—— The setting up of their library would be more than that, of course, would it not?
A.J.G. These volumes will be brought out by degrees. We have got a certain number of them in stock, but with the great interest in the truth that there has been in the last twelve months some of our stocks have run fairly low and, therefore, there is a lot of reprinting that has to be done in time.
—— What you mean is that you could not buy the whole set of J.N.D. at once, it would not be available?
A.J.G. No, it would not be available at present; not the whole set at once.
—— And F.E.R.?
A.J.G. No, certainly not F.E.R.
—— And J.T.?
A.J.G. No. A lot of J.T.'s ministry is out of print at present.
D.B. What we are speaking about is what we hope to bring out in a year, for which standing orders would be placed normally and do you mean, Mr. —— that it is in a sense an obligation to pay for a standing order?
—— Well, what is running through my mind is the expense of setting up a young brother and a sister, if they are setting up home, in regard of J.N.D., F.E.R., and J.T. What would the whole cost be?
W.R.M. If a young brother wanted to furnish a library in five years' time, what would it cost if he had nothing?
W.O'P. About £60.
R.G.B. A young brother in five years' time should hardly be in that position, should he? Because the young people would be acquiring the books as they come out, and the parents also would make themselves responsible to see that the young people as they grow up, do acquire the books, would they not?
—— The order of the truth might be considered, in that sense, as to how brethren approach the truth. I would think that the way to approach the truth is by the recent ministry; then the ministry of F.E.R., and then J.N.D. The current availability of J.T.'s ministry might be considered.
A.J.G. That is prominently in our minds, and our desire is first of all, to get out the whole of the remainder of J.T.'s ministry that has never been published, and then to proceed with what has been published but is now out of print; and the same with F.E.R.
—— That is, there would be available to younger brethren the general outline in J.T.'s ministry at once, or what has been recently published.
A.J.G. That is what is in mind.
—— I do not want to set one ministry against another, we should not do that, but what does the Spirit of God mean in what we should approach the truth in? I would think that the recent ministry is essential to the other ministries, running back into J.N.D.
A.J.G. I think that is very much our outlook on the matter. We are anxious that the current ministry the Spirit is giving should become available to the saints as soon as it is given, and then, along with that, there should be J.T.'s ministry right up to date, as soon as possible, and then alongside of that F.E.R.'s ministry. For instance, in the next twelve months we expect to bring out five or six volumes of J.T.'s ministry, which is all in addition to anything which is current that comes out, and within the same period, we hope there will also be three volumes of F.E.R.'s ministry and his letters; also a little of J.B.S.'s ministry.
G.H.S.P. I would like to ask further what Mr. —— has in mind about the recent ministry. Are you suggesting that we should concentrate on completing the reprinting of J.T. before we reprint, for example, the Collected Writings of J.N.D.?
—— Well, I was just getting, if I could, the thought of the Lord in regard to the way we approach the truth, and it would seem that the recent ministry is the way to it, and it would seem that most of J.T.'s ministry is available, more or less in recent years, in any case, it is available, and whether younger brethren who are starting households would not be able to obtain that to a large extent. I think we should see that the Lord is moving on a certain line in His teaching of it and while J.N.D. is the father of the movements there is no question about that all is concentrated as it proceeded in the ministry of the Spirit in recent times. So that, beginning there and going back is really, I would think, the way to understand the truth.
W.McK. Would you think Paul had that in mind in saying to Timothy, "the books, especially the parchments", 2 Timothy 4: 13?
—— Well, what would Paul mean by that, the question of parchments? Paul's ministry is, of course, what the recovery of the truth is but largely coming out in the ministry that we have had, the truth of the assembly. We have had a great development of Paul's ministry in the recent ministry and, I believe, the way to approach the truth is in that method, going back through J.T., F.E.R., to J.N.D., and the other ministries such as J.B.S., and C.A.C., running along with that.
A.J.G. I think I can say that in general that is what is in our minds, that is to say, that priority has been given to J.T.'s ministry, only there are those who have already got all the ministry that he has given, and perhaps have not got F.E.R., or find it difficult to get certain volumes of J.N.D. that they are anxious to get, and therefore there is a certain demand for some of the earlier ministry on the part of some. That is what induces us, perhaps, to bring forward some of F.E.R.'s ministry before J.T.'s is entirely completed.
—— I would think that is right, that you are considering the stages as "little children" would be involved in approaching the truth through J.T., I would think. Young men would then be able for the F.E.R. outlines, and then the full thought of 'fathers' extending into J.N.D.; it requires great spiritual power to understand what he is saying in many things. The amount of money that is involved, £10 a year, is not extensive; it certainly should be a matter of righteousness, there should not be any open accounts.
A.J.G. There is another thing I might say on the practical side, and that is if the brethren will commit themselves to standing orders, to take all that is coming out, it will greatly facilitate the work of the Depot. At the present time we may perhaps have six standing orders in a certain meeting and then, as soon as a new book comes out, there is a flood of individual orders for that particular book and then, perhaps, another book may come out and there are no orders for it. If we knew beforehand that there were going to be so many standing orders for whatever comes out, I think it would greatly facilitate our work in knowing how many to order of a particular book, so as to avoid overstocking.
—— That is, the standing orders would be what each local meeting would need.
A.J.G. Yes, of everything that comes out.
A.McG. May I say, as a converted man, I am wholly with the new policy, Mr. Gardiner, in your closing down all individual accounts; working through the local Depot brother. May I just add, and I hope all the brethren understand, that reading the recent ministry involves what the Spirit of God is saying through our beloved brother who has spoken, so that all the brethren should get hold of Mr. ——'s ministry, and that will lead us, as was said last night, and has been said many times, back: to J.T.'s ministry and F.E.R.'s and J.B.S.'s and J.N.D.'s.
A.J.G. What I have said, Mr. McGregor, is this, that the trustees have in mind to see that the current ministry of the Spirit, that is as you say the ministry of our brother here with us, will get to the saints as soon as possible. In addition to that, J.T.'s ministry, so far as it has not yet been published, will also get to the saints as soon as possible; certainly, we trust, within the next twelve months. Then, after that, or to some extent along with it, F.E.R.'s ministry will come forward; and then, as I have said, also J.N.D.'s, J.B.S.'s, and C.A.C.'s. The desire is, that before very long, there should be none of this valuable ministry that cannot be obtained but, of course, it takes time.
W.O'P. It will greatly help if the brethren understand what has been said about standing orders, because that is our great difficulty at the moment, to assess what brethren require in various localities and recently we ran out stock of a book almost immediately it was published.
—— You, of course, do not want to bring into the matters the commercial system, as Mr. Gardiner says, you do not want to bring that in, but there is a term used in business circles of 'projection' and that is right in a certain sense.
A.J.G. Perhaps you would explain what that means in commercial circles, Mr. Taylor?
—— Mr. Hales would help.
W.B.H. You mean a forecast, do you not?
—— I think what is the mind of the Spirit is to get the brethren to be committed to standing orders, so that the Depot does not have to resort to projection, which you would have to do according to what Mr. O'Prey says. If you get a book out and you have got an order for one and then you get an order for nine, that would mean that the Depot always had to project, which we should not have to do, that is, the ministry is of such value that you want it, and you are not waiting for projection to get it.
J.H. So we all want it, you mean?
—— Well, I hope we do. But if you have got one order and then you get nine orders, they are behind time with their orders.
A.J.G. Sometimes those who come along with supplementary orders of that sort when they might have given a standing order, find that there has been a bigger rush for the book than was anticipated and they cannot get it because it is sold out. Therefore it would greatly help us if the brethren would commit themselves. We do not want to coerce, or place any burden on the brethren, but if only the brethren will get a real impression in their minds of the essential importance of the ministry the Lord has given through J.T. and those mentioned, and will commit themselves to taking it as it comes out, if they have not already got it, and letting us know beforehand that they want to do that, it will greatly simplify the matter all round.
J.S.P. Would you make it clear what is in mind as to a standing order? Does it relate simply to new ministry as published, or do you wish us to give standing orders for reprints as well?
D.B. There are five categories, really: Current Ministry, J.N.D., J.B.S., F.E.R., and J.T., and it would be good if brethren would place standing orders of all those books.
J.S.P. Do you want separate standing orders for each?
D.B. Yes, because some do not need the J.N.D. reprints as they have them already, so we need separate figures for those.
Rem. What is needed is a good canvasser.
A.J.G. That is what is in mind, although let it be understood that anything that is done on those lines is done as to the Lord. All this is a matter of service to the Lord, and the disseminating of the ministry that the Spirit has given.
G.H.S.P. I think Mr. Hales was going to say something more on the area distribution that has been adopted in Australia and the Lord has evidently supported. I am sure Mr. Hales, we should value another word from you on that.
W.B.H. The fact is that meetings are grouped together in metropolitan areas, accessible to a brother who can undertake responsibility for breaking it down into the numbers required for each meeting. He does that usually with voluntary help of young brothers and sisters. It enables Stow Hill to schedule the delivery shipments direct from the printers to that distributing centre in lots of fifties, or hundreds, which of course, cuts down a tremendous amount of handling into small orders, and it greatly increases the rapidity with which the ministry gets to the saints. I understand you are going to do that here in various areas of the country?
G.H.S.P. That is what is in mind following your recommendations, which I am sure, we are thankful to accept, and it ties up with what you have told us earlier as to the library survey. I think we could do with another word on that, and the reason and value of that, and how it bears on the service of elders.
W.B.H. The reason we adopted that, in the first place, last year, was to try and get a projection or forecast to prove to you just what the demand was, which we did not know, and by going to each home and ascertaining what that household would order, if the ministry was available, we were able to prove to you last year, that it was urgent that you reprint the whole of J.T.'s ministry. Now that also discloses where persons perhaps are not interested in the ministry, or not able to get it, why they are not placing an order for it.
A.McG. Are you thinking in your remarks of some of us old brothers, who will soon be with the Lord who will have the whole, or practically the whole of the ministry, what we are going to do with it?
W.B.H. That is a new angle, I never thought of dealing in secondhand ministry. What you have to see is that there are persons who have grown up from twelve years of age to forty or forty-five and have never had access to some of the most important ministry of J.T. in the 1920's and the 1930's. In our area of the world it was perhaps worse than anywhere because so few people did take the ministry in the 1920's and the 1930's.
—— What we want to get is individual exercise in this matter, so that the brethren come forward with their orders without being pressed to give. We do not want canvassers unless we have to have them; the brethren should come forward with their orders, we should not have to go and press people to buy goods, that is commerce, but if they come to you to buy goods, that means that they know where the good things are and come and get them.
J.M. Do you not agree then with this household survey?
—— I did not say that. You come from Belfast where they always want to push their goods everywhere! You will find it a very difficult thing to-day to push your goods, people do not want them, but what I am saying is, I believe, the truth, that if the brethren want the thing they will come for it; they will not need to be pressed into it. The brethren who value the truth will come and get it, place their orders without any pressure. We know what high-pressure salesmanship is, at least I do to some extent, but that is not the principle in the house of God. We want the brethren to value the ministry and come and get it; place their orders themselves.
P.L. Precise reference to written ministry sometimes in oral ministry, greatly helps to stimulate the pursuit of it and the purchase of books. Mr. McCallum recently has been helpfully drawing attention to Volume 1 of the reprints of Mr. Taylor in a precise way. That is calculated to stimulate more enquiry for the book.
—— So that we had last night the references to the historical view of things. We can historically go back and see where certain truth came out, and therefore we live in the land that Jacob lived in, where his father lived; that is where we live, that is the ministry.
R.S. That is, of course, proceeding. Six volumes have now been printed and as a result of the recent search for further ministry, a good deal has come in that has not been published before, and this will all be incorporated in the New Series which is now being produced. When we have finished publishing the New Series, it will make obsolete the twenty-four volumes already existing of the Notes of Lectures, because the material from those will all be included in the New Series, but not in the order in which they appear in the Notes of Lectures.
A.J.G. It has been rather surprising, has it not, Mr. Stott, the amount of ministry of F.E.R.'s that has come to light that, as far as can be traced, has not been published?
R.S. It is most remarkably so. Volumes 7, 8 and 9 of the New Series of F.E.R.'s ministry will shortly be available and these are arranged, as far as possible, in chronological order.
—— When you refer to those numbers, Mr. Stott, is that the new set of numbers?
R.S. That is the new set of numbers, starting with Volume 1 and we have already got up to number six, which has been distributed.
G.H.S.P. Would you add, Mr. Stott, that the index to Mr. Raven's
ministry which Mr. Ball is working on, will be limited to that New Series?
R.S. Yes, that is an important point, that the new index which Mr. Ball is working on will not include any reference to the old Notes of Lectures, nor to any other numbers. The new index will refer only to the New Series, which will eventually contain everything of beloved Mr. Raven's.
R.G.B. And because of the new material in the reprints, it will be
necessary for those who have the old volumes to obtain the reprints anyway, will it not?
R.S. It will, because the new ones will not at all correspond with
the old numbers.
—— The £10 a year would include all that, would it?
R.S. Yes. Volume 7 contains earlier ministry of Mr. Raven's shortly
after J.N.D. died. It covers the years 1884 to 1893 and this material has largely come from the old periodicals, such as Voice to the Faithful and Truth for the Times, as also from the Notes of Lectures, but then other fully authenticated manuscripts have also become available. Volume 8 covers the years 1894 to 1896 and has mainly come from the same sources, as well as from a booklet entitled Meat in Due Season. There have also been one or two readings available which F.E.R. did not himself initiate, but in which later he took the lead and such a one is in Volume 8 on Colossians 1 and 2, where Mr. Raven took issue with the so-called leading evangelists of the day who were present; his object being to show that the purpose of God in the gospel, is to present every man perfect in Christ and that there is to
be no moral quality that was seen in Christ, lacking in believers.
—— What reading was that, Mr. Stott?
R.S. It was a reading at Quemerford, in 1895, on Colossians 1 and 2.
—— Has that never been published?
R.S. It was published in that old magazine Truth for the Times, but it is not in the Notes of Lectures.
—— That shows that what we were saying yesterday as to how readings proceed, was right, that the Spirit of God showed Himself to Mr. Raven.
R.S. Actually the reading had proceeded some time before they even referred to Mr. Raven, but when they did he came right forward into the lead.
—— Well, that is what has happened later, is it not, the same thing? So that any brethren having concerns about local meetings should keep that in mind as to how a reading would proceed, that the Spirit of God would come in in someone to bring out what the Lord's
mind in a certain matter was.
R.S. Volume 9 begins with the remarkable word that attention has already been called to, That which enlightens us becomes to us law, and covers ministry given in the main in the years 1895 to 1897 and this volume will also contain the readings on Ephesians published at one time under the title, The Purpose and Power of God. It is also intended to include in the New Series of numbered Volumes the 1898 and the 1902 volumes of ministry in America.
G.H.S.P. Would you say a word about F.E.R.'s letters.
R.S. Nearly a hundred original unpublished letters of F.E.R.'s have
become available and it is intended to print these in a separate volume. About an equivalent number appear in Volume 3 of the New Series. In future editions of that volume these letters will not be included, but they will be coupled with the ones which have now become available and set in chronological order in the New Series.
S.McC. Did you say that they will be printed in a separate volume? What about the current volume that many of the older ones have of F.E.R.'s letters?
R.S. Those are the ones I am now referring to, which appear at the
end of Volume 3 of the New Series.
A.J.G. I think what you are saying, Mr. Stott, is that it is intended
to print a volume of F.E.R.'s letters by itself, which will include those
which are already in Volume 3, or the book which Mr. McCallum refers to, and the hundred that have now come to light.
R.S. That is what is in mind, so that there will be a complete book of F.E.R.'s letters. Should I add details briefly of what is in mind for J.B.S. at this juncture?
A.J.G. I think it would be convenient.
R.S. It is thought rightly that what was given orally by our beloved
brother should first become available rather than what was written, and to that end Volume 1 of the New Series of Mr. Stoney's ministry will consist of the following in one volume, Steps in Light, Acquaintance with Christ, The Circle of Truth, Lessons of the Sanctuary, and The Closing Testimony. These are all addresses given in the years 1887 to 1894. Volume 2 will be exclusively ministry at Quemerford and will incorporate the book already published, Addresses at Quemerford. The new book, however, will contain several additional addresses, and readings in which Mr. Stoney took the lead, covering the years 1873 to 1894. Then further new material has become available as well as letters and all these will be published in due course. It is estimated that there will be at least twelve volumes in the New Series. Mr. Stoney was editor of Voice to the Faithful for some years and was a frequent contributor himself, and there were many writings of his
running through volumes, entitled Thoughts for this Day, which when
published will make two or three volumes on their own. These will not be printed just yet since it is felt that what is oral should come first, although it is in mind to make available fairly soon his valuable
Meditations. Then it only remains to be added, I think, that an index of beloved Mr. Stoney's ministry is already being prepared under the direction of our brother Mr. Eric Holding.
D.C.C. Referring to J.T.'s ministry, do you agree that it would be good to publish out of order some of his classic ministry, Volumes 148 and 153 and others like it, before going on with the normal series from 28 onwards?
—— Would not those come into reprint – that is the reprint idea the Depot has?
D.C.C. They may come perhaps as New Series Volume 35 or 36 in the sequence. Would it be good to pick those out and print them first, specially Volume 153, of which there must be hundreds of young men who do not have that volume?
—— Well, that would be, I suppose, a question of the Depot's information about that. Other similar meetings, like The Kingdom of God, and Wells and Springs, and other books like that, the Depot, perhaps, would know what the situation is as to stock, what is
available as to it. What about those volumes?
G.H.S.P. I think what Mr. Clapham says is felt by us to be right, that we do intend to give priority to some that are known to be classics and often referred to as such. I would like to ask you one question in that light. In compiling a list of volumes to be printed in other languages, we felt it right to give top priority to your father's letters. Would you support that, and if so, that would be a word for all those here to take notice of.
—— You have come to the conclusion that that should receive top consideration; is that your decision?
G.H.S.P. That is our thought, but we should like your confirmation as to it. It is clear, in many administrative matters in recent years, there has been failure because the truth in those letters has not been followed.
—— The letters, of course, are not oral ministry as our brother refers to it, they are ministry that you might regard in a certain light, I suppose apart from the temple. As to giving it top priority, I do not know about that, what he would say. You can always look back and see J.T.'s constant reference to the assembly with regard to the light that came out. We do not depreciate letters of J.T., or J.N.D., or F.E.R. either, but temple light seems to be what was in his mind.
Therefore Volume 153 certainly is a temple matter, except the letter he wrote in that book, but the brethren in the Depot will be helped about that. I would not think there is much to say either way about it.
A.J.G. We are speaking at the moment, Mr. ——, only of what has been thought to be of importance for translation into Continental languages. In general brethren in this country have Mr. Taylor's letters. We have not sold out, have we?
D.B. No, we have a big stock.
A.J.G. Then brethren in this country could get them at any time if they have not already got them, but the brethren on the Continent have not had them, and we thought there was a certain value, especially in the first volume, which throws light on the conflicts for the truth of this century.
—— In these languages you are speaking of, how many brethren are we dealing with?
A.J.G. Well, it is a question of France and Germany, where the number of books that might be required might be 300, perhaps, in each country; and then Sweden Norway, Denmark, Argentine, Spain, Italy, Holland the numbers there would be very much less, of course.
—— Our brethren have suffered, I suppose, in not having the ministries like the brethren in the English-speaking countries have had them. That is, I suppose, a governmental position.
G.H.S.P. I think it has come to light, Mr. ——, that out of a total of approximately three hundred volumes that would be available of these great ministries, something like twenty or less are available in the Continental countries. You could confirm that figure, I think, Mr. Burgess.
D.B. Yes, that is right.
—— It is quite evident that the ministries generally are not available to our brethren in other languages.
A.J.G. There is an increasing desire, I think, on their part to get it.
—— Therefore the point as to what should be printed.
A.J.G. That is the point. We should be glad to know what you feel to be best; we had as Number 1, J.T.'s letters and then after that ministry starting with the 1904-5 ministry, Chicago, The House of God, and 1906 New York Readings on Hebrews, and then J.T. New Series Volume No. 6, containing Readings in London, The Body, Holding the Head and Union, and Covenant and Family Relationships, and How the Truth of the Assembly appeared in the Development of God's Ways, that was Belfast, and then New Series Volume 48, Spirituality, in Sydney in 1939, and then New Series Volume 50, Divines Names, and so on. There has been a selection made of ministry that was thought to be of particular value that those in this country had already got, of course.
—— That then is a matter of selection, is it not?
A.J.G. Yes, because we cannot possibly hope to get the whole lot
translated in our lifetime.
J.LeP. A large part of Mr. Taylor's ministry has been translated and
published in France in magazines over the past twenty years.
A.J.G. I think they would only be a small proportion of the total
amount there has been. What is now in mind would be a matter of detailed organisation. Mr. Burgess is making it his business to organise and co-ordinate the work on the translation matter.
G.H.S.P. Do you think that we should add that many dear brethren in other countries and in this country are very devotedly giving themselves over to the work of translation, in order to get this work put in hand?
A.J.G. Quite so,
C.E.H. Might I just enquire whether there was any thought in your mind of extending your book on The Recovery and Maintenance of the Truth, any further?
A.J.G. Yes, that is in mind, and to some extent I have it in hand to
bring out a new edition of it, which would be considerably extended as compared with the previous edition.
Ques. Can we hear what current ministry is to be published next?
D.B. We hope to bring out about four or five volumes a year; that is what in mind at the moment, anyway. We now have in hand, Volume 11 of Mr. ——'s ministry, containing Ministry in South Africa in 1958, and Volume 12, containing Ministry in New Zealand in 1961, and Volume 13, Ministry in France in 1961, and gathering up certain addresses that have appeared in Ministry of the Word and other ministry in Britain in 1961.
H.J.M. Will the notes of the meetings referred to in the address last night by Mr. Deck be published? I think he referred to Detroit, did he not?
—— The meetings in Detroit in 1958 were rather exploratory and were not the full thought that came out later. I think it came out later more definitely what the Lord had in mind, but it seemed that the Spirit was bringing out certain things at that time which He fully
developed later, or rather developed so that our minds became clear as to the place of the Spirit in the service.
G.H.S.P. Mr. ——, there is one matter I would like to ask you about here. It is in the minds of many, that after meetings such as these there are a good many outlines or impressions that are circulated. Some of them are marked 'not to be copied' and so on, but there is great desire for these and great interest in them. Do you think anything ought to be considered about getting one outline revised and printed and circulated world-wide very quickly? I do not mean it in place of the full notes but as perhaps some months ahead of the full notes.
—— Well, brethren undertake to do these things individually. I do not know whether we could say anything about that. Brethren are doing it, giving their own impressions of what the meetings were. They say on it 'controlled circulation', that is what they are saying, that is all. I do not know what it means, anyway. It seems to be
controlled through certain persons. I do not know just how to say anything about that, Mr. Price, because brethren get their impressions in the meetings, if they feel like speaking of them, or writing them, I do not know what anybody could say about it. Brethren have their impressions themselves, but not to draw their conclusions as to what the speaker meant. All they could give out is what was said. Certainly we want to know universally what the Lord is saying at any specific time and if brethren undertake to do it you could not stop them. To appoint somebody officially I do not know about, that.
D.B. The quickest we could hope to bring out a book of current ministry would be about six months from the time of the meetings.
—— Brethren in London have a certain right, of course, in connection with meetings here. It would be so in any city that the brethren locally would have a certain right to what took place in their
meetings, and brethren, perhaps, should respect that. Is what I am saying clear?
G.H.S.P. Speaking by way of example, Mr. ——, our brother Mr. Powell is writing out a summary of these meetings which the brethren will be very glad to have, but what would you think about having that checked and then printed immediately, either as a separate booklet,
or, if either of the editors approved, in one of the monthly periodicals? One's only hesitation is that it would add to your burden to revise that.
—— The point we should, perhaps, recognise, is local responsibility as to these meetings and the rights of the brethren in London, or any other place, for what occurs in the place and anything sent out in the way of impressions, we ought to respect that, perhaps. It might
better be done by the brethren in the locality where the meetings are held, so that if there is need of revision there are those who can do it. The one responsible cannot do it, but somebody can go over things. Just to get the principle working among us, respect for the locality, I would think, where the meetings are held.
A.J.G. We hardly want to make the matter too laborious, or else there will be an outline of meetings first, involving a lot of work, and then the full notes later published.
—— Yes. So if it confined to what we said, brethren locally would know what we said. There is no need of it going to the one who said it. I mean, it is only a question of proof of what was said, and the elimination of anything that the brethren thought should be eliminated.
Wm.H. Referring back to Mr. Raven's ministry, Mr. ——, there were readings with Mr. Raven in the States on The Sonship of Christ, which were never published, but which were circulated in manuscript form then, and some were sent over to this country but we have never been able to locate any of these. Do you know of any of them
existing?
—— I know of no meetings like that existing in anything I have seen of my father's. I have not seen anything, but it would be very interesting if we could find it.
Wm.H. Your father wrote a reply to Mr. [W. H.] Westcott's booklet and he asked me to circulate 500 copies, which I did at his direction, and several were sent to the States to different persons, and I got replies from them then saying that they were quite clear as to the sonship of Christ through those readings with Mr. Raven, but we were never able to get any manuscripts giving the outline of the readings.
—— I do not know who might have them now over there. The brethren of that time are mostly with the Lord, and if anything is there in their files we have not heard about it.
J.McM. Mr. Taylor told us in Mr. Elliott's house at Cranleigh that he had written out himself those readings with F.E.R. because it was during a conversation when Mr. Edward Raven asked him what he thought about reprinting F.E.R.'s ministry, and your father, Mr. Taylor, gave a very clear account of what took place at those meetings.
—— It appears, of course, in the letter of J.T., I think, to Mr. Morford, P.R.M., in 1921, where he goes over the matter and he says at the end of the letter, that he would rather what he was saying was not circulated. Brethren will, perhaps, remember that letter. [Letters of James Taylor 1: 189-91]
A.J.G. Yes, that is so. If the new edition of The Recovery and
Maintenance of the Truth comes out, I think it will be found that that
letter will be included in it.
—— Yes, it is a very interesting letter in which J.T. shows that he had got thoughts about the sonship of Christ from Mr. Raven.
J.S.E. Did he not say that, in a letter to Mr. [S.J.B.] Carter?
—— That was later, that was 1929.
J.S.E. And referred back to 1921.
—— Yes. The letter of 1921 was not published. J.T. thought it was better not to. One of the first questions I asked my father in early life was about 'sonship', how it could be that God should have a Son in that sense. He said, "Well, we do not make much point of it just now, but it refers to His Manhood".
R.S. It might be well to say that in the republishing of F.E.R.'s
ministry there will be no editing whatsoever; the books will be reprinted as he spoke or ministered and therefore the references to the sonship of Christ will be there as he said it. You feel that would be right?
—— I think so, it is only fair to do that and the later ministry shows what F.E.R. held, as well as J.N.D., the same thing.
A.McI. In ministry of Mr. Raven's on Matthew's gospel, he makes clear the matter of Christ's sonship.
—— What book are you referring to?
A.McI. I do not know but I remember reading it.
Rem. Readings on Matthew's Gospel.
W.D.D. Could I ask whether standing orders will be sent to the Depot in future or, shall I say, to the 'area brother'?
A.J.G. The intention is that the 'agent for the area' will collect
orders from all the meetings in the area and he will himself transfer
the one order to the Depot.
H.J.M. Will volumes as they are reprinted be carried as stock at the
Depot?
D.B. Our aim anyway is that within five years we hope to have all these books printed and in stock, and to keep stocks of them. We may run out of a book for a few months, but not for long.
A.J.G. Would you say another word, Mr. Burgess, as to our policy
as to getting plates.
D.B. Yes, that applies to reprints of J.N.D., F.E.R., and J.T. New
Series that are already out of stock, and we are having those reprinted
by a photo-litho process. The first stage of this work is proceeding on
about seventy books that are out of print, and that stage of the work
alone is costing about five thousand pounds and we shall proceed with the reprintings of these reprints as the cash is available. That is one of the points of the pre-payment system, that it will give the Depot considerably more working capital to get on with these reprints.
E.B. Might I say something about pre-payments. Mr. —— has referred to the cost for young people as commencing married life of furnishing a library. There is a custom among us to give gifts on the occasions of weddings and on other occasions; may it be taken
advantage of by those wishing to make gifts to pay the Depot for books? This would help the young people being married and also help the pre-payment position, too.
A.J.G. Yes, that is a practical suggestion that some will doubtless
adopt.
D.B. I think Mr. Lyon already does that!
R.A.E. Is there any need for an increase in the donations to the Depot which various meetings make from time to time?
A.J.G. I think we see from what has been said that there is plenty
of scope for any amounts that the brethren like to send to the Depot. On the other hand, of course, we do not want meetings to overlook other demands on their giving, I mean the support of the Levites and so on. I think it will be abundantly clear that there is plenty of scope for anything the brethren feel wise to give, particularly in relation to
subsidising the ministry in foreign languages, because that is a costly
matter and at the same time there is an urgent need, as far as possible, that our brethren on the Continent should have the ministry that we have enjoyed.
W.McK. What would you think about increasing the cost of ministry to English-speaking brethren to help subsidise the translation work that you have referred to.
A.J.G. We would hesitate to do that. I think we have got it to a more or less standard figure of six shillings a volume, and I do not think we want to go beyond that unless we are compelled. We have lately increased the cost of the magazines which will bring in something towards subsidising the foreign ministry.
D.B. The foreign work we are doing this year alone will cost about seven thousand pounds, of which we shall recover only a small fraction, so that there is plenty of scope for help in that regard.
—— Well, if we are making gifts or donations, there is only one place for them.
L.A.C. Will you make that clear Mr. ——, please?
—— Is it not clear that there is only one place for them, and that is the assembly; either your gifts are for the assembly or for these things we are mentioning. We have nothing to do with supporting the world's system. I hope that is clear what I am saying?
R.G.B. Are you speaking of gifts that might be given to charitable
organisations and such like things?
—— That is all part of the world's system.
R.G.B. Yes, that is what I was thinking and there has been, perhaps, a need of clarification on that particular point.
—— Brethren do well to use their money rightly; their money is to be used for Christ and the assembly.
F.N.W. You are not meaning that we should cease giving privately, but you mean what we give to should be related to the assembly?
—— Private gifts should be to the assembly or to the upbuilding of things amongst us.
P.v.d.B. Would that enter into making your will?
—— Well, make one and give as much as you can to the Lord's interests. Make sure you act in your will rightly, especially about your body, what you do with your body.
A.P.T. Is there some new concordance coming out of J.N.D.'s Bible?
A.J.G. Our brother Mr. Charles Davidson has been working for years on a concordance of J.N.D.'s translation of the Bible and it is completed now and will be ready for publication in the course of the next few months. I do not know whether Mr. Davidson is present, is so, perhaps he would like to speak about it.
C.J.H.D. There is a good deal of work that I am still engaged in, night and morning, as I can, and I have had many offers of help, but the difficulty is that the books have got to remain in one place and cannot be parcelled out, as it were, so that if I did have additional help it would need to be one person. That would ease the matter of the typing out and collating of the books, but while I have done a good deal of typing out and editing myself, if it is going to be a matter of months it would need some additional help almost whole-time.
A.J.G. Could you say whether the orders you have received, or orders that have been guaranteed, are satisfactory from the point of view of making it publishable at a reasonable price for such a book?
C.J.H.D. I am afraid I have heard nothing officially from the trustees as to the survey they kindly undertook; indirectly I have heard that the demand has been good but I know nothing more than that.
W.O.'P. We have received orders for about six thousand to date.
A.J.G. Well, six thousand up to date is satisfactory, is it not, for a
work of that kind?
C.J.H.D. It is indeed; I did not know it had reached that figure.
—— Where does that come in regard to the £10 per year? They did not send the money when ordering?
A.J.G. It has not got to a stage where it is right to ask for money.
—— What about the money with the order?
W.O.'P. The Depot is not handling that matter, is it?
A.J.G. We are not publishing it. We agreed to assist Mr. Davidson in making the matter known and getting preliminary information as to what demand there would be.
S.McC. Mr. Davidson, in conversation you indicated to me that if it was left to yourself in the completing of the work, according to what the publishers now require, it would be almost two years.
C.J.H.D. Yes, that is right; if I am not able to have some more or less whole-time help in regard to the typing and editing of it; if it is left to me as I am doing at the present time, it would be two years, quite. The brethren will understand that with a quarter of a million references that is all written out by hand at the present time, over the eighteen years it takes some typing out and checking and editing.
A.W.G.T. Mr. Wigram had a good deal of help in his concordances. I would think you could get a good deal of help, plenty of brethren want to help. Two years is a long time to wait for a concordance.
C.J.H.D. Numbers have offered kindly to help, but I have had to explain that the difficulty is that the words are scattered through the seven books that are hand-written and that, therefore, the books cannot be parted with, but all need to be dealt with at one point.
D.B. What do you feel, Mr. Taylor, about our sending books to persons who are not with us, persons under discipline?
—— Let them have them, I would think; if they want them, let them have them.
D.B. It is a question that is often raised as to whether we ought to.
A.J.G. We do not expect the brother in each meeting who looks after the ministry to serve such, but we are quite prepared, if such send their orders direct to the Depot with their cash, to supply them, because the ministry that is given is really for the whole assembly.
G.H.S.P. What you have just said, Mr. Taylor, is what we have been
acting on, but the question has sometimes been raised that the ministry is sold at the price because it is published on a Levitical basis; in a sense it is subsidised. That does not alter what you have said, does it?
—— I do not think so; even if they could not pay for it, give it to them.
Rem. What you have just said would not stand in the way of individual brothers giving books.
—— How could it? What we are saying is, give it to them.
A.B.P. Is the underlying principle, that what the Lord gives, He
gives for the whole assembly?
—— We would not be able to furnish, perhaps, everything, but these brethren who have gone from us have gone astray. We do not object to their having what we have, maybe it will help them.
Ques. Would you make a distinction as to any we know who are using it to their own ends, having opposed the truth particularly?
—— Well, how could they use it for their own ends? The truth is the truth. You cannot do anything against the truth.
S.McC. That is really the way some of us came into the truth; we got hold of what was good and kept in connection with it, otherwise we, perhaps, from one way of looking at it, would not be where we are.
R.G.B. You told me, Mr. McCallum, that when you had the magazines, someone objected to your having them, and you said that it was for all the assembly.
S.McC. Yes, he actually said, Why is it you are always reading our
ministry, and the reply was that the ministry was given to the whole
assembly. Now that helped the brother and he then gave access to the
Collected Writings.
Wm.H. Have we not to eat the fat and drink the sweet and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared?
D.B. As regards current ministry, it would greatly help if the time
taken in revision and transcription could be speeded up. It usually takes about five months from the time of the meetings before the notes come to the Depot. That is the longest stage really in the production of a book of current ministry.
L.G.B. Desires have been expressed at times that we might have a
volume of letters of beloved ——; has anything been said by the trustees as to that?
—— Better not say anything about it.
A.J.G. Actually there has been a desire expressed, Mr. ——, as our brother says, and copies of a certain number of letters are already available. I have not yet approached you in the matter with many other things on hand, but I was intending to before very long.
A.W.G.T. I would like to say Amen to that.
R.G.B. Those that have been got together are extremely valuable and would be of help to all the saints, I am sure, if they were brought
forward.
A.McG. I would like your personal advice in some of those you have sent to me.
—— Well, I think the rights are with the author, are they not? The rights are mine, I think! I think they would be quite interesting, some of them!
S.McC. I thought you had said, Mr. ——, that when a letter is sent to a person it belongs to the person getting it?
—— Well, I think the author owns the right, I would think so. If a person who got it, distributed it, that would be his responsibility, but I would think the authorship is important in these things; the author's right. Maybe I have said otherwise, I do not remember.
G.H.S.P. Assuming the rights are yours, I am sure you will
sympathetically consider what I believe is a genuine desire on the part
of many, that a selection of your letters that bear on some of the
recent phases of the conflict, would be of value to the whole
assembly.
—— Well, I would submit to that, certainly.
F.N.W. Mr. Price, could we come back for a minute to the summary of meetings like these? Would it be in mind to get them out to every locality throughout the world?
G.H.S.P. That was in my mind in raising the question. There is some difficulty, of course, in doing that just by duplication, whereas it would be relatively simple if something were published in one of the monthly periodicals.
W.R.M. Would that be quick enough.
G.H.S.P. Some of those things could be got through much more quickly than a bound volume, with all the detailed procedure in that and the detailed revision. I believe that a summary could be revised, either by our beloved brother here, or by reliable persons, and put into print and made available within a month.
W.R.M. Could something more be said about what Mr. Burgess referred to as to a five-month period.
—— The point would be, what should be printed, because that would be the essential point, should the meetings be printed at all? Are they of such value that they should be, that would be the first
consideration.
J.O.S. I found a practical difficulty in reading the new print that
after, say, twenty minutes or so, I found it hard to go on reading it. I do not know whether that is other brethren's experience or whether it could be obviated in some way. What I experienced was, I found it so with some of Mr. McCallum's ministry printed in Australia, that after, say, reading for a quarter of an hour, I found it difficult to go on reading.
D.B. That was printed in Australia.
J.O.S. I was thinking of the new type, for instance, the recent one that has come out, I think it is done by a photographic process.
D.B. After Volume 11 we hope to improve on that, we realise that
it is somewhat grey.
C.H. May I make a practical suggestion, to suggest to your litho
printers that they alter the type-face; it is the type-face mainly that is
the trouble.
D.B. Yes, that is what we have found out.
C.H. The reading certainly is not good.
—— I thought it was the Australian printing?
D.B. Mr. Smith was referring to some books of Mr. McCallum's ministry some years ago, which were printed in Australia.
J.O.S. And also what has recently come out, which has the same sort of defect in reading.
D.B. Yes, Volume 10.
J.O.S. I was only wondering whether, if all were coming out in this
way, the elderly people might find it difficult to read for half an hour.
R.S.W. If I might say, the old size of print in Mr. Raven's Lectures,
twenty-four volumes, is less tiring for an elderly person to read than
the new print, the New Series. I do not know if that is a justifiable
remark, but that is my experience.
D.B. The New Series print done by Cooper & Budd is a very good print, very clear.
C.H. Actually F.E.R.'s old volumes which are in the 'Modern' type, are not so easy to read.
Ques. Would it be appropriate to ask what is suitable for bringing
forward for publication in the Word Proclaimed? One has found in gospel preachings where the suggestion has been made that the preaching be recorded, with a view to further publication, that the brother serving has felt that the word would be given for that particular occasion only, and in view of that, the recording has not been taken but it has been felt sometimes that the word could have been published to advantage.
G.H.S.P. I think our outlook on that has been that we are very
thankful to publish any preaching of the word of God in that periodical that is felt to be really the word of God for this time. If there are good preachings available from any source, we shall be very glad to have them.
C.B. Could I ask as to the quality of the binding of the new Bibles
and hymn-books, as to whether they could be made stronger?
W.O'P. What do you mean, to which are you referring specifically, the hymn-book or the Bible? The hymn-book was made as strong as possible.
C.B. In the case of the new hymn-book which has recently been
circulated, some of the pages fell out when I opened the book.
G.H.S.P. That could only be a defect in the binding, one or two pages must have slipped the stitching, but characteristically I do not think we have had any complaints about poor quality in the binding of the hymn-book.
A.W.G.T. May I make a remark in regard of the whole manner of publication of the ministry and the books we get, from the time the
ministry is orally given to the time we get a beautiful book well bound, with no pages to cut, that we should be extremely thankful for what is coming to us and the tremendous labour that lies behind it, that it should incite us to read the books much more thoroughly than some of us do.
A.J.D. There is a very useful index, I believe, as the result of the
labours of a brother in Sydney, which puts together ministry by beloved J.T. and the places in which the ministry was given. Could that be completed so far and made available for general publication?
D.B. A number of brethren in Sydney are working on a subject index of J.T.'s ministry. I do not know whether such a thing could be included with that.
A.J.G. Are you suggesting that there is a special importance attaching to the place where a particular ministry was given.
A.J.D. I think that has been felt, that there was a good deal of point in the place where J.T. said what he said, and that if this index could be extended and published, many would be thankful for that information.
A.J.G. I suppose that could be easily incorporated in any index if it were thought worthwhile, but I suppose a large number of readers or users of any such index would not know the circumstances that attached to a particular place. Still, if it is thought to be of value, I have no doubt that could be incorporated in the index if the information was made available.
C.H. Is it not in the contents already; you give the place, do younot?
A.J.G. Probably, yes.
J.K.H. May I refer to the question of working capital? Is the trustees' judgment that the amount given by us here in this country is appropriate in the light of the total contributions from brethren all over the world?
W.O'P. Gifts last year were very good indeed; this year they have
dropped off rather considerably.
J.K.H. My question was whether we are carrying our proper share here in this country.
A.J.G. We can always usefully employ any gifts the brethren like to
give.
S.M. Could I ask Mr. Gardiner just to clear a point: what would be
thought of private gifts to the Depot on the basis of covenant?
A.J.G. I think the question of covenant is best settled between the
donor and God Himself. It is the case, of course, that if anyone binds
himself for a period of six or seven years to pay a certain amount to a recognised charitable cause, the charity receives in result the amount given plus the income tax on it. That is perfectly right and legal, so it is a question for each one to decide for himself what he wishes to do.
M.A. I would like to ask about individual orders such as replacement of Bibles and hymn-books, how long they might take to be delivered to the brethren, in the light of the new scheme.
W.O'P. It was thought that those orders could be collated and sent to the Depot once a month and they would be executed immediately.
A.J.G. Unless there is anything more brethren want to say, I think the ground has been fairly covered now.
KEY TO INITIALS
Central Hall, London – February 21, 1961
Alexandra Palace, London – July 12, 1962
* = Stow Hill Trustee # = Manager + = Assistant Manager
Names and localities are believed to be accurate, except:
? = uncertainty: initial ? = as to name; final ? = as to locality.
There are a number of initials for which names are not known.
Leonard G. Baker, Stratford
Ralph G. Ball, Bromley
C. Bidmead, Gloucester
George W. Brown, London
Walter M. Brown, Harrow
# David Burgess, London
L. A. Campion ?
E. Carren, Halsingborg, Sweden
Angus C. Clapham, Manchester
David C. Clapham, Manchester
A. J. Darton, Liverpool
Charles J. H. Davidson, London
W. D. Doughty, London
J. S. Ephgrave, Waltham Cross
Richard A. Emtage, Barbados
Frank L. Fowler, Nottingham
* Alfred J. Gardiner, London
W. Bruce Hales, Sydney
Charles Hammond, London
J. P. Hardwick, Birmingham
Alfred Helen, Kingston
* Wm. Henderson, Glasgow
Sidney Houston, Gillingham
? C. E. Hunte, Barbados
R. Alan C. Ker, Harrow
Jacques LePanse, Paris
Arthur Lyon, Harrow
Percy Lyon, London
John Mason, Belfast
Wm. R. Mason, Londonderry
Stanley McCallum, Detroit
Alistair McGregor, Hertford
J. McMullon, High Wycombe
Hubert J. Middleton, Bromley
E. C. Muggleton, Croydon
+ Winston O'Prey, London
A. Bufton Parker, New York
? Jack S. Pearson, Australia
W. C. Powell, London
* G. H. Stuart Price, Harrow
D. Ridewood, Sutton
J. T. Seville, Manchester
J. Owen Smith, Watford
* Robert Stott, Brighton
Arthur P. Taylor, Los Angeles
Arthur W. G. Turner, Calne
Pieter van den Berg, The Hague
F. Neville Walker, Plainfield
Alfred Wellershaus, Endbach
G. A. Wells, Leamington
R. S. Woodcock, London