Cylchgronau Cymru

Che torch. Official Organ of the Forward i Movement of. : the Presbyter- ! i ian Church of i j Wales.......j Vol. 4. No. 4. [New Series] APRIL, 1908. Price One Penny. (PostFree, 1/6 per annum, prepaid) Acting Superintendent's Notes. 1, Origin of the Forward Movement. tT was started under the impulse of a genuine missionary spirit on the part of our Denomination. Our leaders, both in North Wales and in South Wales, felt that the Connexion was responsible to God for the condition of the masses who neglected the ordinary means of grace. Especially did this responsibility attach itself to the populous districts of South Wales. At the first Committee, held at Shrewsbury, many of the best known men of the Denomination met in conference, and they agreed to give the new undertaking their heartiest support and sympathy. Had this not been done, and especially had not the late Mr. Edward Davies, Llandinam, taken the keenest interest in the move¬ ment, promising >to act as its Treasurer, the Scheme, in spite of Dr. Pugh's en¬ thusiasm, would never have been formu¬ lated. The Forward Movement is in very deed, from its inception, the off¬ spring of Calvinistic Methodism. To us God has committed its care, to us He has said, " Nurse this child for me." And taking the Denomination as a whole, the Churches throughout the length and breadth of our land have responded faithfully to the charge committed to them. 2. The Success of the Movement. It is not too much to say that the Lord has blessed our efforts in the Forward Movement far beyond our most sanguine anticipations. At the Central Hall in Newport a Congregation of over 2,000|peo- ple meets every Sunday evening to listen to the Gospel—probably the largest con¬ gregation in the whole of Wales. In the Forward Movement Hall at Neath will be found the strongest Church numerically (with the sole exception of Princes Road Church, Liverpool) within our Connexion. At Ponty- pool, Calvinistic Methodism was, to all in¬ tents and purposes, dead ; now we possess a fine Hall there, a strong Church, and a large Congregation. In addition to all|this we can point to dozens of fallen women who have been rescued, to hundreds of drunkards who have been sobered, and to thousands who have received spiritual uplifting through the ministrations of the Evangelists. The five thousand communicants registered as Members in the Halls are but a very small proportion of those who have been snatched as " brands from the burning." It is, how¬ ever, only fair to add that we have not been equally successful in every place. Some of the Centres are Very weak and seem quite unable to cope with their diffi-