Intelligence

“I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succorer of many, and of myself also. Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles” (Rom 16:1-4).

News is useful

At the end of Romans, Paul thought it worthwhile to expend paper and ink (or perhaps papyrus and ink) on personal news and commendations: a pattern that was repeated by Robert Roberts in his first issue of “The Ambassador” in 1864. In this Bro. Roberts differed from his mentor, John Thomas, who is rightly regarded as the founder of our community. John Thomas included almost no news of ecclesias in his magazines, so Roberts felt impelled to head the first “Intelligence” he printed with the following comment:

Fellow feeling is a powerful instinct, and in none more so than among the brethren of Christ, who, in the proper development of their relation, love each other much. Hence their mutual fortunes have a powerful mutual interest; and if tempered with the proper “manner of spirit” pertaining to their high calling, the interchange is profitable and encouraging. This is the apology, if apology be needed, for introducing a social column into a periodical more particularly devoted to the demonstration of the truth. Brethren in intercourse do not confine themselves to the doctrinal. The doctrinal is but the basis of their loves and hopes personally developed. So while wielding the broad sword of the spirit, we may be permitted in the intervals of attack, to step aside for a little to taste the enjoyment resulting from a contemplation of the truth in external and socialistic manifestation. Editor. (The Ambassador, July 1864 p. 15.)

In this he was, in fact, following the pattern of the first magazine of our community in the UK, because four years before The Ambassador in January 1860, the first “Messenger of the Churches” was issued by George Dowie, with the title:

The Messenger of the Churches, A Magazine of Scripture exposition, and Medium of Intercommunication on all social and Practical Topics of Importance to the Brotherhood.

It is interesting that, in this magazine, Bro. Roberts is recorded later in 1860 as being the correspondent from Halifax: he had been married in 1859 to Jane Norrie by the same George Dowie. But by 1866 the two had sundered. So from 1864 on, The Christadelphian has faithfully recorded, month by month, the doing of our community, particularly in the UK. It is almost automatic that any transfer, death, baptism and other items (although not births) are communicated in its pages. A quick scan of recent magazines shows that, in any given year, about 90% of the ecclesias in the UK send in news, and the ones who do not are mostly tiny. And it must be mentioned that the community in the UK is, as in North America, somewhat fractured.

Of course, there are other Christadelphian groups in the UK other than the Central/Amended community, but they are all very small with few having fraternal magazines.

So you can, if you were brought up in the Truth in the UK, look up the date of your baptism, and when you were transferred around the country. Which I personally have taken advantage of. And going back in time, if your forbears were also Christadelphians, it is quite fascinating as well to trace their movements.

There are, and have been, many other “Christadelphian” Fraternal Magazines in the UK, as published by one or other of the various factions, almost all of which reunited in the UK in the 1960’s. I remember being in the Christadelphian Office when the Assistant Editor was scanning the pages of such old magazines, for both Bro. Alfred Nichols and Bro. John Carter, former editors of The Christadelphian, were baptized into two groups that were separated at the time from the Central Community, so their early lives in the Truth were not recorded in The Christadelphian. Of the Christadelphian magazines that were not “fraternal” magazines, very few have survived for many years. The only one continuously published for decades is The Testimony Magazine, published since 1931.

In North America

The situation regarding intelligence has always been less universal than in the UK. It is complicated by the current presence in the USA of two distinct large fellowships, each with their own magazine, and during the period 1923 – 1953 there were three groups. As far as I can tell by scanning three magazines current in the 1920’s, in any given year only about 60% of the USA ecclesias sent in intelligence. (This is deduced by comparing the number of ecclesias who sent in intelligence with the total number of ecclesias recorded in the 1926 USA census. The same comparison is not possible in Canada.)

So, as with the UK, in many cases you have to look at a number of magazines if you are in search of records of an individual. Quite by happenstance, you can find an example of this in the first of what, God willing, will be a new series of “Thoughts on the Way”. In it, Bro. George recounts the baptism of Bro. Bob Lloyd, as recorded in the Berean Christadelphian for 1940.

The current situation is roughly the same for the Central (Amended) community: in any given year 40-50% of ecclesias send in intelligence, with another 10% sending in intelligence only every 2-3 years. Of the ones who have not sent in intelligence for quite a few years, many (but not all) are quite small, so there is some explanation for their absence. In addition, it must be pointed out that ecclesias in the UK routinely send in brief notices of things like transfers, changes in meeting times, brief periods when no meetings are held etc., which is unusual in North America. Still, it is noticeable that many events that I would consider worthy of announcing, like baptisms and the passing away of well-known brethren and sisters, are not recorded.

It is also noticeable that in the Unamended community quite a small proportion of their community currently send in news and notices of any kind. This appears to be quite a recent phenomenon: looking back a few decades, at least the same proportion of ecclesias as in the Amended community seemed to send in communications.

The future

I am of the opinion that presence of news and notices in the magazines of the community does serve several purposes:

• It lets the community know of items of interest to many: births, weddings, and baptisms are of course times of happiness.
• It certainly serves to make members aware of the fact they are part of a wider community, somewhat isolated as many are in this vast continent
• Although e-mail communication typically informs the local area of events such as gatherings, special events, study days, prophecy days etc., often these are of interest to many others outside the geographical area
• If done properly, such intelligence serves as an archive for future generations, if the Lord remains away. As we can see in this issue, news of baptisms can be of interest over many generations.

It is quite possible that paper copies of this magazine will be looked on as archaic in the not too distant future, although I am pleased to note that electronic books are not making printed ones obsolete. In fact, the reverse seems to be true: the growth in printed books sold has actually increased lately, and the rate of growth of eBooks is slowing. But even if this magazine in paper form disappears, it will remain available in electronic fashion, and I hope its legacy of information will prove to be a trove of valuable information for generations to come.

I am only too well aware that “of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh” (Eccl 12:12). If that were true of a time when books were hand written, how much more when electronic publishing makes everyone an author. So as we remember Priscilla and Aquila, and their travels and work in the Truth, as written by Paul, let us hope that the example of the workers of this day will be remembered as examples for the generations to come, or until the Lord returns.