Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1868-05-15

obtained on these records when witnesses
have died and the original papers have been
/ lost or mislaid.
LAY REPRESENTATION AMONG
THE METHODISTS.
The following on Lay Representation in
the Methodist Church. from the New York
Ereaing Post, covers the ground so fully,
that we take pleasure in giving it place
in or columns, to enable those who have
thought very little upon the subject to fully
understand the reasons Why the Church Is
about to depart from some of its firmly es-
tabishod usages:
THE Methodist Episcopal Church in the
/ United States now numbers million ofcom-
municauts, representing, probably, popula-
lion of five millions who are under its infu.
ence The Methodist Episcopal Church
/ South, which has been seriously disorganiz-
ed by the war, had $50, 900 members in 1860,
and most of these will propably soon return
to the parent church, from which they seco-
ded only on the question of slavery.
The General Conference is the supreme
ruling power of the Methodists. 1t is formed
of delegates elected by all the annual con
fercnces Of ministers, in proportion to their
numbers: and meetsOnce in four years. with
full legislative authority oyer the whole
church, and with appellate jurisdiction as a
court over appeals from all its lower ecclesi-
astical tribunals. 1t also elects by ballot the
bishops Its discussion and actions are,
therefore, rewarded with interest through
out the country
This Conference is now in session in
Chicago; and grave questions, affecting the
whole system of government hitherto estab-
lished among Methodists, are likely to come
before it for action. The most important Of
them is the project Of Lay Representation
in the conferences.
From its foundation in this country, the
Methodist Episcopal Church has been gov
erned wholly by its clergy, They alone sit
in the annual conferences; and choose from
among themselves the members of the Gen
eral Conference. The bishops assign to each
congregation its pastor, and there is no con
stitutional provision for appeal, or even for
remonstrance or suggestion. Thus the clergy
wield the whole power Of the organization,
prescribing the conditions ofchurch member
ship, directing the appropriations Of the
general funds, admitting or rejecting can
didates from their own body, assigning each
preacher to his people aud his work, and
thus controlling at once the lublie policy
and the internal administration of the de-
nomination.
For more than forty years this system
has met with open and loud opposition
The more radical minds have often joined
in bitter abuse Of the clergy, charging them
with determination to retain usurped and
wrongful power; but those who made such
attacks have usually seeded from the or
ganization without making a deep impress
sivn upon it. The general conviction Of
the members appears to have been that no
sweeping change was needed, so long as the
/ power possessed by the pastors was used
with Sise moderation; and that the right of
Withdrawal by members at any slime, and
the certainly of its exercise by large num-
bers, if not ruled in the church with Chris
tjan prudence and justice, were sufficient
check upon abuses
The growth aud prosperity Of the main
body, and the comparative failure of the Sc
ceders to spread abroad their doctrines, has
confirmed this view Certainly, the success
Of Methodism as missionary church in
America has been a sufficient refutation Of
those who represent its government as
priestly despotism Yet for many years
/ the conviction has been growing among the
leading minds, both Of the clergy and of
the laity, that more elaborate orgauiza-
ton viii become necessary, which viii give
to the pious laymen of the church the op-
portunity and the inducement to serve it
more efficiently. The General Conference
itself, which, for long series of years, re-
sisted the project oflay representation with
a rigid conservatism which offended many.
has of late taken the lead in preparing the
way for this wise reform.
Eight years ago the bishops presented
the proposed change in favorable light to
the General Conference; and that body
recommended the consideration of it to the
annual conferences and the laity. 1t also
ordered a vote to be taken throughout the
church on the general question, whether
lay representation should be admitted in
the General Conference. The vote, how
ever, indicated little interest in the propo-
sition, and decided majority aginst the
change. In 1864 the General Conference
again approved the principle of admitting
the laity to a share Of government, but post
poned action expressly on the ground that
the church did not yet desire it.
This year, the expressions of opinion on
every side have been more favorable to the
/ reform than ever before. The resolutions
/ Of the annual conferences show that among
the ministry, two-thirds Of whom five years
ago were opposed to it, a majority now de-
sire change. There is no question that.
10 the large cities, and wherever the laity
are most capable Of organized action in the
church It Is earnestly demsnded. The
weight Of intelligence aud Of the hopefuI