Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1869-06-18

Bishop simpson on 1.ay
Delegation.
| We give below, a few extracts from
the address Of Bishop Simpso@a, re.
Gently delived In Pittsburgh, Penn.
on Lay Delegation,
THE PLAN.
First, then, Lay Representation,
as proposed by the General Confer
ence, has no connection with the an
nual conferences, and consequently
has no influence upon the appoint
OF the various ministers TO their
fields of labor, or with the examina-
tion OF their characters. Again, 1t
does not in any way modify the con.
stitutiOn of the General Conference,
so far as the number of ministers or
the mode Of their election Ia con-
cerned. If Lay Delegation Is adopt
ed, the General Conference will con.
sist of precisely the same number OF
ministers from the different annual
conferences, as though there were no
lay delegates, and they will all be
elected In precisely the same way in
which they now are. But to their
number will be added two lay dele.
gates from the membership In the
larger conferences, and one from the
smaller. These delegates will meet
with the ministers, aud will take part
In the various deliberations, but on
all occasions Of interest, when dis
i tinat untn so ,olIal frr sk..s 49, :.
separately from the ministers. No
new law can be passed, no alteration
Of the Discipline can be made, ex-
cept by the vote, first, Of the msjori-
ty OF ministers and, secondly, by
the vote Of the majority of lay dele
gates, thus giving expression to the
voice or the whole Church, both cler-
ical and lay. The choice of these
delegates Is to be by am Electoral
Conferences, meeting at the time and
place OF the annual conference pre-
vious to the General Conference. 1t
10 to be composed of laymen, one of
whom shall be chosen by each quar-
terly conference. This is the plan
submitted by the General Con ference.
- The only change proposed Is
In the law-making power; aud that
simply by way Of addition. No lay
man is to take the place of any min.
ister, or Is In any way to interfere
with either his privileges or his pre-.
negatives.
"A plan SO simple, which aims
merely to Gull into exercise another
portion of the Church, and thus add
to Its strength, would seem, In itself,
little likely to call forth opposition.
Yet we cannot close our eyes to
the fact that good and wise men
honestly, seriously and earnestly OBJ
ject to the introduction of this Law
element into the law making depart
ment OF our Church. Nor am sur
prised that this is the case, when I
consider that Ii is right we should
object to any change unless a good
reason for that change can be shown:
and / am free to admit that upon the
supporters of lay delegation rests the
burden Of showing why this meas
ure should be introduced. Until that
is shown we have no right to claim
the favor or the votes of the Church.
THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH,.
The grand proposition which we
present is that it Is proper that the
whole Church should participate i'm
making rules and regulations for its
own government. We express only
the common judgment of mankind
when we say that every association
or community has q right To form its
own rules and to manage Its own af-
fairs, and thst no one class in the "a.
sociation has right to rule the others
without the consent OF the body.
This Is involved In the ideas of indi-
yiduality and of equal rights, and
this lies at the foundation of ali free
governments.
The Church Is an association of
Christian people, and as such why
have not Its members the same priyi-
leges as other associations Possibly
10 is said that the Church differs from
other institutions. i'm that it is divine.
ly established But SO far as regards
the fact of their being, are not civil
governments also of God I? 'The
powers that be are ordained Of God
and yet the people have the right to
o voice as to form aud persons. But
IL Is said there is little legislation I'm
the Church that Christ the great
Head Of the Church, has taught us
the doctrines, and has established the
ordinances. This we fully admit.
The great outlines are 80 clearly re-
sealed that neither member nor min.
lister can change or modify. All we
allege is that what Christ has not
clearly established, but has left the
Church free to regulate pertains
equally to the whole Church, and not
to any peculiar class. But 1t is said,
"rhe ministry Is called OF God to It's
sacred Office and hence has O right to
govern the Church." / accept aud
most strenuously maintain the doc
trine Of divine call To the ministry:
but i deny that the call to the minis
try includes the right to enact the
laws. Christ commissioned his apos-
ties to preach-to teach. But the
disciples of the Church he committed
TO the Church itself. This Is W here
brother has differed, (Matthew xvii.
l7,) III he shall neglect To hear them
tell It unto the Church and IL he neg
lect to hear the Church let him be
unto thee as q heathen man and q
publican.n Assuredly IL the Church
ID to hear, to decide and to condemn,
IL must have the right to arrange the
mode Of its procedure, and, in other
words, to make its own regulations.
OBJECTIONS 10 LAY DELEuATIoN.
"Before proceeding to show more
specific reasons for this change, I may
notice some objections which Its op-
ponents offer to its introduction.
by some the measure is said TO be
revolutionary I scarcely know
what is meant by those who employ
this phrase. A revolutionary meas
ure is one which seeks to overthrow
an established order Of things in an
unlawful way, whether it be by force
or fraud. An alteration of the law .
or an alteration Of the constitution In
legal manner is never styled revo-
lutionary. The State Of Virginia
once required, in order that o man
should vote, that he should be free
holder, or q householder, with q cer-
tian amount Of property. When the
constitution of the State was changed
80 rs to give to all white men, TWEEN.
ty-one years Of age, the right of suf-
frage, it was an alteration or the con-
stitution, but the measure was not
revolutionary. The measures now
before us, SO far from being reyolu-
tiOnary, have been commended to
the consideration Of the members OF
the Church by the wisdom and pIety
of the last General Conference, which
has pointed out the way In which the
change can be made legally, and has
invited consideration Of plan To
effect 1t. So far, then, from It's being
revolutionary, 1t Is strictly legal, and
is to be brought about In harmony
with the constitution cf the Church.
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