The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1869-05-01

ally carry out the will of the laity; and but
little, if any, doubt is felt by those best in
formed in the Methodist Church as to what
the will of the lay members of their Church
will be. This, indeed, seems to be indicated
! by the tone of their UNCONVENTIONAL press,
! which is the reflector, no less than the lead
er, of popular opinion. The radical change
which has come over the Methodist Episco-
| pal Church in the last forty years may be
attributed to several causes. The character
of the relation between the ministers and
the lay members has gradually changed
At first the great body of the laity were
poor and uncultivated The intelligence
of the Church was largely in the ministry,
and its very existence was maintained by
the heroic and self sacrificing labors Of the
but food for themselves and their horses,
and perhaps a suit of clothes each year or
| two. The churches were scattered, travel
was tedious and expensive, gratuitous atten-
dance at a conference in distant town was
privilege not to be desired; and so the
laity readily acquiesced in the policy main
tanned by their spiritual rulers. Things
are not so now; the best business talent
and legislative experience are now to be
found among the laity, who are as ready to
devote them to the interest of the Church
as they are to pour out their thousands a
year to its support, and the maintenance of
| it's institutions
The financial interests of the Church,
also, have become gigantic in their proper
tons, and it is queried whether their mall
agement should be left exclusively in the
hands of class of men who are called to
the sole work of preaching the gospel. The
official publishing interests of the Church
represent 4 capital of nearly 81. 500, 000.-
The Missionary Society receives and dis
burses annually from 5000, 900 to $500, 600.
The Church Extension Society is appealing
to the Church for hundreds of thousands.
The Methodists have six theological insti-
! tutions, twenty-three universities and col
leges, and eighty-tive seminaries of differ
ent grades, all of which are more or less
under the control of the conferences of the
Church. There are many who advocate
the participation of the laity in church
government on the ground of abstract right,
but this mingling of temporal with spiritual
affairs has its influence on many, who would
not trouble themselves much about church
government if the cares of the ministry
were solely of spiritual nature.
The Methodist Episcopal Church, too,
has become essentially modified in its char
acter, and within the last few years has be-
come a corporate body under the laws of
both Ohio and New York. "The Board
of Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal
Conference of 1864, and have since been
chartered by the Legislature of Ohio, with
power to receive, hold, and administer on
any property by gift, devise, or otherwise
confided to it, in behoof of and for the
benefit of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
1t is also competent to receive and admin
lister on any special benevolent trust not
otherwise provided for in the other benevo-
lent societies of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. It is provided in the charter that
the Trustees shall be elected by and be
amenable to the General Conference; that
body has received, for the first time in it's
history, recognition rs legal body. A
BOARD Of Education was organized by
the General Conference of 1868, to be
chartered under the laws of New York,
with power to receive, hold, and convey
real and personal estate, and to receive and
administer requests and trusts of every
kind relating to education, "under such
regulations as the General Conference shall,
from time to time, prescribe The Mis-
sionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, which during its successful history
of fifty years had been under the legal con-
troll of board of ministers and laymen,
and only by courtesy under that of the
General Conference, has, at the request of
the General Conference, recently consented
to have its charter so changed as to place
the selections of its officers in the hands of
that body. These things tend to make the
masses of the Church consider the intro
duction of business men into the councils
of the Church as thing to be greatly de-
sired, and i'll no respect to be dreaded;
though, as has been said, the more intelli-
gent and thoughtful advocates Of lay rep
resentation, while they admit the force of
the arguments based upon these changes i'll
the Church policy claim the admission of
the lay element on higher grounds than
those of policy; and the opponents of the
same class meet them and oppose the change
on scriptural grounds, and claim the excu-
sive right of the clergy Cor priesthoodD to
govern i'll all ecclesiastical matters. The
Southern Methodist Episcopal Church,
by popular vote in 1867, admitted lay del
egates to their General and Annual Confer
ences, and the experiment is said to have
proved decided success. This body con-
sists of no less than 1851 travelling minis
tiers, 1862 local preachers, and 535, 04O
members, and its influence upon the North
ern Church lying along the border and in
the Southern States is not inconsiderable.
The result of the vote can, of course, not
be predetermined, nor the effect upon the
denomination of the adoption of the pro-
posed change; but, as an important move
ment in the largest religious body of the
nation, it is worthy of being chronicled.
A METHODIST.
Enigmas, Charades and Puzzles.