Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-08-13
THE ECUMENIoAL COUNCIL.

religious demonstratlonS which this or
any age has witnessed.
OF LATE yesfs there has been some
thing ike apassion for huge religious
demonstrations on the part OF the larger
ecclesiastical bodies. There has been q
Pan-Anglican Council of the Protestant
Episcopal Church at London; Pan.
Presbyterian Councils have become
common, and now there is to be an
Ecumsnical, or Pan. Methodist Council,
appointed, to be held in September, as
above noted, in City Road Chapel, Lon
don-the Cathedral OF English Wesley
anism-the Mecca, as it hss also been
named, of the whole Methodist world.
To this center tho appointed delegates
are now pressing forward from all parts
Of the world, and as every effort has
been made to secure a full representa-
ton from every Christian community
on the globe. there is prospect that
the Ecumernlcal Council will be a great
success, and that it will constitute
prominent, if not a leading feature oil
London life in the early Fall.
1t does not appear that the idea OF the
Council took shape from any existing
necessity of the church, or that 1t has
been convened for any specific or well
defined purpose. Such meetings are, so
10 speak, held outside the constitution
OF the church. The assembled delegates
will not be invested with any legislative
or judicial authority. They cannot
make laws or pronounce judgments;
and their recommendations, however
weighty they may be, will carry with
them no obligatory force. 1t will simply
be in the naturr of grand reunion.
In this respect these Protestant Coun-
ellis differ materially from similar Coun-
ellis of the Roman Catholic Church,
which are Councils not in name but in
reality, and are invested with the high
est legislative and judicial authority.
At the same time such assemblages can
not be without their uses, and it is hard
" conceivable that any but the most
beneficial results will flow from the ap-
preaching demonstration IN London.
The one object most clearly apparent is
the bringing together into one place and
under one banner all the different
branches OF Methodism in the world
which is grand conception in itself.
1t is contemplated that the sittings o.
the Council will extend over seven days
beginning Wednesday, September 4
There will be, as a rule, two sessions on
each day. First day, first session-Ser
mon by Bishop SIMPSON, d. D., Ii. d
Alter sermon the Lords Supper will bt
administered to the assembled delegates
Second session-Devotional exercises
and an address OF welcome by the Pres
ident Of the British Wesleyan Methodist
Conference. Reception at the Mansion
House in the evening. Second day
| first session-After the devotional exer
cises an address on "Methodism: It's His
tory and results" Second session.
Subject to be discussed after devotional
exercises, "The influence OF Methodisn
on Other Religious Bodies and Vice
Versa" Third day, first session
Evangelical Agencies and Methodism,
involving the questions connected with
the itinerant ministry and lay preach
ing. Second session-"Women anC
Their Work in Methodism;" Scripture
Holiness and How to Promote it.
Fourth day-The day being Saturda!
there viii only ha one session, which
will be devoted t., he consideration o
"Methodism anu e Young" Fiji
day, Monday, will b. devoted FIRST SEES
sion) to "The Lords Day and Temper
ance," and second session to "Jeyenil,
Temperance Organization, &c. Til,
whole OF the sixth cay il
to be devoted to the "Pos
sible Perils OF Methodism." The
seventh day is to be set apart for thu
consideration OF education in all III
bearings upon the church and upon the
ministry. No fault can be found with
the programme. Ii promises to giv'
sufficient opportunity for the display o
learning and eloquence, and it is i'm
possible but that deep and lasting i'm
pressions will be produced upon thost
who are present at or take part in the
discussions. The Council, as we have
said, may net legislate or judge for the
Methodist Church; but il the discussions
shall have the effect of Strengthening
conviction, OF removing doubts and mis-
conceptions, Of improving the methods
OF Christian instruction, OF inspiring
higher motives and of begetting higher
resolves the London Conference may
prove to be not only an immediate i'm
pulse; but source OF enduring benefit
| 10 the entire Methodist communion.
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