Daily Republican., 1884-05-02
Tie M. f. General Conference.

Tie M. +. General Conference.
In point of numbers the largest de,
nomination of Christians in the United
States convened yesterday in Phllalel.
phia, in session which will last proba.
bly, over a month. The General Confer.
ence, the only legislative body Of this
great Methodist denomination, meets
every four years. 1t is composed OF
delegates elected by the several annual
conferences of which there are about
ninety, one ministerial delegates be
ing elected for every tOfty-hve ministers.
Besides these there is row IA lay confer
reSenliug the same number OF otmlnlSterS.
The body which commenced its session
yesterday represents church member
ship OF over two million members,
though if all the Methodist, who
branched Oft from the old parent de-
nomination were unitcd the number
would overreach three million mem-
berS
The territory represented i'll this
great assemblage of Christians will be-
the whole United States, though
delegates will be present from the mis-
sion fields Of the church which are
found on every labitable part of the
world This assembly will contain the
most prominent. learned and eXperien-
ced representatives of the church, both
clerical and lay, and in this respect it
contains the most talented and brilliant
minds in the nation. IL cannot be said
now that the Methodist church lacks
intelligence and refinement equal to any
other Christian denomination, though it
is fact that rebounds to the credit of
the Methodist church and to her minis
try, that it is peculiarly the church of
the medium and poor classes Of popula-
ton.
Some five or six Bishops will be
elected by this General Conference and
considerable of routine work will have
to be gone through with, but besides
these will come up questions Of faith
and church polity for consideration.
The articles of faith of the Methodist
Episcopal church remain intact from
the time of the Wesleys TO the present,
though the discipline has been often
changed to meet the requirements of a
large body that did not exist when the
church was in its infancy But with
all the changes that have been made ir
government, they have all been demand
ed by the advanced intelligence of the
times.
One of the leading thoughts of loca
interest that will be brought before tn,
General Conference will be to make ar
rangements for proper centenary cele
bration of the organization OF tn
Methodist Episcopal church in Ameri
Ca. The ensuing Christmas will com
plete the hundredth year Of the organi
zation of the church in this country
In this celebration the peninsula soutl
of Wilmington is more interested than
any other section of the Union. Metho
dism took ready root in Delaware anC
the eastern shore of Maryland, and ha
maintained its supremacy ever since
From 1776 to 1884, a period Of eigh
years, the Methodist church in Americ;
was held 10 a subordinate position b,
the Weslevs to the established Churci
of England.
This is one Of the reasons why such
more than apparent trlendliness ha
existed between these two great Chris
tian denominations, and why the ar
ticleS of faith are in spirit the same
1t was only because Wesley though
that the church of England dcpende,
too much on faith, and not enough OF
works, that he was led into cOnrs'
that resulted in building up churcl
that in this country far outrivalS tn,
denomination from which it sprang int,
mem bership.
Eight years after the close Of th'
revolution. when the independence o
the United States had been declared
Wesley took steps to organize tht
Methodist Episcopal church in Ameri
ca, being by this time fully convinced
that the reforms he desired to inaugu
rate could not be successfully accom-
plished by remaining with the old
mother church. But SO great N2S his
love for thai church thai when Ii" or.
ganiZed the Methodist CAuICh i'll
America he did not make a radical
change, but retained the words Episco'
pal church, only changing the word
Methodist for Protestant.
When Wesley came here 10 America
in 1854 in company with Whatcoat
NaSey and others, he. with them, i'm
mediately set out from New York, with
out delay, on horseback, for ''Barratt :
chapel" now precious in the history OF
MeihodiSm, where they arrived on
Sunday, November 14th, having been
over twenty days in travelling that dis
tanrs Here at this historic little
chapcl in our own State the celebrated
Iarrfing between Ashury and Coke took
plarr.
Il was here that an organization OF
the church in America was agreed TO,
and Baltimore .rlcctc! rs the place
where the church was to be organized
From Harratt's chapel Fre"born Gar
ret.ou was SEN out as a courier TO no
tify the preachers, of the Contrr"nce,and
Coke. A,bury and others also started
out, notifying all the preachers
their way to Baltimore. ON Christ
mas, sixty-right Of the "ighty-fou1
preachers in America met in Baltl
more.
At Baltimore they elected Coke an'
Asbury bishops, and thus gave form t'
the Methodist church in America one
Of the first things done by this Confer
encc stands TO the everlasting credit o
the Methodist church. In til" name o
the christian golden rule, the declara
ton of independence and every prlnci
pie of humanity, christianity and tn
Revolution the fathers Of MethOdlSm re