The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1889-10-18

nance Shall at any time De passed to
change or do away with the confession
of faith as it now stands" "There shall
be no connection with secret combina-
tions." "There shall be no alteration
of the foregoing constitution, unless by
a request of two-thirds of the whole
society"
This constitution was regarded as a
valid code of organic law, and as Mr..
Hott says, "the motion made in gen.
eral conference declaring the constitu-
ton illegal, did not prevail" thus
proving its binding force.
Four years after the adoption of the
constitution, at was decided that
the general conference cannot change
the confession of faith. This decision
is based upon the plain letter of the
itself, and is justified by
the consideration that the confession
of faith together with the constitution,
with restrictive rule, have been vir-
tually, if not formally, submitted to
the entire membership Of the church
and received their sanction" On this
point the historian .futher states: "The
fundamental principle is here laid
down, that the supreme earthly author
ity in our church is vested, not in the
ministry but in the whole society,""
For number of years there has
been a growing opposition to the re-
strictive clause on secrecy" and an in
creasing desire upon the part of the
ministry of the church to secure a
change of the law forbidding "connec-
tion with secret combinations.
Finally, for this purpose, a plan was
duely concocted and sprung upon the
general conference of 1885, prsfaced
by an address Of the bishops of the
church, in which they said: 'SThat
the subject of secret societies has be-
come most perplexing one, it is ex-
pected of you that you will put this
matter to rest"
By the Recommendation Of the bish-
ops, a committee was appointed to
which the confession of faith and con-
stitution were referred. This com.
mittee advised the election of a COM
mission ito consider our present cor
fession of faith and constitution and to
prepare form of belief and amended
fundamental rules for the government
of the church" This report was
agreed to by vote of 7o to ~. A
commission, consisting whoiely Of men
committed to the interest of those,
who, in violation of the constitution OF
the church, had SO shrewdly secured
legislation to their notion. At this
point the conflict began. Those vot-
ing in the negative did not deny the
validity of the constitution, nor the
right to amend it in the way specified,
but denied all power to change the
confession and denied the correctness
of the mode proposed to change the
constitution.
Here two parties began to work in
the interest Of their peculiar ideas of
church polity. The ''liberals" deter
mined on "leaving the matter to its
members connection with secret socie-
ties with the individual consciences Of
the people under the instruction of the
church," while the radicals" objected
to all changes on the ground that they
were not legal. The organ of the
church, being in the hands of the
liberals, was closed against the obiec-
tions which the radicals were want to
use against the commission. This
made the opposition to the work OF
the conference more determined and
at the last conference, those who from
the first had opposed the changing Of
the confession of faith, regarded the
inal adoption of the new confession
of faith, offered by the commission
and sanctioned by vote, not of two
thirds of the whole society, but by the
insignificant tally OF 47,76O out of a
membership of over 100000, as being
withdrawal from the true church, in
which they continued to act. in accord
ance with the constitution of l64l.
Thus a division resulted and each
party, claiming to be the United
Brethren church, denounced the other
as seeding from the true church.
The difficulty at present is the right
of property. To whom does it be-
ll~rS