The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1890-04-26
by the evidence offered by the plain

by the evidence offered by the plain.
tiffs; therefore,
Resolved, That Bishop j. j. Fischer
be suspended from Office as bishop and
preacher of the Evangelical aSsOcia-
tion until the session Of General con
ference.
Resol,ed, That we very much regret
the absence of the defendant, but he
having been duly notified Of time and
place of the trial, and having had the
Charges with all the specifications
promptly placed into his hands, but
refusing to appear in his defense, we
could not but proceed In accordance
with the regulations OF our church
discipline. which we did prayerfully,
conscientiously and with deep sense
of responsibility, both to the church
and her divine Head and Lord.
Resolred That the reason, and Me
only reason, why we ordered the hold
ing of this trial with closed doors was
in Difference to the defendant, who
was not present. Had the defendant
been represented by proper counsel,
we should have favored an open trial.
(Sighedl
ID. A. MEDLAR, chairman.
G.. w. BROWN, j. ii. Shirley,
j. G. KRAUsE, X. M. LIrCHEN-
II. DEIsHER, wALNER,
j. A. FEGER, j. X. SEYFRIT,
A. l.. REEsER, +. SMITH,
Il. SECHRIST, u. w. GROSS,
Il. BURTZ, j. NJ. LANGsDORF,
ID. s. STAUFFER, III. A. STOKE,
ID. Z. KEMBEL
Now, so that you may decide which
of the two bodies was the proper llll-
nOis conference, the one with j. j.
Fischer as chairman. meeting in the
Wisconsin st. Evangelical church,
Chicago; or the body with Re-. ID. b..
Byers, president, meeting in the Shelf
field Avenue Evangelical church, Chi
cagO. | submit the following:
In the Church Discipline OF the
Evangelical association the question,
"Who shall appoint the times and
places of the annual conferences" is
thus answered:
The bishop, together with majority
of votes of the conference. But II
there be no bishop present, then shall
each conference itself appoint time and
place of its session.
A year ago the Illinois conference,
with Bishop r. Dubs presiding,
selected the Emanuel Evangelical
church, corner of Sheffield avenue and
Mariana street, Chicago, H., for the
place and designated April 20, 1890,
as the time of its next session.
On April 10, at the appointed time
and place, the ministers of the con-
ference assembled. Just before time
to open the session eX-BiShop' j. j.
fischer appeared and demanded ad-
mission to the church, so that he
might preside over its deliberations.
This was denied him. Then about
twenty-sX ministers, who, as it seems,
love that man better than the unity
of their conference, withdrew from
the session of the Illinois conference
and followed him to the Wisconsin st.
church, where they set up for them
selves.
The remaining ministers, about
seventy in number, among whom was
Rev. Sahn, organized by choosing
Rev. ID. B. Byers president and Martin
Stamm secretary.
The Rev. Zahn comes to Ottawa
with a certificate from this latter body,
giving him the right to occupy both
parsonage and pulpit. His certificate
bears the imprint of seal of the llli-
nOiS conference as an incorporated
body.
Rev. Woehr comes here by authority
(?) of j. j. Fischer and his followers.
Who is entitled to respect?
CApoIJ-s