The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-05-06
SOUTHERN METH0DlSrS.
ELEVENTH QUADRENNlAl SES'
SION IN ST. LOUIS.

| terence OF inc htlHtulNt Bplo'vltl 'hulNh
south. will meet this week in ST. Louis. and
great deal Of important business will
come before the body. which IS composed Of
many representative men Of the South. and
which is thus summarized 10y the Atlanta
Constitution:
There will be ten or twelve standing COM
mittees, which will have in review res
pcctiyelv missionary, publication. cduca-
! tional. church extension. Sundat-school.
and other departments in the work OF the
church Rooms have been rented IN The
| Exposition building for the sessions of these
| committees.
The opening session Of the conference
will be held Wednesday morning, May 4"
al o O'Clock. Bishop j. {. keener, OF New
Orleans. senior bishop of the church, VIII
preside and start the meeting to work. The
number Of delegates viii be 300. composed
in equal numbers Of clcrgymcn and laymen.
! They represent forty conferences, including
the conferences in Mexico, Brazil and
| China. together with the repre,en-
tatives Of the church in other foreign
lands. where the missions hay not yer.
| organized into conferences. The represent
! fatiou il based on TWO delegates, one lay
and one clerical. for every thrty-siX men,
bcrs of each annual conference. This gen
eral conference is the legislative body and
/ the supreme power in the church. IL ms
unlimited authority, except as restricted by
certain rules which guard the INTEGRITY OF
it, doctrine and perpctuaie ITS ltineranl sys-
| tenn of ministers and the rights OF inc meil-
beers. I'm addition TO looking after all the M
terpsts Of the church. there viii come mp Tor
adjudication before this body all matters
! failing 10 De amicaby settled IN the annual
! conferences. one subject OF con~lcfah!e
importance TO be attended % al this meet
ing win bee to provide for an acceptable dis
! position of the surplus moneys ON mana Sc
! cured in profits from the lchurchs puhlca-
! tion institutions. At present this money d,
used lin creating fund for the maintenance
Of worn-Out preachers. their widows ana
orphans. II is intended 90 appropriate "a
part Of this money in the future toward the
spreading of biblical literature sand cheap
eniug the cost thereof
BISHOPS TO BE CHOSEN.
This assembly also chooses the bishops for
thc Church. and II may Doe that two VIII DE
elected at this meeting. How long 1t viii
1take to complete the work Of the convent h
| is not known. but the session viii continue
for three weeks anyway. and it Is not proh7
able that the final adjournment VIII occur
before june ].
NORTH AND SOUTH
Ex-Governor Patterson. Of Pennsylvania,
3D.
! the Northern connection. and this TACT.
taken along with the general speculation
that has been INDUCED in on the subject loi
! the past few years, gives plauSlDilltl 10 ihe
| uimor that one Of the very important mat
tcr- 10 come up for consideration VIII be the
! QcAisjng Of plans and methods To eUccl
union Of the Northern and southern
Churches. However. if such acton j. ST.
riously contemplated, no indication of That
fact has vet reached TN public and for that
reason bat little confidence l. placed ID tho
report. ON the other hand. ii j. argued mat
me unfortunate agitation which caused the
/ di-,cnsion hl, long since been determined
! forever. and there Is now nothing 0ithdih-
I'm tine way of lasting and happy reunii-
ing of the two vast powers whose ann
and objects are one and the same
FINE PREACHING.
one feature of the convention especially
gratifying to the local congregations VIII ice
Inc opportunity thus alorCed of hearing
sermons by every prominent minister I'D liit
! church. There viii Dee public worship ana
preaching every night during the confer
ence al Centenary. and services also al TWO
| nr tbrce of the other more prominent
churcne, i'm st. Louis. This arrangement
will all De in charge of the committee on
public Worship, appointed by the come T.
cnce and which usually consists oil lhe
presiding elder and pastors Of local churches
at tine place Of asscmblinsS,
BISHOPS or TEE CHURCH.
The bishops Of the church are eight i'm
number. and they are AN expected 10 Dc
| present ON this occasion. Their nalnes ana
addresses are: Bishops Johh {. heehei'
| New Orleans: \. W. Wilson. Baltimore;
i. G.. CRANBERRY. ~. Louis: Il. j. nar-roNe.
! Nashville: {. &. Galloway. Jackson CITY;
T.. "a. Hendrix. Kansas City; W. W. Dun
! can. ~ulrtanhur-. =. G.. and Joseph hcl,
Forth Worth. Tex. In addition 10 these
celebrities of the church, many of the most
/ distinguished men in the political ana COM
mercial world OF the south VIII Dee lh attend
ancc. Among them are Ex-Governor Ntay-
of Alabama: j. *. Henderson. Lieutenant
Governor of Kentucky: NJ. Vi. Ltans,
| licutenant-GOycrnor of Mississippi: J.. VI.
| Balm. state Treasurer of North Carolina;
T.. J.. Jackson. Ex-Governor Of Maryland
| The Law representatives, however. include
almost every branch Of trade. as VIII Dec seen
by the following compilation showing me
! vocation of the various lay DELEGATES, avail
| able from the reports thus lar received
/ bN the local committee: Officers or 0iale'
! i've: LAWYERS, thirty-eight; bankers. seven
! teen: capitalists, three: merchants, twenty
| four: planters, eighteen; doctors, lour; real
estate dealers. one; manufacturers, hNc:
local preachers, four; civil engineers. one
ana pOsimasters, one.
Ina addition 10 the delegates there Will Doc
| present during the conference at least 800
| visitors. thus swelling the attendance ol'
strangers 90 the ncighborhood of 600 people.
| VITA Mr.. ~cruggs at the head and )r. fln-
ucv as his alb. lieutenant, however. the
! committee Of arrangements promise 10 lakc
care of them all iu a manner fully sustain
ing II. Louis's usual reputation Tor hOspl-
| tality.
ON April 10Th. or lust one week in adj
vance of the general session. the bishops be-
fore named met in ~. Louis for tine purpose
Of consultation in regard 10 their annual
address before the conference, ANA also 10
attend TO such other preliminary work per-
tanning TO their jurisdiction as may de-
mand attention. They VIII revise the pro-
gramme for the meeting, map out the WORK
IN contemplation and exchange views as 10
the policies best % be- pursued in the more
important questions which VIII clam the
attention OF the general body.
The first Methodist society in the United
states was organized i'm New ORR no Octo-
ber. 1916. Eight years later the first confer
ence. which embraced ten preachers, repre-
senting a membership Oi .lUf, was hcld.
Now the Nj. l.. Church alone has "a men,
bcrshiD i'm this country Oi nearly 3.Uuo,OOn.
and tlc NJ J.. Church, South, has M the
ueishbOrh0od Of l.joOOOO. Up 90 1914 there
was no div isi0n among the Meinodists in the
! United States. and one general conference
represented the church from North, south.
East and West. But ~ the conference held
in that year "A separation was brought about
by the difference Of opinion between The
Northern and southern delegates on the
,iayo-hOlding question.
THE SPLIT.
Bishop James o. Andrews. of Georgia,
was the owner of large number Of slaves,
aud because he refused To part with them
the Eastern and Northern members Of that
body succeeded IN having hiIn suspended
from his high office in the church. This
created feeling OF dissatisfaction among
the Southern members, who straightway
prepared to withdraw from the general
jurisdiction and form a conference OF their
/ own. This was successfully accomplished.
and the first meeting was held in Louis
vile, Nv, in MAY, lslj. There was built