Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-04-18
THE VERMONT CONFERENCE,
The Proceedings Of the Opening Dave
Of the session.

OF the Opeutng Days
OF the session,
The opening days Of the annual meeting
OF the Vermont Methodist conference were
suspicious ones, and even as early as
wednesday afternoon the ministerial ele-
ment had so pervaded the town as to he ap-
parent to the casual passer by on our streets
Vn Tuesday evening the first Of the dele
gates began to arrive, they being chiefly
the candidates for examination before the
boards and committees met for that pur-
pose on Wednesday afternoon; and all
through Wednesday they continued tn as
semble, till at the first public service ON that
evening, majority Of the Methodist minis
tiers of this conference had received the wei
come Of Brattleboro to her open homes. On
ly once before has the conference met here
that being as stated last week, 33 years
ago, on May q, 1851. Bishop Waugh pre-
siding
As has been said, the session Of Wednes-
day afternoon was purely business ses.
sion, when various committees met for con
sultation and a number of candidates pre-
sented themselves for examination.
The exercises Of the evening were of an
interesting nature and the cosy little
church, whose dedication was to take place
at this time, was filled. The service was
opened 10y Scripture reading and prayer by
Rev. r. l.. Bruce Of Springfield, and fol
lowing this Rev w. X. Davenport Of Wa
terbury delivered the annual conference
sermon. Mr.. Davenport in opening dis
claimed any thought of having come before
the conference to bring instruction to those
50 much older and ADLER in the service, but
desired to bring few helpful and encour.
aging thoughts which had grown out Of
his own work and experience This he
succeeded admirably in doing, as, in a sim.
pie and graphic way he presented 10 the
listeners the story Of Jehosaphat from
which he drew many lessons to apply to
matters in the nineteenth century. His
text was from II Chronicles Xxx, Is Thus
saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor
dismayed by reason Of this great multitude;
for the battle is not yours. but Gods
The thought Of the sermon was that these
great works which the Christian churches
are today trying ~ accomplish aud the OPP
position which meets them should in no
wise dishearten the labOrers for the work
Is Gods, and if man is in harmony with
tied and working in accordance with his
methods the cause will be won, because
God looks into the future and sees how dis
astrous thing failure is The address was
full of good and strong thought
The service Of dedication which followed
was the more impressive because Of its
brevity and simplicity. Rev. W S. Smith
ers, the present pastor. briefly stated the
facts Of the erection Of the church building
nine years ago, of the desire Of the people
that it should not he presented TO God with
debt upon it, of the raising of the debt
during the past year Rev. r. Morgan,
presiding elder Of this district, introduced
the service with reading, and prayer was
offered by Rev. f. j Parry Of the Baptist
church After the singing of an appropri-
ate anthem by the choir, the first Scripture
reading, descriptive of the dedication Of
SOlomons temple, was given by Rev C. o.
Day Of the Congregational church 1t was
IA pleasant feature Of the occasion 10 have
present Rev d. f. Miller. now Of Roches
ter, y H., who was pastor Of the church
at the time Of the erection Of the building,
aud the second Scripture reading from the
tenth chapter Of Hebrews. was gladly
heard from him hy hi, former people and
friends. After this the trustees Of the
church were called before the chancel
rail aud addressed by the presiding bishop,
Rev. + q. Andrews, D. D., Ill. d. who az
terward. while the audience stood, made
the formal dedicatory address and prayer
The singing of the DoNology and the ben
ediction 10y the bishop closed the evenings
exercises The musical part Of the service
was materially added to by the assistance
and leading Of chorus choir, which will
contribute to all the sessions Of the confer
enCe
The first session If the conference proper
opened at $40 o'clock Thursday morning
with the sacrament Of the Lords Supper,
conducted 10y Bishop Andrews Several of
the elders assisted and a large number Of
communicates participated At the roll
call which followed, o. Of the members Of
the conference answered to their names
Rev K Morgan was elected secretary for
the 23d consecutive wear, Rev. +. W. Lew
is was made statistical secretary and l. l..
Beeman treasurer The hours for opening
al closing all morning services we're fixed
at $50 aud ll41 respectively A reso-
luton was adopted arranging for the set
ting apart by the presiding elders Of one
Sunday during the year to he known as
Veterans day 1t is purposed that this
dav shall be devoted to presenting and
pressing the claims of the worn OUT
preachers and of the widows and orphans
of those who have died while engaged in
the work, and collection is to be taken on
that day for the benefit of that special oh,
ject. The subject was ably and forcibly
presented to the conference by Rev. j. b.
Hamilton Of New York Rev DIR. w. A.
Spencer Of Philadelphia presented the ur-
gent claims Of the society for church ex-
tension. After this appeal came Rev. DR.. j.
+. Breckenridge, who is superintendent of
the Methodist Episcopal hospital at Brook
Ign, y. Y, and the interests Of that insti
tuition, in which the Vermont conference
supports bed, were presented. Rev. A.
b. TruaX, presiding elder of the Montpelier
district, reported the work for the year,
after which the effective elders of the dis.
trict were called, passed in character, and
reported their collections. Similar reports
were also presented by Presiding Elder
Donaldson and the preachers of the st.
Johnsbury district. At this point the con
ference was addressed by DR.. j. w. Men
denhall editor Of the Methodist Review,
concerning that publication, and after the
giving of the notices, the morning session
was adjourned with the Doxology
The afternoon session opened at the APP
pointed time and the first hour was occu
pied with the giving in of statistical reports,
after which Rev. Dr. Breckenridge inter
ested the audience with an address upon
Sick and crippled Methodists' This was
IA plea for the hospital of which he is the
head, and the founding and history of the
institution, "A description of the building,
one of the finest in the country, with its
perfection of appointment and convenience,
for the erection of which one man alone
gave S400, 900, and a report of the work,
which is entirely non sectarian, were pre-
sented in a very entertaining way, inter
spersed as they were with anecdotes told
in DR.. Breckinridgs's own inimtable way.
In the evening, at the town hall, occurred
anniversary Of the Church Extension so
ciety. Rev. Dr. Spencer of Philadelphia,
who is the successor of Chaplain McCabe
in this work, was the speaker of the even.
ing, man of powe and eloquence as an
orator and of vigor and enthusiasm as a
worker A song service arranged for the
occasion by DIR. Spencer was led by him,
and he also sang several solos The address
was a description of the work of church
building in the West and South, where the
society has for some time averaged two
churches a day. and an emphasis Of the
pressing needs for increase and enlarge
ment Of facilities for cultivating the wide
fields still open. Anecdotes and touching
stories were made use Of 10 illustrate the
points presented
Today the interests Of the Sunday school
union and tract work, the Enworth league
and the work Of missions will he brought
up by able speakers at the different ses
siOns.