Morning journal and courier., 1891-10-01

CT American churches together. And, of | course, this larger representation is due to | its superior strength numerically. Late | reports put the members and proportion CTS in this fold at 2,2S3, 154: travelling
 preachers, II, 192; bishops IS; annual | conferences, 129. In 179l-just & hun
 dred years sgo-this church had but 250 | travelling preachers and only 6S, ,269 mem
 bers; and, of course, to estimate fully \ what the gain has been in this first centu- | ", We must add to the present member | ship of the church in question that of all | the other branches of American Metho- dism, including the large numbers folded | within the Methodist Episcopal church | south. The separation of these two great | bodies is so recent, and has been so much | discussed, that the facts concerning it are well known. The dividing cause was slavery, which happily is now a dead is sue. The formal organization of the | Methodist Episcopal church south took | place in May, 1S45. It had, of course, a | considerable membership st the start, and | yet how wonderful has been its growth, | and how great the change which time has wrought, when to-day it stretches out its hand of fraternity-to be grssped by the equally fraternal hand of the larger body holding in it statistics which show that it has now 1, ,S62 ministers, with communi- cants numbering 1, ,172, ,2SS, and that the increase in its membership during the last ecclesiastical year was 3S, ,16S.
 The separate colored churches having representation in this conference number
 five in all, and send an aggregate delega- tion of forty eight; and besides these there will be considerable sprinkling of col ored men among the delegates from the Methodist Episcopal church. Thus "our brother in black" will be quite conspicu- ous in that distinguished body-making it at least tenth part of it-and if one may judge from what occurred at the other Ecumenical conference, he is likely to run his white brother a pretty close tilt in de- bate. and may even, in some of his orator lcal flights, carry everything before him. The largest of the colored churches is the African Methodist Episcopal church, which has membership of 501 ,592. Next to this comes the African Methodist Epis- copal Zion church with 425, ,000 members, and next in numerical strength is the col ored Methodist Episcopal church with membership of 119,9S The church last named was formed at Nashville, Tenn December, 1874, under the direction of the Methodist Episcopal church south. It was the outgrowth of feeling in the south ern church that its colored membership would be better off in an organization of
  American Methodism-the Methodist Epis- copal church has not yet felt that way. It has colored constituency large enough to form a church almost equal to the largest of the colored sects already in existence, but it prefers for the present to keep its African brethren under the administration of its own bishops, and hence it is that, as we have before hinted, there will be a con- siderable proportion of colored men among ln1a .@.s, l.. Al. Al approaching conference.
 In a study of the different branches of Methodism, and of how they originated
 one thing which impresses us very favora- ply is that the divisions which have oc-
 cured have had hardly any reference to doctrinsl matters, but have turned almost entirely upon questions of government In its interpretation of the cardinal truths | of scripture this great system seems to be & unit. Rev. William Arthur, the most prominent figure on the British side in the | last Ecumenical, and who is chosen to preach the opening sermon at the body
 about to convene, says very properly: ''This conference cannot be for the discus
 sion of doctrinal differences, for Metho- | dism has no doctrinAl differences" The | nearest approach to a split on doctrinal | grounds was in 1860, when the Free Meth | odist church was organized. This organi- zation was effected at Pekin, New York, | by a number of ministers who had been
 expelled from the Genesee conference of
 the Methodist Episcopal church because they had insisted more strenuously than l wisely upon the doctrine of entire sanctii-
 cation. Besides giving special prominence | to this tenet, the Free Methodists make & | speciality of plain dressing, and they are | likewise very pronounced in their opposi-
 ton to secret societies. Their general su-
 perintendent has stated recently that no
 person who belongs to a secret society, or
 uses tobacco, O. wears jewelry, or other
 fashionable ornaments, is permitted to be-
 come a member of this church. The
 same authority puts the present strength
 of the church at 29 conferences, 700
 preachers and 9, ,S6l members.
 A very influential body of Methodists is
 that known as the Methodist Protestant | church. This is another off-shoot from
 the Methodist Episcopal tree, the dividing
 cause in this case being desire to dispense
 with presiding elders and to introduce lay
 men into the conferences. Here again,
 whether wisely or not, there were expul-
 sions from the parent body, and the ex-
 pelled members in 1880 organized this new
 body, which, by the way, has had a sue
 cessul and very honorable career. The
 Methodist Protestant church commenced
 with about 80 ministers and 5000 mem
 bers. It now has 2,6lS ministers and a
 membership of 14S, ,416. Another of the
 numerous branches of American Metho-
 dism is the Wesleyan Methodist connec-
 tion, which was organized at Utica, New
 York, in 1S43. The chief issue in this
 case was slavery, though the Wesleyans
 also opposed secret societies and were in
 tolerant of bishops and presiding elders 1 Until slavery was abolished this church ! l,r
 the war about one hundred of its minis
 ters and large number of its members
 went back to the fold of the Methodist
 Episcopal church, and since then the or
 ganization has languished. Its communi-
 cants at present number twenty thousand
 and it reports six hundred ministers. Be-
 sides these there are in this country three
 other Methodist churches, one called the
 Primitive Methodist church, modelled after
 the church of that name in Great Britain:
 one known as the Congregational Metho- dist church, whose operations are confined |, chiefly to few states in the south, and another which is called the Independent , Methodist church. These bodies are all ' small; they make little progress and their , efforts are confined within limited area. One church will be represented in this conference which some may think does not belong thore-the United Brethren in } Christ. This is vigorous and prosperous , organization which originated more than a
 century ago in Pennsylvania and Mary 3 land, under the lsbors of Philip w. Otter r bein, German Reformed preacher, sta , tioned at Baltimore. Up to 1880 it was l exclusively GermaR church, but now it r is perhaps less German than English. The r reason it is classed with the Methodists,
 and chooses to affiliate with them in this l worlds conference, is that its doctrines - and usages are similar to those of Metho s dism. Another church, which, for tn, I same reason, took part in the first Ecu :; menical, is the Evangelical association '- but this body has asked to be excuset l, from representation in the present confer l, ence, the reason assigned being that it j. own general conference will be in sessiol It at the same time. This is valid reason > though one cannot help feeling that, asid l f,s r.