The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1892-05-06
THE GREAT METHODIST GATH
ERING.

ERlNG.
The year 1892 is a great year for the
Methodist Episcopal church. I'm
doubtedly every year should be a
great one for that or any other church.
But every fourth year is of especial
interest to the M. e. church because
upon that year its general conference
meets to look after the interests of
it's more than 100000 communicates.
The fourth year falls upon 1892, and
upon last Monday the representative
divines and laymen Of that church
met in conference at Omaha, and will
remain in session during the month.
In some ways this will be one Of the
most important sessions of the gen.
eral conference ever held. There are
many important questions which will
come up before it, and the last day of
the session will doubtless find much
business unfinished.
One of the questions which will
come up before that body, and which
has attracted national attention for a
year or two back, is that of allowing
equal footing with men. The conten-
tion over this point has been rather
spirited and in the churches carried
by quite majority, but in the gen
eral conference it must have a three
fourths majority, which it will not
receive at the Omaha meeting, and
the women will have knocked in vain
so far as getting seats at this confer
ence is concerned. But there is really
no good reason why they should not
be seated. They form not only the
greater portion of the membership
but also of the congregations, and do
much the greater share of the work
in keeping up the expenses of the
church. In fact if it were not for the
women, many of the churches would
be obliged to close their doors. If
they are good enough and have tact
enough to keep the great organization
going they ought to be good enough
to sit in its chief council
Another struggle which will be re-
newed will be that of the laymen for
equal representation with the min
listers. The present representation of
the laymen is two from each local
conference which sends two or more
ministerial delegates. The fifteen
thousand ministers of the church are
divided into 13l annual conferences,
and each of these conferences send a
delegate to every forty-five ministers,
but no matter how many such dele
gates they elect, only two laymen can
be chosen.
But besides these two questions
which mean much to the future Of
that church, there are many other
matters which will come up for that
body to act upon. The church, as we
have before said, has about 100000
communicates. If for each member
there is allowed two attendants or ad-
herenUs to the church, who are not
members, it will be seen that the con-
stituency of this conference aggre-
gates about 100000 people. Every
topic of interest to this vast body of
people will here be discussed and
acted upon, and ways and means de-
vised for furthering the hold of the
great organization upon the people.
Religion like everything else is pro-
gressive. The various creeds change
with the changing years. and it will
be strange indeed if questions Of hat
character are not discussed at Omaha
during the month, for the great men
of the church will be there; men of
liberal education, broad in their
views, who are well versed not only
in theological questions, but upon the
social questions Of the day, and the
influence which they will exert upon
the body polite of the church can
hardly be estimated.