The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-03-15
Hold 81 IOve-FeaSt.

Hold 81 LOve-FeaSt.
For the first time in hall a century
the two great branches Ct the Metho-
dist Church in America the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church. by which nalne
the Northern body is designated, ana
the Methodist Church south have
come together in a love-feast. ms
has Just taken place in St. Louis, n
is especially noticeable as having taken
place in that city, because there the
passions aroused by the civil wa ran
high and with unusual virulence. LII
is specially significant as showing the
growing strength of the fraternal
feeling between the bodies, which may
yet lead TO their organic union.
The que.ti n on which the once
united Methodist Church of the United
States split wa hal Of slavery, and the
same lines that marked the seeding
States in the war marked the division
of the church. But this question. while
ALWAYS a cause of dissension in the de-
nomination. and condemned by the
Jaws of the church. hal been tolerated
for years, because the church recog-
nized that under the laws of some of
the States the emancipation OF slave
was not always pn-lible. Hence it con-
tented il .elf witt. tcca ional fu,mina-
tions on the subject Of slavery, but did
not debar the wner OF or dealers IN
slaves from membership. These OK
pre- sions pleased the Northern sentl-
ment. and while the South did not go
into ecstasies 0ver them, it took the
matter quietly as long as its pet insti-
tuition vas not menaced.
Disruption Of the Conference.
This good feeling was rudely shat.
tered in the General Conference OF
1874 and the secession spirit which
later threatened to disrupt the nation
made itself painfully manifest. The
conference, which was held in New
York, was required to take action on
an appeal frem the Baltimore con
ference. The case was that of the
Rev. Francis A. Harding, who had been
suspended for failure to manumit
slaves belonging t. his wife, the
Baltimore conference holding that the
laws of Maryland permitted such
manumi~sion. The General Confer
ence upheld this decision.
The decisive case. however, was of
Bishop James a. Andrews OF Georgia.
Bishop Andrews had married a Georgia
widow, whose former husband, among
other posse %ssions, had left her several
slaves. When the Bishop married he
secured these slaves t. his wife by a
deeu # trust.
The connect N of IL general superin-
tcnlent with slavehOlding caused a
profound sen alton in the n r5hern
church, and it was claimed that this
relation would infract the provision
~forbidding the General Conference to
destroy the plan of the itinerant Cen
eral Superin G ldency, since it would
be impossible I1r u slave-holding B sh-
OPP to pl eside Over the Northern con-
ference. The solution o tie difficulty
was for Bishop Andrews to dispose of
his slaves or resign his flee. The first
he would not do, tecause f his deed of
trust: the latter his people would not
allow him to do.
Division Decided Upon.
Steps we're at once taken toward Sc
curing a division of the church and its
property. The South demanded a pro-
POI tlOltl SIGIC VI lllc tdplutl. d-SclS.
etc, of the Book Concern. and this di-
vision was generally assehted to as
equitable by the Northern conference.
Owing to the opposition of a few, how
ever the United States Sup enc Court
had finally to decide the question,
which it did in favor of the South.
A call for a convention of Southern
NlethodistS vas then issued, and in
May. 1915, delegates from all the slave
holding States assembled at Louisville,
Ky. Here an organization was effected,
and the first general conference de-
cided upon for May, 1916, at Peters
bur. Va. Since that time the organi-
ton has steadily progressed in strength
and riches, although the war ome
what impeded It's progress. 1t has
now about 1900 churches and the
same number of clergymen and nearly
l,500,00 . communicates.
Bishop Andrews continued actively
engaged in the ministry until his
death in 1872. May l of that year he
preached in New Orleans; the next
day he died suddenly of heart failure.
He was Z. YEAR. old.