Omaha daily bee., 1896-02-25
PASTORS RESIGNATION AttErrED.
Board nnd Congregation OF the First
rresbNtcrinn RcIicNc DIR, pheIps.

presbytcriun Relieve DIR, Phelps.
Nearly the entire membership of the First
Presbyterian church attended the meeting
| last night for the purpose of taking action
| upon the resignation of their pastor, Rev.
MIR. Phelps. The meeting was originally
called fer the purpose OF receiving the re-
port Of the financial secretary and treasurer,
but the unexpected resignation of the pas
tor Sunday changed the character of the
asgemblaga into a meeting for the purpose
of taking action upoH the resignation. Rev.
Joshua Riale occupied the chair as mcder-
ator. The written notification Of the pastor
was submitted and especial emphasis was
placed upon the request that the acceptance
Of his resignation be made unanimous. WheD
the ballot was taken the result showed that
only about two-thirds Of the congregation
had voted The count showed sixty nine
votes In favor Of the resignation and forty
five against its acceptance. The remainder
of the congregation either refused to vote
or else cast blank ballots After the res,g-
nation was declared by the moderator to be
accepted an attempt to make it unanimous
at the urgent request of DR.. Phelps failed
The following resolutions heartily endors-
ing the pastor, however, were adopted with
out dissenting vote.
Whereas, Rev. stephen Phelps, p d.,
pastor Of this church. has gwen notice to
the church and congregation of his purpose
to ask the presbytery to dissoNe the pas
toral relations between him an and the church I;a;
ana has asked the church ana congregation
to unite with him in such request; there
fore, be it
Resolved, That as church and congre-
cation, we reluctantly yield to this request
of our pastor and unite with him in the re
quest to the presbytery for the dis olution Of
missioners, members of the church. be
appointed by the moderator Of this meeting
its regular Wy meeting in April, or
any special meeting which may be
sailed for that PGae "a and sa,r n the
In taking this action we bear testimony to
the ability, Jealous Christian fidelity with
of this pastorate during the nine years he
has been among us. He has lah9red assidu.
of the cause OF Christ among us, and by his
Christian character and conduct he has
of every creed and profession in this com
munity. His Influence on the community has
been for good only, and when he shall
Of ali Who have kaoWn him.
We tender to him the expression of our
to whatever field of usefulness aad duty he
may be called he will have our earnest
wishes and prayers for his happiness and
Resolved, That we as church and consre-
cation in, accepting his resignation present
to our beloved pastor in his retirement our
unanimous vote of affection and confidence.
The financial affairs OF the church were
discussed to some extent The report of
the financial secretary showed that about
$1,000 had been pledged, but that a large
amount of it had been given with the spe-
cifc understanding that it was not to be
collected If DR.. Phelps ceased to be the
pastor ..f
After the close of the meeting, and the
very best of feeling prevailed throughout
all Of the discussions it was intimated by
some of the members that there were not
more than four or five in the entire congre-
cation who actually favored the resignation
Of the pastor but that the majority vote
was only secured through the belief that it
was best for the pastor to seek other fields
where his iabors would be less exhausting
EniOined Il GRrnfshee Claimant.
w. c. Westlake has secured temporary
injunction from Judge Thornell restraining A.
II. Carter from prosecuting a garnishee pro-
ceeding. The judgment on which garnishee
action was commenced was obtained in
Atchson, and Weslake asserted in his peti-
tion for an injunction that he is a resident
Of Council Bluffs and that the defendant is
resident of this city, and that the services
for which the claim of Carter for S34 Is
made, was performed in Council Bluffs and
that the garnishee of the Rock Island road
was taken for the purpose of annoying the
plaintiff. The claim CT Carter was for pro-
fe9sional services as physician.