The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-03-13

HC StCOi'i u'iN y SESSION OIL the twenty
ninth session of the--Virginin Conference
of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
South, met promptly at $50 Yesterday
morning.
y short prayer service was held, led ~
Bishop Mnllalicu. who presided over the
deliberations of the b,.lv. Minutes of the
preceding meeting we4i' :ead aud adopted
ami some changes wee made in some of
the committees
DR.. &. Il. Newcombc and II. j. Cook
we're introduced to the conference ut this
point of the proceedings.
The next thing in order was the annual
report OF presiding elders OF the different
districts.
Rev. y. j. porier, presiding elder of
Abingdon district. was first to rcport
Question ID: "Was the character of
each minister cXamincd:n was asked ana
Rev. Porter passed.
His report showed the churches in his
district in II very good condition and,
dispute the hard times, had managed to
keep up their collections
Rev. S. =. Shipman, presiding elder of
Alexandria district, passed and made his
report. His report showed about 400
conversions during the past year and Il
number of additions to the church. He
reported his charge us progressing nicely
and hcalihi!y.
Rev. ID. C. l!edrick, presiding elder of
Grecnbricr district, passed and marle his
report, which showed $50 admitted to the
church, 630 conversions, > new churches
erected and ) churches being built
Key. w. L. Schoolcy presiding elder of
Roanokc district, passed and reported
that the condition of the, churches under
his charge was not the hest That there
was Il lack OF unity and particularly in
the Lee Street Church. lie attributed
some of the trouble to the ba:. location of
the church, which had heen evident for
some time and that the title had been ex.
amined with view 10 selling and build.
ing Mt soE;c more convenient place in the
city, but the examination in the title re.
vealed revertible clause, which would
revert the property back to it's original
owners III case it was sold or used for any
other purposes. He said that many had
expected them to abandon this charge.
but that they had not done so. He spoke
In very complimentary terms of the good
work done by the Ladies' Aid Society and
to whose untiring efforts they owed the
fact that MI incidental expe ascs had been
paid and the church extended fifteen feet
and tower erected. The other churches
IN his district were progressing very ia.
vOrably.
After the reports were read u HYMN
800 SUM W III. Icl'l itutl G1C IUllOWlnn
visitors were introduced to the confer
ence: Il. S. MorroS, of the Railroad y.
VI. {. A.; L. II. Sinkfield, of the African
VI. Il. Church; Rev. l.. l. Downs of the
ruth Avenue Presbyterian Church: Rev.
L. L. Fishburnc, of the Greene Memorial
NJ. T.. Church, South
DR. Eaton, of the Methodist Book Con.
Germ, asked for ii settlement of the
amounts due his concern from the minis
tiers of the different districts. The Book
Concern. represented by DR.. Eaton, pre-
sented the conference with n check for
500, the amount due the conference from
the annual dividends declared by the
company, also IL draft for S22 from the
charter fund. These drafts are for the
benefit of superannuated preachers and
widows and orphans of dece ased Metho-
dist ministers.
The conference then joined in singing
hymn and DR.. Carson, of Greene.
Memorial Church, and Dr. Reitcr, of ST
Phul's Reformed Churh were introduced
by the bshop.
The secretary. Rev. Mr.. Shipman. called
the attention of the body to the expense
OF having the minutes printed and asked
a liberal contribution to the cause which
met with Il ready and liberal response.
The reports of the different churches as
TO amounts collected for mission purposes
was then heard and the pastors who were
present rendered their reports. showing
III the neighborhood of $500 collected for
missions.
DIR. j. c. Dinwiddie. of Bethany Pres
byterlan Church, and d. H. II. Kenneday,
of NJ. r.. Church. south, at Salem, were
introduced to the conference
DIR. Hamilton, of Cincinnati, represent
ing the Freedman's Ald Society ana ed
itor OF the Christian Educator was intro.
duced and made some very telling re-
marks in the interest of education. In
the course of his remarks he said: eff YOU
want to live close to Christ, you must live
close to the poor, and that he was anx-
iousiy looking for the time when Metho-
dists cannot distinguish one from the
other by the points of the compass. He
then made some remarks as to his publi-
cation and gave those present an oppor.
tunity to subscribe. Conference thcr: adj
Journed to meet at $50
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The afternoon session of tue conference
was called at , o'clock, at which time the
various committees previously appointed
met ana finished upssth business prepa.
ratory to making their report this morn
ing.
The regular afternoon cvangclistic ser
vices We're conducted by Rev. Boswell, of
Philadelphia. and WAS opened by series
of short prayers by Il number of the MEM
bers of the conference and IL number of
beautiful hymns led hy..Dr. Reid, of New
H.. \