The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-21

or three spots on earth?"
REPRESENTATIVES, SYSTEM NEEDED.
The speaker asserted that the Society of
Friends could not have bishopric nor
hierarchy OF any kind, and IL any attempt
is made to unity American Friends and to
draw the scattered forces into a resultant
power ii must be through some representa-
| tive system. He said the yearly meetings
were probably not ready to give up their
| annual gatherings to make way for one ma
| tional yearly meeting, but it would in no
way lessen the importance OF the yearly
meeting to confer legislative power, within
a certain definite sphere, upon such a rep
resentative conference as the present one.
! The speaker thought such an action would
/ in large degree bring the scattered parts
more effective. Mr.. Jones urged that the
deeper problems and the great questions of
policy and doctrine cannot be profoundly
considered in the large popular gathering
| of a yearly meeting. A body of carefully
selected delegates would presumably bring
! together the representative thinkers and
workers of the denomination in America,
and ii would devote itself to the large ques-
tions that are always confronting religious
/ bodies In conclusion, Mr. Jones said the
/ sphere Of authority of the representative
conference must Of course be definitely
! limited and its bounds clearly fixed. Each
meeting whether preparative, monthly,
/ quarterly or yearly, would continue to con-
duct its own affairs and work out its own
problems under the guidance of the spirit,
i free and untrammeled Those matters.
! however, which concern Friends as
4 whole, irrespective of location or SectlOn-
/ the questions which cannot be settled in
one section without affecting all Friends IN
Amerfca-these matters should be put INTO
| q Jurisdiction of a body composed OF repre-
| Sentatives from all America Here the
| largest wisdom would be found. and when
two-thirds of these representatives would
agree their decision should be final. for 1t
would be presumable that such a decision
| could never be sectional or partial, put
would be the highest conclusion of the
| whole church.
DISCUSSION OF MR.. JONES'S PAPER.
| So many of the delegates being anxious to
| discuss the above paper, it was found that
the time allotted would not give all who
wanted to talk an opportunity of being
| heard. By vote of the convention it was
decided to set apart this mornings session
| to the consideration of the paper of Mr..
! Jones and that of Edmund Stanley, of Kan
sas whose subject was closely allied to the
former. Consequently the regular pro-
gramme for this morning will be postponed
until this afternoon. This action was the
result of a short talk by President Mills. of
Earlham College, who declared the paper
of Mr. Jones contemplated the greatest
| movement in the polity OF the Society or
| Friends that had come up in the last one
| hundred years. However, number of del
! egates discussed the question briefly. James
Carey Thomas was against the theory ad-
| vanced by the paper. He said 1t altered the
| original constitution of the Friends
! power to a certain number of selected peo-
! pie, no matter how wisely they had been
this central body referred to would be
| permitted to excommunicate the yearly
| meeting for not carrying out its instruc-
! tons The church, he said would have no
| guarantee that such body would not be
| sectional or partial. In matters of faith and
discipline it would be difficult to bind the
yearly meetings to adopt the declarations
| of the central body. Under such a system
no member of the Society of Friends could
have a voice in the proceedings except the
delegates. DR.. Thomas insisted that in
questions of faith and discipline the power
must be vested in the yearly meetings of
Francis w Thomas, of Indiana, who has
| been a preacher for nearly fifty years,
spoke on the question of the Capitalization
of authority. He had for forty years be-
Ieved the organization to which he be-
| longed incomplete. Again and again he had
| come to the conclusion that unless the
church did form conclusive organization,
| the day would come when disintegration
would be so great that no power could pre-
| vent the cendlestick from being removed.
| Mr. Thomas favored the adoption of the
paper and hoped it would obtain.
Mr.. Stanley, who read the next paper,
was a member of the Friends Conference
five years ago. and then spoke on the same
subject, "A Uniform Discipline for the
the term discipline" as including all the
| arrangements and regulations instituted for
In George Fox time, he said there an
| established head, and every organization
| was in a sense subordinate to it, but with
| the establishment of new yearly meetings
as Independent bodies, changes in discipline
have come, and the end is not yet, because
there is no central authority to prevent any
modification of discipline that may suggest
itself. A uniform discipline. the speaker
maintained, might not accomplish all that
was desired. but 1T would be step in The
right direction Mr. Stanley said that there
are many new members who have little
church fD' or its practices and Belief The
church must declare to all men it's profess
sion Of faith, but to-day not even the name
of Friend can be controlled by the organ
ization. Many call themselves Friends, but
belong TO other branches, and no belief of
the orthodox Friend is ever taught, and
the world does not recognize the difference
Hence 1t gets a wrong conception of the
purpose and doctrines of the church If
| exceptions be taken to any teaching, men,
bers of the church are met with the argu-
ment that each body is an independent or
ganization. In conclusion, Mr.. Stanley
said:
IF the Society of Friends is to be a.
growing body there must be central or
ganization of authority, or a permanent
agreement upon principles to insure eff
cheney. The points referred to in this dis
cussion may seem to be trivial matters
| They are none the less evidences of weak
| nesses in the body. and tend to scatter
rather than to unite our forces. Some of
| them may find a remedy in the accidental
| legislation of yearly meetings; but the
/ practical and logical way to reach the ques-
| tons of church government that are to-day
| pressing for solution is through general
legislation for the body as whole. Make
| us one in declaration of faith one in church
government, one in rules of discipline, one
| in name, and out of ii will come harmony
| of feeling and action, growth in power and
| influence, and increased respect and loyal
| ty."
During the afternoon a committee from
| the convention of the Christian Church in
session at Tomlinson Hall visited the
| Friends Conference and was received on
| the platform. The committee brought
| greetings to the Friends from the other
| Christian body and expressed the hope that
| both conventions might have short time
| together. committee was appointed, con-
| sisting of Timothy Nicholson, Levi Mills,
| Eliza {. Armstrong and Emma B. Malone
| to visit the convention of the Christian
| Church and arrange for a session of the
| two organizations. This will probably take
place Friday morning.
The following report was received from
| the business committee:
| Resolved, That this conference reaffirm
its allegiance to the original position held
by the Society of Friends in regard to the
| headship of Christ and the rights of in
dividual members in the exercise of the
gifts under the direction of the Holy
Ghost
After some discussion the resolution was
referred back to the committee for more
comprehensive statement in reference to the
subject
Ella G. Western was recognized as a dele
gate in place of Jacob G. Jessup and Irene
| Honeycut was recognized in place of Addie
r. Lee. Before adjournment in the after
noon it was resolved 20 begin the afternoon
meetings hereafter at 2 o'clock, instead Of
2:30 o'clock.
THE EVENING SESSION.
The evening session was opened by the