The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-01
The Presiding Elders, "combinc.v


A visitor who has just returned from the
M. E. conference at Princeton says that
the present board of presiding elders is de-
termned to run the conference in it's own
way. In the early history of the Methodist
Church of Indiana said the returned visit
or, the presiding elders were the ablest
men in the conference. OF late it seems that
majority of the board of presiding elders
are elevated to that office because they have
failed as pastors. This system has natural
ly weakened the church because inferior
men have been placed in such important
positions The smaller men are jealous of
all ADLER preachers. AS an illustration of
the tendency of the present plan the pre-
siding elders at the conference at Princeton
are determined not to give an appointment
Church. The First Methodist Church of
syracuse, ~ Y, some months ago extended
St,G dadI TO Or; Sims and he decided to CO. pro-
DR.. Quayle, of Kansas City, was transferred
to Meridian-street Church. The presiding
elders in the conference in New York object
70 having Dr. Sims transferred to that con-
ference because they claim their conference
is fuil. Two or three weeks ago the Broad
way Church of this city found out there
might be chance to get Dr. Sims to come
to that charge. The Broadway people nno-
Gently thought that it was an unusual OPP
portunity to get man of DR.. Sims's ability
al the salary they could afford to paw Dr..
Sims did not care about the salary: was
willing to come to Broadway provided the
bishop and presiding elders would consent
me committee was very much surprised
when they arrived at Princeton to find that
the board of presiding elders was perhaps
unanimously opposed to the arrangement
for the reason, as they state, that as DR..
Quayle was coming to the Indiana confer
ence to fill the pulpit of Meridian-street
Cnurch Dr. Sims must go out to make room
for Dr. Quayle. The presiding elders saw
tnat IT Will complicate matters if DR.. Sims
should be allowed to remain in the confer
ence. What they mean by complicate they
do not clearly state. One objection they
make to DR.. Sims is that he is getting old.
d me board r5i is trying to- make itself and
preach and must retire. In the profession
of law and the kindred professions a man
at sixty-two is considered at his best. The
peculiar thing about this whole business
IS that the presiding elders do not think
OF admitting for a moment that the men,
bers of Broadway Church, who pay the
bills, nave any right at all to be consulted
about who shall preach for them. From the
action of some of the members of the board
1t looks like they think the members of that
church or any other ought to be glad of the
chance to live and contribute to their sup
port. 1t is not probable that man on the
board of presiding elders has ever con-
tributed a cent or ever will contribute a cent
to Broadway Church. This whole matter
might be made to appear in its true light
possibly by using an illustration or two.
Suppose" the speaker continued that
In the days OF the apostles, when Appolos
came over from Alexandria and asked to be
transferred into the conference at Jeru-
salem, that the conference decided that they
could admit him only on one condition. and
that would be that the apostle Paul. who
was wanted at Ephesus, must be forced
out to make room for Appolos; or suppose
in the time of the Wesleys in England that
when man like Thomas Coke would want
to come into the conference from temporary
residence in America the conference would
decide that they could not admit him unless
Adam Clarke, who was wanted at Dublin
should retire from the ministry. Or sup
pose that in the pioneer days of the church
of Indiana it had been desired to transfer
James B. Finley from the Ohio Conference
or Peter Cartwright from the Illinois Con-
ference to the Indiana Conference that it
would be decided that it could not be done
unless Richard Hargrave or Aaron Wood
should get out.of the ministry to make room
for the transfer 1t seems to me that none
of these Illustrations are any more ridicu-
ous than the action of the cabinet of the
Indiana Conference in the case of DR.. Sims.
Is ii any wonder. with such an administra-
ton of affairs, that there were not many
Methodists in tie Indiana Conference Jan.
/. 1898. as there were Jan. l. 1897? Neither
is it strange that Drs. Hickman and Goblin
and the venerated Bishop Bowman are hav-
ing such hard work to raise the money alb
solutely reeded for De Pauw University.
The very same trouble Broadway Church
has experienced in trying to get DR.. Sims
Meridian-street, Roberts Park and Central
avenue have had whenever they have tried
to have any voice in the selection of their
pastors. When the work Dr. Sims has done
for Methodism is compared with that of any
other man in the conference the iniquity
of the action of the cabinet is more strongly
accented In all probability DR.. Sims has
raised more money for the causes of Meth
odism than the entire membership of the
conference. When the system in vogue I'M
DER what might be called the presiding
elder combine allows a man like DIR. Sims
to be forced out OF the ministry it will not
be hard to convince any layman, at least,
that there is something vitality wrong with
the system. In any other kind of business
the really competent men are always re-
tanned and incompetent ones retire. The
plan of the presiding elders Is not to allow
q man of ability TO come in at the top of
the conference Their claim is that he
crowds everybody else down. Most any
business man would say II anybody has to