Evening star., 1900-08-09
The Church in Georgia Formed by
MIR. Wesley.
SECOND SOCIETY EVER ORGANIZED
Conference Held in April, 1888, by
Francis Asbury.
ENERGY OF CIRCUIT RIDER

! general conference of the Epworth Leagues
| In the denomination, and which was held
last week in Atlanta. would mark an era
| In the church's history. This opinion, 1t is
understood, Is shared by the delegates from
the leagues In Washington and vicinity who
were present. namely. Rev. w. s. Ham
mond. A. V. Gale and the Misses Margaret
Waesche and Roberta Paxson of Epworth
| Church. Washington; DR.. w. r. Andrew
and George H. Lamar Of Rockville. Nd.
| Miss Mary Schley of Baltimore, Md, and
Rev. D. L. Reid Of Clarksburg, Md. In
| talking to a Star reporter about the con-
ference. one Of those present said:
The densest block of Methodism to be
| found on the globe is. perhaps. in Georgia.
| This may not be wondered at when 1t Is
remembered that Mr.. Wesley himself went
| to Georgia and gave the church start
| by organizing what he called the second
Methodist Society ever organized in the
| world" This he did in Savannah. 1895.
| He stayed only two years. however when
he returned to England. From that time
nearly fifty years elapsed before a herald
of Methodism appeared to take charge OF
the work. In the general minutes it is re-
corded that. in 17s5, nineteen years after
the organization Of the Methodist Church in
America, Beverly Allen was appointed to
Georgia. He came to sad end. but not
SO his work. From his coming to the
present the Circuit rider has been in
cVluenCe.
Visited by Francis Asbury.
Francis Asbury visited the flock In Geor-
gia for the first time in April. 17ss. to
hold the first conference In the state. Ten
members were present. In 1913 the Geor-
gia and South Carolina conferences were
merged into one and called by the latters
name For thirty-seven years this union
continued. The passing years showed Won
derful results, for In $780, the body was
declared too large. and then Georgia be-
came again a separate conference. The
Georgia conference at Its first meeting after
1t had been separated from that of South
Carolina. had thirty-th members present.
1t comprised at that time the territory oc-
cupied by the states of Georgia and Florida.
For the ensuing fifteen years the success
of the church in this conference was un-
precedented. There were. when the Florida
conference was set off in 1S45 143 preach
ers, with a membership of 5S,O17. In the
meantime a male college was established
at Oxford. and female college at Macon.
which continue to be the joint property of
all the Methodists in Georgia and Florida.
The energy of the Methodist circuit rider
| was productive of still greater achieve
| ments. Although set off from the South
Carolina conference in 1890. and Florida
taken from Georgia in 1S45. yet in 1866.
when there was a membership of $1,000
whites and 10000 colored. 1t was thought
best to divide again. and the north and
south Georgia conferences were organized.
Two institutons-Emory College and Wes-
leyan Female Colege-were founded before
| the division. and still remain the property
of the three conferences.
Pioneer In Movement.
| The Methodist Episcopal Church South
was the first church In Christendom to in
| corporate its young peoples society into
the organic ecclesiastical body. 1t holds
this precedent by two years. The Epworth
League had its first formation in the Holy
| Club at Oxford This proved SO helpful to
Mr.. Wesley that the wonder is he did not
incorporate it as a part of the church when
! the United States was established. The
great good that would have accrued to
Methodism had he done SO is immeasur-
able But it lapsed for more than hundred
years.
For many years bodies of young people in
the various churches of the denomination.
numbering hundreds. were organized for
work, but it not till 1890 that it was
decided to blend them all into one. In this
year memorial from Trinity Church, Los
Angeles, Cal, was submitted to the general
conference. 1t set forth the needs of the
church for an organization among its young
people. 1t was adopted and the Sunday
school secretary was put In charge Of all
such leagues. In 1894 the Epworth League
was made a distinct organization by the
general conference. the publication of the
| Epworth Era was ordered and the office
of editor and general secretary of the Ep-
worth League was established.
Growth of the League.
The growth of the league has been re-
markable. From the latest report of the
general secretary there are now in the
Methodist Episcopal Church South SIG
| leagues. with membership of Dol. DO
| There have been four international Ep-
| worth League conferences held-the first in
| Cleveland, O., In 1893: the second in Chat
| m in, bo hIrli in
| to, Canada. in 1897, and the fourth in In
| dianapolis, Ind. in 1899. These represented
| the three branches of Methodism In Amer
| ica-the Methodist Episcopal Church. the
Methodist Episcopal Church South and the
Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada
The first general conference of the Meth
| cdist Episcopal Church South was held at
Petersburg, Va. May 2. 1916, at which time
| there were four bishops in charge of the
| general work of the denomination This
conference had eighty-seven delegates, who
represented sixteen annual conferences and
| a membership of 455,217. The following four
| teen years was an area of great prosperity
| During this period the church increased to
749.U6S. Then came the great civil war.
1t was waged almost exclusively within the
| states making the territory of the South
| ern Methodist Church. The members We're
| unable to hold conferences and do full
work: the financial enterprises were well
nigh ruined; but her pastors ministered to
| the flock at home and to those left on the
| HelQ. w men the CCnNlCt was over some
thought that she was hopeless wreck: but
| the bishops met in Columbus Ga, In 1885,
and sounded the notes Of their bugle horn
and called the hosts to meet the following
| year.
The New Orleans Conference
| The general conference. which could not
| be held In 1862 was called to meet in New
Orleans in April. 1866 This was a notable
gathering. OF 153 delegates elected only
four were absent. Many important changes
| in church polity were made during the ses-
! sion. The Methodist Episcopal Church
| South now has 1476.257 members. 6,1oo
travelling preachers. $3.50 local preachers, IL
bishops. 951 1924 members of Sunday schools
| and 251. DO members of the Epworth
| League.
The Wesleyan Female College at Macon
| enjoys the distinction Of being the oldest
college for the higher education of women
| in the world. 1t has also the frat women's
| club ever organized-the Adelphian Society
The Wesleyan Female College was incor-
porated in 1896. under the general laws of
Georgia. under the name. "The Georgia
| Female College" Two years later the trus-
| tees elected a president and faculty, and
on January T. 1893, the doors Of the colIao,a