Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1900-05-25

The Thirty Ninth ~ sion of the Gem
eral Assemb;y-Nany 0verturcs
Presented and Referred.

Presented and Referred.
Atlanta, Ca, May 21.-At the fifth
days session of the 39th annual ses-
sion of the Southern General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church to-day, the
question as to individuals overturing
the Assembly was again raised. Two
oVertures were offered. One from M. G..
Taylor, Of Hico, Texas, regarding di-
vorce, and another from Robert Os-
borne, of Petersburg, Va, asking a.
change in the book of Church.
The discussion as to whether these
overtures should be received became
general, there being q great diversity
Of opinion among the commissioners,
whether individuals should file petit
tions to the higher court before the
lower court has been appealed to. The
law of the Church on OVerturing was
read, but this was differently con-
strued by the commissioners who made
arguments for and against the recep-
tion of the Overtures. 1t was stated that
other Overtures had been recei7 ed from
individuals during the present session,
and a motion from Elder j. L. Dean,
that the oVertures be received was
adopted.
Invitations were received from the
Mayor of Fort WORTH Texas, and from
the congregation of the First Presby-
terian Church, of Little Rock, to hold
next years session at those places.
The Semi-annual report of the Louis
vile Theological Seminary was read,
showing that institution to be in a.
prosperous condition.
An overture which may later in the
session precipitate a discussion on the
Conference Of Faith of the Church, was
presented from the Brazos, Texas,
Presbytery. 1t asked that the Assembly
hand down to the Presbyterians for
their vote an amendment to the Con-
fession of Faith as follows: "AI dying
in infancy, are elect infants and are
regenerated," etc.
Rev. N. VanHOuten and Rev. G.
Blackburn were elected to represent
Rev. j. S. Shaw, a Texas minister, who
filed a complaint against the Synod Of
Mem0his.
The committee to which many of the
OVertures were referred, reported on
some of them. Among them were the
following:
Overture No. from Joseph K. Ran
kin, asking that all Presbyterian dis
tinctions in our book of Church order
between the teaching and ruling orders
be abolished. Answered in the mega
tive Docketed for debate.
Overture No 4 from Charleston Pres
bytery, asking a deliverance as to the
scrlptural doctrine of teaching and rul-
ing elders. Answers: The Book of
Church Order is sufficiently clear on
this point.
Overture No. II from the Presbytery
of Albemarle, asking a change in the
beginning of the fiscal year from April
1St to January 1st. Answered in the
negative and adopted
Overture No Al from the Presbytery
of Enoree, asking the repeal of the ac-
ton of the Assembly of 1899, stating
that the moderator alone has power to
convene meeting of the Presbytery in
case of extraordinary emergency. An
SWered in the negative and adopted.
Overture No. AZ from Presbytery of
SuWanee, asking Assembly to order a
meeting of the Synod of Florida to be
held in the Presbyterian Church at
Palatka on Tuesday before the second
Sabbath in November, 1900. Answered
In the negative and adopted.