The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-09-27
EPISCOPALIANS 10 MEET.
San Francisco Ready for the Cen
eral Convention.

Composition and Functions of the
BOdy-To Discuss Marriage and Di-
vOrce-Ncw Edition of the Bible.
Some Distinguished Delegates.
As a religious body the Protestant Epis-
cOpal. while smaller than several others.
ranks among the foremost in wealth in
the prominence Of its membership. and
In its influence upon public and private
concerns. For these reasons the General
Convention, made up Of two houses mod
eled after the two houses Of Congress.
which meets at San Francisco on We'd
nesday, October .. is one OF the most i'm
portant II the religious conventions Of
this country II IS a trienuiaI session. A
house Of bishops sits behi0d closed doors,
somewhat after the manner OF the United
States Senate, and has certain exclusive
prerogatiyes. A house Of deputies forms
the popular branch. II is made up Of
clergymen and laymen. representatives Of
the dioceses. and is presided over by
president who possesses power compar-
bic with that of the Speaker Of the House
Of Representatives Each diocese. small or
large. has eight representatives, in the
popular house. four priests and four lay
men. In some dioccsts allowance is made
for the expenses OF deputies, but for the
most part those who attend the Episco-
pal general conventions receive no re
Enumeration except the honor OF serving
the church. In the house Of bishops 1T
San Francisco there will be 50. and in the
house Of deputies. including two from
each Of the missionary jurisdictions.
about $50 persons.
Among the clergy who will sit in the
San Francisco convention are many Of
national reputation They include the
Rev Drs. John Fulton and William 3.
Bodinc, Of Philadelphia; the Rev. Drs.
S d Mcconnell. David H. Greer. Reese
F Alsop, William r Huntington, J. Lew
is Parks, and +. A. Hoffman. Of New
York; the Rev. DTs +. Winchester Don
aid. George Hodges. and j. 5. Lindsay.
of Boston; the Rev. Drs. J. s. b. Hodges
and J. II. Eccleston, of Baltimore; the
Rev. Drs. Randolph II. IcEi-l and Alex
ander MaCkay-Smith. Of Washington, the
Rev. DIT. ". w Battershau. Of Albany.
whose ninth convention II win be; the
Rev. Drs. Reverdy Estiu and J. G. Min
negerOde, of Louisville, and the Re-. DIS.
George Mcclellan Fislle. and Z. 5. Rous-
maneire. Of Providence. The list OF lay
deputies shows no less distinguished
names. II includes Messrs- J. PierpOut
Morgan, Of New York. George c. Thorn
as, Of Philadelphia; Judge Andrews. Of
Syracuse; Judge North, Of Columbia Pa;
Col. w. +. Reynolds, Of BelIefonte: E 7.
Bailey, and d. B. Layman, of Chicago;
Burton Mansfield, Of New Haven; Hon.
Z @. Bradford. of Wilmington. President
Low. of Columbia University; George
Foster Peabody, Of Brooklyn. Robert
Treat Paine, Of Boston. Dr. W Seward
Webb. Of Vermont. and ex-senator With
ers. Of Virginia. Mr.. Pierpont Morgan al
dc bio s.vrHf rH SSH and
George G. Thomas is treasurer of the
board of missions, and IS, therefore, IN
attendance
Not in many years has a General Con-
venti0n had before il so many important
questions. Yet the general opinion Is that
the San Francisco meeting viii be short
one and devoid OF any time marking leglS-
latiOn. The reason that its usual three
weeks may be shortened into two is be
cause OF the long time consumed in trav-
cling 10 and from the PacIhc Coast, ana
bishops, TeCtOrs, and busy laymen can III
afford the time at this season Among
the questions Of most general interest
that are likely 10 come UP are a new con-
stitutiOn. new canon on marriage and
divorce, a new name for the body drop
ping the the words Protestant EpisCo-
pail the authorization Of an edition Of
the Bible with marginal readings OF
many texts Incorporated In II. division
OF the country into provinces and the Gre
alton of the office Of archbishop. with per
haps one primate- the organization Of
courts of appeal. the determining Of what
lulu, the election OF bishops for the West
Indies and the Philippines, and the prob
lem Of keeping the Board Of Missions out
When tho General Convention meets it
viii be representative Of every State,
county and town OF the United States, as
is the general convention OF no other re-
lgious body. il was not, however, until
1853 that the EpiscOpate was made cock
tensive with the boundaries OF the United
States The Episcopate was the historic
church IN MANY TfE OF the country WEE
back fl Revolutionary time, although IN
1850 II only numbered few hundred
clergy and about 10000 commandments In
1870 tho clergy had increased TO only $50
and the commandments 10 5Js39 Ia 1890
the latter numbered 1891 In oEher words
in lSoe there was one EpisCouaiian TO
every 5s4 inhabitants Of the country. now
there is one 90 every los showing that
Episcopal membership has beaten the
growth Of population, rapid as the latter
has been nFe and Oue-haf times
Beginning with Bishops Seabury and
White, back about l7St-I, Il took eighty
nine years % bring about the conservation
Of one hundred Bishops. but beginning on
the second one hundred the two hun
dTedth conservation took place few
weeks ago, as many being cOnsecrated in
the last tWcnty-elght years as had been
previously In eiEhty-uine years.
In 1913, when the one hUudrgfh bishop
was consecrated. there were 2.2ss clergy
When the two hundrvdth was cou-scrated
there were 5lI6 In 1873 there were Z3510O
commandments, in 1901 1850. In 1913 the
contributions were e1.l0tsy''s IN ltll. 40
O69. 600 There are thirty-uiIe parishes
having incomes in 1870 that are each laTg-
er than the incomes OF all parishes IN
America IN 1900 and there are fourteen
dioCeses having in 1900 more cOmmUni-
cant members than there were members
in the whole American Episcopal Church
In 1896. Connecticut Long Island. Massa-
ChuSCtts. New York. and Pennsylvania
have each more communicates today than
there were in the whole country as late
as lS3Z. The parish having the largest
single income Of any in America Epsco-
pal o. any other religious body, IS St
BaTth1lOmC " r. New York. the receipts
Of which run from $4,000 10 500 900 a
year.
The Episcopal Board Of Missions makes
a poor showing this year, as compared
with some o,heT years and with mission