The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-09-09
TO MEET OCTOBER 8.
ELECTION or BIsHoP or DIo-
 CEeE or ALABAMA.
Chrss Men Prominently Nentionsd for the Placs, Rsv. .. 0. Murray,
 Rev.'W. A. Query and WIT. Ganning.

The foiiowfng appeared in The Nash- vile Banner of Saturday e special trom 6ewanee. Tenn:
 The fact that on October there will be council for the election of a Bishop In the Diocese of Alabama, and that two men. both former students of the uni- versity, ono of them at present a pro- lessor here. and the other . member of the Board Of Trustees, are promi- nently mentioned for the Bishopric. has set Sewanee talking about them and weighing their respective chances of cleo ton.
 Sewanee recognizes that three men prominently in the field. the Rev. Messrs Murray of Birmingham, Manning of Nashville and Guerry of Sewanee. Be- vance has no candidate in the field, but being the common meeting place of all the Southern dioceses, can discuss such matters. and naturally is personally in- terested in all the candidates.
 The method employed in Alabama in the election of Bishop is this: The clergy meet in convention and nominate man to the laity. who can either Ac- cept or reject. There is no danger. 1t is thought, of the laity rejecting any one of the three should be elected by the clergy. Whether or not the clergyman accepts Is a matter of his own conscience, and 1t is impossible to tell in advance what any clergyman will do, although 1t is thought that any of these three would accept.
 It Is generally admitted that each Of the three above mentioned would make . good Bishop, and 1t is thought by some that all three will become Bishops at some timA Ali are energetic men, and men who could be entrusted with the position of chief pastor with the utmost confidence on the part of all. s
 Rev. John Gardiner Murray of Birm- tngham, is the eldest of the three, being about 50 years of age. He is a Nary landed by birth. but went to Alabama business career. Feeling . call to the church, he read theology under the late Bishop Wilmer. and was ordered priest in 1894 Two years later he was called to the Church of the Advent, Birming- ham, which he shortly cleared from debt. and improved the church's finances so that it Is now one of the wealthiest churches in Alabama. He Is also the President of the standing committee of the diocese and at present the highest ecclesiastical power in the diocese.
 Next in age is Rev. William Alexar- der Guerry, chaplain of the University of the South, who is about 40. He is South Carolinian by birth. and received the de- gree of Master of Arts at the University of the South in 1884. and the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1891 from, the same university He was ordered priest in 1890 and did work in the mission field of South Carolina until 1894, when he was elected to the chaplaincy of the Univer- saty of the South to succeed Bishop 0ai- Tor, who had been recently elected to the Bishopric of Tennessee. He was al the same time given the chair of homife. tics and pastoral theology in the theo- logical department here. He has kept these positinSas despite the fact that he has received many calls to much more lucrative charges in parishes, all over the United States.
 Rev. William Thomas Manning, D. D.. is the youngest, being ,aboat s5 years oi Age He is an Englisnman by birth. but went while quite young to California. Ht was. also a student of the University o the South, where, in 1891, he took th' degree of Bachelor of Divinity. The sam' year he was ordained priest He wal given the degree of Doctor of Divinity D, the University of Nashville. in 1901. Dur ing his ministry, he has been the rector of large churches in Pennsylvania. Cali fornia, Ohio and to Christ Church Nashville in 1898. He, too, was success ful inrebuilding church, as he has prac' tically made over Christ Church. and has put it on a firm financial footing Ht represented the diocese of Tennessee ir the General Convention at San Francisco last year. and is a trustee of the Uni. versity of the South.
 Two of these clergymen. Mir Murray and Dr. Manning, are reputed to be fairly wealthy, and both have proved that they are good financial managers. Two oi them, Dr. Manning and MT. Guerry. have received collegiate trainning, both at Be- wanee. but while MT. Murray has mol received collegiate education. he is an ex' cellent and convincing preacher. Two of them, MT. Guerry and MT. Murray are well-known and liked by the people of Alabama, MT. Murray especially by the laity. and Mir. Guerry by the clergy MT. Guerry has more of a national repu- tation in the church, where Dr. Manning is also not unknown. It would seem then, that Mir. Murray could be consider cd the best business man of the three MT. Guerry the best scholar of the three and Dr. Manning a happy medium. al. though he Is less known. All three oi the men have been voted. on for { bishopric. and all three have received handsome votes.
 ,< Clergymen. who know the feeling ir Alabama State. however, that 1t Is inn possible to tell who will be elected. They say that there is no factionai feeling ir the diocese. and that at the time of the election the clergymen will decide and not till then It has even been stated that there are not liaif-dosen clergymen whn are now settled on any one man, and an occurrence at the election of the late Bishop Barnwell was called up to ilius- trate this point. Before the official bal lot was taken the clergy had blind bal lot in which Bishop Barnwell, Mir. Guef- ry and Mfr. Brewster of Mobile. each re- ceived five votes. and MT. Murray four. Then Bishop Barnwell was formally nominated and received the election.
 So, then, it is practically impossible to tell what the council will do when 1t goes into session in Montgomery on October Sth.