The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-03-30
Church REUNION
Steps That Will Make the Re-
union Easy and Natural.
Judge Clark Gives The Result Of the Conference
Between the Delegates Of Northern and
Southern Methodist Churches.

The disruption of the churches into
Northern and Southern were the pre-
monitcry symptoms of the War of 1879
The feelings engendered by the war
have delayed reunion, but, finally, all
have now reunited save the Methodist
and Presbyterian, the Episcopalian be-
ing the first to re-unite not long after
the war was over.
The meeting of the Federation Com
missioners of the Northern and Southern
Methodist churches recently in Baltimore
attracted widespread attention, and the
papers of that city gave full accounts
of the sessions. The commission of each
church was composed of three Bishops,
tincluding the Senior Bishop of each
church,, three D. DIS. and three laymen,
making a total of eighteen when in joint
session, seventeen of whom were present.
The commission of each church met sep
arately at first and then there was a
joint session for two days at Goucher
Hall. The Senior Bishop Merrill and
Bishop Cranberry, presided in turn. On
the first night a banquet was given to
the Southern Commissioners at the Hotel
Rennert at which speeches We're made.
Judge Walter Clark. cf Moth Caolina.
being called on excused himself, saying
that Cor several years past his vocation
had been to keep silent that he might
hear brighter men talk and that lust IT
this time he was not seeking to change
his role The next night a reception was
given the joint commission at the Wo-
mans College which was attended by
many hundreds of people
The commission sat with closed doors
and the Baltimore papers did not obtain
much of the final results, so a reporter
called on Judge Clark, to whom he said
as follows:
''Our meeting was rot public and the
details will be officially announced in the
proper way. I can only say this much.
Onr meeting was entirely Harmonious,
and though there was prolonged discus
sion. the final vote on every point save
one was unanimous. We agreed upon
a joint committee to prepare a Hymn
Book and an Order of Worship, and
another to prepare shorter and a long
er Catechism These works are to be
approved by the College of bishops of
each church. and to be issued by joint
action of the two churches. we also
agreed to establish q joint publishing
house at Shanghai and provided that
outside of the United States the mission
work should be agreed upon and there
should be no conflict. and that within the
United States measures should be taken
to minimize the waste of men and means
entailed by one church establishing
new place of worship, where one helcng-
h. T. 81,
ard providing for the transfer of minis
tiers from one church to the other when
deGira able with only the same formal
ties as is now observed in transferring
from one conference to the other. Most
of these features were adopted by the
Joint Commission at our session in
Washington in 1895, and the action of
that commission was ratified by the
General Conference of the Southern
Church in that year, and as to ALL ex-
cept one point, by the General Confer
ence of the Northern Church in 1900
Their delegates were confident the latter
church would ratify this more advanced
program in full at its next General Con-
ference.
Asked as to the organic re union of two
branches of the church. Judge Clark
said that was not within the scope of
the powers of the commission, and moth
ing was directly discussed or decided on
that point, but from what he knew of
the growth of fraternal relations in the
church, and indeed in the country at
large, especially since the Spanish War.
he regarded reunion as inevitable and
al no distant day 1T would come OF it
self, without effort and therefore without
shock. The waste of men and means in
volved in keeping UP rival ana Compel
ing churches along the border from
Maryland to Oregon was too great and
brought in no returns. The good sense
of the age was against the longer con-
tinuance of this state of things.