The Savannah morning news., 1903-05-14
FAVORS CHANGING
NAME OF CHURCH
Bishop Nelson Takes Positive Ground in His
Address to Diocesan Convention.


er, heavy obligations were discharged
and our burdens more considerably
lightened as fresh vigOr was applied
for objects other than those which are
weak and apparently selfish.
st Marks, Brunswick, has can
celed its debts erected in a time of
great distress, and is in most healthy
condition.
Emmanuel. Athens with notes extin-
guished, is ready for conservation;
then VIII come the building of a home
for the rector.
our Cathedral will show next to the
| largest roll of COMMITMENTS in the
/ diocese. The old bonded debt Of $50, GOO
is almost wiped out and Il total of
! mortgage and floating debts of only
| about $500.
! "Many of the smaller parishes and
missions have made proportonately
good records of bounty and justice, or
| of advance and Improvement, notably
| St. Pauls. Savannah.
| st. James, Marietta has undergone
| extensive improvements. Rector's
| house has been acquired at st. Mdry's
! and at Cedartown. The parish church
| at Townsville has been completed and
is paid for
"The church at Fitzgerald has been
! remodeled. Waycross, Valdosta and
| Quitntan are all in good financial con-
| dition. The rectory at Washington is
| at last relieved of Indebtedness and is
now a source of income.
| "Our interchangeable deacon in charge
of Christ Church, Augusta, has erected
a parish house, with library and class
! rooms, for his people in the factory
district, and is now working for the
| addition of a gymnasium
New ChnpeIs Erected.
"New chapels have been erected at
| CnpnfG sill (.1Vnf1 FTarhnrn
| Camden county, and at Austell a lot
with house on it has been purchased,
| which will make a neat and commodl-
| Gus church.
"The church of the Prince of Peace,
! Vienna, is the last of twenty-five
churches built under the stimulating
! influence of our late Archdeacon Wal
| ton, of whose loss to us l cannot trust
| myself to speak, and no one else knows
! the debt of his self-sacrifcing devotion
! and the marvellous power, spiritual as
/ well as physical, of his tireless energy.
! AT Jesup where we have held Il
! large central lot for several years, a
| church is projected. on the Peters
| lot, North Atlanta. l have caused to be
erected a building suitable for the
| temporary use of a congregation of 200,
where in the near futures at the urg-
! ent suggestion and request of many
families, / propose to organize a new
| parish. When a large structure is
built (for which 1 have good pledges
of $4,000 this building will be avail
able for parish purposes.
In her will and testament, drawn
some years before her decease, Mrs. ].
Hill C1inch united her prayers and her
| gifts in blessed memorial and made
four of our diocesan organizations re-
siGUary legatees thus adding lustre to
! the brightness of her faith and denom-
strating the sincerity of her profess
| sion.
st. Pauls, Savannah; the Episcopal
! Orphans Home, the fund for the wild
; ows and orphans of the clergy, ami
our diocesan mission will share her
bepificence and gladly perpetuate her
| memory"
The address then gave some details
of changes in the property of the
church.
y have received notice with Canon
"a Section 2, that resolutions to amend
certain of our canons wifi be offered
by the Rev. Troy Beatty Rev. J. 7.
T. Perry, the venerable Harvey CarreI,
land the Rev. WHY'S Rede, D. d.
Consideration of these resolutions will.
therefore, be in order after reference
to the proper committee of this house.
As to Change Of Name.
'By a joint resolution of the general
convention of 1901, a committee, COM
posed of five members of each order
| was ordered to ascertain, as far as
possible, the mind of church people in
general in reference to the subject
| of a change of name of this church..
| This joint committee has requested
| information of each diocesan conven-
| ton, Whether it does or does not de-
sire that the name of the Protestant
| Episcopal Church in the United States
of America shall be changed at this
time, and if it does so desire, what
| name it wishes substituted therefor?
ut is further desired that the sec
rotary of the convention communicate
| to the secretary of that committee
what action, if any, is taken, with a
statement of the clerical and lay vote,
separately, upon any definite resolu-
| ton that may come before the con-
vention.
Il cannot concur in the opinion that
| this procedure is so irregular as to
bar any action or notice on our part
Initial action need not. and does not,
| always occur in the general conven-
| ton. 1t is no uncommon thing for a
| diocese to originate and give impetus
| to legislation in the form of a memo
| rial to the general convention, which
| expression customarilY receives full
| and courteous consideration in the
larger assembly. In the present in
| stance the general convention set on
foot a plan for it's own guidance, APP
pointed n committee and through that
committee asks us question. To
| refuse to answer or to ignore it would,
in my judgment, be a discourtesy
which we could not contemplate.
IF, then, the subject be introduced
| by a resolution from the floor of this
house the chair will entertain 1t as
proper and regular.
Il am fully alive to the seriousness
Of the measure contemplated. The
change not really of the name, but of
the official designation of that branch
or portion of the Catholic Church to
which under God we owe our allegi-
ance, is only less serious than the re-
tention of a title which is unfortunate,
unnecessary, equiVocal, misleading,
and obsolete, and is strong only on the
theory of possession as law.
For, having in the first place taken
the title from the Moravians and
adopted it in little convention of a
dozen men or less. we hold it because
we have never deliberately dropped it.
Some Comparisons.
First. For the purposes of definition
of the churchs position and polity, we
might as well have had as a legal
name:
THE Anti-Roman DIAGONAL Church,
or