The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1905-08-03

win frost to the northward may almost
certainly be expected. The crisis of
the very cool wave will fall in the OPEN
ing days of September.
METHODIST CONFERENCE
Rev. Shipman Gives Interesting
| Facts and Announces Program,
The forty-sixth session Of the Des
Moines Conference convenes at Osceola
Wednesday September 13. In view Of
the Importance of this gathering, few
facts concerning the history of the
church will be valuable.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was
organized at Baltimore, Maryland,
Christmas 1884, with 1O4 preachers and
$4,000 members. 1t now has 1896
preachers, 1866 local preachers, and
3,O64,735 members; it has 32,571
Sunday Schools with 34S,39O teachers
and officers and 2,sO2130 scholars
1t has 2S,394 churches valued at
$l35,456,621, and 1920 parsonages
valued at $22,512,106. 1t has 1873
schools and colleges valued at $37 ,731 ,557
exclusive of debts, with 1920 teachers
and professors and 81 $3.50 students.
Its work in Iowa is divided into four
conferences: the Des Moines, the Iowa,
the Upper Iowa, and the Northwest
Iowa. In these four conferences there
are 954 preachers, 145,318 members,
1884 Sunday Schools with 1900 teach
ers and officers and 1896 scholars.
There are 1,413 churches valued at
$5,215,O94 and 6e2 parsonages valued
at $1,077,070. We have in Iowa five
colleges: Cornell at Mt. Vernon, Upper
Iowa University at Fayette, Iowa Wes-
l,yan a. Mt. Pleasant, Morningside at
Sioux City and Simpson at lndianola.
The college property is valued at
SS17, ,l9S with productive endowment
Of $632,32S exclusive of debts. In the
Des Moines Conference there are 274
preachers, 143 local preachers and
81 1852 members. There are 456 Sunday
Schools with 5S48 teachers and officers
and 43,263 scholars. There are 457
churches valued at S1,6O0600 and 1919
parsonages valued at $334,435. The
Des Moines Conference includes the
south west quarter of the state.
The entire church contributed for all
the benevolences last year $2,942,079.
The Des Moines Conference contribut-
ed as follows: Missions, Home and
Foreign, s32,30s; Church Extension,
$2,472; Sunday Schools Union $348;
Tract society 1919; Freedmans Aid
1852; Education $2,472; American
Bible Society 1924; woman's Foreign
Missionary Society $1O,4s4; Woman's,
Home Missionary Society S3,323; The
total amount contributed in the Des
Moines Conference for the benevolent
work of the church was 54,612.
1t is the business of the Conference
to review the work Of the year in every
pastorate within it's boundaries includ-
ing all departments of that work, in
the preaching services, evangelistic
service, the work of the Sunday School,
Epworth League, benevolent work and
educational interests. The Bishop with
the assistance OF the Presiding Elders
| who constitute what is known as
the cabinet, make the appointments
for the ensuing year, for the preachers
are appointed for only one year at a
time, but may be appointed for success
sive years as long as they and the con-
gregation agree. The Bishops power
to fix appointments is absolute. The
Presiding Elders have no authority,
they can only give advice as the Bishop
requests it. The Bishop could make the
appointments without consulting them,
but this in practice never occurs in.
conference session. In addition to the
regular routine of conference business,
anniversaries of the various benevolent
societies of the church are held, at
which the benevolent work of the
church is reviewed by eminent men
and women from abroad who are special
lists of these departments OF church
enterprise. A very important part Of
the work Of the Annual Conference will
be the services devoted to devotional
and evangelistic subjects. For these
services men Of great ability and prom
inencs in the conference have been
chosen for addresses and leadership, and
it is confidently expected that at the
devotional services beginning with the
sermon Monday night and continuing
through the opening sacramental SER
vice Wednesday morning, the devotional
services on each succeeding morning
and the evangslistic services in the
] bolnful rasults will he attninad