Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1905-04-13
A MOVEMENT TO ADVANCE
FRIENDS PRINCIPLES.
Henry W. Wilbur,as General Secretary,
will Visit the Friends Meetings, and
Work tor the Promotion and Ad-
VanCement Of the PricipIeS OF That
BOdy----A Conservative Yielding to the
Demand for Greater Spiritual Bet
terment of the People.

/ Demand for GFedter Spiritual Bet
terment of the People.
Even the most conservative of religious
to the spirit OF change and progress which
is so pronounced characteristic of the life
Eof the churches and the liberal wing of the
bnsl>. commonly called s'Hicksites, have
now at work salaried general officer,
Henry W. Wilbur, late Of New York Mr..
Wilbur is so well known to the people of
this section and to Prohibitionlsts through
out the State that especial interest will at
tach to the announcement of his new
position.
William T. Ellis, ii the Philadelphia
Press, writes as follows
The radical character of this innovation
is best understood by those who know
Friendly principles. A "hireling minis
try'' has always been one of the fayorite
bugaboos of the body, though the orthodox
Friends of the Middle West have adopted
the pastoral system to the scandal of
their more strait-laced Philadelphia breth-
rem. Now there is denominational officer
employed whose duties smack strongly Of
the episcopacy- though Henry Wilbur and
every other Friend would enter instant
and emphatic and horrifed objection to his
being classed among the bishops. OF
course, he is not bishop; the idea is in
conqruous; he is simply general secretary
of lie General Conference Committee for
i the Advancement Of Friends Principles
and his duties are to promote the welfare
of the denomination, TO help struggling
meetings, to establish, when possible,
meetings where none now exist, to assist
meetings to discover and to develop local
leaders and in general, to coordinate and
strengthen the various agencies of the
Friendly body.
QUAKERs FACING THEIR PROBLEMS
The appointment OF this committee in
1902, and of its general secretary, few
weeks ago, are an honest admission that
the Society of Friends can no longer drift
in the old way. Times have changed and
the churches must change with them. The
bacillus of decay was steadily at work in
the Society; Quakerism was undeniably
declining. There was not wanting eoura-
geous spirits willing to face the facts and
TO seek a remedy.
When the committee came to face the
problem last year at the Toronto Confer
ence, it saw that the immediate need was
for man-eyery problem resolves itself
into cry for man. R. Barclay Spicer
: took the post temporarily, and demon
strated it's possibilities. Finally, Henry w.
Wilbur, Of New York, was called to head
this new and aggressive work.
Henry Wilbur is newspaper man, who
got part Of his training in the composing
room Of Philadelphia daily. He has
mostly, however, wieleed pen and blue
pencil, and his favorite ea .orial work has
been along temperance and sociological
lines. He is quit, soft-spoken man, with
iron-gray hair and deeply-lined face. The
patience of Quakerdom is in his soul, and
! if one expects to find in this new leader a
man full of plans, surrounded by machin-
cry and bent on transforming conditions
over night, he will be seriously disappointed.
When not in the field be makes his head
quarters in bare little room in the build
: ing of the Young Friends Association,
: Fifteenth and Cherry streets, acting as his
own typewriter and assistant and utterly
devoid Of the pomp of office.
A conversation with Henry Wilbur makes
one question the worth while Of the fret
, and care and hurry with which religious
, work is done nowadays. He is taking time
to find out actual conditions. With Quaker
, thoroughness is going over the whole
ground, stopping by the way to mend a
fence here or re-hinge a gate there, as
occasion offers. He gives an interviewer
! the impression that he is undertaking,
! rather than overstating his work.
QUAKERIsM's BETTER DAY.
And, first Of all, he sounds an optimistic
, note. He seems to think that the decline
/ Of Quakerism was arrested before he began
j his work rather remarkable state of mind
"a a - FT<r--