The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-22
GREAT CONGRESSES
CHURCH WORLD ARRANGEs MEET. INGS AT WHICH MANY PROF.
 LENS WILL BE DISCUSSED.
Missi0ns to the Fore-9evera1 Gather ings to Discuss Various Phases of Home and Foreign
 Effort.

Missi6ns to the Fore--Several Gather
 ings to Discuss Various Phases
 of Home and Foreign
 Effort.
 The religious world Is to have an awakening fin 1908. Many events of the last half dozen years are to have their continuation in the coming twelve months through Q number of national and international assemblies that are expected to stir the church world to its foundations.
 The year now drawing to a close has been fruitful in its way. but four sea- the great Protestant denominations will have been brought face to face with a host of problems that must be solved for the welfare of Christian work.
 The year 1907 Is marked by the Epis- copal triennial convention at Richmond There will be a dozen such beacons to light the religious life of another twelve months. Preparations Tor most of them are still incomplete. but enough is known to make 1t certain that there will be work for all and plenty of 1t in the conventions so far arranged.
 The first of the great gatherings will be the Church Laymen's Mission . ary Congress. which has taken up vol unIeer WOrk TOT tne Hitu ofiy. Ahp Congress will assemble next month al Seabury Hall. Christ Church, New York and Is intended to outline suggestions for lay effort in the mems organiza- tions now existing as we'll as to plan new clubs or societies that may do mis- sion work. The Church Laymen Union is strongly organized in nearly all the large cities of the East ana expects to grow more rapidly after the Congress. George Wharton Pepper, of Philadeiphia, one of the most active lay workers and the one responsible tor the missionary canon adopted py the Epfscopalian General Convention al Richmond, will be at the Congress to make some new suggestions.
 Missions and Education.
 February will be an important month as three conventions will be In session at the same time. Presbyterian men of tbe eastern section of the country Will hold a missionary gathering at Phha- delphfa. February II to 13. along the lines of the assembly of the same church in Omaha last fall. Prepara- tions have already been made Tor the fifth convention of the Religious Edu- cation Association at Washington, Feb ruary II to 13. The general theme will be .sThe Relation of Moral and Relig- ious Education to the Life of the Ma tion." This theme is divided into the following topics for the general ses- sions. "IIow Can the Educational Agencies Be Made More Emective as Moral and Religious ForcesT How Can the Moral and Religious Agencies in the Nation Be Made More Effective as Educational Forces?" Educating the Conscience of the Nation" A fourth general session is devoted to reviews of work and the annual survey of pro- gress by Dean George Hodges.
 nrfs, al in Washington, February 12, will be that of a Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Negro Meth odist Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The Bishops who will att tend represent over 100000 persons. and they say that the ecclesiastical, re- ligious, civil, political and sociological condition of the race at this time are such that it requires attention, mature reflection and expression. and possibly committaI expression.
 Another early convention will be that of the Young Peoples Missionary move ment in Pittsburg, the organized agency for cooperative missionary ed- ucation. The Board of Managers is made up of twenty secretaries of Home and Foreign Mission Boards and nine- teen laymen from various denomina- 'tions. It was organized in July, 1902, to assist in an educational cfmpaign for the churches. It Is publishing suit abfe mission study books for the young CT laymen and members of the young peoples societies, also graded text books and other missionary literature for use in the Sunday School. It holds summer conferences for the training of leaders in missionary work and also winter institutes in the leading cities. The coming convention will outline new work as well as search for new lines of endeavor.
 Providing for the Deaconess.
 Soon after that gathering Is out of the way there will come along In Bal timore the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at which one of the principal features will be a report of the Commission on Deaconess' Work. Fifteen men, divided equally among bishops, ministers and laymen, have considered the subject for four years and has now entirely rewritten that part of the discipline relating to deaconesses' work, some old things hav- ing been retained and much that is new added. The Confusion defines a deaconess as "a woman who had been led by the Spirit and the Providence of God to forego all other pursuits in life that she may wholly devote herself Ito the Christ-like service of doing good, has been approved by the church, and solemnly set apart to this vuca- tion." The general oversight of the work of deaconesses is to be given to the bishops, although active direction of 1t Is vested in q General Deaconess Board. to be composed of five bishops, four laymen. four ministers and six women, three of whom shall be conse- crated deaconesses. This Board is to be elected quadrennially at the General Conferences. Each annual conference Is to have Conference Deaconess Board of nine members, three of whom must be women. These Boards>are au- thorized to license deaconesses, to de- terminine who shall be placed on the retired list, and those entitled to aid from the relief fund. It is directed that the deaconess license may be given only to a candidate who Is unmarried and over 2S years of age. and she must be recommended by the quarterly con ference of the church in which she Is u member.
 For Twenty-Five Denominations,
 Late in the year will be held the first Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. It comes about as the result of plan of federation adopt-