Smyrna times., 1907-08-07
N. B. GENERAL.
CONFERENCE WORK
ACTIVE PREPARATION IS
NOW BEING MADE FOR 1T
Large Amount of Business. to Come
Before the Conference at Its
Meeting in Baltimore in May

Although the General Conference of
the Methodist Episcopal Church does
not meet until next May active pre-
psration is being made in Baltimore,
Nd, says the Every Eve ming, where
the session will be held. The dele
gates will be both lay and ministerial,
there being exactly 335 of each. The
oasis OF representation is one minister
lal delegate for every As ministers and
one lay delegate for each ministerial
delegate. The Baltimore Annual Con
terence of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, which includes part of Mary
land, the District of Columbia and
few charges in Virginia, has 251 mini
sters and is there fore entitled to five
ministerial and five lay delegates.
Many important questions regarding
tneA~ork of the Methodist Church in
all parts of the world are to come up
for discussion at the Conference. The
results of the work of important COM
missions will be under review. Amo' g
these will be the consolidation of the
benevolences of the church and unfit
cation of the Book Concern, also the
commissions on the unifcation of
Methodist in Japan, on Conference
claimants funds, on the revision of
ritual and on federation. Some radical
changes in the government of the
deaconessess will be recommended to
the Conference by the deaconess COM
mission, including plan to have al
deaconess' affairs taken out of the
hands of the board of bishops and
turned over to 8. special board of 10
members, FIVE of whom are to be bish-
ops selected by the board of bishops.
1t is proposed, also, to have on the
board four pastors, four laymen and
six women, three of the latter to be
deaconesses.
An important question which will
come up for final settlement is that
providing for the election of bishops
for the different races. A decision in
favor of this plan would mean that the
missionary bishops in foreign coun-
tries would be replaced by native bish-
ops. 1t would mean the election of a
negro bishop for the work among ne.
groes, Under any circumstano oes
however, there will be at least eight
new bishops to be elected by the Con
ference. In the past year four bishops
died. They were Isaac Joyce, Charles
@. McCabe, James n. Fitz Gerald and
Stephen NJ. Merrill. There are least
two other bishops whose health is such
that they are unable to perform their
duties, and the result of this situation
has been to force upon few bishops
the work of their colleagues who are
dead or i'll. There are now 16 active
bishops in the church, IL addition to
seven missionary bishops.
The work of preparation for the en-
tertainment of the General Conferen &c
delegates is progressing rapidly. The
general committee of 80 appointed al
the last Baltimore Annual Conference
to arrange for the meeting has held
several conferences and is thoroughly
organized. The members of the com.
mittee are: Rev. DIR. Charles W. Bald
win, chairman; DR.. Henry M. Wilson
vice-chairman; James E. Ingram, treas
urer; John T. Stone, corresponding
secretary: Summerdeld Baldwin. Reys
DR.. John F. Goucher, DR.. S. st. Clair
Neal, Wilbur F. Sheridan, DR.. J. C