The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-10

nation of Rev. J. B. K. Spain from the Board of Missions. to which va- cancy Rev. A. l.. Sellers was named. With this organization was effected and the business of Conference started.
 The greater part of the morning ses-. sionAwas taken up in reports from, each of the pastors and presiding el-s ders the information elicited by the question:
 Are all preachers blameless in their. life and official administration? No accusation of uniting conduct was cast.
 Most of those called upon reported favorable progress of their charges during the year. s
 One familiar face was missed during the report, Rev. J. w. Shores of Montgomery. who. for the first time in years, was absent from the Cosference :, MT. Shores, one of the oldest and most venerable ministers of the Con- ference, forwarded as his proxy a let- ter to the. Conference members. which was read.
 It was found upon the call for re- port that three Conference members had died during the year. Rev. A. Hood. Rev F. M. Peterson. and Rev. .J. M. Patton. whose names were re- ferred to the Committees on Memories for action.
 One minister. Rev. J. L.. Mathisons withdrew from the pulpit at his own request. being located. as the with drawal is termed, by, the vote of the Conference.
 During the afternoon. organization of the Board of Missions was effected. The Board of Missions, now one of the most important of the conference bodies Is headed by Rev. J. T. Man gum of Enterprise, who succeeds Rev. I. B. Cumming. resigned. T. G.. Jones, Librarian of the committee last year, was elected Secretary and Treas urer to succeed MT. Mangum.
 Other committees meeting were those of the Sunday School Church Extension, Epworth League, Bible So- ciety and Sunday Observance. The committees which held their meetings in executive session will report to the Conference session Saturday.
 Examinations are being undergone, by 'the applicants for admission to the conference which will continue for some time.
 The WOman's College,
 In a report delivered by the commis- sion of the Womans' College an early start upon the erection of building was promised It was stated that the, present plans were not entirely satis- factory and that 1t had not been im- possible to secure new plans at present but that negotiations were on foot with architects.
 The communication asked that addi- tional sums be raised by the two con- ferences of Alabama. $15,000 by the South Alabama and 97,500 by the North Alabama Conference. It also advo- cated the establishment of Board or Trustees to .oe selected by the Confer ence to be composed of six laymen and tnlu odUnpnfaA thA nlAG@ tion of one layinan and one minister to three year terms. one each to two years and one each to one year terms
 During the afternoon. Rev. c. A. Rush of Mobile conducted devotional services at the Methodist Church, and at night Dr. W. F. Tiilett, dean of the TheoloRical Seminary of the Wander bilt University, and one of the leading theoiogians of the country, conducted exercises under the auspices of the Epworth League, taking as his subject the qualifications necessary to admts- sion to the ministry.
 The occasion came as the yearly an- niversary service of the League.
 The grind of routine Is to be enliv- ened by a reception to be rendered the Conference and visitors tomorrow by the Southern University faculty on the grounds of the school at o'clock. TWO prominent speakers will also be heard tomorrow, Dr. J. D. Hammond and pr. J.'E. McCulloch, both of Nashville. -'a. |
 me Conference sessions will start as Was arranged today, at o'clock and end at o'clock. s,i .sr The session. of the Conference was preceded by a centennial session. conn memorative of Methodism's century of life in Alabama, held undeg the .au- spices of the Historical Association of the Conference.
 pr, J. M. Mason. in delivering the address "Mthodism in Alabama un- hinged contemporary Methodist history in declaring that Methodism was not founded in Alabama, as the historians have declareds by Mathew Stprdiyant, a South Carolina itInerant. but by James Gwin. a missionary. Sturdivant he said, was never strictly Methodist while on. his Alabama tour, but had been repudiated by the church. And the Tombigbee was not the scene of the first Methodist work, but the Tennes- see River, said pr. Mason.
 The facts he set forth are at vari- ance with Methodist history as known to date.