Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-05-31
METHODISTS WILL HAVE
A SUPREME COURT
Northern Body FaVOrS Appeal
Court

New York, May 30.-Methodists, the
largeNorthern body, are to have a SUI
preme court. 1t will be known as the
Final Court of Appeals. Its member
ship will be fifteen, three bishops and
six each of ministers and laymen.
Members are to be chosen by the gen
eraI conference, the bishops to serve.
four years, or between general con-
ference sessions, the others four and
eight years. CO-ordinated with this
new highest court will be others for
members, local preachers and minis
tiers. Methodist find the general con-
ference, meeting every four years, to
be both too large and too much burd-
ened with other work to sit as a court
They reason besides that the same
body that makes the laws ought not to
cOnstrue them, so the new and highest
court will have, as its chief function,
the Interpretation of Methodist enact
ments. "A commission has just made a
report on this matter of courts, and it
is considered certain that its report
will be approved, and the courts es-
tablished, by the next general confer
ence, meeting in May, 1912. Presby-
terians recently perfected their judic-
| ioI E7niSnnno1ioDC
Other large Protestant bodies are
either doing so or are studying the
question because they realize the time
to be approaching when they must
have such courts
Summer Conference Plans This Year.
Large plans are making for summer
conferences this year. English speak
ers of prominence are to be heard at
most of them. Chautauqua, the orig
inal one, expects three hundred thous-
and visitors on it's lake this year, 10
such extent has the summer religious
activity in America grown. Silver Bay,
on Lake George, will have leaders
from many cities during the last half
of July to make place for conventions
in connection with the Men and Re-
| ligiOus Movement campaign that opens
next September. Mortified, founded
by Mr.. Moody, will have as chief
speaker Mr.. John R. Mott, fresh from
a student campaign in the Near East
and in Europe. AT Lake Geneva, Look
out Mountain and other points a series
of mission conferences will be held
Students go to Mortified and to a new
conference arranged for them, be-
cause the old one grew too large, at
Pocono Pines The Carolinas have a
new mission and Christian education
conference at Raleigh, and the new
Episcopal bishop-elect of Pennsyi-
Vania is at the head of new confer
ence at Cambridge Mass. None of the
older conferences have failed, prac-
tically all of them are over crowded
and from a dozen directions come re-
ports of new ones to be established
Into most of them social service is be-
ing introduced into the courses OF
study, and in all of them larger en-
phasis is being laid upon preparation
for actual service in the churches dur
ing the rest of the year.
Many European Visitors Here.
More distinguished cIergymen OF
Europe, and prominent men who lead
in lay work in the churches, are just
now in this country or will be here
within the next month than ever be-
fore at one time They come to enlist
cooperation of American ministers in
Iplans for world peace, to attend con-
ventions of Baptists and others who
hold meetings of world wide scope
this year, and to speak at summer con-
ferences. For years the Christian
forces of England, Germany, and to
some extent the rest of Europe. have
made plans together, but with other OF
its world-power advances the United
States has succeeded within the last
year or two, in breaking into Euro
pean religious plans.