The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-27
FIVE MEMBERS OF EPISCOPAL BOARD . OF MISSIONS RESIGN Action Is Climax of Turbu- lent Meeting in New
 York
CONTROVERSY ENDS
 AFTER FIVE HOURS
Members Withdraw Because Board Refuses to Rescind Resolution to Participate in the Panama Inter-
 denominati0nal Conference

l New York October 26.-Five members of the board of missions of the Episcopal church resigned today when the board S quarterly meeting refused to rescind a resolution, adopted last May to partici- pate In the Panama Interdenominational missionary conference to be held in Feb ruary.
 TPe board reached a vote only after five hours of controversy, much of 1t heated, and marking the most turbulent meeting the board ever held according to several of the older members The vote was 26 to 1S
 The five members who resigned were Bishop Reginald H. Weller, Fon du Lac. Wis; Bishop G. Mott Williams, Mar ouette, Mich: Bishop Alfred Harding Washington, D. C.; Rev. Dr. Selden P Delany Milwaukee, Wis, and the Rev Dr. William T. Manning of Trinity church, New York city.
 The Roman Catholic church, through its missions several months ago, declined an Invitation to participate in the Panama conference, because it believed the plans or the conference were hostile to the Ro- man Catholic church.
 iiiC U casdltI ltpOfI SHOWeQ IndI Ar monians in this country had contributed s250,OO0 to the board to be forwarded to relieve countrymen In Turkey
 Bishop Nelson Remains on Board
 Bishop Richard H. Nelson of Albany, N. Y., announced that while he was en- tirely in sympathy with the five dissent CTS, he would remain on the board to oppose the proposal to send delegates to the conference.
 The Right Rev. Arthur S. Lloyd of New York, president of the board. sug- gested that the resignations would not be acted on until tomorrow, when the strain of our fve-hour struggle will have cooled The meeting accepted this sug- gestion and adjourned.
 Developments of the board meeting con- frmed previous reports that the proposed plans of the Panama conference. well as what was claimed as the virtual ex- clusion of Roman Catholics, had created great feeling in the Protestant Episcopal church It was stated that the high church members were generally opposed to participation while the low church members generally favored it.
 Todays controversy disclosed the fact that the mid-western synod, which met in Chicago recently. also opposed the Pan anna conference by vote of approxi- mately 10 to 1.
 The Panama Conference
 The Panama conference proposed, ac- cording to the first announcement. to be continuation of general missionary plans developed at the Edinburgh. Scot land. missionary conference. held several years ago. Later bulletins and notices concerning the coming conference. read at today's meeting of the Episcopal board, indicated that the Panama conference would deal largely with cooperative plans for extension of missionary work in Gen. tral and South America Bishop William Rojas. of the Roman Catholic diocese of Panama, issued strong attack on the objects of the conference and shortly after this the first open opposition developed in the Protestant Episcopal church.
 The question of eecting delegates to represent the Episcopal board of mis- sions at the conference came up before today's meeting. Dr. Manning then in troduced a resolution resembling the reso- lution adopted at the last meeting. He contended that when the Episcopal board decided to participate in the conference at Panama it acted under a msconcep- ton of the real objects proposed by the leaders of the conference.
 Heated Discussion
 Various clerical and lay members of the board followed Dr. Manning in the discussion. Bishop Weller caused a tense feeling in the meeting when he declared that to participate in the conference, un- der the present proposed conditions. would be direct attack at the Roman Catho- lie church and that no denomination could attack another denomination and reconcile its ideals of Christianity
 The Rev. Reese F. Alsop of Brooklyn stoutly defended the sending of. delegates, declaring that the meeting at Panama would be solely conference. not CO., operative congress. He also took the ground that the board. having gone on record as favoring the Panama confer. ence, could not now revoke it's former attitude. A number of others aided the Rev. Alsop in the defense
 After all members present had had an opportunity to state their opinions, Bishop Weller arose again and after few re- marks intimated that the feeling over the Panama conference was so keen in his diocese that it might cause break in the church. few minutes later the vote was taken and Bishop Weller was the first to tender his resignation
 The discussion will be resumed at the second session tomorrow, when the ques- tion of instructing the 10 or 12 delegates to be elected will come before the board.