Norwich bulletin., 1916-04-01
JOINT SESSION
laymen and Preachers Met at the
 Second Congregational Church.

The annual conference met at the Second Congregational church at o. clock in tho afternoon. Bishop Will liam A. Quayle presiding. Rev. r. W. Coleman was deputed to invite the lay electoral conference to the joint ses- sion, which opened with the hymn, Blest Be the Tie That Binds, followed by prayer by the bishop.
 Rev. F. w. Coleman conducted to
 the platform Everett J. Horton of
 Providence. president of the Lay Elec- | toral conference.
 At heart. everybody's a layman and
 at heart everybodys . preacher, so
 we are one" said the bishop. who | introduced 9ir. Horton that he might greet the delegates in Joint session.
 MT. Horton presented to the bishop
 and ministerial conference the lay del eEates to the general conference, and Bishop Quayle introduced the minis terial delegates.
 Asked Support For General Confer once.
 | Benjamin r. Thurston of Newport
 R. l., chairman of the lay delegation
 asked for the sympathy, support and
 prayers of all for the coming general
 conference session.
 Rev. J. Francis Cooper of Provi. dence, chairman of the ministerial del. egation, spoke of his desire to set , economy of administration and elimi. l. !
 'fWe Methodists are not much giveI
 to bragging and we're not at all giveI
 to proselyting," said Bishop Quayl ? who then referred to the remarks mad ! by Mir. Horton, who had urged tha ' laity be admitted to the annual con . ference on the ground that minister | needed the business acumen Of tn z laity, and ssaid:
 ''when a man suggests that minis | ters lack the business sense of tn + laity, I feel entertained. There's . little institution called the book con
 cern whose sales this year amounte
 to S2,700,000 and this book concer = was started by minister who borrow Y ed $500 for it and 1t has been run b y minister's I've had some goo = churches, the best churches, but Pv ' never had church where ! didn II have to furnish business sense for m i, | laymen. And besides, we're kept bus I running around keeping our bushes men decent. I've got along all rigi
 with my laymen. They've fed IT
 chicken and I fed them quail. 't The Methodist church doesn't nee e so much tinkering as 1t does nee U spirituality. We don't need more ma
 chinery. Take a wagon with fol wheels and put IT more on 1t and you T not get farther or faster. Youn ju IL have more wheels to oil.
 T don't know whether you laymC > ought to be in the annual conferen It or not, but if you come up here evel n year, we'll rub a lot of cash off yo pr Our job Is not to re-organize Il A church but to make it work. of 'The Methodist general Conferen to is the only gathering in the wcr D. which is planetary in its reach. II
 not national We are the Methodi Do Episcopal church of the planet. Dor in make 1t smaller than 1t is and divi D. f. up in four litle geographies. (Th l- was in reference to the proposed unit es oF AIethodism by organization of fo CT sectional conferences).
 of After prayer by Rev. Edward ed Ninde, the Lay Electoral conferen no members were lined up and the mi ey isters passed along, shaking han
 with each one and the session a III iOurned.