Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-10-29
SOUTHERN METHOD|sTS
STATE THEIR POSITION
College OF bishops Issues Statement
Setting Forth Attitude on
Question of Unity.
GLORY IN CnURCn's HISTORY
Not Ready to Bargain Away Any OF
Great lnheritanccs and Glorious
Memories OF Other Years for Any
Consideration.
IHx Assacia,.d Press. |

lSy Associated Press.
ATLANTA, CA. october .S.--rhc
college of bishops Of the Southern
Methodist Episcopal Church, lin view
OF some things that have been said ana
repeated on public platforms and in
public prints" to-day issued IL state
ricnt setting forth the position of the
church on the question OF uniting with
the two other, Methodist 'bodies. III
which 1t is declared thnt 1--WE are not
ready 10 bargain away amy OF the
great inhcrit;ncrs and glorious melnu-
rics of other years for any considcra-
ton
The statement; which contains about
1900 words. does not indicate from
what source amy criticisms of the
church may have come, but says: 9Th"
assertion. for example. that for the
past forty years we have been wan
dcrnE in the Wilderness Il lot of mis-
cradle fools and miserable sinners, We
hOlG to be AN injustice both to The
living and to The dead.
The entire movement for closer
federation rctwec the bodies OF Amer
lean Mcthodists originated in the Gen
eral Conference Of the Southern Church
h) 1914. says the statement. which adds
that six wears ago the joint commits
sion OF federation made up OF repre-
scntntivca from the Methodist Episco-
pal Church. the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South. and the Methodist Prot
estant Church. took UP the broadeS
question Of union. The action of the
various church conferences on the rec.
concentrations Of these commissioners
CONSTRAINED rO MAKE
DEFINITE. STATEMENT
"We cannot think ii possible that
thcge commissioners Will do less thar
follow the instructions laid down by the
general conference for their guidance
and we do not believe that they should
be hindercd by any interference from
the outside. III view, however, of
some things that have been said and
repeated on public platforms and in
public prints. we feel constrained 10
make :: brief. but very definite. state
m"n;."
Reference is then made to the as
sertiou as to the purportcG condition
Of the church FOR the last forty years.
quoted in the foregoing. and the
statement continues:
tina, our active senior bishop, Eugene
L. lIcndrix. distinctly disdaius the in
tcrprc;ation on his words last May or
at any time so far as they seem TO re-
Zee, OF our church in its work in the
past. %! our great and sanity leaders.
or or the spirit and purpose OF our
church to-day and uniteS with us in
:hs paper.
"'Thc history of Southern Methodism
is not something to be ashamed of. but
something TO glory III. In the whole
record Of our relations to other
churches, there is nothing TO repent
of.
In the whole history OF Gods
church there is not a single chapter
tha; is more worthy TO tie blaZoned in
the face Of the world than that one
which tells the fidelity and the hcroism
with which our preachers and people
alike endured without flinching or fall
icriuE, and without one word OF en-
couraGcment from any quarter, the
years OF hardship and disaster
that followed the War Between the
States.
"No matter into what alliances We
may enter in the future. we should go
into them, not crawling prone upon the
earth, but with uplifted faces and with
unabatcd sclf-rcspect IF we should
go otherwise. we should make but 4
| poor contribution to any Copartncr-
shin.
| so WORD OF CRITICISM
| ABOUT OTHER CHURCHES
we have no word of criticism 10
TOO LATE TO CLASSIFY