Evening journal., 1917-01-05
JOHN l. JOHNSON.

nut throughout the conference teTfl-
tory. Again / thank you.
Yours most sincerely.
JOHN L. JOHNSON.
pastor Scott NJ. z. Church"
Again, in the same issue, III by
any chance you ever have done any
thing against the Methodists in this
conference district. they can we'll af-
ford 10 forgive IL all in return for
your editorial on this Wesley Church
trouble" said the Rev. George White
Dawson. pastor Of Asbury NJ. e.
Church, this city. II formerly was
pastor Of Wesley and | know its peo-
pie. agree fully with your edi-
torial assertion that an end should be
put to this so-called trial"
When my brethren in the ministry.
members OF my own conference. are
misled into the making Of such as
sertions, surely II Is in order for me
to tell the truth about this matter so
as to clear the matter up in the minds
OF people who do not know the facts.
That THE EVENING JOURNAL is
not only a jealous advocate of reform,
but that IL believes IN radical meth
DDS for the treatment OF evil. Is plain
from the closing paragraph Of its
editorial or December 1s; There Is
only one consoling thought in con-
nectlon with the farce-comedy That
is that in view OF the animus under
lying the proceedings and Of this
ridiculous and yet harmful vindictiye-
ness that has featured the trial, il is
not at all likely that the ecclesias-
tical jury viii stultify itself by re
turning a verdict OF guilty against
/ the defendant trustee. and that yer
dict of aequittal will serve as q
stinging rehuke to his CHIEF accuser.
I But, even with the verdict Of acquit-
! tai In hand. Wesley still will have
suffered much harm through It's con
/ gregation having given harborage 10
disturbing elements which never
should be tolerated In any religious
/ society" That puts me as pastor OF
Wesley Church and the faithful God
/ fearing men and women who have
stood by me through this fearful per-
secution In an exceedingly bad light.
It makes us ont to be a wickedly dan
! gerous lot Of fanatics or Williams Is
/ It any wonder that with all this array
Of power massed against MS some or
our people have become frightened
and others have become discouraged? ?
I owe il TO Wesley Church. to the
4 Wilmington Conference, 70 my family
to myself and to my God to seek and
secure vindication for the truth Tho
/ Word of God says: let not your good
/ he evil spoken Of NV good name i.
all ] possess that il of any real value. s
Methodist minister who will not protect
his characer against assault should moi
be harbored in our annual conference II
! should keep silent in view of what has
been said and done ] would he a COW.
ard, yea, worse than a coward There
are some things in the history Of this
case that should come to light and b
given TO the community through tht
public press Darkness must bc dispelleC
by the light. Ignorance must Be- over
come by information. The secular pres
is a mighty agency for the overthrow
Of tyranny and oppression. Evil can
not endure exposure.
The beginning of the Trouble.
This trouble in Wesley Church be.
gan two years ago when I set out Ia
enlighten the people in regard to the
methods and the teachings Of the no
torious Pastor Russell tt developed
that there were a number OF disciples
OF Russell connected with Wesley
Church who were not anxious to be
enlightened There is evidence Il
prove that the followers Of this
prophet OF Millennial Dawnism had
carefully laid their plans to capture
Wesley Church without having their
plans discovered They had been left
in undisturbed possession for twelve
, or fifteen years. AS a result the
! church was in a depleted and a dis
, heartened state. Everything was al
a low ehb. number Of those who
were in control OF the church, includ
, ing several trustees. seemed to be in
. favor OF keeping the church down ant
/ frowned upon my efforts to rebuilC
! the walls Of our Zion. Others resnond
i ed to my efforts and some splendid
: new material was taken into tn,
/ church. Nearly all or the activ,
workers in the church were soiidll
! with me and the work was movini
1 forward at the beginning Of this con
r ference year. In August I gave al
address on The Peril OF Russeilism
+ to which invited Pastor Russell an,
1 his followers At that Mrs. ELL
4 Jones and several or the trustees tool
I serious offense Mrs Jones is
' superior woman OF great intelligence
who had a large following OF arden
n friends Of Wesley Church Tn
y fort -nunately her husband. who wa
Il formerly a member or Wesley Church
!. became infatuated with the views .
II Pastor Russell about twenty year
ago and has done what he could q
overturn the doctrines of Methodisn
=, Whatever the cause, II is a histori
fact that Mrs. Jones withdrew fror
s Wesley Church soon after my addres
\ ! on THE Peril Or Russellism,'' al
i, though she did not hear the address
y II became increasingly evident 20 m
II that Russellism was at the bottor
= OF the trouble IN Wesley Churcl
Having become acquainted with III
methods Of Pastor Russell Il dawne
y upon me that We were face 10 fac
with trained. deceptive, unscrupu
GUS foe trembied as I came I
= realize the nature Of the impendin
" struggle Not that am easil
= frightened. 7 have fought for IL
y truth on many a battlefield. and nevt
!. yet have I shown the white feathe
~ I prayed earnestly over the matte
10 and committed my all to God. NJ
it- holding back my good name. d
e. termined 70 stand for the right
~ whatever cost.
AZ Matters came 70 an issue at o.
of second quarterly conference. held Sc
~ tember 19. 1916 At that time ] "
~, given a practically unanimous invit
Il tion from tho congregation 70 retu