The theocrat. [volume] (Zion City [i.e. Zion], Ill.) 1914-1949, 1920-01-31
owe LOOK FOR THE CHURCH, AND
FIND 1T IN THE WORLD; WE LOOK
FOR THE WORLD AND FIND
1T IN THE CHURCH,

An article appearing in the Chicago Eve-
ming Post of January "a said that from
agitation already begun it is certain that
memorials will go to the general conference
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which
will meet in May next in Des MONIES, Iowa,
for the removal of the ban on amusements
A revised edition of the discipline of the
Methodist Episcopal Church was put out in
1916. Notwithstanding strong movement
at that time to let down the bars on card
playing, theater going, dancing, etc., the
paragraph making it compulsory for mem
bers of the church to abstain from all amuse-
tnents was reinserted exactly as it had ap-
peared for years almost without number. It
reads:
"In cases of neglect of duties of any kind !;
imprudent conduct; indulging sinful tenn
pers or words; dancing; playing at games
of chance; attending theaters, horse races,
circuses, dancing parties or patronizing
dancing schools or taking such other amuse-
ments as are obviously of misleading or
questionable moral tendency or disobedi-
ence to the order and discipline of the
church, on first offense let private reproof
be given by the pastor or class leader, and
if there be an acknowledgement of the fault
and proper humiliation, the person may be
borne with. On the second offense the pas
tor or class leader may take with him one
or two discreet members of the church. On
the third offense let him be brought to trial,
and if found guilty and there be no sign of
real humiliation, he shall be expelled"
Commenting upon this, the Ez,enimg Post
says:
"There is a growing feeling among min
listers and laymen who claim to be progress
sive that this paragraph is a relic of days
and ideas which do not now obtain and
should be removed from the discipline, as
it is more honored in the breach than in the
observance. 1t is known that many pastors
of important churches decline to pay any
attention to it whatever, so far as it refers
to amusements.
1T is believed that the paragraph is keep
ing hundreds of young people out of the
Methodist church, and that parents do not
insist that their children should not dance,
attend the theater or circus, or that they
may not play cards, for it is known that
several Brooklyn Methodist pastors do not
at all hesitate to send their youngsters to
dancing school as discipline for conduct
and gracefulness in movement 1t is also a
well-known fact that young women in the
Methodist churches belong to card parties
and play for prizes and do not seem to think
they are doing anything to outrage their
consciences"
A dispatch from Pittsburg, in the Chicago
Herald and Examiner of January 81, says
"The words moral evil were eliminated
today by Methodist clergymen from a reso-
luton condemning the use of tobacco. The
expunging of the words came after repre-
sensations had been made by a prominent
minister that adoption of a resolution con-
tanning them would incriminate practically
90 per cent of the male members of the
church"
An article appearing in the Herald and
Examiner of the same day stated that
Americas churches have gained 2,77o, 667
new members since the last church census
was taken in 1916, according to the year
book just issued by the Federal Council of
the Churches in Christ in America. The
Protestant church membership was given at