Evening journal., 1921-10-10
WESTERN OFF l
Church ROLL
FOR 4 YEARS
CONTINUED from First FAC.

Continued from First Page.
the active ministry in any state
This declaration is made by the REV
Charles Rhodes, secretary OF nd
Montana Conference. The dispat1
from Montana adds;
mo reason was given the cor,er-I
ence committee for Mr.. westren
failure to ask for an assignment 4
the close Of the second year OF nf
pastorate. At Laurel, Mont, unel
secretary said. Mr.. Western went ltc
Montana in 1911 on a transfer fr lnI
the Upper Iowa Conference and val
assigned to Meaderville, a forelsr1
settlement at Butte. IL Is a disco ir
aging little place with pink and
houses and half a dozen big, nHfsY
soft-drink parlors with thick cur
tains on the windows.
"The following year Mr.. WestPerl
went East and returned with A;
bride, a young woman who CAM,
from England to marry him. He re-
mained till 1918 in Meaderville.
THE 1913 Conference assigntd
him to Drummond and Hall, tTd
rural community churches in Wett
ern Montana. He had not heer,
there a year when his wife became
IN and was taken to the Deacone 4
Hospital in Great Falls, where sad
died March 4. 1914
THE next year he became III him
self and went TO the same hcspita
for treatment. His second marriagel
this time to a deaconess nurse, fol
lowed shortly after
It was in 1915 that he was assignI
ed to Laurel, RAILROAD town in East
for two years after which he left "a
go to farming in Maryland.
His reinstatement in the confer
ence,' Mr.. Rhodes said, would deA
pend on what action might be taken
by the committee and under the cir
lcumstances under which he left"
Mr.. Western did not have the legal
right to marry, nearly 200 couples
whom he Joined in wedlock since
August last and they will have 10 go
through another marriage ceremony
in order to make the marriage legal.
The law Of Maryland says that any
one performing marriage ceremony
who is not a minister of the gospeI
in good standing is subject to a fms
OF $500 for each and every marriage
he performs.
There has however. been no cons
tention either by the church or legsi
authorities that Mr.. Westren coul
not legally perform a marriage cere
mony up until the time the NJ
Salem quarterly conference took ac
/ ton. Henry Warburton Of Elk
/ ton, States attorney, said tbs MORN
/ ing that he had not heard Mr.
/ Westren's right to perform marriag
ceremonies mentioned up until IN,
time Of the quarterly conferencl
/ questioned. DR.. Watt, has not ques-
toned his legal right to marrl
couples up until that time.
Mr.. Western is staying at his farm
about 10 miles from Elkton, and
refuses to discuss the situation. Hill
. counsel. f. Kirk Brown, OF Elkton
however, is quoted as saying:
! L do not believe DR.. Watt. or tht
Wilmington district has jurisdictlcr
over my client, and 1 am going tC
consult with attorneys who are
Methodists and know the Church
discipline TO learn IL the appeal can.
not be taken elsewhere. alsf
advised him not to marry person
until the appeal Is heard, TIL.
Western has complied with.
"As for the Montana story arr
not prepared to say. I must consult
. with Mr. Western first on the sub,
iect but I believe the man is Z
( clergyman and was in good standing
until his trial on Tuesday last. Ny
client has not done anything morl
than some OF the other Methods
clergymen who are members Of tht
Wilmington Conference"