Evening star., 1923-05-25
Church ASSEMBLY
BROUGHT TO Close:
'Presbyterians, After Siren
uous Session, Select Grand
Rapids for 1924 Meeting.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
INDIANAPOLIS. Ind. May 20
With a protest from sixty-six leaders
of the church against the victory of
fundamentalists spread on its min
utes, the 135th general assembly of
the Presbyterian Church Of the
United States of America adjourned
last night, to meet again May %,
1924. in Grand Rapids. Mich.
An attempt was made by funda-
mentaliStS to vote the protest out OF
the record, but DR.. Charles r. Wis
hart, the moderator. ruled protest
was admiSSi Bile without consent of
: the assembly.
One of the assembly's last official
acts was TO send down to the presby-
terieS for their consideration an
overture to amend the church law
to permit individual presbyteries to
sanction the regular employment of
ministers of other denominations,
such as DIR. Fosdick, who is Bap-
tist
While the overture. if approved.
would legaliZe the employment of
DR.. Fosdick and other outsiders in
special cases. it will not change yes
terday's mandate to the First Presby-
terlan Church of New York and all
other churches of the denomination
TO see that the doctrine eXpuunded in
their pulpits conforms to the doc
trine of the church and the West
minister confession of faith
Inc eight-day meeting will go down
In church history as the year of the
great battle between liberal and con-
+. Servatiye thought. In that struggle
each side shared honors. but neither.
according to leaders. will be content
with the victory gained and next
year Will go after the cause lost.
Each Side Wins Point.
The liberals won when they de-
reated William Jennings Bryan's
resolution aimed to bar the teaching
OF evolution in the fifty-seven schools
coliegeS and SeminarieS of the church
ana 10 eXpel from their faculties all
proponents of an evolutionary hy-
pothesls of the descent of man.
Ihe conservative believers in the
Lundamental interpretations of the
'bloIe trlumphed in the passage of a
resoiution expressing profound sor-
NV tnat the doctrines preached in
the First Presbyterian Church Of Nav-
FORK by DR.. Harry Emerson Fosfifcl,
nave caused dissension and contro-
Nersy In the church and directing III q
ptIespytery of New York to take
ihep 20 TO prevent continuation of
'Hg preaching complained of.
10 that conservative yictor, ~
aeIdi eIdi leaders refused to bow and
10y TOOK occasion in the closing ses-
nro,ase sterday to place on record this
hnoWn leaders of the church
AL the Grand Rapids assembly nav.
80 nperal Leaders are expected 10
renew their fight for a broader in
'e1hPpreIatlon hp of the scriptures
MT. Bryan has declared that he a1so
IL not satisfied with the defeat of =; =
res0lution on evolution and viii come
again. ~ piess II
The general assembly spent most Of
proving the findings of the i,,dinia !
commission, the appellate court whicb
reviews disputes and trials before n a
prsSoytertes and synods.
x..,iI ne only case of wide Importance
rSVleWed was the appeal of the Rev
IHomas j. irwin Of Lawton, Okla. from,
tne verdict of the FL Reno presbvterv
ana the Oklahoma preSbyterv indaf;
HLtely suspending him from the min
!stry on charges of conduct unbecn,n
ing a minister. violation of his ordi-
nation vows and violation of church
laws. eHuicii
His Troubles.
Ihe Key. Mr.. Irwin came into prom
inence when he preached a sermon
defending the private life OF one of
Els former parishioners. the late Jake
hamon, former republican national
committeeman, who was shot to death
by woman relative. Later he was
charged with having married a cou-
PIE "niie ne ana the other princinaIs <
were dressed in bathing suits. and his
troubles with the presbytery growing
: out OF that affair included civil and
criminal court actions, an attempt to
ourn his church, charges that he had
set the flre, two assaults in which he
was badly beaten by masked men.
and other occurrences.
Commissions Findings.
The. judicial commission found that
the sentence of indefinite suspension
which, the report said, "is the eccIe-
slastical capital uniShment" was TOO
severe. and that a reprimand or very
limited suspension would have been
Sufnclent. 1t therefore recommended
and the assembly approved, that Mr..
Irwin should be restored to member
snip in the Ell Reno presbytery and
given letter to any presbytery to
which he might choose to transfer.
SeventE-hVe overtures from various
presDyteIfes on the question OF mixed
marriages between Presbyterians and
Roman Catholics were tabled, hH rec
oInmendation of the committee and a
resolution adopted that presbyteries
and pastors should 'pra yerfulIy'' CON
slider each individual case as it arises