The Minnesota fiery cross. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1924-19??, 1924-04-25

TRIO FROM ST. PAUL
AT CHURCH SESSION
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n. Morton Of Minneapolis; A. M. Pc
terson of Coleraine.
c. B. Mitchell Of st. Paul, bishop
OF the St. Paul area, which includes
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Da-
kota, although not a delegate, will
attend the general conference, as will
every other Methodist Episcopal
bishop.
$50 Delegates Expected
There will be approximately $50
delegates from all parts of the Unit
ed States and from forty-four nations
and territories abroad. Delegates
from the foreign field elected to. rep
resent the various national groups Of
.Methodists abroad number 70, among
whom are nine women. This gath
4sring is representative of the 4,774,-
$50 members Of the Methodist Epis-
.copal church around the world and Is
the law-making body of the demon
fnation. All decisions made by It
are final unless reconsidered by the
body itself.
The delegations consist Of an equal
number of ministers and laymen from
1852 annual conferences which elect
them. Their number is determined
by the membership included in the
annual conferences.
The plan for unification with the
Methodist Episcopal church South,
which was drawn up by commissions
from the two denominations, is to be
considered by the conference. 1t is
understood that the outlook is con-
.sidered favorable by officials whose
opinions are of weight. 1t provides
for the churches to be united into
one church with two jurisdictions. IL
the plan is accepted by the general
conference of the Methodist Episco-
pal church in May in Springfield, the
general conference of the Method
ist church South, which normally
meets in 1925, probably will be called
in special session to consider the
plan. Acceptance by that body will
make the plan effective. 1t Is I'M
derstood that large sections Of the
membership in each of the two
churches are in favor Of unification
and contamination of the efforts Of
the past decade are regarded as high
ty probable through the action of
the two conferences.
Episcopacy to Be Reviewed
Another question to be reviewed
and which will attract the attention
of the entire Christian world, is the
status of the Episcopscy of the de
nomination. The entire system of
Episcopal supervision will be consid-
cred. 1t is impossible to predict what
turn this action would take, but all
regard it as one of the most weighty
before the church today. The ques
tion has not been reviewed in the
past twenty-five to fifty years.
The entire organization OF the be-
nevolent boards Of the denomination
is to be considered, and the plans dis
cussed for reorganization. Several
plans have been discussed in various
parts of the church and a commits
sion was appointed to study the ques-
tion. The conference will decide
whether the present ten highly spe-
cialized boards will be combined in
to q single general board with many
departments, combined into a smaller
group of four or five, or left as they
are.
Church folk throughout Christen-
dom are interested in the machinery
with which the Methodist church will
undertake its world-service program
after the conclusion of the five-year
centenary expansion movement for
which $70,0O0,00O was given. The
morning devotions and the lectures
and addresses of the evenings will be
broadcast through Westinghouse
WBZ. Extensive exhibits of the work
of the church in all divisions will be
held in conjunction with the confer
ence.
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