Milford chronicle., 1928-05-11
GENERAL CONFERENCE
OF THE M. E. CHURCH
IN KANSAS CITY, MO.
By The Rev. DisstOn w. Jacobs
Pastor of Newark, (Del) M. E.
Church,

Pastor of Newark, (Del.) M. Il.
Church.
~ Holy Communion at the openin.
session of the General Conferenc,
of the Methodist Episcopal Churcl
was. indeed, most solemn and i'm
uressive service. One saw Indian
Negro, Chinese, Filipino and Other
delegates of varying race, nation
and language kneel with Americans
in common worship. Thus the in
terhational character of the church
which has become the outgrOwth OF
the doctrines and a religious EN-
phasis spread by John Wesley from
street corners, along road sides, in
humble cottage homes and from the
pulpits of the meeting houses less
than IT'S years ago.
Convention Hall was given a ca
thedral-like appearance by the con-
structiOn of a temporary wall OF
Gothic design behind the platform,
and the appearance was also en-
d.. hanced by the installation of large
church organ.
The decorations consisted of the
American flag, national emblems of
the various countries of the world
where the Methodist Episcopal
Church is engaged in its missionary
work, the Christian flag with its
cross on a blue square in a white
field.
Hidden lighting arrangements lit
up the windows in the cathedral
wall, and high in the center of an
arch was an electrically lighted
cross. In the west balcony, near the
concealed organ, sat a surpliced
choir of sixty-five voices.
Following the communion service
the Conference proceeded to organ
ize for the transaction of its i'm
portant business.
Condemnation of cOmpaniOnate
marriage, a ringing denunciation of
debasing literature and the obscene
tendency of the theatre, firm
stand for prohibition, definite
charge to pastors to bring their in
different church members back into
the church or drop them from mem
bership, and a plea for greater
Christian unity, were contained in
the Episcopal address of the bishop
of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
read before the General Conference.
Nothing of human origin, wheth-
er civic or ecclesiastical, is too sac
red for scrutiny and criticism and
the warrant for denominatiOnal
continuance is in the service actual
ly given to the present age, the adj
dress set forth.
Bishop Luther B. Wilson of New !
York City, who was scheduled to /
read the address, was forced to re-
tire because of fatigue after read |
ing twenty minutes. He has not
been we'll for some time. Bishop
Ernest B. Richardson of the Atlanta
area, secretary of the Board of +
Bishops, continued the reading.
Frequently the reading of the
address was interrupted by the ap-
plause of the delegates. The por-
tions proclaiming militant policy
on the part of the church aroused
special demonstrations.
The Episcopal Address is to the
Conference what the Presi-
dents message is to Congress - a
review of church progress in its
world parish and a declaration on :
future policy and action.
Turning to an examination and :
appraisal of the local church units {
Of the world, the address was Wig
Drous in asserting the belief that {
The progress and value of the S
church is in the hands of the local =
churches, and continued. "It is the i
point of MethOdism's contact with !
humanity The local church z
ought to be to it's neighborhOod as l
| little bit of heaven, and the more /
mike the neighbOrhOod is the \
greater need for the church" [
The following is a brief state S
nent of some of the mandates of Z
Iethodism as declared by the Epis- +
opal Address: c
The popularity of any church
is tawdry and short lived if it i
is gained by lowering standards n
to the common levels of the \
world. "
Sometimes we are harshly =
censorious in our criticism of =
our young people, contrasting n
the manners of youth today ~
with the manners of youth in
some golden yesterday. The :,
contrast often considers youth =
alone and leaves out of view "
the adult actors. b.
If our financial methods con- "
stitute a real embarrassment - -
to the pastor, then they must "
be examined carefully, for -
MethOdism exists not for the ~
board but for the local church, ~
and the chief man among us is l
not a general officer of what VI
ever name or duty. The chief 81
man is the pastor! III III
We must make it convincing u
ly clear to the people among ID
whom we labor that the Metho- I'll
dist Episcopal Church is in no Oh
sense an agent of any govern
ment. Where we labor we are Ia
present not as propagandists of oil
civilization of any type but as be
the friends of men and the pro- ga
chalmers of the good news of M
God. er
mi
We believe in the rights of ST
labor, individual and collective. tn
We affirm our belief also in the
ght of the laborer to determine Bl
for himself his relation to the
labor union, for to us there is
equal aversion to tyranny, ms
whether it be of organized capi- be
tai or organized labor. wc