Evening star., 1952-09-11
Reject
Seating Of Women
In House Of Deputies
By Cospor Names
Sfaf SfuH Correspondanf

BOSTON. Sept. 1.-THE 57th
general convention Of the Protes-
tant Episcopal Church Of the
U. S. A. today rejected a proposal
to seat women as well as men in
the church's top governing body.
The resolution to seat women as
lay delegates to the House OF
Deputies. the church's legislature,
would have broken a tradition
reaching back to the organization
Of the General Convention in
1889.
1t had received the recon-
mendation Of joint commission
which studied the problem. which
reported mo basis Of distinction
in principle between men and
women as lay persons in the
church"
Clergymen delegates favored
admission of women 43Aa to 26N,
with 10 divided"
But the laymen voted against
admission 341a to 301a with 13
divided"
Came Up In 1916.
The touchy question has been
simmering since 1916. when for
the first time In its history a
woman was seated ''by courtesy"
at the convention in Philadelphia.
At that time, the right of Mrs.
Randolph Dyer of the Missouri
diocese to take her place as a
regularly elected deputy was dis
puted. Opponents insisted the
word "layman" meant men" only
and was not inclusive, with
women" being considered part of
the term. After a debate it was
decided to seat Mrs. Dyer "by
courtesy"
Three years later, at San Fran
cisco, four jurisdictions sent wom-
en- as representatives to the House
of Deputies. The House Of Depu-
ties, by a vote of 321 to 242, refused
to seat them. claiming they were
ineligible as the word ''1aymen"
meant only "men." The house
members then decided to seat the
women 'by courtesy" without q
voice or vote. The women, how
ever. refused to accept the offer,
asserting they were entitled Ito
represent, in its councils, the
church they are proud to serve"
Sc Million Offering.
AS though to bolster their case
with a material example of wo-
mems contribution to Episcopal
church affairs. the women of the
church today gave a United Thank
Offering today Of more than $2.4
million to the church. The offer
ing. largest ever given by women
in the church's history, was pre-
sented at a Holy Communion serv-
ice in Boston Garden. The Rt.
Rev. Henry Knox Sheriff., pre-
siding bishop Of the Episcopal
Church, was celebrant.
II hope the time viii never
come when We will build our
budget forgetting human suffering
and misery throughout the world
and remembering only ecclesiasti-
cal considerations" Bishop Sher-
rill declared yesterday at a Joint
session Of both houses. The joint
meeting was held to hear different
departments present their projects
in connection with the proposed
STA million budget for 1053-55.
Need Of the church to meet
the social problems facing our
country today was stressed by
Francis o. Clarkson, chancellor
of the North Carolina diocese,
yesterday during a Department of
Christian Social Relations report.
Mr.. Clarkson pointed out these
included neglected children from
broken homes. the problem of
divorce and the problem Of the
aged and destitute"
District Leader Speaks.
Mrs. Theodore o. Wedel of
Washington. chairman of the Ma
tional Executive Board Of the
Woman's Auxiliary, said there was
an urgent need to check prejudice
and to investigate preconceived
ideas on the social problems Of
the day.
There Is no question amongl
people about social service
work as function of the church.
but when you get into social edu-|
cation and action some people
think it is not the church'S busi-
ness" Mrs. Wedel charged.
Methodist Bishop Ivan Holt
Hughes Of st. Louis. q member Of
the Methodist Church Commis-
sion, in its discussions with the
Episcopal Church on approaches
to unity between the two bodies,
admitted the difficulty of union
despite the many points in COM
mon Of the two communions.
V Poses Great Danger
British Prelote Fears
NEW YORK. Sept. II R.-
Britain's top churchman today
called television q ''mass-produced
form Of education which is po-
tentially one Of the greatest dan
gers in the world today"
The Most Rev. Geoffrey Fran
cis Fisher ArchhiSh0n of C0ntef.