Evening star., 1960-06-18

4CAC ACA1CC dO WCoIA1Il1AStCIS MO.p q
ence at Fredericksburg, Va, al
m or e-than-9-million member
denomination were in action.
At the General Conference a
reporter could get a broad look
at the national sweep of the
church. Delegates from every
State as well as from countries
overseas were present. The is
sues discussed and the actions
taken were equally broad, cov-
ering measures that affected
the Methodist Church through
out the world.
Since the conference was
held in a large city, the vast
ness of the aSSemblage was
matched by the greatness of
the metropolis. Sessions were
held in the city's large audi
torium, seating more than 12,-
900 persons. This had the ad-
vantage of bringing together
big crowds, but it also had the
disadvantage of the loss of inti-
macy smaller gatherings have.
A Step Between
The Northeastern JuriSdic-
tional Conference is a step
between the national and the
sectional meetings. The mar
rowing Of interests is immedi-
ately apparent since the gath
ering was primarily concerned
with the workings of the church
within the IL Eastern States,
the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico.
The election of new bishops
properly was uppermost in the
minds of the delegates, for each
jurisdiction has the responsible
ity Of electing the bishops with
in its bounds. The other all
important question to local
MethodistS was the naming Of
a successor to Bishop G. Brom-
ley Oman, who had made a
deep impress upon not only
the church but the Nation in
his eight years as Bishop of
the Washington area.
Meeting Held in Capital
Here, too, the jurisdictional
meeting was held in a large
city, the Nations Capital, and
this imposed somewhat Of a
barrier to the chance Of dele
gates getting to know each
other well. But since the
sessions were held on a college
campus, American University,
the grounds and nearby area
provided the delegates and
visitors with an opportunity to
sit and talk beneath shade trees
and upon the steps Of different
campus buildings.
Both the Baltimore Confer
ence and the Virginia Confer
ence met on college campuses,
the former at Western Mary
land College, Westminster, Nd,
and the latter at Mary WASH
ington College, Fredericksburg,
Va. Each campus has a beauty
and charm of its own. West
ern Maryland College, with its
new Colonial chapel domi-
mating the hilltop campus now
that Old Main and adjacent
structures have been torn down,
is at the top Of a gentle rising
hill beyond the town.
A Rolling Country Vista
A visitor standing behind the
chapel gazes across the rolling
Maryland countryside into
nearby Pennsylvania. Road
ways lace the surrounding we'll
kept green farms, disappearing
and then reappearing with the
change in landscape.
The Mary Washington Col
lege campus, of equal beauty, is
quite different. The sense of
space engendered by the West
ern Maryland campus is re-
placed by one of intimacy, with
large shade trees dominating
the area and giving a visitor a
feeling Of remoteness and self
containment. The grounds
provide a perfect setting for
the Colonial type buildings,
several Of them especially at
tractive with their gently curv-
ing porticos and large white
pillars.
The issues at both the Balti-