The itinerancy ; its power and peril

Dedication

TO THE REV. AUSTIN M. COURTENAY, D.D., WHOSE LONG AND USEFUL MINISTRY EXEM- PLIFIES THE UTILITY OF THE ITINERANCY, WHOSE HIGH QUALITIES OF HEAD AND HEART HAVE LONG ENDEARED HIM TO THE CHURCH, AND WHOSE SELECTION OF THE WRITER AS HIS ASSISTANT AT A CRITICAL PERIOD IN HIS CAREER WAS THE PROVIDENTIAL BEGINNING OF A FELLOWSHIP THAT HAS GREATLY ENRICHED HIS LIFE, THIS WORK IS AFFEC- TIONATELY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR.

Contents

PAGE

Chapter I

Historical data — English Protestantism decadent — American crisis — Two undesigned results — Episcopal Methodism the child of mature thought — Structural changes in American Methodism — Presiding eldership — A logical sequence 19-30

Chapter II The Itinerancy— What It Is And What It Does

No longer an experiment — Apostolic — Fundamental requirements — A system — Initiatory power — Cultivates the whole field — Demands efficiency — Prevents stagnation — The itinerancy in practice, what it does and how 31-58

Chapter III

Origin — Modification — Should the decisions of the Cabinet be decided by ballot?— Indepen-

CONTENTS

PAGE dence of the appointing power; is it either desirable or necessary? — Life vs. term episcopacy — Evolution in administration — Residential areas, legal, logical, and necessary 59-86

Chapter IV

Origin — Utility — Opinion of Abel Stevens, D.D. — Elective eldership adopted — Suspended — Abandoned— Advantages of the appointive superintendency — Dangerous if elective — Principles in selection — Removal of the time limit — Changing functions — Vice-Episcopal office — Type of men needed 87-115

CHAPTER V THE DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENCY (Continued)

The superintendent untaught — Suggestions as to administration — Promoting preachers— ^Appraising men anew — Acquaintance with the churches — Calls and invitations — Consulting the Quarterly Conference — A rock of offense — An unsafe standard — Encouraging young preachers — Justice to all — Variety in administration— Special campaigns 116-150

Chapter VI

Origin — Powers — Influence of the district superintendent— Controlling its personnel — Possible

CONTENTS

PAGE

peril in centralized authority — The bishop in the Cabinet — Desirable Episcopal characteristics— The superintendent in the Cabinet: spokesman for his district, having a plan, making promises, the status quo for each preacher as a minimum, caring for the overlooked, advancing worthy men, exchanging superior for inferior preachers, a threefold task — District boundaries — The superintendent's relation to transfers and calls — Responsibility of the authorities — Problems of the Cabinet — Selection for promotion — Justice to all — Cabinet indispensable — Middle grade men 151-211

Chapter VII

Apostolic — Is the itinerant a distinct type? — A "called" man — The authority of personal experience— Evangelistic emphasis — Rooted in the fundamentals — Devoted to the Itinerancy — First year in the ministry — A preacher's place in an Annual Conference — How it happens— What the preachers say — Promotion based upon merit — The fundamental question — Opinion of one's fellow preachers — Personal friendship — Personal antagonisms — Relation to the district superintendent — Its significance — Attitude toward the superintendent — Prepare for his coming — Loyalty to the district — In touch with headquarters — The next appointment— Staying qualities — Personal equation— Unadaptability — 111 temper — Importance

of small ministries — Personal habits 212-255

CONTENTS

PAGE CHAPTER VIII

Limitations universal — Alleged weaknesses : promotes restlessness, intellectual indolence, selfishness in administration, too systematic, a governing aristocracy, elusive responsibility — Difficulties, not perils — Two inherent weaknesses 256-273

Chapter IX Accident Or Providence?

Which alternative? — Old and New Testament polities — A historical necessity — Efficiency inherent in the itinerancy — Escaping dangerous modifications — A modern appeal to an ancient standard 274-287

Introduction

The subject of this book and the book itself greatly interest me. The graphic account of the itinerancy — what it is and what it does — is a splendid tonic for the discouraged "blue Monday" Methodist preacher, and invokes a spirit of thankfulness that the early call to another denomination was not heeded. The manner in which the itinerancy accomplishes the efficient distribution of the ministers, putting every man just where he belongs, brings one to the enthusiastic conclusion that it is best not only for the preacher, but also for the people and for the Kingdom. To it must be attributed that brotherhood among Methodist preachers, unlike that of any other denomination.

While Methodism is of the people and belongs to the people, yet vast power is concentrated in the hands of the episcopacy, though somewhat modified by time and the increasing responsibility of the bishops to the General Conference. Any study of the superintendency would necessarily include the general superintendency of the bishops, and the special superintendency of the district superintendents.

The younger men who are now being clothed with the responsibility of the district superintendency will greatly appreciate the wise suggestions

INTRODUCTION

of this book concerning the discharge of their responsible duties. Even the change of the name from presiding elder to district superintendent is significant of a change in the office itself. The average district superintendent is a more efficient officer than was the average presiding elder. He has injected into his administration some of the intensity which is involved in the etymology of the word itself, namely, "superintendent — one who stretches himself over" — his work. It may be true, as some have suggested, that a real supervision makes smaller bishops and larger superintendents, but it is undoubtedly true that the district superintendency is a larger office than it ever was before. The district superintendent is the adviser and father confessor of young ministers. By kindly help, wise suggestions, and even correction, the thoughtful young pastor becomes obligated to the faithful superintendent, who knows his men, their strength and weakness, and who stands by them. The superintendent who cares for his preachers will find the preachers caring for the churches.

It is easy to magnify limitations, but all of the twenty presiding elders who were my associates in the Cabinet had a uniform desire to strengthen the Kingdom, and lucky indeed the young district superintendent who finds a Bishop Merrill at the head of the table and a long-headed John F. Chaffee

INTRODUCTION

at his side. The nervous fear that his more experienced brother will take advantage of his inexperience will disappear, and he will find that the real superintendent has a carefully digested plan, not only for his own district, but which considers the general welfare of the work.

It would be a pleasure to summarize the various chapters, and show how they deal, in an interesting and convincing way, with all the phases and activities of the itinerancy. This book ought to interest every Methodist, whether preacher or layman, for it deals in the most intimate fashion with the inter-relations of the itinerancy. Perhaps I may be permitted to say that the chapters on "The Cabinet," "The Itinerant in the Itinerancy," "The Perils of the Itinerancy," and "Accident or Providence" demand special praise.

Dr. Hensey's nervous, epigrammatic, accumulative style enables him to mass his materials with great skill, and the reader will find himself gripped as by the hands of an interesting romance. Every Methodist, after reading this book, will be ready to renew his allegiance to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and especially to the one great peculiarity developed by all types of Methodism— the itinerancy.

Joseph B. Hingeley.

Chicago, Illinois, December 22, 1917.

Preface

Always unique, time has emphasized the efficiency of the itinerancy among the ecclesiastical systems of the world.

While the achievements of the itinerancy are an open book, the secret springs of its power and interior modus operandi are only too often objects of conjecture and misunderstanding by those who should know it the best and appreciate its deeds the most.

The author does not hesitate to deal frankly with the most intimate phases of the itinerancy. The system has suffered because its "out-of-sight" processes have been poorly understood by ministry and laity. Rumors, ill-founded conjectures, and foolish suspicions thrive in an atmosphere of silence and secrecy.

The opinion is ventured that prevailing criticisms of the itinerancy, especially when leveled against the episcopacy and district superintendency, are based upon misconception. Collecting fog in baskets would be a futile method of eradication. Let the sun rise, and the fogs will go.

When the church knows the truth — the whole truth — about the itinerancy; when all of its

PREFACE

processes are brought into the light; when the reasons for, and the method of, the annual distribution of its army of itinerants are clearly understood, serious criticism will disappear like mists before the rising sun. There is nothing about the itinerancy that need be hidden or spoken of in whispers. It was born in the light, and thrives best when its processes are known and its controllers are both fearless and frank.

Neither apology nor explanation is offered for the untrammeled discussion of all questions relating to the operation of the itinerancy. If this end has not been achieved, the original intention has miscarried. This manuscript has not been written hastily or carelessly, and no confidence is violated in stating that it has been subjected to long and critical scrutiny before being accepted for publication.

The author is under heavy obligation to Bishop Joseph F Berry, D.D., LL.D., the Rev. George C. Wilding, D.D., and the Rev. Charles Sumner Kemble, A.M., B.D., for their careful perusal of the various revisions of the manuscript, and wise suggestions concerning the development of the theme, and especially to the latter for the correction of various verbal errata.

Believing that the better understanding of the itinerancy will enhance its power, and strengthen the hands of those intrusted with its operation,

PREFACE

and humbly praying that the Head of the church may bless the message to the accomplishment of these ends, the author sends this work upon its mission.

Jambs A. Hbnsby.

Chapter I Origin Of The Itinerancy

The genesis of a movement is often shrouded in mystery or its earliest memorials are tantalizingly obscure. The results can be measured and the processes by which they were achieved understood, but the distant causes calling the new force into being, giving it organic form, and enabling it visibly to affect the course of human history, are often subjects of interesting but hopeless speculation.

Few memorials of the Methodist movement are either obscure or missing. Its logical development can be traced step by step from its birth in the virile brain, eager heart, and flaming soul of one man — John Wesley — to its far-flung battle trenches reaching to the ends of the earth.

This story need not be told. That has been done many times, fully, interestingly, and fascinatingly, by facile pens and brilliant minds. Its forensic achievements, theological triumphs, educational conquests, and evangelistic victories comprise an oft and well-told tale.

But it does come within the purview of the subject to inquire into the causes for the quick response of the English-speaking world to the evangelistic message of the early itinerants, and to learn the secret of that efficient organization which so swiftly garnered the fruits of one of the most widespread and beneficent intellectual and spiritual awakenings that have ever blessed human society. These causes may be quickly summarized :

The Low State op Religion in England and

America

The situation was menacing. English Protestantism was in ebb tide. Vital religion was flouted by preachers and derided by the populace. The great doctrines of the Reformation had become meaningless phrases. The apostolic gospel, reintroduced by the German and Swiss reformers, had suffered eclipse. The clergy of the Established Church were generally addicted to card-playing, fox-hunting, horse-racing, and were noted for their devotion to the flowing bowl. Their services were droned, for the most part, to empty pews. Religion was only remotely related to life. The masses had drifted out of the churches, established and dissenting, and it did not seem as though they could be won back. An eminent churchman of that period, Isaac Taylor, says when Wesley appeared the Anglican Church was "an ecclesiastical system under which the people of England had lapsed into heathenism, or a state hardly to be distinguished from it," and that Methodism "preserved from extinction the languishing nonconformity of the last century, which, just at the time of the Methodist revival, was rapidly in course to be found nowhere but in books."

The long reign of Calvinism in America had produced results little less alarming. Religion was a negligible factor in the young nation's life. If the whole matter of salvation had been predetermined without the possibility of either mistake or change, why need one give the subject attention? Results would be unavoidable and according to schedule!

The situation in America was rendered additionally hazardous by the rapid settlement of a virgin continent. The restless frontiersmen eagerly followed the footsteps of the setting sun. The woodman's ax broke the stillness of the primeval forest ; the crunching wheels of the "prairie schooner" carried the pioneer onward and outward, while new communities were dotting the continent as the stars crowd the skies. Existing denominations had neither message nor method adequate to the situation. The nonevangelistic message of the churches ; the long preparation for the ministry generally demanded by all the denominations; the life-pastorate, then in vogue, with its candidating and calling, presented a threefold difficulty which, without the providential intervention of Methodism, might have doomed the American continent to moral and spiritual darkness.

Spiritual Emphasis of the New Movement

If Methodism had been an intellectual vagary, a doctrinal revamp, or simply an introducer of new modes of worship and methods of work, the cycle of its influence would long since have been finished, and its history written. But Methodism was a spiritual revolution. It originated in an earnest yearning for spiritual peace and personal holiness. Its progenitor was not a daring innovator, an ambitious ecclesiastic, nor a disappointed seeker of religious beneficies. His eye was single : to lead a holy life himself, and spread scriptural holiness over the world.

"For three quarters of a century," wrote the Rev. Dr. Barrows, a non-Methodist, in 1866, "Methodism has been the breath of God blowing across the continent, refreshing and reviving faint and dying souls, giving new life to millions and changing the condition of the religious atmosphere of the world."

"The breath of God blowing across the continent"! The highest of all possible encomiums, but anything less would not be the whole truth. The spiritual triumphs of early Christianity were repeated. With its deep consciousness of spiritual realities ; its abhorrence of sin ; its conviction of the moral guilt of all, with no possibility of self- recovery ; its unyielding faith in an atonement deserved by none, but intended for all, and all-sufficient; its intellectual recoil from the doctrine of divine partiality; its belief in regeneration— the possible restoration of every soul to its lost equilibrium; its clear sense of the witness of the Spirit to personal redemption; its deep joy, flowing like a river in flood, full and satisfying; its clarion call to immediate repentance, insistence upon immediate faith, and promise of immediate forgiveness; its "sweet communion, solemn vows," thrilling songs, stirring testimonies, sympathetic fellowship — ah! is it any wonder that Methodism was awakening, compelling? Ridicule swelled its ranks, and persecution only solidified its following. It was ancient Christianity in modern times.

A New and Efficient Economy

John Wesley was not a speculator in methods, but a daring follower of the fugitive intimations and suggestions of Providence. He had a keen and open mind. Systematic rather than enthusiastic, methodical rather than emotional, keenly intellectual, deeply spiritual — his head was ever above the fogs, and his feet always upon the solid earth.

Wesley had no preconceived plan for the organization of his followers, or for the development of the work daily growing more formidable. He originally contemplated nothing more than the spiritual quickening of the mother church. But the new wine could not be put in old bottles. The dynamic force of the new movement could not be denied self-expression. It could no more be a "sect" in the Established Church than Christianity could have lived as a "sect" in Judaism. In each case it was not a new phase of thought or mode of worship, but a new life struggling for breath, and demanding opportunity for growth and development. The establishment has often regretted its hostility to the Wesleys and their coreligionists, evidently thinking that the new cloth could have been sewed onto the old garment. But separation was both inevitable and desirable. The old order could not adjust itself to the new interpretation, and the new ideas could not express themselves in the old modes. It was better for both, and infinitely better for the world, that each should go its way unhindered by the other.

The itinerancy is the distinguishing feature of

Methodist economy, a startling innovation, the chief agency in its rapid spread, and the principal source of its present power. The itinerancy was neither forethought nor afterthought, but logical sequence. Wesley expected help from the established clergy, but was soon disillusioned by their bitter antagonism. Little groups of followers began to appear in scattered communities. Wesley was indefatigable, but he could not be omnipresent. The converts were largely from the humbler walks of life — colliers, cobblers, laborers, farmers, small tradesmen, and village folk, without education or social position. Rebuffed by the regular clergy, and without consecutive spiritual oversight, their position was indeed a precarious one.

"What," Wesley asks, "was to be done in a case of such extreme necessity, where so many souls lay at stake? No clergyman would assist at all. The expedient that remained was to seek some one among themselves who was upright of heart and sound of judgment in the things of God, and desire him to meet the rest as often as he could, to confirm them, as he was able, in the ways of God, either by reading to them or by prayer and exhortation." It was a short step from exhortation to exposition, and a shorter one from exposition to preaching. A lay ministry was the undesigned result.

But a new difficulty arose. There were more societies than helpers. Earnest men began to travel from town to town, and the itinerancy — Methodism's right arm of power — was the second undesigned result. A few men covered a wide territory. When the labors of these men were systematized the whole movement assumed a coherency and a permanency which it has never lost.

The government of English Methodism, up to the day of his death, was Wesley's private affair. He counseled with the preachers, and rendered a personal decision binding upon all. There was increasing restlessness toward the close of his long life, but no open rebellion. Those who were not pleased retired, a privilege accepted by not a few. Wesley stationed the preachers, and in doing so permitted neither discussion nor appeal.

Prior to the revolution, Wesley exercised, through his representatives, the same undisputed power over the Methodist movement in the American colonies, a power which he never attempted to regain after independence had been achieved. Indeed, the infirmities of advancing age, the slow and uncertain modes of travel and communication, his fragmentary knowledge of the whole American situation, and the urgent demands of the new continent for an organized and responsible officiary made it necessary to give the transatlantic movement organic form. This great task Wesley did not hesitate to undertake, and his influence with American Methodists was still sufficient to cause the acceptance of his decision without serious question.

The organic structure of the Methodist Episcopal Church is the mature judgment of its great founder. Restricted by ecclesiastical environment, by paternal and sympathetic relations to the church of his youth, harassed by vigilant and powerful critics, and embarrassed by the immaturity of his own views, Wesley gave to English Methodism the best form possible under the circumstances. In America he had a free hand. Long experience and deep study had clarified his views and settled his convictions. When the hour of destiny struck, Wesley was ready, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, the most scientifically articulated ecclesiasticism in all the range of Protestantism, began its great career.

Fully convinced that "presbyter" and "bishop" were synonymous terms, he yet hesitated to use the title "bishop" when ordaining Thomas Coke "superintendent" of the Methodist Church in America, and instructed him to proceed with the ordination of Francis Asbury to the same office. To have assumed the title of bishop for himself, or to have given it to Coke and Asbury, would have displeased most of his followers and alienated many of them, and would have clouded his last days with a new and bitter controversy.

Structural Changes in American Methodism

The episcopacy and the presiding eldership, now the district superintendency, are the distinguishing governmental features of American Methodism. The episcopacy was a part of the original polity, and the district superintendency was quickly added.

If Wesley had had a thousand years for consultation and consideration, he could not have bestowed a richer boon upon American Methodism than the episcopacy. It has given the church official, dignified, and efficient leadership. Prior to the coming of Dr. Coke, Francis Asbury held the post of leadership by a tenuous ascendancy. How much authority he should wield, and for how long, was being eagerly discussed by the itinerants. Democracy was in renaissance, the nations were aquiver with republican sentiments, and the people were reaching for the reins of power in state and church.

The power of appointment, held by Francis Asbury under authority from Wesley, was in jeopardy. If that should be abridged — by no means an impossibility — the efficiency of American Methodism would be seriously imperiled. It is eloquent testimony to the moral influence of Wesley and Asbury, and also to the enlightened judgment of the men who composed the memorable Christmas Conference of 1784, that they were willing to accept a system contrary to the prevailing sentiment of the age. The experienced men in that Conference were well enough acquainted with the itinerancy to know that it could not for any great length of time survive the abandonment of its peculiar, responsible, and concentrated leadership.

The second distinguishing feature of American Methodism, the district superintendency, originated quite accidentally — or, is it not better to say, Providentially? None of the American ministers had been ordained prior to the Christmas Conference of 1784. The people were clamoring for the sacraments which their pastors did not have the right to give. Twelve men were ordained to administer them throughout the church, and to facilitate their task the church was divided into twelve districts. The district superintendency grew out of this situation.

The work of administration was becoming increasingly difficult. Bishop Asbury could no longer visit every church annually. He began to consult the "elders," who had traveled where he could not go. They had valuable information, though without authority, save in the matter of the sacraments, and the bishop naturally began to consult them when fixing the appointments.

This is the simple story of the origin of the district superintendency. Again, it was neither forethought nor afterthought, but logical sequence.

SO

Chapter II The Itinerancy— What It Is And What It Does

Before investigating the operation of the itinerancy— how it is worked — it may be desirable to estimate its value in the light of history.

No Longer on Trial

First a necessity, next an experiment, it has become the chief bulwark of a world church. Long tested in the harsh school of experience, its efficiency has been proven on some of the fiercest moral battle fields the church has ever known.

Apostolic in Nature

The Divine Founder of Christianity was an itinerant preacher. He "went about doing good." Galilee, Samaria, and Judaea saw his face and heard his voice. He sent out his disciples two by two to prepare the way for his coming. Later, groups of disciples in varying numbers were commissioned to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Interrupted by the crucifixion, these itinerant labors were soon resumed. Paul caught the same spirit. Restless as the ocean, Arabia, Damascus, Jerusalem, Antioch, Tarsus, Corinth, Athens, the islands of the sea, and even Rome — proud mistress of the world — heard this acute dialectician and burning witness for the risen Redeemer.

Christianity won its earliest triumphs with itinerant preachers. Scattered by persecution, or impelled by a sense of divine urgency, the first teachers and preachers went everywhere. However far harried believers were driven in their search for spiritual freedom, the story of the cross was told, and new communities of believers sprang up. The world empire of Christianity could have been built in no other way.

Choice and necessity combined to make John Wesley an itinerant preacher and to use the itinerant method in building his societies. His scattered converts were too few and poor to support settled pastors, even had such men been available. But the itinerancy, in Wesley's hands, was at once reduced to a scientific basis. His "lay helpers" did not wander about, controlled by impulse or driven by necessity. Their activities were centrally directed. The reins were held in a steady hand. Watched by a vigilant eye, they were directed by superior judgment and resolute will.

Fundamental Requirements in an Itinerancy

A successful itinerancy demands three things :

1. Centralized authority. There must be ultimate authority, all the better if it be centralized in a single individual. An itinerancy demands quick, accurate, and final decisions. Authority must be at the maximum and appeal at the minimum. This authority English Methodism had under Mr. Wesley, and the Methodist Episcopal Church under its bishops has always possessed it.

2. Preachers must believe in the itinerancy, and submit themselves unhesitatingly to its authority. It is significant that the larger the Methodist Episcopal Church becomes — the branch in which centralized authority has reached its highest development — the less disposition is there to question its utility for churches or preachers. While the pioneer preachers were believers in the itinerancy, it was the subject of frequent and prolonged discussion, and powerful attempts were made to introduce certain modifications. Such efforts have long since ceased, and it is questionable whether there exists a more loyal body of men than the thirty thousand ministers of Episcopal Methodism, who annually submit the dearest interests of life to the hazards incident to an itinerant ministry.

3. There must be a loyal constituency. The church must have a clear understanding of the itinerancy, what it is and how it operates, and not only be willing to accept its many advantages, but also to endure its incidental disadvantages. Long and intimate acquaintance with the itinerancy satisfies the minister that the system is his friend, even when his wishes cannot be granted ; but the layman who may have given the system only cursory consideration, and who may judge it entirely from the local standpoint, easily grows impatient when his views are not instantly and fully heeded.

What the Itinerancy Does

Theories, however cautiously developed or cogently phrased, are always uncertain. Until reduced to the test of actual experience, under varied conditions and for an adequate period, they are simply possibilities. Defensible in theory, they may prove impossible in practice. Prophecies concerning the itinerancy would now be strangely out of place — the world knows what it does. It began as a fact, was bitterly assailed by hostile theorizers, and has lived long enough to show that they were wrong.

A System

This cannot be overemphasized. The itinerancy is not a haphazard makeshift, doing its best under the circumstances, but a scientific system, basing its decisions upon accurate data, painstakingly acquired. It does not send men about whom it knows little into communities about which it knows less. Maladjustments are occasionally unavoidable because of the meager capacity or crass dispositions of certain preachers, or because the authorities must deal with an intractable local officiary. The defects of the itinerancy are few in number and of minor significance; its excellencies are manifest and manifold, giving the church one of the most daring and capable ministries ever known.

Initiatory Power

The itinerancy sends men instead of waiting for them to be called. Jesus "sent" his disciples. Before leaving the world he prepared for the future : "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." His disciples were not to loiter about Jerusalem until "called." They were to "go," go at once, and go everywhere.

The itinerancy never loses the strategic initiative. It is always on the offensive. It does not stay out of communities into which it is not invited, but goes wherever needed. Is there anything finer in Methodist annals than the story of its introduction into New England by the lone, unheralded itinerant, Jesse Lee? The Spirit of God had been calling him for five years, and at length, in the face of a thoroughly established and hostile ecclesiasticism, the task was undertaken. But behind Jesse Lee stood the mobile, flexible, dauntless itinerancy; sending its follow-up itinerants, encouraging the few believers, and fostering the feeble societies. Across the Alleghanies and the fertile plains of the Middle West, over the Rocky Mountains and the rolling prairies, westward to the Golden Gate the itinerancy has sent its heralds of truth. Scarcely a camp fire was lighted but that a Methodist itinerant, by its flickering rays, told again the story of the light of the world. While frontiersmen were "winning the West" from wild beasts and wilder men, humble itinerants were building a spiritual empire for Jesus Christ.

In the older communities where the itinerancy established churches more than a century ago it still retains the initiative. Its constant, accurate knowledge of the field and exact information of the industry and capacity of its workers, its cautious survey of shifting populations, enables it to advance or retreat, defend or attack, as the situation may warrant.

Cultivates the Whole Field

Every section of the vineyard must be cultivated, every nook and corner gleaned. Other systems provide easily for the choice sections, the itinerancy cultivates the whole. There are no forgotten fragments, overlooked leaks, or unmasoned breaches. The smallest church, the poorest community has a vigilant representative in the Cabinet, pleading its cause, and insisting upon consideration.