People and preachers in the Methodist Episcopal church

Front matter

.IBRARY OP CONGRESS.

X \% 4- °

Gapijrigffi ^tr.. .......

CHAPTER I. The Rise of Methodism, its Relation to other

Churches, and the Causes of its Success .... 17

The growth of the Christian Church 19

Its form of government 25

Causes of growth of the Methodist Episcopal Church . . 26

Growth of ministerial power therein 30

Chapter II

The Defects in the Organization and in the Representative Bodies of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Dangers arising therefrom to the

Ministry and to the Membership 37

Equality of believers, proper basis of church government . 39

Dangers to the church 47

First. To its inner life : 47

Second. From its organization 51

The constitution of the legislative and executive bodies or

councils of the church and their practical working . . 54

I. The General Conference 54

Its construction 54

Basis of representation 59

(Ecumenical Methodism 68

Who should be members 72

Clerical members 73

Lay members 83

Division of Conference into two bodies 85

10 CONTENTS.

PAGE

To meet every six years 88

As a deliberative body 88

The selection and election of officials 93

Changes suggested . . " 97

II. The Annual Conference . . 99

Its construction 99

Who should be members 103

Lay representation 106

The " Restrictive Rules" 118

Changes suggested 122

Incorporation of Annual Conferences 122

III. The Quarterly Conference 128

Its construction 128

Changes suggested 130

Lay conventions 135

Local preachers and exhorters 136

Chapter III

The Defects and Dangers arising erom the Constitution AND FORM OF MANAGEMENT OF THE CHARI- TABLE Work of the Church and its Publishing

Interests 141

1. The official charitable work of the church 141

Changes made by Act of General Conference of 1872

considered 142

Defects and dangers 146

Changes suggested 152

2. The publishing interests 155

Their use 158

Religious newspapers 167

Quarterly Review 177

Defects and dangers 180

CHAPTER IY.

The Injury that will Result to the Church from Temptations to which the Ministry are subjected, which, while Personal, yet have an

CONTENTS. 11

PAGE

Influence on the Church, and also from the Tendency to eorm Alliances for Securing Influence and Control for their Benefit as a

Class or Party 184

1. The ministry as a class or party 184

2. Political temptations and loss of aggressiveness . . 185

3. Unacceptable ministers 187

4. Secularization of the ministry 100

5. Methods of securing power through alliances of the

ministry as a class 199

a. By exclusion of laymen from church councils . . 201

b. By attack on the power and influence of the bishops 203

c. By use of the Annual Conference 217

d. Through the system of transfers 219

e. Through the presiding eldership 225

/. Through the term of service 231

6. Colored statements 253

7. Power over the purse 254

8. By undue influence 255

9. Conference aid societies 257

10. Endowments 259

CHAPTEK V.

The Dangers that threaten the Peace, Purity, and Prosperity of the Methodist Episcopal Church from the Abuse of the Bepresentative Power

held by the colored conferences 262

The remedy 269

CHAPTER VI.

The Influence of a thorough Introduction of the Laity in every Department of Church Legislation and Work, on its Prosperity and Usefulness, on the Piety, Effectiveness, and Comfort of the Ministry, and on the Piety and Usefulness of the Laity 271

12 CONTENTS.

PAGE

Division of labor and its results 274

Woman's foreign Missionary Society 280

CHAPTER VII.

The Position of the Clerical and Lay Members of the Methodist Episcopal Church on the Question of increased Lay Representation ...... 287

Of the ministry 288

Of the laity 290

CHAPTER VIII.

The Laws of other Churches on Lay Representation 293

Deductions therefrom 293

Memorandum of laws 295

CHAPTER IX.

Resume of the Changes that are required in the Organization and Polity of the Methodist Episcopal Church to suit the Present Conditions

that surround and affect its usefulness . . . 300

Basis of argument and fundamental principles 301

Proposed changes in the General Conference 303

Proposed changes in the Annual Conference 305

Proposed change as to " Restrictive Rules" 306

Proposed changes in the Quarterly Conference 306

Proposed changes in the General Conference Board and

Societies 306

Proposed changes in the publishing interests 307

The colored and mixed Conferences 307

Harmony 309

How to secure the proposed changes 312

INTBODTTCTIOE".

Methodism is now an acknowledged power in Christendom. The Wesleyan Church and the Methodist Churches of the United States and of Canada have secured this position of influence, by the grace of God, through the employment of certain means, coupled with a singular simplicity and purity in doctrine.

The Methodist Episcopal Church of this country, as one branch of Methodism, has developed into the largest of the family in numbers, in wealth, and probably in influence. The growth of Episcopal Methodism is among the remarkable facts in church history. It is the more remarkable in that its organization was an original conception, unlike anything in the history of church or of state.

The Methodist Episcopal Church has won its way so well and so rapidly because it has been a power for good. Its teachings and many of its peculiarities have been approved by thousands, indeed by millions, of people who have been and are yet in its fold; its influence has reached other Christian bodies and has modified their doctrines and customs. To study the inner life of such a body, to learn wherein lies its peculiar adaptation to the wants of man's nature, and the dangers that may lurk about its system, is a proper

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1 ]. INTROD UCTION.

business for every one in any way interested in the progress of Christ's cause. No harm can come to such an organization without affecting all the churches, while its progress, growth, and increased usefulness will help and aid other churches in their work.

"With the desire to impartially study the polity of the Methodist. Episcopal Church, in relation to its present wants and its future usefulness, an effort will be made —

First : To establish the proper basis on which church organizations should be built and the scriptural relations of all parties to such church.

Second : To examine the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the causes of its success.

Third : To show the dangers to which the Methodist Episcopal Church is now exposed. 1st. From changes in its inner life; 2d. From its organization; and, 3d. From the influence of the ministers as a class and as individuals.

Fourth : To suggest changes in its organization

OS & &

whereby, through the introduction of lay representatives in all its councils and by certain other modifications of its laws, these dangers may be lessened and the church be made more useful and efficient.

Fifth : To show how and wherein such changes in the organization would tend to increase the piety and usefulness both of the ministry and membership.

These propositions may be considered under the following headings :

First : The rise of Methodism, its relation to other churches, and the causes of its success.

IN TR OD UCTION. \ 5

Second : The defects in the organization and in the representative bodies of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the dangers arising therefrom to the church as a body, to the ministry, and to the membership.

Third : The defects and dangers arising from the constitution and form of management of the charitable work of the church and of its publishing interests.

Fourth : The injury that may result to the church from temptations to which the ministry are subjected (which, while personal, yet have an influence on the church), and also from the tendency to form alliances for securing influence and control in the church for their benefit as a class or party.

Fifth : The dangers that threaten the peace, purity, and prosperity of the Methodist Episcopal Church from an abuse of the representative power held by the colored Conferences.

Sixth : The influence of a thorough introduction of the laity in every department of church legislation and work ou its prosperity and usefulness, on the piety, effectiveness, and comfort of the ministry, and on the piety and usefulness of the laity.

Seventh : The position of the clerical aud lay members of the Methodist Episcopal Church on the question of increased lay representation.

Eighth : The laws of other churches on lay representation.

Ninth : Resume of the changes that are required in the organization and polity of the Methodist Episcopal Church to suit the present conditions that surround it and affect its usefulness.

PEOPLE AND PREACHERS

IN THE

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Chapter I

The rise of Methodism, its relation to other churches, and the causes of its success.

The object of religious teaching is to gain access to man's spiritual nature that it may receive the training, development, and preparation which are required to secure, through His Son Jesus Christ, the fulfilment of the promises of the Father in this life and in the life to come.

The inducements that Christianity offers to man of improved health of body, of increased power of thought, of comprehension or grasp of mind, of a clean heart of an enlightened conscience, of a purer life, of better relations with his fellow-men and a proper relation with God the Father, of Divine guidance, of support in trials, of a deeply-grounded peace, with the promise of perfect happiness in the future life, demand and should receive the most profound consideration of every intelligent being.

The measures by which these promises of God, the Father, through His Son, Jesus Christ, can be best brought to man are only second in importance to the fact of the promises. These promises, these teachings, affect man most nearly, for they define the laws that control the condition of his existence here and hereafter. To make these promises practical in the life of man, through them to bring men together and unite them in one bond and for one purpose, — their salvation and the glory of God, — to adopt measures for their promulgation among all peoples, embrace the leading duties of the church.

The tracing of the nature, character, and object of these teachings as they were first delivered to man, in the fact of his existence (being born with him), then the verbal communication between man and his Creator, by being brought face to face with God Himself or with His angels, and then as they came to man through His prophets, and lastly by His Son Jesus Christ, must impress on the student the conviction that there has been a constant development and unfolding of the Divine thought and plans toward man from the time of his creation.

The changes that have come during the past nearly nineteen hundred years in the teachings of the church established by Jesus Christ have been characterized by a law of development in the unfolding of great truths.

The simplicity of the teachings of Jesus Christ, of the methods adopted by Him for the extension of His kingdom, His failure to establish a church that should rival in its ceremonies the Jewish, which was to be put away, could scarcely be comprehended or appreciated by His disciples and followers; and while the truths the teachings contain are the same to-day as when delivered to man, yet they have in the time that has passed undergone many different interpretations. Yet it may be accepted that certain truths, or certain aspects of them, have been suited to man's condition at the time when they were prominent and had influence on his life. The natural tendency of the mind of man would be to take hold of such truths, or such aspects of them, as for the time seemed most important to his moral and spiritual welfare.

These have been given to man as he has developed the ability and intelligence to appreciate and accept them, and just as rapidly as they became necessary to the growth and development of his mental and moral nature.

The forms of worship and of the government of the church have been subject to many changes. The simple preaching of the gospel by Jesus Christ, by His disciples and apostles, soon degenerated into a seeking after the forms of the Jewish worship. Even the Apostles James and Peter looked upon the Church of Christ as but a modification of the old church in which they and their fathers had been reared. They could not with Paul and John cut loose from the ritual services of the temple ; they could not readily understand the perfect liberty to which the disciples of Christ were called. Many Jewish Christians could not believe that Jesus Christ had come into the world to establish a new church ; that while His teachings embodied all of the natural religion given to man, yet that in those teachings there was a new inspiration ; that on His life and death was to be founded a new church, of which He was to be the corner-stone. The original simplicity of service and worship was not consonant with the character of man, and to it by degrees were added some of the Jewish ceremonies and Pagan rites of Rome and Greece. Man soon saw that there were elements of power and honor in the young church, and from many good intentions there developed the Roman Church as a spiritual power, and after a short time as a political power. The history of this church has been thoroughly written. The progress of man and the history of the Roman Church cannot be separated ; it has lasted through all these centuries, and while its political influence has been lessened, yet it is a power to-day both spiritually and politically. To deny that it has, amidst all its errors, done much for man would be to deny his progress. For while much has been due to more recent protesting churches, yet when there was no other church during the time of the great invasions from the North, while governments were uprooted and Europe was in continual warfare, in spite of wicked popes, a debauched ministry, and a degenerate and deceived people, the Roman Church kept in its bosom the gospel of Christ, to be delivered to peoples in after- times who could separate the gold from its dross.

WyclifFe, Huss, Luther, Erasmus, Zwingle, and Calvin are illustrious among these religious alchemists, and while the separation was not perfect, yet in the formation of the Reformed Churches as a resultant of many years of struggle, such separation was well nigh complete.

But even then the same difficulties arose as in the time of the Apostles, and the result was the loss of the simplicity of the Reformed Church, — on the one side hankering after the forms, traditions, power, and loaves and fishes of the Roman Church, resulting in the formation of the Church of England, and on the other by the abandonment of the teachings of Christ as understood by Paul and John and running off into Calvinism with its doctrines so totally averse to the loving, tender, brotherly feeling and sympathies of Jesus Christ, thereby creating a church of stern, rigid doctrinaires, though with many characteristics that were commendable and worthy of imitation. The results of this division, or rather this breaking up of the Reformed Church, are plainly marked in the annals of the English and of the Scotch Churches, and in the moral character of the people. In due time, when man's necessity was the greatest, God sent that great teacher, John Wesley, into the world, and endowed him not only with the qualities of a teacher, but of a leader of men and a great organizer of the forces at his command. His education was solid, his acquirements large and varied, his heart and mind were honest, his purpose was single; and as the truth of the gospel was burned into his soul, so with his might and main he labored to preach that gospel to all people, and to gather his followers into a body that should be perfect in the simplicity of its organization and methods and yet be most effective in its work.

Thus, without a consciousness of the fact, Mr. Wesley was the instrument under Christ of recreating and restoring, in the form of Methodism, the Reformed Church of England as the nearest approach to the Apostolic Church, in the purity of its doctrine, its simplicity, and its effectiveness. Methodism was thus a special child of Providence. It approved itself to many who had found no haven of rest for their burdened souls, although eagerly seeking where one might be found ; it met the wants of those who had but little of comfort in this world by holding up the Saviour's exhortations and promises of the rest of another world ; to the weak in will-power it promised help and strength; it opened a large field of usefulness to many who perceived its spirit and its adaptation to meet man's greatest wants. It was an inspiration to many who had never before realized that Christ's invitation was to all men, that all might be saved and partake of His glory ; that He would give to each one a witness that should satisfy him of his adoption into the family of God; that his heart should be filled with the love of Christ ; that He had promised not to forsake him in this life nor in the dark passage, and finally would show to each one the Father in another life. Estimating these facts by the laws of human nature, it is no wonder that Methodism spread rapidly in England; that it gathered into its fold from all classes of society, aud has been from that time onward a great spiritual power. Nor will it be surprising that it was transported into this country, w r here it could be freed from the entanglements which for many years beset, and even yet hinder its growth in England, in the overpowering influence of the Established Church, and in the stronghold which the Presbyterian Churches maintain over the

Northern mind. Its history in our own country, as well as in England, has been exhaustively written j it will not be repeated herein, except as it may touch the subject of this essay.

The preceding pages have been written mainly with the object of bringing to the attention of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in this country the proper place which their denomination occupies in the history and work of the general church, and to deduce from this position the further important fact that it has a philosophic as well as a moral right of existence, in that the general church of Jesus Christ on the earth may be divided into two classes : the one, the Catholic Churches, embracing the Greek and Roman, and the other, the Methodist Churches, representing the principles of the Reformed Church of England. With the former may be classed such churches or portions of churches that hold to the forms and traditions of the early Roman Church, with its Judaic and Pagan rites and ceremonies; to the latter maybe added the various forms of Protestantism that, while spiritual and in the main orthodox, yet are narrower in their teachings, and hold certain special doctrines or retain certain forms which prevent the acceptance of the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their full simplicity and attendant power.

The character of the teaching of this gospel by Methodism has had a marked influence on that of other Protestant Churches, and some of their most thoughtful men are desirous of adopting many of the peculiarities of its methods and organization.

There is not space here to analyze the points of difference between these two great and representative churches, nor to compare them with those of their subordinate allies. As the leaders of Christendom they have many points of resemblance. Their methods of influencing men are based on an intelligent knowledge and appreciation of man's mental, moral, and spiritual nature. Each church directs its chief efforts in certain lines to reach certain parts of this composite being, man; and just as the special qualities of indulgence of the senses, of devotion, of reverence, of self-denial, of adoration, of imagination, of order, of fear, of duty, of trust, of love, and of awe are unduly or unequally developed, so will the person naturally incline to one or the other church or the branches thereof. A. full and equal development of man's moral nature and intellectual capacity, under the teachings of Jesus Christ, would be perfection; it is this more equal development of the powers of the heart and mind that characterizes Methodism and has made her the leader of the Protestant Churches ; it has also enabled her to divide with the Roman Catholic Church the honor of being the church for the masses of the people.

If this view of the position and work of the Methodist Churches in the United States is correct, then the responsibility on their membership is great ; and if it be said, with one of old, Who can bear it? the answer may be, That all things under God are possible to those who put their trust in Him.

Such responsibility can only be met by a careful examination of the causes which have placed the church in such a position, and a thoughtful inquiry, to be made by each branch of Methodism, to ascertain if by any changes they may more fully perform their mission of spreading scriptural holiness over all the lands, and further to examine if there are any impediments or hindrances in the way. Before proceeding to make such suggested examinations and inquiries as they may affect the Methodist Episcopal Church, it is important to understand

THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

To do this in the fewest words, it may be said that the wisdom of Christ, in His knowledge of His disciples and the wants of His creatures, is evident from the fact that He gave no specific form of government ; that He commissioned His disciples to go out into the world and teach the people His gospel, receiving support as they could, and when in need, to work at their trades for their own support ; and that they might be entirely free for this work of teaching, the young church, in a mass meeting, directed that others should see to the poor and needy.

The most important meeting of the Apostles and believers that is recorded was called for the purpose of comparing notes and seeing if they could agree together as to the instructions of Christ on the points involved in the performance of their work. They met as equals.

The simplest idea, then, of a church is an assembly of believers in and followers of Jesus Christ, embracing men and women, "The multitude of them that beb 3 lieved." Some of these may be teachers, some caretakers of the poor, supplying the wants of the saints, but all are on an equality. From this form of government there may be divergencies for the purpose of increased efficiency without destruction of the cardinal principle of equality.

It is, then, by this test that the present organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church and any proposed changes should be tried : that if there are any provisions in its organization which are subversive of this principle, they are a hindrance to the cause and should be eliminated ; or if any changes or additions can be made to increase the efficiency of the church which are in harmony with this principle of equality, they should be introduced into its organic laws.

CAUSES OF GROWTH OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

The point is now reached when it may be profitable to analyze the chief causes of the growth of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This has been due (after the acknowledgment that all success comes from God) to the character of the doctrines preached by its teachers, viz. : repentance, free grace, the witness of the spirit, justification by faith, holiness of heart, and purity of life; to the active co-operation and employment of the laity in the religious exercises, to the deep spiritual experience of its teachers and people, to the earnest exhortations, the personal appeals, the godly lives of its members ; to the hearty responses to sentiments that affected the heart or fired the imagination ; to the wholesouled singing, the touching melodies, the religious fervor ; to the earnest and trusting appeals to the Deity for help, and to the brotherly aid and sympathy. It has been religion on fire. The religious character and zeal of its ministry have added to its success : many of them were men of marked powers of mind ; they were educated in a school that made few half-grown men. The frequent change of its ministers had great influence, giving the people the advantage not only of regular preaching, but secured to them a higher average of preaching than would otherwise have been possible, and has thus enabled the church to reach, by the use of the itinerancy and its system of circuits, every nook and corner of the land as it was opened to settlement. These pioneers, thus schooled, acquired a practical education that few men now have, and that is only possible in new countries. Among such men there was no room for gowns, formal services, written sermons, genuflections, bowing to the east, and so on ; their work was more earnest ; they could not so trifle with time or the interests of immortal souls ; they had to be at work in their Master's vineyard. The itinerant preacher, when his term of service was limited to two years, confined his teaching to a discussion of the leading topics in the religion of Jesus Christ, closing each sermon with a practical application and an appeal. This was strong food for the people; it was not diluted by being extended through a service of five, ten, or twenty years. Probably this kind of preaching was the stronger and the more .pointed because of the inability of many of the ministers to present a diluted gospel in an attractive form. Their preaching partook more of the style of the utterances of Christ Himself, of the Apostles, and of the early disciples; it approached the yea, yea, and the nay, nay. The threatenings of the gospel were declared with deep earnestness and in tones of thunder : " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." And the entreaties and invitations of the gospel were uttered with hearts full of love for the perishing, with voices full of sympathetic tones, and often with tears : " Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Such preaching forced its hearers to think and to act. That it had marvellous influence and power is to be expected from the working of the laws of man's mental and moral nature. Then, too, the condition of the public mind, the habits and surroundings of the people were favorable to the reception of the gospel as preached by the Methodist itinerants. Again, the personal interest felt by the members of the church in the conversion of their families, their friends, and neighbors, and for all with whom they came in contact, — following them up with their exhortations and with their prayers, rejoicing with them in their conversion and welcoming them into the church, had a great influence in adding to its numbers. This influence was continued by the watchful care over the new converts by the class-leaders. The encouragement to take part in religious meetings strengthened the ties that bound them to the church, for with these exercises came a feeling of greater personal interest and a sense of personal responsibility. These influences are of a higher grade than the social influences that also characterized the Methodist people, — a result of their frequent association in the services of the church, the class- and prayer-meetings, the Sunday-school, and the benevolent work. Other churches may have a development of power from the social relations of their people, but they lack that special power which comes through a sympathy with the public and private struggles of penitents, the joy at their conversion, and the encouragement in their religious life, in the use of its special means of grace. These are among the most prominent elements of the growth of the church. To repeat : these are its doctrines, its means of grace, — the earnestness of its teachers, the efficiency of its organization, and the religious and social power developed in its people.

It will not be thought singular that such influences should have produced a peculiar people, with distinct marks by which their meetings are known all over the world ; that there has been developed a certain spirit, a certain something that is felt wherever and whenever they are met; that this spirit pervades the people, and therefore one body is the type of all. By such a spirit Methodism is bound with cords that cannot be broken, whatever may be the divergencies needed to suit different conditions of time and place.

But while all this is true of Methodism, yet there are some points in its history and in the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church that should in passing be noticed. It may be found that great as its progress has been, it should have or might have been more useful in its work if there had been certain modifications made years ago in its form of government.

3*

GROWTH OF MINISTERIAL POWER.

To go back a short way in history. It will be remembered that when Methodism was first introduced into this country it partook largely of the character of its founder; it was his child, and with wonderful wisdom for the times, he gave not only Methodism in England its organization (effected after his death), but suggested that for this country. .