370 



METHODISTS. 



Icyan Conference, to reply to a clause it contained 

 recalling John Wesley's attachment to the Church 

 of England, and hoping that in the providence of 

 God the Wesleyan Methodists might one day be 

 reunited to the old Church. Addresses of welcome 

 were delivered by the Rev. Dr. E. E. Jenkins, of 

 the Wesleyan Church, the Rev. Joseph (Well, 

 Primitive Methodist, and Sir Charles T. Skelton, 

 New Connection Methodist, to which responses 

 were made by Bishop J. E. Hurst, of the Meth- 

 odist Episcopal Church: the Rev. Dr. John Potts, 

 of the Methodist Church of Canada, who spoke of 

 the beneficial effect s of the union of the Methodist 

 churches of the Dominion which had made them 

 one from the Atlantic to the Pacific; and Bishop 

 Walters, of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion 

 Church, who spoke of 'the African Methodist Epis- 

 copal churches of America as numbering 27 

 bishops. 1 .402.304 communicants, .1,821,463 pupils 

 in Sunday-schools, and 5,000,000 adherents. 



The subject of the second day's proceedings was 

 The Present Position of Methodism in the World, 

 and was treated in papers relating to the terri- 

 tory covered by the Eastern section; the state 

 of the Methodist churches in Australia and the 

 near completion of the union there; united Meth- 

 odism in Ireland; the work of the Methodist 

 churches in Africa; and The Present Position of 

 Methodism in the Western Section. On the third 

 day papers were read on The Influence of Meth- 

 odism in the Promotion of International Peace, 

 International Fellowship among Methodists, and 

 The Relation of Methodism to the Evangelical 

 Church Movement. The subjects of the discus- 

 sions of the fourth day were Biblical Criticism 

 and the Christian Faith, Recent Corroborations of 

 the Scripture Narrative, and The Appeal of the 

 Old Testament to the Life and Conscience of To- 

 day. Those of the fifth day were Principles of 

 Protestantism versus Modern Sacerdotalism, and 

 Methodism and Education in the Twentieth Cen- 

 tury. The following resolution commending the 

 movement for Methodist union was adopted: 



" Resolved, 1. That this Ecumenical Conference 

 rejoices in the abounding evidences of the essential 

 unity which pervades the Methodist churches 

 throughout the world, and records with devout 

 thankfulness to the great head of the Church the 

 accomplishment of the organic union of the sev- 

 eral branches of Methodism in Australasia. The 

 Conference confidently anticipates that the Meth- 

 odist churches will yet see that such is the divine 

 will, and will follow the example set by the Meth- 

 odist churches in Canada and Australasia. 



" 2. That this Conference recommends the 

 churches of the Eastern section taking into seri- 

 ous consideration that the time has come for, 

 at all events, a partial union among themselves." 



The discussions were resumed on the sixth day, 

 with papers and addresses on Christianity and 

 Modern Unbelief, Secularism and Christianity, 

 and Modern Indifferentism, and on the seventh 

 day upon Methodist Literature, New Demands 

 for Methodist Authorship, and Methodist Jour- 

 nalism. Deputations bringing fraternal saluta- 

 tions were received from the National Council of 

 Evangelical Free Churches, the United Free 

 Church of Scotland, the Presbyterian Alliance, the 

 Moravian Church, the Huguenot Congregation at 

 Canterbury, and the Salvation Army. The pro- 

 ceedings of the seventh day included papers and 

 addresses on the question, Is Methodism retaining 

 its Spiritual Vitality? and The Neglect of Family 

 Religion and Worship. The subjects for the ninth 

 day were Practical Methods of Dealing with the 

 Liquor Traffic and the Ethics of Gambling. On 

 the tenth day, Sept. 14, after appropriate pro- 



ceedings and the passage of resolutions with re- 

 spect to the death of President McKinley, the 

 Conference proceeded with the. consideration of 

 the subjects of The Perils of Increasing Wealth 

 and Luxury, and on the eleventh day of Elements 

 of Pulpit Effectiveness and How to Mobilize the 

 Church. The twelfth day, the closing day of the 

 Conference, was occupied with the discussion of 

 the subjects of Missions, The Work before Us, 

 and the Resources for the Work, after which a 

 memorial service of President McKinley w r as held. 



Propositions with reference to the preparation 

 of a common Methodist hymn-book were referred 

 to a committee which reported that while regard- 

 ing the suggestion as a thing to be hoped for at 

 some future day, in view of certain business ar- 

 rangements which had been made and financial 

 responsibilities incurred by some of the Methodist 

 bodies, the plan was not at present practicable. A 

 plan was adopted for the organization of the 

 fourth Ecumenical Conference in 1911, which will 

 be held within the bounds of the Western section 

 and will consist of 500 delegates. Provision was 

 made in this action for a full consideration of the 

 work of foreign missions, evangelistic work in 

 the great cities, and the work of Methodist 

 women. An ecumenical address to Methodists 

 throughout the world was read to the Conference 

 and adopted. 



A Young People's meeting was held, and the 

 subjects of the Moral Unity of the English-speak- 

 ing Races and Evangelistic Work in Great Cities 

 were presented at public evening meetings. 



A special meeting of the women attending the 

 Conference as wives of delegates was held Sept. 13, 

 at which a number of addresses were made, and 

 the Conference was requested to make provision 

 in the program for the fourth Ecumenical Confer- 

 ence for the presentation of " the work of the 

 women of world- wide Methodism." 



To the greeting of the Archbishop of Canter- 

 bury the following reply was adopted and sent: 



" The Ecumenical Methodist Conference, repre- 

 senting more than 7,000,000 communicants, ear- 

 nestly prays that you may yet be spared for 

 many years to fulfil the duties of your great 

 office, and that the blessing of Almighty God may 

 abundantly rest upon the Reformed Church of 

 England over which you preside. 1 am, my Lord 

 Archbishop, yours faithfully, T. Bowman Stephen- 

 son." 



As the salutation of the Bishop of London to 

 the Conference expressed a desire for the return of 

 the Methodists to the Anglican communion, the 

 following special reply was adopted, to be sent 

 to him: 



" MY LORD BISHOP : I am deputed by this Con- 

 ference to reply on its behalf to your kind and 

 courteous letter, dated Sept. 1. The historic con- 

 nection of early Methodism with the Anglican 

 Church and our obligations to the scholarship 

 and saintship of your communion makes such a 

 message of good-will very welcome to our'hearts. 

 Though the last thing we should wish is to make 

 the reception of such a letter as yours an oppor- 

 tunity for controversy, the desire definitely ex- 

 pressed in your letter appears to require an answer 

 as definite. 



" The Conference represents the whole family of 

 Methodist churches throughout the world. Dif- 

 fering in some non-essential points of church gov- 

 ernment, they are alike in creed, in the main 

 principles of church organization, and in the ac- 

 cepted modes of Christian fellowship, and they 

 are in full communion with each other. In some 

 respects, therefore, the relation of this Confer- 



