METlloDISTS. 



519 



birth of James Thorne, which will occur in 



'fhe Missionary Convention of the Mible Chris- 



uas held in London. May 4. Resolutions 



.dopied recommending earnest preachim: 



in the power of the Holy (i host sent down fn>m 



;>." and advising every effort to establish 



n centers in all the important towns as 



to sustain and extend I he operations, of 



:ety in the colonies and China. 



(I c enical Conference. The second (Ecu- 



WHM diMI8<M>d Under the liettd* of "Till; Infill- 



dice of Mode-|| S<-|e||liflc Progreh* oil Ri-ligiolJH 



Thought," "The Attitude of the Church touard 

 the Various I'ha.ses of 1'idielief." and " The 

 Hilile and Modern CrilicNm": that of "The 

 Church and her Agencies " under the head* of 

 "The Responsibility and Qualifications ,,f the 

 Preacher," "Church' Agencies," -Tin- Intellcct- 

 iial and Moral Qualifications of the Pr a< her." 

 "The Religious I'ress and the Religious Cses of 

 the Secular I'ress." "The Place and Pov, 



inenical Mei hodist Conference (the first having Lay Agency in the Church." "The Deaconess 



Keen held in London in lHSl)inH in Washington, Movement," " Methodist Mroihcrhoods ,n,d Si~- 



I >.<'..<>,!. 7. The following churches were rej 

 sented liya total of 300 delegates from the Wi 

 Section and ^(Mt from the E 



ire- 

 est- 



terhoods." and " Woman's Work in the Church 

 the subject of education under the head- of " The 



I pal Church. African Methodist Episcopal Zion 

 Church. Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, 

 Methodist Protestant Church. I'nited Breth- 

 ren in Christ, American Wesleyan Church, Union 

 American Methodist Kpiscopal Church, Afri- 

 can I'nion Methodist Protestant Church, Free 

 Methodi>i Church, Congregational Methodist 

 Church. Primitive Methodist Church, Brit- 

 ish Methodist Church, Independent Methodist 

 Church. I'nited Mrethren in Christ(01d Constitu- 

 tion). Evangelical Asssociation. Eastern Section : 

 Wesloyan Methodist Church. Primitive Metho- 

 dist Church. United Methodist Free Churches, 

 Methodist New Connection. Irish Methodist Con- 

 ference, Bible Christian Church, Wesleyan Re- 

 form 1'nion, Free Gospel Church, Australasian 

 Wesleyan Methodist Church, French Wesleyan 

 Conference, West Indian Wesleyan Conference, 

 South African Weslevan Conference. Previous to 

 the opening of the Conference a reception was 



Even in New York to the delegates, Oct. 5, when 

 r. John I). Slayhack presided. An address of 

 welcome was made by the Rev. J. M. King, D. D., 

 and addresses in response were made by the Rev. 

 T. B. Stephenson, D. D., President of the Brit- 

 ish Wesleyan Conference, and by representa- 

 tives of other foreign and American Methodist 

 churches. Bishop Thomas Bowman, of the Meth- 

 odist Episcopal Church, presided at the opening 

 session of the Conference. The opening sermon 

 by the Rev. Dr. William Arthur, of England, 

 was read for him by the Rev. Dr. T. B. Stephen- 

 son. An address of greeting was made by Bishop 

 J. F. Hurst, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 

 who spoke to the French and German delegates 

 in their own languages. Other addresses were 

 made by the Hon. .1. 1 1. Carlisle, of Wofford 

 College, S. ('., the Rev. George Douglass. D. D.. 

 of the Methodist Church of Canada, and the 

 Rev. Dr. T. I!. Stephenson. of England. At the 

 following sessions the chief officers or represent- 

 ative delegates of the several bodies participat- 

 ing in the Conference presided in turn. The 

 following subjects were discussed, in essays and 

 by chosen and volunteer speakers : The Present 

 Status of Methodism in the Eastern Section" 

 ((ireat Mritain. Europe, and the Kastern Colo- 

 nies); "The Present Status of Methodism in the 

 Western Section" (America). "The Christian 

 Church, its Essential Unity and General Catho- 

 licity "; " Christian Co-operation." The general 

 subject of " The Church and Scientific Thought " 



ism and Stale Educat ion." " Set om.ary Ednca- 

 tion," " The Broadest Facilities for Higher Edu- 

 cation the Duty of the Church," " I'niversiiy 

 Education," and "The Adaptation of (Ecumen- 

 ical Methodism to World Leadership in the Field 

 of University Education"; that of " Romanism" 

 under those of " Romanism as a Political Power" 

 and " Romanism as a Religious Power " ; that of 

 temperance under those of " The Church and the 

 Temperance Reform " and " The Legal Prohibi- 

 tion of the Saloon " ; that of " Social Problems " 

 under those of "The Church in her Relation to 

 Labor and Capital," " The Moral Asjiecte of La- 

 bor Combinations and Strikes," "The Moral As- 

 pects of Combinations of Capital," "The Obliga- 

 tions of the Church in Relation to the Social Con- 

 dition of the People," " Christian Work among 

 the Poor," " Christian Work among the Rich," 

 and " Christian Work in Agricultural Districts " ; 

 that of missions under those of "Missions in 

 Heathen Lands," "New Fields entered since 

 1881," and " Missions in Christian Land- " ; that 

 of "The Church and Public Morality" under those 

 of " Legal Restraints on the Vices of Society," 

 " Marriage and Divorce Laws," " The Lord's 

 Day," and " The Attitude of the Church toward 

 Amusements." Other subjects treated of were 

 'International Arbitration," "The Christian 

 Resources of the Old World," " The Christian 

 Resources of the New World," and " The Church 

 of the Future." 



An executive commission was constituted on 

 the basis of the organization of the (Ecumenical 

 Conference, to consist of eighty members, and 

 be divided into the Eastern Section with thirty 

 mem l>ers and the Western Section with fifty mem- 

 bers, the same to be distributed by a fixed plan 

 among the several bodies associated in the Confer- 

 ence. It was given power to act in the interim 

 of the (Ecumenical Conference not exceeding the 

 limitation of the rules of that body. The con- 

 ference recognized gratefully the growing desire 

 for closer union among the evangelical churches 

 and particular!/ the extension of that desire 

 amoiiu'ilie various Methodist churches; declared 

 that it could not doubt "that concerted action 

 amoni; the different Methodist bodies UJM>II many 

 questions would be greatly to the advantage of 

 the kingdom of God : suggested "that such 

 concerted action miirht be possible and useful in 

 the following great provinces of the Methodist 

 world, namely: (<i) (Jreat Mritain and Irehnd, in- 



