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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECOND PERIOD—1774-1800 Ch.4—Mr. Otterbein called to Baltimore Ch.5—The Otterbein Church in Baltimore Ch.6—The Movement Toward a Separate Church Organization Ch.7—The First and Second Conferences THIRD PERIOD—1800-1815 Ch.10—The Conferences of 1801-1814 Ch.12—The Departure of the Leaders FOURTH PERIOD—1815-1837 Ch.13—The First General Conference—1815 Ch.14—The General Conferences of 1817-1833 FIFTH PERIOD—1837-1885 Ch.15—The General Conferences of 1837 and 1841 Ch.16—The General Conferences of 1845 and 1849 Ch.17—The General Conferences of 1853-1861 Ch.18—The General Conferences of 1865-1881 SIXTH PERIOD—1885-1897 Ch.19—The Nineteenth General Conference—1885 Ch.21—The Twentieth General Conference—1889 Ch.23—The Twenty-First General Conference—1893
PART II DEPARTMENTS OF CHURCH WORK Ch.1—The United Brethren Publishing House Ch.2—The Home, Frontier, and Foreign Missionary Society and Its Work Ch.3—The Church-Erection Society Ch.4—The Woman's Missionary Association Ch.9—The Young People's Christian Union Ch.10—The Board of Trustees of the Church
PART III THE ANNUAL CONFERENCES Ch.1—A Group of Early Conferences Ch.2—Other Conferences Organized from 1835 to 1853 Ch.3—Conferences Organized Since 1853
PART IV HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL TABLES Appendices Index
NOTICE OF ATTRIBUTION Work originally published in 1897. Scanned, proofed and minor spelling corrections by the United Brethren Historical Center. Electronic edition ©2006 United Brethren Historical Center Suggested Citation:
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History of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ by Daniel Berger |
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CHAPTER XXI THE TWENTIETH GENERAL CONFERENCE—1889 I. PRELIMINARY p.372 The assembling of the twentieth General Conference, that of May, 1889, was an event that was anticipated with profound interest throughout the entire denomination. .This interest centered chiefly in the fact that this conference was expected to pass upon the work of the Church Commission appointed by the General Conference of 1885 and upon the popular vote taken upon the Confession of Faith and Constitution of the Church as revised and amended by the Commission. The conference was held in the city of York, Pennsylvania, in the York Opera House in that city, the session opening at two o'clock p.m. on Thursday, May 9. Bishop Weaver, the senior bishop of the Church, called the conference to order. All the other bishops were present—J. Dickson, N. Castle, E. B. Kephart, M. Wright, D. K. Flickinger. The delegates from the annual conferences numbered one hundred and twenty-five, the entire body consisting of one hundred and thirty-one members. The conference continued in session from May 9 to 22. The proceedings of this General Conference were marked throughout with a deep interest, A few of the more salient features are here to be spoken of. The first and fullest reference must relate to the action taken on the results of the revision of the Constitution and Confession, and the vote of the people thereon. p.373 II. ADDRESS OF THE BISHOPS. That portion of the quadrennial address of the bishops relating to the necessity for revision, the work of the Church Commission, and the vote of the people possesses a prominent historic interest, and the reader will be pleased to see it included here. The bishops said: By the action and authorization of the General Conference of May, 1885, a Church Commission was convened on the 17th day of the following November, in Dayton, Ohio, to take under consideration the Confession of Faith and Constitution of the Church, and to prepare such a form of belief and such amended fundamental rules for its government in the future as would, in their judgment, be best adapted to secure its growth and efficiency in the work of evangelizing the world. After six days' deliberation upon these grave interests, to which were given the largest wisdom, the wisest thought, the closest scrutiny, and the most pious judgment within the capabilities of the Commission, a report was unanimously agreed upon, and in November last, by the largest expression ever obtained in the denomination, was adopted, the vote being in excess of a two-thirds majority. We refrain from argument in support of what was done, but may be allowed some general statements to you upon a question of such wide and general interest to the Church as the one now challenging your most godly consideration. It is sadly known throughout the Church that there has been for a time a growing friction along the line of what has been known as the organic law of the Church. Two antagonistic views have obtained and found ample advocacy in the past. The one is, that we have a valid Constitution, of absolute and unquestioned force, binding on all the members of the Church, and also so bounding, restricting, and limiting the action of the General Conference itself, that it cannot legislate along certain lines nor adopt certain measures, well defined in the limiting terms of the Constitution, without being guilty of usurpation and revolution. The other view is, that the General Conference, being a constitutional body, has judicial powers, is capable of judicial action, and hence, being the highest authority known in the jurisprudence of the Church, may, by right, adjudicate questions of dispute, interpret and construe law, as well as devise and formulate plans for the furtherance of its benevolent designs and its mission of mercy among men. It is furthermore held that the restrictions which have been p.374 supposed to form an impassable barrier to the authority of the General Conference are so far-reaching in their demands, and so ambiguous in their meaning, as to render them utterly untenable in a day of advanced thought and of expanding measures. It has been in a measure demonstrated that a feature of absolute immutability has been impressed on her Constitution, so that its amendment, according to its own terms, is an utter impossibility. This absolutism in our system, this inflexibility of provision for amendment, is being regarded, in the light of recent experience, as exceedingly unfortunate. While any change in fundamental principles should be rendered difficult of accomplishment, yet some flexibility should obtain in relations where the knowledge of actors is imperfect and their judgment confessedly fallible. Now, while one view or line of interpretation, if pushed to the utmost limit of a literal construction, would make any change whatever utterly impossible, and while the other view, if expanded to the proportions of the most liberal construction possible, would make questionable inroads upon our fundamental principles, we must, avoiding these extremes, seek the happy mean between so much conservatism, on the one hand, that any change is impossible, and so much flexibility, on the other hand, that organic law has no sufficient safeguard. Certainly a church constitution should have some possible method of procedure by which it could be amended. That those who gave us the Constitution intended to put it practically beyond the possibility of alteration or modification, has never been insisted upon. And yet the Church found itself in this very attitude when it came to meet a growing demand for more pliant and equitable measures arising from the exigencies of the times. With a view of divesting this subject of all ambiguity, extirpating all doubt, and thus avoiding possible perplexing difficulties in the future, this whole matter was submitted to this Commission, where it found full and careful expression, and then went to a vote of the Church with such a result as will come to your notice and consideration by the official report to be hereafter submitted. Beloved brethren, this may be the crisis period in the history of the Church. You will weigh well what has been done. The church of God is your priceless heritage. It is the purchase of the precious blood of Christ. As the chosen representatives of a Christian people, whose views and wishes you are supposed to reflect, you can afford to bid utter defiance to self and to selfish ends. You are representatives. The Church of the latter part of the nineteenth century has called you to conserve what to her is precious and priceless—soundness of doctrine and clearness of experience. These preserved, the p.375 ancient landmarks still remain. New worlds await your conquest, unknown regions await your invasion, if you are men of cultured brain and consecrated heart. We may be aggressive without being ecclesiastical vandals; we may be conservative without being religious bigots. True reformers and true conservatives walk hand in hand. Their goal is the same. They differ only in method, not in purpose; in head, not in heart. The one is not the enemy of progress, the other is not the enemy of conservation, yet either is liable to so judge the other. " Judge not, that ye be not judged." As ministers, representative men, we can be active without becoming bitter partisans, be conservative without becoming stoical, and be progressive without becoming fanatical. Your action will be decisive. Well may you tremble in the presence of the greatness of the work to be done. The voice of history both warns and cheers. Be cautious, but not faltering; brave, but not rash; firm, but not captious. The future of this Church, as well as the cause of God in general, will be helped or hindered by what we do. " Quit you like men, be strong." The address was signed by Bishops Weaver, Dickson, Castle, Kephart, and Flickinger. Bishop "Wright, who had declined to give it his signature, read a separate address, dissenting as to the portion here quoted. III. REPORT OF THE CHURCH COMMISSION. On the second day of the session, on motion of W. McKee, the report of the Church Commission was ordered to be read. W. J. Shuey read the report. To the Bishops and the General Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, convened in the city of York, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1889: Dear Fathers and Brethren: During the session of the General Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ held in Fostoria, Ohio, in May, 1885, a "Church Commission," composed of twenty-seven persons, was " authorized and established." The duties and powers of said Commission were distinctly and fully defined, as the records of your body will show. In pursuance of this action of the General Conference, the Commission thus authorized and appointed, on call of the bishops of the Church, assembled in the First United Brethren Church in the city p.376 of Dayton, Ohio, on the 17th day of November, A.D. 1885, and, after mature and most prayerful deliberation during six days and nights, prepared for the consideration and adoption of and by the Church the following Confession of Faith and amended Constitution: [Here follow the revised Confession and amended Constitution (which the reader has seen in the preceding chapter), the Plan of Submission, and the Address of the Bishops to the Church as published in January, 1886. The report then continues:] It will be perceived that the time adopted for casting the vote of the Church was the month of November, 1888, the time being identical with that for electing delegates to the General Conference of 1889. During the three years elapsing between the meeting of the Commission and the first publication of its work and the time of voting on its recommendations, no labor and expense were spared to secure the "largest possible attention" of our people to the proposed Confession of Faith and amended Constitution. Through the official organs of the Church, by pamphlet, and by comparison of the new with the old—tens of thousands in number—we endeavored to enlighten and interest our membership on the grave subjects in hand. Many of our pastors read the prepared documents from their pulpits, and by comment and explanation sought to make their provisions plain to all who were to exercise their prerogative to vote upon them. The following is the aggregate vote for and against the several propositions submitted: For the Confession of Faith................................................... 51,070 Against.......................................................................................... 3,310 Majority for Confession of Faith............................................ 47,760 Number required to adopt...................................................... 36,245 For the amended Constitution............................................... 50,685 Against........................................................................................... 3,659 Majority for the amended Constitution................................ 47,026 Number required to adopt...................................................... 36,230 For lay delegation..................................................................... 48,825 Against........................................................................................... 5,634 Majority for lay delegation....................................................... 43,191 Number required to adopt....................................................... 36,306 For section on secret combinations....................................... 46,994 Against............................................................................................ 7,298 Majority for section on secret combinations......................... 39,696 Number required to adopt........................................................ 36,194 Total number of votes cast for and against the several propositions.............................................................................. 54,369 p.377 All the separate propositions having been adopted by the required two-thirds majority of all who voted, the Confession of Faith and amended Constitution, as framed and recommended by your Commission, are become "the fundamental belief and organic law of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ." Your Commission kept a full and accurate record of its proceedings, which record we herewith present as a part of this report, and for inspection and ratification or seal of approval of General Conference, and ask that your Commission be discharged. Finally, brethren, permit us to assure you that in the performance of the extraordinary and delicate duties assigned us we sought only to be guided by divine wisdom. In all our deliberations the kindest spirit prevailed, and the unanimous feeling of the members present was that our Father in heaven was not unmindful of our need of his blessing. Our chief concern has not ceased to be that the results of this reconstruction of our articles of religion and organic church polity may redound to the highest prosperity of the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ as represented by our denomination. Respectfully submitted,
Mr. Shuey explained that this report was signed by twenty-one of the twenty-five members participating in the work of the Commission. Of the remaining four Bishop Glossbrenner had died, and three were too remote to append their signatures. They were apprised of the purport of the report, and gave their assent to it. On motion of B. F. Booth a special committee of seven was appointed to whom the report was referred. The committee consisted of T. D. Adams, D. R. Miller, C. T. Stearn, H. Floyd, D. Shuck, G. M. Mathews, and J. Medsger. p.378 IV. APPROVAL RECOMMENDED. On Saturday morning, the third day of the session, after some preliminary business, this committee presented the following report, through its secretary, G. M. Mathews: To the General Conference: Your committee, to whom was referred the report to your body of the Commission constituted by the General Conference of four years ago, and charged with the duty of considering our present Confession of Faith and Constitution, and of preparing such form of belief, and such amended fundamental rules for the government of this Church in the future, as would, in their judgment, be best adapted to secure its growth and efficiency in the work of evangelizing the world, would beg to report as follows, viz.: 1. We have carefully examined the records of the proceedings of the Commission, and find them fully and accurately kept, and indicating a thorough consideration of all matters involved in their work, with impartial purpose to reach only right conclusions. 2. We have also compared the instructions and limitations by the former General Conference with their work as finally adopted by said Commission, and find that said instructions and limitations were obeyed and carried out with commendable accuracy. 3. The "Plan of Submission" we believe to have been in accord with the best methods of accomplishing the best results. Three years were given for discussion and reflection by our people as to the merits of the two documents submitted for their final approval or disapproval. All reasonable efforts were employed to secure the largest possible attention of all whose right and duty it was to vote on the propositions submitted. 4. In view of the fact that the proceedings and acts of the Commission have been found to be regular and in accord with the directions given by the highest authority known to our Church, your committee would recommend the adoption of the following, viz.: Resolved, by the General Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, in quadrennial session assembled in the city of York, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1889, 1. That the recorded proceedings of the Commission, including the revised Confession of Faith and amended Constitution, as formulated and submitted to the vote of the Church, together with the method of submission and all other acts by which the will of the Church was ascertained thereon, are hereby approved and confirmed. 2. That because of the truth that the revised Confession of Faith and amended Constitution as a whole, and all the separate propositions thereof, submitted to the membership of our Church have p.379 been adopted by more than the required two-thirds of all the votes cast thereon, as required by the General Conference of 1885, it is hereby declared and published by this conference, and for itself, that the said revised Confession of Faith and amended Constitution, as framed and submitted by the lawfully constituted Commission of the Church, are become the fundamental belief and organic law of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, and will be in full force and effect on and after the 13th day of May, A.D. 1889, upon the proclamation of the bishops, as provided and ordered in the said amended Constitution. This report was signed by five members of the committee, Halleck Floyd and D. Shuck presenting a dissenting report.
The reader will observe that the main points in this report
relate to the questions whether the Commission adhered in all points to the
instructions of the act under which it was appointed, whether the plan of
submission to the people had been properly framed and carried out, and
whether in the vote cast the requisite two-thirds majority had been given for
approval of the amended instruments. The General Conference was not now asked
to ratify the revised Confession and amended Constitution. That had been done
by the great body of the Church, the essential authority upon this question.
It now only remained for the General Conference, the highest judicial
authority in the Church, to inquire if all the proceedings leading to the
results reached had been regular and in orderly form, and place its approval
upon the work of the Commission as prayed for by the Church. This inquiry was
made through the committee of seven, and their report was now before the
conference for approval. When the report was finally put upon its passage, it was adopted by a majority of more than five-sixths of the entire body, one hundred and ten members voting in the affirmative to twenty in the negative. One member who was absent afterward recorded his vote on the affirmative side. Five of those who voted with the minority did not unite with them in their later proceedings. Thus by the nearly unanimous voice of the General Conference were the proceedings throughout leading up to the final consummation declared regular and valid, and the amended instruments needed only the further proclamation of the bishops, as had been duly provided for, to become the statement of the fundamental belief and law of the Church. V. AN OLIVE BRANCH. After the adoption of the report Dr. J. W. Hott, from a sincere desire to preserve kindly fellowship with those voting in the minority, offered the following paper: Whereas, For the past four years a number of our brethren, members of this General Conference, and others, have, for reasons which they have often expressed, vigorously and determinately opposed the Church Commission and the adoption of the revised Confession of Faith and the Constitution of the Church adopted by the people; and Whereas, They now doubtless feel disappointed and aggrieved by the results of the action taken by the Church; therefore, Resolved, 1. We, the members of the General Conference of the United Brethren in Christ, assembled in York, Pennsylvania, hereby express our deep regret that any of our brethren should not be able to cheerfully acquiesce in the decision of the great majority of the votes of our people cast in the election held in November, 1888, upon these documents then submitted to the Church and now approved by this General Conference. p.381 2. We hereby express our appreciation of the honesty and sincerity of our brethren opposed to the action of the majority of the Church, and we honor them for their faithfulness to their beliefs. 3. We hereby tender anew to these brethren our sympathy and fellowship in the love of Christ our Saviour, and in the charity of Otterbein and Boehm, the beloved founders of our Church. We shall use our influence in the time to come to the end that these brethren shall be treated as if these differences had never existed; and we most sincerely welcome them anew to our fellowship in the work of the gospel, and we shall deeply regret it if any of them should in any way diminish their interest in the work of the Church in which we have so long labored together, and which is alike dear to us all. Several of those toward whom the paper was designed as a kindly expression strongly objected to its passage, and, as the time for adjournment was at hand, it was referred to the Committee on the State of the Church. By reason of events which occurred two days later, it was not again called up. VI. THE PROCLAMATION OF THE BISHOPS. One more step remained to be taken to complete all that was requisite to put the amended forms of the Confession and Constitution in full effect. This was the official proclamation of the bishops that the amendments had been approved by the requisite majority of the vote of the Church. This proclamation was made to the conference on Monday morning, the 13th day of May. On the same day it was also published to the Church at large through the official organs, the Religious Telescope and the Fröhliche Botschafter. The following is the proclamation : The Board of Bishops of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ to the said Church at large and its General Conference assembled: Brethren Beloved: In accordance with resolution 2, under proviso 2, of the Church Commission, enacted by the General Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ which p.382 convened on the 12th day of May, 1885, in the city of Fostoria, Ohio, which resolution is as follows: Resolved, That when, according to the foregoing provisions, the result of the vote of the Church shows that two-thirds of all the votes cast have been given in approval of the proposed Confession of Faith and Constitution, it shall be the duty of the bishops to publish and proclaim said result through the official organs of the Church; whereupon the Confession of Faith and Constitution thus ratified and adopted shall become the fundamental belief and organic law of this Church, We, the bishops, having duly received the report of the Board of Tellers appointed to count the vote, do hereby publish and proclaim the result of the vote of the Church in accord with the provisions of the General Conference of 1885, and also in accord with the provisions of the amended Constitution itself, Article V., Section 2, which result is as follows: [Here follow the official figures showing the vote on each separate proposition, with the majorities in each case, and the number necessary to adopt. They are the same as given on page 376.] And the result being the required two-thirds, we do hereby publish and proclaim the document thus voted to be the Confession of Faith and Constitution of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, and we hereby pass from under the old and legislate under the amended Constitution.
York, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1889. The proclamation was read by Bishop Kephart. The reading was listened to with the most profound interest by the conference and the many visitors who filled the large hall to hear the official proclamation. The moment was felt to be one laden with the deepest significance as related to the future of the Church. The proclamation, it will be observed, was signed by five of the six bishops of the Church. VII. A DRAMATIC SCENE–THE SECESSION OF THE RADICALS. When the reading had been completed, there occurred a scene of much interest, of which the official p.383 published "Proceedings" do not take immediate notice, the occurrence not being a part of the regular proceedings of the conference. As soon as Bishop Kephart had resumed his seat, the bishop whose name was not attached to the proclamation, Bishop Milton Wright, with fourteen others of the twenty who had previously voted against approval, arose and left the hall. These fifteen men immediately proceeded to the Park Opera House, in the city of York, which had previously been secured for the purpose, where they assumed to continue the morning session of the conference, and so on through their several sittings until they finally adjourned. They further assumed to be the General Conference from the beginning, on the 9th day of May, and as such to be the true and only representatives of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, and that the General Conference from which they had withdrawn was not the General Conference of the Church. As their number was only fifteen, and the number of annual conferences which they assumed to represent was forty-nine, they proceeded to fill vacancies from such persons as were present, until their number was increased to about thirty. Upon the assumption that they were the true General Conference of the Church, they elected persons to fill the general offices of the Church, as bishops, editors, publishing agent, missionary and other secretaries and treasurers, and the various church boards. They proceeded upon the very extraordinary presumption that the one hundred and sixteen members, including five bishops, who continued in their seats and in the proper and orderly discharge of their duties, constituted no longer the General Conference of the Church, but had, by placing the seal of their approval upon the various revisionary and amendatory steps, including the nearly unanimous vote of the Church, separated themselves from the Church, and p.384 that thenceforth all their transactions possessed no longer any validity or binding power. VIII. THE WITHDRAWAL RECOGNIZED. The General Conference deemed it proper to recognize in an official way the withdrawal of these members of the conference, and in the forenoon of Tuesday, May 14, the following action was taken: Whereas, Milton Wright, a bishop; J. K. Alwood, W. H. Clay, and C. H. Kiracofe, delegates from North Ohio Conference; H. T. Barnaby and W. S. Titus, delegates from Michigan Conference; C. L. Wood and G. A. Bowles, delegates from North Michigan Conference; C. Bender, a delegate from Rock River Conference; A. Bennett, a delegate from Oregon Conference; A. W. Geeslin, a delegate from Missouri Conference, and Halleck Floyd, a delegate from White River Conference, have actively participated in the proceedings of this body from its organization on the ninth day of May instant until the close of the third day's session; and Whereas, The bishop and these delegates have vacated their seats in this body and have joined in the formation of another church organization, outside and separate and apart from the place properly and officially occupied by this the lawfully elected General Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ; therefore, Resolved, That the aforesaid persons are hereby declared as having irregularly withdrawn from this body and the Church, and are, in view of the facts above recited, no longer ministers or members of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. The question being asked why the names of all of the members from the White River Conference did not appear in this paper, it was explained that by the report of the Committee on Credentials only one of them was legally entitled to a seat. The others could not withdraw from the conference. The reader will also here note that five of the twenty who voted against the report on the Commission work did not go with the seceders, but retained their places in the conference and the Church. From various considerations they did not approve the p.385 Commission movement, but they had no sympathy with secession. Among these was Ex-Bishop D. Shuck, of California. IX. PROTESTS AGAINST THE COMMISSION WORK. One more paper must here be introduced as part of the official history of this period. Soon after the publication of the revised Confession and amended Constitution, in January, 1886, petitions and memorials against its adoption were put into circulation throughout the Church, the purpose of which was to ask the General Conference of 1889 to give its voice against approval. These papers were brought to the General Conference, and referred to the appropriate committee, of which Ex-Bishop Shuck was chairman. Mr. Shuck, from this committee, on the sixth day of the session, submitted the following report: 1. We find that the petitions submitted to us come from forty-one conferences, aggregating 16,282 petitioners. 2. Said petitions have been in circulation for three years, contain names of parties who are dead, of parties who are not members of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, names of persons who voted for the revised Confession of Faith and amended Constitution. But notwithstanding said irregularities, adding the number of petitioners to the number of votes cast against the Commission act, there still remains a respectable two-thirds majority in favor of the revised Confession of Faith and amended Constitution. And notwithstanding the facts above referred to, we do not call in question the integrity of or the interest taken in the prosperity of our Zion by the petitioners. And we would earnestly pray such petitioners and their friends that they do not hastily form their conclusions touching the action of the General Conference on the work of the Commission; also, that their interest in the Church of their choice remain undisturbed. Your committee recommend that their petitions, with the names of the petitioners, be deposited with the publishing agent at Dayton, Ohio, to be preserved by said agent for future reference. It may occur to the reader that of those voting against the several propositions submitted to them, ranging from 3,310 as the smallest to 7,298 as the largest minority, p.386 probably much the greater number were included among the 16,282 petitioners, so that in adding this number to the several minorities they must be twice counted. X. MISCELLANEOUS. Among other important measures adopted by this General Conference was one relating to lay delegation in the General Conference. The amended Constitution making provision for this, the conference was now able to take this step, and arrangements were accordingly made for the admission of lay delegates in the General Conference of 1893. It had long been the practice of the Church to permit women, who felt themselves to be divinely impelled, to speak from the platform or pulpit, but until now no provision had been made for ordaining them to the sacred office of ministers. The number of women wishing to preach the word has always been and still is few, but this conference placed upon record distinct action defining their status. The following was adopted : Not wishing to hinder any Christian who may be moved by the Holy Spirit to labor in the vineyard of the Lord for the salvation of souls, it is ordered that whenever any godly woman presents herself before the quarterly or annual conference as an applicant for authority to preach the gospel among us, she may be granted license, provided she complies with the usual conditions required of men who wish to enter the ministry of our Church. When such person shall have passed the required examination before the regular committees, she may, after the usual probation, be ordained. The proposition to establish a quarterly publication, to be called the United Brethren Quarterly Review, was considered and adopted. A Historical Society for the Church having been organized some years previously, the conference, on a memorial from the society, adopted the following: p.387 In view of the increasing importance to be attached to securing and preserving the papers, letters, relics, etc., connected with our church fathers and church life, Resolved, That this General Conference hereby officially recognizes the Historical Society of which Bishop Kephart is now president, as the Historical Society of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ; and that said society shall through its officers make a quadrennial report to the General Conference. Bishops Weaver, Kephart, Castle, and Dickson were reelected. J. W. Hott was elected as bishop for the Pacific Coast District. W. J. Shuey was continued as publishing agent. I. L. Kephart was elected editor of the Religious Telescope, with M. R. Drury reelected as associate. D. Berger was continued as editor of Sunday-school literature, W. Mittendorf as editor of the German periodicals, B. F. Booth as general missionary secretary, and W. McKee as general missionary treasurer. John Hill was elected secretary of the Church-Erection Society, D. R. Miller was continued as financial manager of Union Biblical Seminary, and J. W. Etter was elected editor of the proposed Quarterly Review, and assistant editor of the Sunday-school literature. XI. PERSONAL NOTES. James W. Hott, D.D., LL.D. That was a wise choice which the General Conference made when it added Dr. James W. Hott to the episcopal board. He was in the full vigor of early middle life, being in the forty-second year of his age, and had attained the ripe maturity of a strong intellectual manhood. He possessed the advantages gained through a broad and varied experience as preacher and editor, and by extensive travel in our own and foreign countries. To this he added a fervent devotion to the Church in which he was born, and to which he had hitherto given his life in unremitting service. p.388 Bishop Hott was born some miles from Winchester, in Frederick County, Virginia, on November 15, 1844. He was of United Brethren parentage, his father, Jacob F. Hott, being a minister in the Virginia Conference, and his mother, who is still living, being a woman of devout spirit and strong mental and moral endowments. Of the eight children born to them six were sons, four of them becoming ministers, and a fifth dying while preparing for the same work. One, C. M. Hott, after twenty-two years in the active ministry, closed his earthly life at Woodbridge, California. The bishop's early education was chiefly obtained in the excellent private schools near his home, and in his father's well-chosen library. At the age of thirteen he was converted and received into the Church under the labors of the late Rev. Isaiah Baltzell. He became a diligent Bible student, reading and re-reading the sacred volume through by the light of the blazing pine knots in the great kitchen fireplace. At the age of sixteen he preached his first sermon. His first license to preach, dated April 8, 1861, was signed by Bishop Markwood. In the February following, 1862, he joined the Virginia Conference. In 1864 he was ordained by Bishops Glossbrenner and Markwood. The War had broken out when he commenced his ministerial work, and he shared to the fullest extent the perils to which ministers were exposed in traveling over their large circuits. His journeys kept him constantly crossing the border, so that he was now within the Union and now within the Confederate lines. He procured passes from both sides as his duties required, and though frequently arrested by Confederate conscription officers, and sometimes held up by freebooters, he passed through all in safety. The Confederate Government exempted ministers from enforced military service, and when arrested by the officers he was uniformly released on p.389 satisfying them that he was a minister. Through all this service during the War and afterward his labors were greatly blessed. The first three years were spent on one circuit, where he and his colleague gathered over six hundred souls into the Lord's garner. In 1869 he was a delegate to the General Conference at Lebanon, Pennsylvania, being the youngest member of the body. In 1873, at the General Conference in Dayton, he was elected general missionary treasurer. He was then on the radical side of the exciting question which had four years previously been made an issue in one election, and was chosen in preference to Mr. McKee, who was a liberal. Four years of experience in mingling with ministers and people broadly through the Church in the discharge of the duties of his office, led to material modification of his sentiments, and in 1877, at Westfield, he was elected editor of the Religious Telescope. Under his wise administration the paper was relieved of the intense radicalism which for the previous eight years had dominated its columns, and of which many who were classed as radicals had become weary. For twelve years he conducted the paper with great acceptability to the Church. The conference of 1881 chose him, in connection with Dr. H. A. Thompson, as a delegate to the Methodist Ecumenical Conference in London. From this visit he took occasion to extend his journey across the Continent to Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, the result of which was the production of the valuable volume, " Journeyings in the Old World." In 1889, after these sixteen years of effective service, the General Conference laid upon him the yet higher responsibility of a bishop in the Church. Bishop Hott is known throughout the denomination as an able preacher, writer, and presiding officer. In the latter capacity he has abundantly demonstrated his strength by p.390 his clear grasp and thorough application of parliamentary law, as well as by his urbane dealing with members in the progress of business. In the councils of the bishops, as well as in the General and annual conferences, the soundness of his judgment is fully recognized. As a writer he is warm, earnest, and pleasing, expressing himself often with an attractive glow that appeals strongly to the heart. In the pulpit and in public addresses on the platform he has everywhere the warmest welcome. His style as a preacher may be said to be peculiarly his own, but it wins its way to the judgment and heart of every hearer. Many of his passages rise to the plane of true eloquence, and are uttered with thrilling power and effectiveness. His duties as a bishop call him widely to and fro— recently across the sea to the mission fields of Germany and Africa. His present home is supposed to be at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but he rests chiefly, when rest is taken, with his wife, in the home of one or another of his three daughters, all of whom are married to ministers. |
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