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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 XXIII THE TWENTY-FIRST GENERAL, CONFERENCE —1893 p.399 The General Conference of 1893, the latest of the series at the present writing, is of so recent date that a very brief reference to it seems most appropriate. The conference was held in the city of Dayton, Ohio, commencing May 11, and continuing through twelve days. A very large amount of business, much of it routine, was transacted. The various reports from the different departments of the Church indicated that encouraging progress had been made during the quadrennium. Discussion in the papers presented took a broad and instructive range, and some of them have a permanent value. I. LAY DELEGATES. Two very noteworthy features marked this conference. One of these was the appearance, for the first time in the history of the Church, of lay delegates on the floor of the conference. This was in accordance with the provision in the amended Constitution of the Church which declares that the "General Conference . . . shall consist of elders and laymen." This feature of the Constitution having become operative after the conference of 1889, delegates from the laity were chosen in the ratio determined by that conference. The number of ministerial and lay delegates was, respectively, one hundred and twenty-four and seventy-two. It is of special interest also to record the fact that among the lay delegates two were women. Women had always possessed the right to vote in elections for delegates p.400 to the General Conference, as well as for local church officers, and had also been admitted to seats in the annual conferences. And now the right to sit as members in the General Conference was exercised unchallenged, notwithstanding the fact that the Book of Discipline contains no distinct provision in which they are named as being eligible. The returns of elections of delegates for the General Conference of May, 1897, indicate that nine women have been elected as delegates to that conference. The admission of women to membership in this highest body of the Church is in harmony with the progressive spirit of the age, and ought to be regarded as most fitting in a church in whose best activities women are so largely engaged. II. TIME LIMIT REMOVED. A second feature which will make the conference one of special historical interest was the elimination, from the Book of Discipline, of the time limit as applying to the pastorate. On this point the Discipline had always been liberal, providing that by special approval of the annual conference ministers might be returned for a longer term of years than was fixed in the general limitations. By the action of this General Conference all limitation is swept away, except that appointments must still be made for a single year at a time. In the election for general superintendents, Bishops Castle, Kephart, and Hott were reelected, and J. S. Mills was added to the episcopal board, Bishop Weaver, as previously noted, being elected bishop emeritus. III. PERSONAL NOTES. J. S. Mills, D.D., Ph.D. Bishop J. S. Mills, the latest accession to that company upon whom the General Conference bestows its highest p.401 distinctions, was born in Washington County, Ohio, on February 28, 1848. His father was of the Society of Friends, but soon after marriage he, with his wife, joined the United Brethren Church. The bishop's early education was obtained in the neighborhood common schools, with two years in an academy. Later he spent four years in the Illinois Wesleyan University, from which he subsequently received the degrees of A.M. and Ph.D. on examination. He was converted at the age of eighteen, joined the Scioto Conference two years later, in 1868, and was ordained in 1871. When the Central Ohio Conference was formed, in 1878, he became a member of that body, and in 1890 he transferred his membership to the Iowa Conference. On entering the ministry he served on circuits, stations, and as presiding elder, his last pastoral charge being the Otterbein University church, to which he gave six years of service. From Otterbein he was called to Western College, which institution he served for six years, three years as a professor and three as its president. Bishop Mills is a man of strong mental endowments and of recognized culture. He is a close thinker, and possesses in fine degree the power of exact expression. In sermon or other address his speech is characterized by elegant finish, never redundant, nor yet too concise, the right word always in the right place. He leads a close student life so far as public duties permit, is fond of scientific and metaphysical inquiry, and is interested in the great social problems of the day. He is a member of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and an associate member of the Iowa Academy of Science. In the allotment of episcopal residences Bishop Mills was assigned to the Pacific Coast, so that his present home is in Eugene, Oregon. His field, however, like that of p.402 the other bishops, is the entire Church. At the present writing he is making a visit to the foreign fields in Germany and Africa. The bishop is the youngest member of the Board of Bishops, is usually in excellent health and vigor, and large possibilities of future service lie before him. |
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