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Lqs diagrammas suivants. illustrent la mAthode. :- 6 -# )Mic«ocorr iBounipN tbt chait (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) . 1.0 1.1 1.25 ■ 2.2 2.0 lit U; IIS a. w . 112 •^ •»■ uuif l^'; ■■■ \ /:■■■■: ^ ■ ■ 1 ec ■« r-__ . .. .' _ ' — — " — ^ L^ SSa bX u V ■' •""" street (716) 288-§989-rox 5 "^ / ■a 1/ ■ n p # ♦^ X- Wr \AA.HrAj,V" E BASIS OF METHODIST UNION! What it Is, and What it Involves. •• > <»> < - BY THE BEV. A. SUTHERLAND, D.D., ;ji. w , •■ A'- . , -■ - ■• :. ■ : -^ ■■ .,, ' _ - Secretary 0/ the Union CommitUf. ■''' ■":■ " -■'^■■■■.- -.^ V . ■ . - ■ I. . . >■■ .. ■ ■. , ■ t !•» < ■ ■ ■ • ' ' ■ ■ • ■ . ■■ . - . ■ ■■ ■ • ■ ■.■■ . ■..■•:: - ■■•■>;■■, ■ ; •-. ■.■"■.' "the Bugles Somy T^'^e" ^^ The bugles of the Methodist hosts have sounded a parley. The thunder of the cannonade and the rattle of small arm? is hushed for a time. A conviction has been gaining ground that "some one bas blundered," and that theire has been a mistake iii the plan of the campaign. Some of the regiments/it would seem, have occasioually mistaken friends for foes, and instead of kegping up a steady fire against the common enemy, have poured volleys into ea;ch other*s ranks. Even when the mistake has been pointed out, the captains have been slow' to acknow- ledge that any. wrong h&s been done; and some haVe gone so far as to declare that this style of warfare is part of the.^en>ral plan, and that the glory of the great Commander will be mpre effectually promoted thereby, than if each wete employed ex- dusivedy in fighting the "world, the flesh, and the devil." Shall the Blunder he Repeated? But others (a large majority, I venture to think|,) are of a different opinion. Td them it seems clear that a great mistake has been made. They have beat asking ^v i'~->V^ Tw'. '{ What it Is, aiki What it Involves, / of two heinlsphores is watching the movement; the daily press of Toronto— secoml to none on this ('ontiliynt-^^devoted large space to a report of the Committee'^ procoftliii^M ; unroach it in )he Spirit of the awakened Saul of Tarsus— " Lord, what would'at Thou ha<^ me to do ?"^ ' * 7 ■■■'•■■■ ■ -^^'v ■■-■'•' • ■ " '■ ' "V ' ■' .■'/• ■ • ''■-'" The Wr Union, th«iy wouM not only havo to faci^ a voiy strong countor-curirnt of opinion, Imt wouM put tluMnsrlvos in antaj,'- onisni to tho plainly-c^pifssiMj scntinunts <»l* tlu-ir n'spinrtivi! Cont'orcnccs. If tlu-y .helaml in favour of Tnion, tiny were at once met with the (jucry— "Well, what are you willing to concedo iu onler to promote it :*" y ■<. The Stthathm. ' (jetieral Supeiinten// ; the uniting Ixxliea ha.l something toeun'^e as a limit put upon the action of /the representa- tives of that Conference in the Connjutteei^hers regarded it simply as an expression of the judgment apd preference of the Conference at the time, and not as a t^a,lity ; still, if the re- presentatives of the Mdthodist Epi.scQpal Church would accept is as satisfactory, so much the betitt)r: The reply of the Mctho- ! « ' 11 •^. .''4. 6 . ' The Basit of Methodist Union: '•■'.•■' .■■■ ■ ■ ■ ": : \ ■ ■■: ■■> ■•: ■ ' / . \j ■ ■ dist EfJiMcopdl Dcputioit wan in pflfect fts folIowH : " Brtthren. we J are (luito willing to uuM^t you half-way, but wo canixot ahan.lon our ch«rishe(l Mystoni for a Huporinten^M.pal .l.^U'«atrs Wlu'u tlio conrltislon wftH ; .vaduMl.a i.n.foun.l so«h^ pf rcUuf wus oxiMHitiici-l. N«. o\w reKanl.'.l tlu^ v.»U' as. in any H.-nsi'. a iKMs.nial oi- party trminpli. hut each Hiu.ni.Ml to r.-K'anl it as a-ckcisioii to wliicli tlicy had hocn UmI in th.. f.-ar .»r < Jo.l. Thrn, w.vh mo noisy applause ; hut , pent-ui. ..n...ti<»us foun.l vQut in the .strains of the «ran.l ohl Doxology, unne m the Annual; the Bihlo Christians have ministers aiul laymen in Ci|ual n.nnhers in the Annual ( ^.nfereiice ; while th'J I'rnuitrve Methodists have two laymen for each minister in tlJat assemhly. Where a Ceneral Conference exists, th<^ functions of aji Annual C(mf(^rence are t.ecessarlly very limited. It has no authority to legislate, and a large part of its husines* is of a routine sojt, dialling with tuatters of niinisterial character^ .lUalitication, and \\")rk. In view of these facts, there was a soiiiewliat general opinion in the Committee that ky representation in the Annual Conferences would be a douhtful gocyl, and would be lightly esteemed by-tlie laymen themselves. But the laymj^V . in two of the Churches had been accusti)meresented;the most serious difficultie.s. That men should be very sensitive in regard to a fund that made provision— scant, it is true, but feal—|or their old age, was but natural ; and the most exhaustive discussions took place before a basis was reached. Sub-Committees met, and .pondered, and reported, but their reports did not seem to meet the case; proposition after proposition was made, discussed, and laid on the table; but at" length the -Cbhimittee' saw, with tolerable clearness, all thftt the discus.sion involved, and embodied its judgriient in a series of resolutions iihat for comprehensiveness and fairness must- comlnend theriiselves to every unbiased mind. The.se resolutions require that the other uniting Churches shall provide an amount of invested capital equal, in proportion, to that now held by the Methodist Church of Canada ; that income arising from (feoHeictions and subscriptions in the' congregations-, and the annual subscriptions of nnriisters, shall be used in meeting payments to all claimants ; that income arising from the invested capital how held byythe Methodist Churcli of Canada for this fund, and from the Toronto Book Room, shall be used exclusively, for the benefit of superannuates of thiat Church, until such' time as the other uniting Churches equalize their Book Room ^ssets an^^ Basts of Methodist Union : ^Methodist Episcopal GJmrch si^iTehders the life appointment and ■ tlie separate ordination, or, as thoy prefei' to call it, consecration- The Methodist Church of Canada concedes an eij?ht yearn' term of office and an extension of authority, whereby sucli Superin- ^ tendeni may preside, in turn, with the President . elected by an Annual Conference, and conduct an ordination service. , The Primitive Methodist and Bible Christian Churches accept this arrangelnent as a necessary part of a general Union scheme. 4. Annu'd OonferenceH. — The Methodist Church of Canada and the Methodist Episcopal Church concede the introduction of lay representatives in equal numbers with ministers. The Primitive Methodist Church consents to oije lay representative for each minister, instead of two. Equal lay representation being already the practice in the Bibl« Christian Church, no concession was necessary on their part. The iwo latter Churches also concede that certain questions shall be dealtwith by ministers only, and that the Stationing Committee shall be composed entirely of ministens. The above cliange in the com- position of Annual Conferences involves a change in the. election of laymen to the General Conference. If the Basis is confirmed, they will henceforth be elected by the laymen in the Annual Conferences, instead of in the District Meetings. 5. Ordiimiion of Preai}ltei's:— The Methodist Episcopal Church relinquishes the ordination of deacons as a distinct office, and the ordination local preachers ; but Annual Gpn- ferences are to have authority "to ordain probationers of les9 ■ than four yiears standing, when the necessities of the work . require it ; no change worth mentioning takes place in either the District or Quarterly Meetings; and all preacher.'i who have been ordained in any of th;0 uniting bodies, and are in good standing at the time of the Union, are to retain all rights ah^l privileges conferred by such ordination. r Gy District Mefitings.-— No ch&rigG worth mention is made in the composition or functions of District Meetings, and no con- cessions wer^. necessary. T> District Ghair7rian.—\i is proposed that tliis officer shall be in name what he is i n f act,-^District Superintendent. The • Methodist Episcopal Church relinquishes her plan of travelling Chairinen. .' #. *< ■iaffSi-i^SliV.- :M Sis*-* , What U Is, and What it Involves. . 11 . H. Quartertij Jfeelivgs. — No changes are proposed in the composition ot functions of Quarterly Meetings, but the Priiui- tive Methodist Ghurch agrees that the Circuit Superintendent shall bo ra-q//ic to Chainuan of the Quarterly Meeting, as is now the practiciB' in the other Churches. S^. Ghurch Property. — No concessions are necessary ; biit a plan is proposed of dealing with property that may not be re- quired after the Union. r. 10. Church Funds. — In regard to these, the work of the Committee was simply to protect vested interests, and to prepare an equitable basis on which to adjust the various claims. Whether they have succeeded in thi.s, the Church at large mu.st judges :.■■.- .■■.^■; -,; -. -^.-V. . . •;■ - .'•■ 11. Book and Puhl'whing Intereds.— The Halifax antl Toronto Publishing Interests of the Methodist Church of Cana.• men wjll not be needed on fields where they are now laboring, this difficulty will be met by a corresponding advantage jn - ■'- another direction. Let us suppose a case— a real one — whete ministers of three Methodist Churches occupy nearly the same . ground, each leceiving aid from the Missionary Fund of his .' - Church. In the re-:arrangement of the work two men arefpund to be vsuffieient. But two men can be supported on the ground, and the v(»hol'e missionary grant thus saved will be sufficient ** to support the third man on a new field! This may be called an extreme case, or an extreme way of putting it, but it illus- t; ,.. '^ trates a state of things that will be found in varying degrees on not a few circuits. That the rivalries of the past have . caused an unnecessary multiplication of men in the samefield:^, ^ no ope conversant with the facts will attempt to deny. How often in Stationing Committees have we heard the appointment of additional men urged solely on the ground that " we vnu8t , give the people a preaching service every Sunday ;" and when ^ ' the question was asked, "Why^must^we^o this ?" the answer #as isure to be', "If we don't, the -, — — s will coaie^mliildiatkir- ■>• •"^^Sf^^- l-: ♦ 14 i^/^^Me the j?round." And so, for ft reasioli that we should have been ashamed to confess, men were multiplied, and missionary money that had been given to send the Gospel to the destitute was spent in increasing the privileges of those who were quite able to support their own ministers, and who would have supported them but for those wretched divisions that set altar against altar, and sometimes separated chief friends. As the Methodist Churches by their unwise, not to say unchristian, policy, have brought these evils upon themselves, they should not complain if some temporary inconveiiience is experienced in getting rid of them. ■■■ ; •.. ■:■;•■,-"'' -^ , ': i'//- '■^ \- Some Rsal Diffidultiea. While in some quarters there may be a disposition to Tfiag- nify dilHcuities, and even to conjure up ghosts wherewith to frighten the people, I am not ignorant of the fact that there are real difficulties to be (encountered— difficulties that will require time and patience to overcome. The amalgamation of congre- gations, the division of circuits, tlie euiployment of all the men, the. sale of surplus property, the finances necessary to- carry on the missionary work of the Church, an T hai it Is, ana tVhdi it Invohes. n official member hIiouUI inform himself of the real, merits of the case without delay, so that he may be in a position to give an independent find intelligent vote. Let every such member care- fully read the basis as tinally adopted and published, until he thoroughly unt^rstanda just what chaftges are proposed, and what thevetfectbt" those changes is likely to be. The final effect of the vot« to be given no man can fully foresee. But this mucb we know, that he who votes for Unions does what in him lies to remove a standing reproach from Methodism and a hind- rance from the cause of God; while he who votes adversely, votes to perpetuate the estrangements, the rivalrii's,''the Waste of m^n f^d money, that has characterized |hd past. It would be folly to suppose that any basis could be/prepared that would fully meet the views of every one. The (Question is not, there- fore. Is the present basis perfect? but, Ar^ the objections to it of sufficient weight to lead us to rejejct it ^altogether ? Let it be clearly understood, the. basis now before the Church cannot be accepted or rejected iw ipaH ;— as a whole it stands or falls, and upon its adoption or Rejection by the Ghurches depends the fate of Union. , Some will think otherwise. They will say. If the ^present basis if? i-ejected, another can be formed; Doubtless another Cfm be formed, but no one for a moment believes that \^\vill, ■-- ; "'■.::':\. '■.■".■:■' '--^ ..■■;■■■'.■' ; ■■.-.'' ''■■..' ^ .- . . ■'■■■'' ' ■ ' -.■' ^ '-'■: ■. ' . • . ■ . ■ ' /On Whom Rests the Chief liesponsihility 1 Although the Basis of Union is to be ." ' ' J"'-, • ♦' ■ . . . ._ _. ' . ,, '-.. '■■'%■■■■■', ■ ■ ■ ■•,■ ''♦/,■'•■ '■ .' ' -•'. . ■ ■' ,'''■■■'...<>'''■■ *".'• .. , ■* 1 ■ . # » ' ■ ' 1 ' . ' ■ ■ '• ■' '■ B' ''•■ ■■ ■: ',•■■'• ■>• •■■ . ■ . • > ■ ■ /;' *■ ' ■ ■ '■ ' ' . , '■ - ■ -■*'■■ ■ . ■ ■ ■ '. ■ ' r" ■ ' ■ ■ ■■ ' "-' . - ■ - -■■.■'..'.■'" ■^ ■ . - , /, '■ ,. :' . ■' ' :.■ . , ■ ■ ■ ;.•/'"'■■■ ■ ■ /■ :. .' * • ■ ■ ' - .' 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