Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 May 1892 — PRESBYTERIANS MEET. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PRESBYTERIANS MEET.

IMPORTANT SUBJECTS TO BE CONSIDERED. Hay Xm the Month of Religions Conventions, and Before the Omaha Assemblage ot Methodists Has Adjourned Comes the Convention of Presbyterians at Portland, Oregon. To hold a general assembly west of the Rocky Mountains is a decided innovation for the Presbyterians. But it

has a purpose. Portland is in the very center of the home m i s s 1 o nary fieltf, says a dispatch from that city. The “Pacific Slope has for years enlisted mission ary effort, but the population has far outgrown the

capacity of the churohes to supply pastore and places of worship. It is expected that the holding of a general assembly at Portland will stimulate greater interest in the home-mission field. Every great religious convention has some specially burning topics to discuss. This year’s general assembly Is no exception to the rule, although it is confidently expected that harmony will prevail In the end. The Briggs case comes up again and upon it hinges a question of great interest to the church—the status of the Union Theological Seminary. Since the last general assembly Dr. Briggs and the New York Presbytery declared a truce, but It has turned out to be temporary. The delegation from New York to the assembly is what is known as “anti-Briggs” in sentiment. There have been threats that the Union Theological Seminary would promptly withdraw from the Presbyterian fold if Dr. Briggs is to be harassed by heretical charges. The common belief seems to be that the General Assembly will refer the whole controversy back to the New York Presbytery for final settlement. In this event a very Important educational institution may be preserved to the church, as it is thought doubtful whether the case will be again reopened on the question of Dr. Briggs’ orthodoxy by the local body. Then there is a question of the revision of the confession of faith; To most Presbyterians this will appear the

most vital issue with which the fathers of the church have ever had to deal. The conservative traditions of the church have for many years prevented any charge in the Westminster confession. If the American church adopts a revised oonfession It will be the first of the world’s Presbyterian bodies to declare that the letter of a'creed must give way before Its spirit, and that modern thought makes a revision of church standards necessary. The Committee on Revision has completed its labors, and all the presbyteries have declared for or against the changes proposed. The question now comes before the supreme council of church leaders, and Its decision will be awaited with great interest. Besides these special topics there is a multitudinous variety of subjects with which the General Assembly must deal. The union of evangelical bodies is one of these. Church unity is more than a theory in all the leading evangelical bodies, and it may be a question of only a few years when certain lines will disappear In a common effort for the cause of religion. Like the Methodists also, the Presbyterians have pronounced views on practical questions of the day. The General Assembly is certain to make a report on the need of Sabbath observance, and will doubtless make a special report on the World’s Columbian Exposition.

DR. C- A. BRIGGS.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PORTLAND.