To New Orleans

Dignitaries of the Protestant Episcopal Church will spend a good part of October in New Orleans.The Triennial Convention will bring them there Oct. 7 and keep them there until the current business of the church is settled. Agenda include:

Election. For generations the head of the House of Bishops has been the senior Bishop, invariably an old man, highly revered but, in the course of nature, unable to transact heavy duties. This year, for the first time, the highest office in the church will be filled by election, and the newly elected Presiding Bishop will become, ex officio, President of the National Council, the executive arm of the church national. At present the Presiding Bishop is the Rt. Rev. Ethelbert Talbot of Pennsylvania, and the President of the National Council is the Rt. Rev. Thomas F. Gailor, Bishop of Tennessee, one of the best known ecclesiastics in the U. S. Neither of these men is likely to be elected to the new joint-office; the first, because he is 77 years old; the second, because he desires to return to his diocesan duties and literary pursuits. Dozens of candidates have been suggested--bishops such as Matthews of New Jersey, Brent of Western New York, Reese of Ohio, Freeman of Washington, D. C.

Prayer Book. In recent years, a commission under Bishop Charles L. Slattery of Massachusetts has done an immense amount of scholarly work in revision of the ancient forms of worship which are collectively known as the Prayer Book. Many of the suggestions of the commission are likely to receive final sanction at the coming Triennial. Typical changes:

1) Omit from the marriage service the word "obey" and the phrase "with all my worldly goods I thee endow."

2) Omit from the baptism service: "Forasmuch as all men are conceived and born in sin."

3) Addition of new prayers to meet modern conditions, such as for Social Justice, for Workers for Schools and Colleges.

4) For the petition "for all women in the perils of childbirth," substitute simply the petition "for all women in childbirth."

5) In the Holy Communion prayer, omit the word "Militant" in "Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's Church Militant." 6) Alter the instructions in the burial service in order to permit reading of the service over the body of a suicide and of an unbaptized person. Also, substitute "though this body be destroyed" for "though after my skin worms destroy this body."

7) In the Good Friday collect, substitute "Have mercy upon all who know Thee not" for "Have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, infidels and heretics."

Regarding the changes, Bishop Slattery wrote in The Churchman:

"Obviously the details of Prayer Book Revision thus to be presented to the Convention in October vary in importance. But through them all runs a commanding principle. This principle is reality. We are trying to avoid vain repetitions, the use of archiac words or phrases which, to the ordinary layman, mean either nothing or something untrue, and such length of prayer or praise in any one part of any service that the mind becomes numb and the worship ' of the heart ceases."

The Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America is perhaps the only successful unifying body which the Protestant world has ever known. Its function is to crystallize and exhibit Christian sentiment. Although Episcopalians have been friendly to it, the Episcopal Church is conspicuously absent from its list of regular constituent members. Every attempt will be made next week to prove to the Triennial Convention that the Federal Council is not a superchurch, is not anti-Catholic, is not a political lobbyist, that there is no reason why the Episcopal Church should not join, and every reason why it should.* (Three years ago, a motion to join the Federal Council was defeated by one-half of one vote.)

Deaconesses, unlike deacons, are not now ordained, meaning that they cannot become priests. It is proposed to remove this restriction.

Heresy. The House of Bishops is almost certain to sustain the conviction of Bishop William M. Brown (retired) for heresy, thus ending a troublesome episode of the last four years.

Membership. A motion which has no chance of passing this Convention, but which will be widely heralded, will attempt to alter the requirements of admission into the church. Candidates are now asked: "Dost thou believe all the articles of the Christian Faith as contained in the Apostles' Creed?" Such men as Bishops Vincent of Ohio and Lawrence of Massachusetts propose this substitute: "Dost thou believe in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour?"

*Much will be made of the recommendation of the great Lambeth Conference, July, 1920, that "councils representing all Christian Communions should be formed."