At New Orleans

Down a long aisle of oaks to two great stands garlanded with purple and white, six choirs in vestments marched singing "Onward Christian Soldiers," and after the chorister, came 120 bishops robed in scarlet and gold, and purple and black and white. And one of the bishops, Thomas F. Gailor of Tennessee, rose and read a sermon by another bishop, Theodore Dubose Bratton of Mississippi--a defense of the faith, a plea for the maintenance of the creed of the apostles. Thus at Audubon Park, New Orleans, was opened the 48th Triennial Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of America.

Thither went the spiritual representatives of 1,200,000 Episcopal communicants, including bishops and rectors and laymen. No less than 132 bishops were accredited to the meeting of the House of Bishops.

The House of Deputies, comprised of rectors and laymen, on assembling was obliged to elect a new President because the Rev. Dr. Alexander Mann who held that post had been consecrated Bishop of Pittsburgh. So on the second day of the meeting, scheduled to last for 18 days, an election was held. The choice fell on the Rev. Dr. Ernest Wilmore Stires, who lately resigned as Rector of St. Thomas Church, Manhattan, and is now Bishop Coadjutor-elect of the Diocese of Long Island. The defeated candidate was Dr. George Craig Stewart of Evanston, Ill., supported by much of the conservative, high church element yet who polled only 142 of the 532 votes.

The present convention is the last that Dr. Stires will attend as deputy, for he will be consecrated Bishop in November. In accepting, Dr. Stires said to the Deputies: "I beg you will believe that I am prepared with an inadequate expression of grateful appreciation of a vote of confidence which is a distinction that I shall wear high in my heart forever."

House of Bishops. On convention, the House of Bishops elected Bishop William Cabell Brown of Virginia as its Chairman. The first matter on its program was the question of "Bad Bishop Brown," Bishop William Montgomery Brown of Arkansas, convicted of heresy by two church courts. He sought to have the House of Bishops convene a final court of appeal to which to carry his case. The Bishops have before declined to convene this court which is optionally provided for in the constitution of the Church. In this case it would have meant three years delay, to the next triennial convention before the machinery of the court could be approved. The Bishops declined to call the court. They allowed Bishop Brown to plead his case--to argue for half an hour that he had not had a fair trial, but his lawyer was not admitted. Then a vote was 91 to 11 to sustain the findings of the courts. Bishop Ethelbert Talbot of Bethlehem, Presiding Bishop, promptly summoned Bishop Brown to St. Paul's church three days later to hear his sentence and be deposed. Bishop Brown went to a federal court and secured an order for Bishop Talbot to show cause why he should be deposed, but the hearing was set for two days later than the expected date of the deposition.

Meanwhile, on the Sabbath, Bishop Brown went to services at St. Paul's Church and took the sacrament from the hands of Bishop Cheshire who pronounced: "Ye who do truly and earnestly repent of your sins . . . and intend to lead a new life following the commandments of God . . . draw near with faith and take His holy sacrament . . ." Later the same day, Bishop Brown preached at the Labor Temple and declared:

"What is the correct notion about God?

"Scientists do not know, and they will very generally admit it.

"Theologians do not know, but they will not admit it."

Presiding Bishop. For 140 years there has been no elected Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. The Presiding Bishop has always been the senior Bishop (Bishop Talbot recently). In addition the National Council has chosen its President (Bishop Thomas F. Gailor, for the last six years). This year the Bishops will elect a Presiding Bishop who will likewise take over the duties of President of the Council, thus combining the spiritual and legislative functions. Considerable interest was displayed over the first filling of this new and important post. There were several candidates. Bishop Gailor was the most prominent. The others included Bishop Brent of Western New York, Bishop Mathews of New Jersey, Bishop Reese of Southern Ohio, Bishop Perry of Rhode Island and Bishop James E. Freeman of Washington, D. C. There was special interest in the possibility of Bishop Freeman being chosen, because there has been talk of transferring the headquarters of the Church from Manhattan to Washington, where the great new Cathedral is situated. Ill-advised newspaper scriveners went so far as to infer that if Bishop Freeman were chosen the new Cathedral in Washington would be the Episcopal Vatican of America, and Bishop Freeman the Pope.