National Churches

Pursuant to instructions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South's, general conference at Dallas last spring (TIME, May 26, et seq.), Bishop Edwin DuBose Mouzon of Charlotte, N. C. sailed into Rio de Janeiro's mountain-shadowed harbor last week. A motor procession carried him and his party to a conference with important Brazilian Methodists. They at once began to write a constitution for a Methodist Church of Brazil. Just arrived from Europe with his new wife and meeting them was Bishop James Cannon Jr., the Southern Methodists' missionary bishop of Brazil, as well as chairman of their Board of Temperance & Social Service. When at the end of this month Brazilian Methodists adopt their constitution and elect their own bishop, they will be independent of the Methodist Church, South. Last month Methodist Bishop Warren A. Candler (South) and Methodist Bishop Francis John McConnell (North) met in Mexico City with Mexican Methodists and wrote a constitution for a Methodist Church of Mexico. The middle of next month Mexicans will organize their church, elect their bishop.

Last week Methodist Bishop Herbert Welch (North) was on the Pacific coast. The first week of September he will sail from Vancouver for Korea on the Empress of Japan. With him will be Bishop James Chamberlain Baker (North) of Korea. At Seoul they will convene with Bishop William Benjamin Beauchamp (South), seven other U. S. Methodist clergymen and ten Koreans to organize a Methodist Church of Korea.

In Japan Northern Methodists, Southern Methodists and Canadian Methodists (now part of the United Church of Canada) established the autonomous Japan Methodist Church.

In Korea, Mexico and Brazil the National Methodist churches will be in "competition" with national Presbyterian churches. The Presbyterians have been the most active of U. S. denominations in nationalizing their missions. There are Presbyterian churches of Persia, India and China. In China this church per se is nominal. It has only 17,000 communicants. There is a reason. Some years ago most Chinese Presbyterians decided to merge with other Protestants in China to form the Church of Christ in China (communicants now 120,000). Dissident Presbyterians keep up the old church organization. Presbyterians are the most potent Protestants in China. It happens now that both the Chinese head of the Church of Christ in China, Dr. Cheng-Ching-yi, and the Caucasian head, Dr. Raymond Kepler, are Presbyterians.

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