Gatherings for God

For active workers in U. S. churches, warm weather annually brings conventions and conferences at which the ways of doing God's work on earth are discussed at length. Livelier than usual were these curtain-raisers of fast week:

Dunkards, On the big Adam Blocher farm near Delphi, Ind. met 4,000 Dunkards, or Old Order German Baptist Brethren, in the 195th general meeting since their creedless, non-liturgical church was founded in eastern Pennsylvania in 1742. The women wore black bonnets, plain dresses, the men long beards and soup-bowl haircuts. Unabashedly, men obeyed St. Paul's admonition to "greet one another with a holy kiss." Only problem of import before the Dunkards last week was whether or not to allow radios in their homes, a matter which has come up every year since 1925. Though liberal Dunkards have succeeded in lifting restrictions against such "vanities" as automobiles, telephones and lace curtains, church members who keep musical instruments (e.g. radios) are denied the Dunkard communion table. The radio prohibition was once more promptly and noisily upheld.

Ministerium, The oldest Lutheran body in the U. S., the Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States (213,065 members), opened its 195th convention in Philadelphia, then moved to Atlantic City. The Ministerium's pleasure in learning that its income had risen for the first time in six years was tempered by the realization that the rise amounted to iff per week per member. In his annual report President Ernest Philip Pfatteicher flayed much, including the "growing practice" of holding funerals in funeral parlors, which he called "a step backward from the Christian standpoint." President Pfatteicher also observed: "The Church has undoubtedly lost much of its onetime prestige in metropolitan centres in which discouraged churchmen have chosen to 'let George do it,' and by 'George' we mean snapshot Federations, semi-scientific social welfare groups and politicians."

Southern Baptists. In New Orleans met 6,000 members of the Southern Baptist Church whose enrollment in 1936 rose by nearly 100,000 to 4.482,315, whose income increased $2,000,000 to $29,188,687. The Southern Baptists passed the usual resolutions on liquor, armaments, etc., added newer ones suggesting that "surely 16 is young enough" for girls to marry, and condemning smoking for women, preachers and other church workers. Unscheduled, a 28-year-old minister of Anniston, Ala. named Rev. Charles R. Bell Jr. arose to cry: "We must face the real issues of life. ... I cannot adopt such a weak report in a day when we are faced with hunger throughout the land. . . . Why is there nothing in this report condemning conditions among the sharecroppers . . . ? Starvation wages . . . ? You talk about the brotherhood of man. Why, there are Negroes standing outside the door of your convention and you won't let them in! This convention ought to go on record favoring the anti-lynching bill." While delegates shouted "no, no, no," Georgia's famed Dry William David ("Willie") Upshaw rose to crackle: "I am going to refute this young man. He is not an old-time Baptist." Oldtime Baptist Upshaw refuted at length.

Northern Baptists. Most famed president the Northern Baptist Convention ever elected was Charles Evans Hughes (1908). Last week in Philadelphia's big Convention Hall met 5,000 Northern Baptist dele gates under the presidency of Herbert B. Clark, president of the North Adams (Mass.) National Bank, director in a half-dozen New England firms. Big, bald Banker Clark traveled 45,000 miles during his year in office, acquired a new pulpit manner speaking in hundreds of churches. Member of a rich Berkshire family (his father gave his old pastor $25,000 when that man of God retired), Banker Clark has long given more than a tithe of his in come to the church. His parting suggestion to North Baptism, which delegates approved, was to enter upon "an adventure in tithing," each member promising 10% of income for three months.

Choice for President Clark's successor depended upon the perennial rivalry be tween Baptist liberals and Baptist Funda mentalists, and a Fundamentalist won this week. He was Rev. Earle Vaydor Pierce of Lake Harriet Church in Minneapolis, called a "co-operating Fundamentalist" , because he holds his noisy brethren in helps avoid open rows.

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