Inter-Church Federation Conference
By C. H. Edwards
LAST week we gave a list of those who took an active part in the church conference which gathered in New York, November 15-21. This week we desire to notice the aims and work of this council. After the usual opening, several committees were appointed. At a later session the committee on plans submitted the following report as the basis of their federation:— Whereas, In the providence of God, the time has come when it seems fitting more fully to manifest the essential oneness of the Christian churches of America in Jesus Christ as their divine Lord and Saviour, and to promote the spirit of fellowship, service, and co-operation among them,6the delegates to the Inter-Church Conference on Federation assembled in New York City, do hereby recommend the following plan of federation to the Christian bodies represented in this conference, for their approval:— 1. The name of the body shall be the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. 2. The following Christian bodies shall be entitled to representation in this Federal Council on their approval of the purpose and plan of the organization:— [Then follows the names of thirty-two denominations]. 3. The object of this Federal Council shall be— (a) To express the fellowship and catholic unity of the Christian church. (b) To bring the Christian bodies of America into harmonious service for Christ and the world. (c) To encourage devotional fellowship and mutual counsel concerning the spiritual life and religious activities of the churches. (d) To secure a larger combined influence for the churches of Christ in all matters affecting the moral and social condition of the people, so as to promote the application of the law of Christ in every relation of human life. (e) To assist in the organization of local branches of the Federal Council to promote its aims in their communities. 4. This Federal Council shall have no authority over the constituent bodies adhering to it; but its province shall be limited to the expression of its counsel and the recommending of a course of action in matters of common interest to the churches, local councils, and individual Christians. It has no authority to draw up a common creed, or form of government or of worship, or in any way to limit the full autonomy of the Christian bodies adhering to it. 5. Members of this Federal Council shall be appointed as follows:— Each of the Christian bodies adhering to this Federal Council shall be entitled to four members, and shall be further entitled to one member for every fifty thousand of its communicants or major fraction thereof. The question of representation of local councils shall be referred to the several constituent bodies, and to the first meeting of the Federal Council. 6. Any action to be taken by this Federal Council shall be by the general vote of its members. But in case one third of the members present and voting request it, the vote shall be by the bodies represented, the members of each body voting separately; and action shall require the vote, not only of a majority of the members voting, but also of the bodies represented. 7. Other Christian bodies may be admitted into membership of this Federal Council on their request if approved by a vote of two thirds of the members voting at a session of this council, and of two thirds of the bodies represented, the representatives of each body voting separately. 8. The Federal Council shall meet in December, 1908, and thereafter once in every four years. It will be readily seen that at this time there is no outward declaration of forming a universal creed for the churches, in fact, that design is distinctly disavowed. Over and over again the speakers were emphatic in their declarations that there never could be any spirit of coercion in this great and mighty movement. What, then, is there in this federation? What is its great object? From a mere reading of the basis of the federation one does not get all that is involved in the words. The one great, all-absorbing sentiment throughout the entire council was the expressed desire to fulfil the Lord’s prayer: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is done in heaven.” As one speaker expressed it, when the great Christian church awakens, and fulfils her duty, religion will permeate every fiber of the nation, and the saying, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ,” will be fulfilled. The operations of the system were explained by one speaker like this: There should be a federation in a town where there were but two churches. In that town, perhaps, there might be several social evils, such as gambling, the liquor traffic, and Sabbath desecration. The public sentiment might be strong in favor of those things, and the churches too weak to counteract them, but if the entire county of churches were federated, they unitedly might bring pressure to bear upon the town, and thus cause a cessation of those evils. In case this failed, he argued, the entire State, when federated, could clean not only the towns, and counties, but also the State as well. When the States were federated, they would uphold the national federation which they were then forming, and then this great country would become a glorious “Christian nation.” Another speaker gave the practical working in one of the New England States. There are many small towns where there are two or three small, struggling churches. They spend double the money to keep two churches running; they take the time of two men. When united, there would be only one fair-sized congregation, and only one man to support. One object of this federation was to remedy this, and to bring about such a union that instead of two or three small churches with their expenses, there would be only one, and that one a union church. Again: when a new settlement is opened, or a town built, no federated denomination shall enter that territory without counseling with the federation. The ground will be carefully considered, and whichever denomination shall give the most people who lean toward it, or are actual members of the denomination, that is the one which shall settle in that place, and all others shall not establish a church or maintain a place of worship therein. Should this agreement be violated by a denomination, then it would rest under the implied censure of all the other federated churches. To us it is absolutely plain that this will eventually turn into as despotic a boycott as we have ever seen in the federation of laboring men, which we call “unions.” Is it not plain that when a people have a special message to give to every “nation, kindred, tongue, and people,” and they shall feel called of God to deliver that message anywhere and everywhere, then they will have to give that message under the protest of the entire federation of the churches? Suppose the people with that message should enter a small town, and, after giving their message, should find believers, and desire to establish a church. How would they be considered by the federation? To-day they disavow repeatedly their intention of ever interfering in the least with the freest exercise of religious action. We do not question their sincerity in this, but we do say that they are setting in operation a huge machine which, if controlled by a few despotic bigots, can be used as one of the most merciless institutions outside the Catholic Church. When it is demonstrated that a “united church” can have “whatever it demands,” as one speaker said, then their demands will be larger than they are to-day. Let us ask what their demands will be? The answer to this is given in the speech of one who illustrated the needs of a federated church, because there were “social evils,” such as “promiscuous divorce,” “the liquor traffic,” “all forms of gambling,” and “Sabbath desecration.” Although this gathering was but a council merely for the purpose of forming the federation, yet they were besieged on all sides to adopt resolutions relating to each of these issues. It may be seen that these issues, which they denominate as “social evils,” are so closely interwoven that in combating one all must be opposed. Hence should a people arise, and declare that what they term “Sabbath desecration” is not “Sabbath desecration” at all, that anything which is legitimate on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday is as legitimate on Sunday, that people would most certainly be accused of favoring each of those “social evils,” as they are considered a unit by this federation. Thus Sunday legislation will follow as surely and as logically as any conclusion must follow the consideration of a legitimate syllogism. Need we say that for many years Seventh-day Adventists have known that some day a mighty movement would be launched in some way, somehow, that7would raise the spurious sabbath into a position where it would demand the homage of the nation? In this mighty movement we have that toward which we have looked. From this council have gone the seeds of federation which will bear fruit in the near future. Into nearly every State and Territory the delegates have gone, inspired with the idea that through the federation of the churches they may usher in “the kingdom of Christ.” In the fourth century the churches tried the same plan, and instead of establishing the kingdom of Christ, they ushered in a kingdom of tyranny, which ended in the papacy. This, while ostensibly for the purpose of bringing the kingdom, will end in tyranny, and the perfect image of the papacy. To us this ought to be the signal to work, and to do the work quickly. Soon we shall know the meaning of the admonition given us some time ago: “The work which is left undone now must be done under circumstances which will try men’s souls.” Shall we not gird on the armor anew, and as one man carry this precious message to the world, and thus truly hasten the coming of “the kingdom”? The world is looking at a great federated machine, but we need a Spirit-filled church—not machinery and civil power, but a united, purified church, clothed with the power of God. O that it may be so! Why shall it not be thus?