The Southern Union Conference
By George A. Irwin
This meeting was held, pursuant to notice, January 4-14, in the city of Nashville. The daily sessions were held in the chapel of the Southern Publishing Association’s building, and the Sabbath and evening services were held in the church recently purchased in the city. All the conferences and institutions were represented by their full number of delegates, and a deep interest was manifested in the various reports rendered and questions brought up for discussion. The reports, in the main, were encouraging, considering the many enterprises, and the small constituency from which to draw means for their support. The Southern Training-school, located at Graysville, came in for a good share of attention. This school, under the management of Professor Tenney, is becoming a factor in the education and training of young people for the work in the Southern field. It was gratifying to learn that a number of persons who had received their training at this school are now occupying positions of responsibility in different conferences. Some reports had gone out derogatory to the school and its management, but these were all cleared up, and I am sure the discussions on the general situation brought about a better understanding on the part of all, and will result in the general welfare of the school in the future. The sanitarium at Graysville has been passing through a trying experience, because of a lack of means to fully finish and equip the institution. This enterprise also received its share of attention, and I think there are better days in store for it. It occupies an important position in connection with the Southern Training-school, and the two together, when properly equipped, will become important factors in the growth and development of the work in the South. Time was also devoted to the consideration of sanitarium interests in and around Nashville. An effort has been made to move the sanitarium out of the city to some quiet place in the country. A parcel of land containing thirty-two acres was purchased last year by the brethren, but as no means came in to warrant them in going ahead, nothing has yet been done toward the building. Another site has also been suggested, so at the present writing it is uncertain just where the institution will be located. The great need of moving it into the country was very apparent to us who were in attendance at the meeting from abroad, as the location of the site in Nashville, with its fog and coal smoke in the winter, makes it anything but a desirable place in which to live. The Sanitarium Association was reorganized in harmony with the plan adopted by the General Conference, making it a constituent body, rather than a membership body with proxy privileges. The conference made appropriations for the various institutions, amounting, in the whole, to forty thousand dollars, twenty-five thousand dollars of which was to go to the Nashville Sanitarium. If this amount can be raised and judiciously expended, in addition to the fixtures and appliances that they already have which might be transferred from the city plant to the country, they will have a good institution. The publishing association, having sold its plant in the city, is erecting a new building on land purchased in the suburbs. The new site is on an elevation, and is free from the fog and smoke of the city. The main part of their new building is already up, and it is hoped that it will be ready for occupancy in a few months. The building is one story, and so arranged that the plant can be operated at the very least possible expense. While they have sustained considerable loss in the sale of the building and plant in the city, yet in the end I am satisfied that the change will prove a blessing to the work. By request of the officers of the Southern Missionary Society and by unanimous vote of the conference, this society was placed under the care of the Southern Union Conference, to be operated by it for a period of two years. A committee of five was appointed to look after its interests. The transfer of this society to the Southern Union Conference makes it obligatory upon the conference to take a lively interest in the work among the colored people, and this I feel sure they have a desire to do. The work of the Oakwood Industrial School for colored people received consideration during the meeting. According to reports, a good spirit prevails in the school, and the interest is gradually increasing. Several persons each pledged a sufficient amount of means to support one student in the school for a year. This school also needs considerable help in order to provide proper facilities, a girls’ dormitory and treatment rooms being especially needed. An appropriation7of five thousand dollars was made for this purpose, and twenty-five hundred dollars to build and equip an orphanage. Elder Butler was unanimously re-elected president of the conference, and Elder R. M. Kilgore vice-president. Quite a number of changes were made in the boards of management of the different institutions, which no doubt will be reported in the official report of the meeting. Elders W. C. White and I. H. Evans, Dr. J. E. Froom, and the writer were in attendance at the conference. It was a great pleasure to meet with the laborers in the Southern Union Conference after an absence of nearly ten years from the field. Many of the familiar faces that were there when I had charge of the work in that field, are there still, and many others have joined the work since, showing that notwithstanding it is a hard field, they are making progress. Taken as a whole, I enjoyed the meeting very much. Elder Butler kindly entertained us during the meeting. It was a great privilege to be associated with this aged veteran, and to be privileged to counsel with him as to the best interests of the work in the field where he is located, and where his heart’s affection seems to be centered. Brother Butler stands loyal and true to the principles of the third angel’s message, and is a firm believer in the spirit of prophecy. A spirit of loyalty to the work seemed to characterize the entire delegation. While they will have many perplexities to contend with, I fully believe that the work in the Southern field has received a new impetus as the result of the meeting, and that rapid progress may be looked for in the next biennial period.