Heterodox Spelling by Editor

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, Cal. · May 1, 1879

Heterodox Spelling.

By Editor

The San Francisco Presbytery was recently in session, and we find some rare reports in the Chronicle. A letter from the Second Presbyterian Church of Oakland was rejected because of its bad spelling, which was declared to be "conceived with marvelous ingenuity of incorrectness." It reported that "the Lord's suppar was administard to Mrs. Kate Sheppard on the profession of hur faith."

One paragraph read:—

"The foweling persons were granted letters of dismissal to the Presbyterian church at Sentalena: Mr. Sylvestar Barry, Mrs. Jane Barrey, Miss Mary Barey."

And such words as, sallery, paied, minits, and deligate, were used.

We readily agree that such spelling is not orthodox; but we do not think the clerk of that church is a sinner above all church clerks, and that is just why we write this article. We believe that the churches possess a full average of the intelligence of any community, and in many instances rise above that, and why, then, church records should be kept in such a faulty manner, when kept at all, we are at a loss to understand. But such is the case. We rarely find a church book in first class style. We know of some; we can point one near us which will compare favorably with any legal records kept in the same county. But if all religious associations should follow the example of the San Francisco Presbytery, and refuse to accept papers which were not made out in good order, we fear many churches of nearly all denominations would go unrepresented in such bodies.