Page 159 - United Brethren Virginia Conferences 1800-1946
P. 159
Volume 7 History of Virginia Conferences of United Brethren December 26, 2024
addresses. Some 1,200 or 1,500 people were present. This should be an annual gathering. Similar
meetings were held at Inwood Park on Saturday, August 22, and Berkeley Springs Park on Saturday,
August 29th. These gatherings were largely attended and well represented the Church in those sections.
The Woman’s Missionary Association held its annual meeting in Winchester, Va., April 10 to 11, 1908.
They will hold their next meeting in Dayton, Va., March 29 to 31, 1909. This coming meeting should
be encouraged by the presence of the ministers. More local associations could and should be organized
in the Conference.
Our Conference School. Shenandoah Collegiate Institute and School of Music is the property of
the Virginia Conference. It is an institution that we can well afford to be religiously proud of. The
enrolment for the present year has passed the 200 mark and is the largest attendance in the history of the
institution. It takes high rank as a preparatory and musical school. It gives more for the money than any
other institution of its kind in the South. Our own people are beginning to recognize this fact and are
sending their sons and daughters. Two great and imperative needs confront the board of trustees. First,
the payment in full of the present debt; second, a new dormitory and gymnasium for boys. Rev. Dr. A.
P. Funkhouser, who was elected by this Conference 1 year ago is the Secretary of Education for the
Conference and school, will report the progress made toward paying the debt, while the board of trustees
will most likely submit plans for the new dormitory.
Literature. The literature sent out by our church was never so good as now. Every periodical of
the Church, except possibly one or two, has had a good circulation among our people. The Telescope,
Watchword, and Adult Bible Quarterly deserve special mention. The Virginia Conference News has had
to fight for its existence. All who see it are delighted with it and are anxious that it shall be continued;
but unless there can be a better understanding and agreement between the pastor, people, and publishers,
it will, of necessity, have to be discontinued. This would be unfortunate and a step backward.
License Granted. Brother J. H. Cooley, of Winchester, Va., was granted quarterly conference
license to preach, and is now in school preparing for active work. A. B. Mann, of Cumberland, Md.,
was granted quarterly conference license, on Saturday, March 20, 1909. Statistics. The following
figures fairly represent the summary of the year’s work, and will be found to be approximately correct.
Conversions, 1,368; accessions, 1,200; Young People’s Societies, senior, 48; junior, 14; members in
senior, 1,885; junior, 600; new Societies, senior, 9; junior, —; Telescopes taken, 497; Watchwords
taken, 600; pastors’ [cumulative annual] salary, $20,079.15; conference home missions, $67; conference
church extension, $1,095; general home missions, $775; general church erection, $375; foreign
missions, $750; administration fund, $1,400; sustentation fund, $650; new churches built this year, 3;
cost, $11,657.63; new parsonages built this year, 2; cost, $3,160.08; church improvements, cost
$7,675.89; and parsonage improvements, cost, $2,606.61.
Recommendations. I recommend: (1) That all Annual Conference preachers having charge of
fields of labor be authorized to hold their own communion service and to administer other sacraments of
the Church. (2) That Article VI, Section (b) of the constitution of the Sustentation Board be so amended
as to say that the Board shall pay to a beneficiary coming from a charge reporting a deficiency in
conference claims, the same percent, of the appropriations as the charge pays on its conference
assessments, and that this change shall in no way affect section (c) (d) and (e) of the same sections.
(3) That in case a pastor who is serving a mission resigns his charge during the conference year, except
in case of sickness, or other Providential reasons, he shall forfeit or refund one-half of the appropriation
for the time he has served the charge. (4) That the statistical chart in our published Minutes have a
column for each of the following items: (a) Pastor’s salary paid on the charge, (b) Value of presents, (c)
1909 Reports 149
addresses. Some 1,200 or 1,500 people were present. This should be an annual gathering. Similar
meetings were held at Inwood Park on Saturday, August 22, and Berkeley Springs Park on Saturday,
August 29th. These gatherings were largely attended and well represented the Church in those sections.
The Woman’s Missionary Association held its annual meeting in Winchester, Va., April 10 to 11, 1908.
They will hold their next meeting in Dayton, Va., March 29 to 31, 1909. This coming meeting should
be encouraged by the presence of the ministers. More local associations could and should be organized
in the Conference.
Our Conference School. Shenandoah Collegiate Institute and School of Music is the property of
the Virginia Conference. It is an institution that we can well afford to be religiously proud of. The
enrolment for the present year has passed the 200 mark and is the largest attendance in the history of the
institution. It takes high rank as a preparatory and musical school. It gives more for the money than any
other institution of its kind in the South. Our own people are beginning to recognize this fact and are
sending their sons and daughters. Two great and imperative needs confront the board of trustees. First,
the payment in full of the present debt; second, a new dormitory and gymnasium for boys. Rev. Dr. A.
P. Funkhouser, who was elected by this Conference 1 year ago is the Secretary of Education for the
Conference and school, will report the progress made toward paying the debt, while the board of trustees
will most likely submit plans for the new dormitory.
Literature. The literature sent out by our church was never so good as now. Every periodical of
the Church, except possibly one or two, has had a good circulation among our people. The Telescope,
Watchword, and Adult Bible Quarterly deserve special mention. The Virginia Conference News has had
to fight for its existence. All who see it are delighted with it and are anxious that it shall be continued;
but unless there can be a better understanding and agreement between the pastor, people, and publishers,
it will, of necessity, have to be discontinued. This would be unfortunate and a step backward.
License Granted. Brother J. H. Cooley, of Winchester, Va., was granted quarterly conference
license to preach, and is now in school preparing for active work. A. B. Mann, of Cumberland, Md.,
was granted quarterly conference license, on Saturday, March 20, 1909. Statistics. The following
figures fairly represent the summary of the year’s work, and will be found to be approximately correct.
Conversions, 1,368; accessions, 1,200; Young People’s Societies, senior, 48; junior, 14; members in
senior, 1,885; junior, 600; new Societies, senior, 9; junior, —; Telescopes taken, 497; Watchwords
taken, 600; pastors’ [cumulative annual] salary, $20,079.15; conference home missions, $67; conference
church extension, $1,095; general home missions, $775; general church erection, $375; foreign
missions, $750; administration fund, $1,400; sustentation fund, $650; new churches built this year, 3;
cost, $11,657.63; new parsonages built this year, 2; cost, $3,160.08; church improvements, cost
$7,675.89; and parsonage improvements, cost, $2,606.61.
Recommendations. I recommend: (1) That all Annual Conference preachers having charge of
fields of labor be authorized to hold their own communion service and to administer other sacraments of
the Church. (2) That Article VI, Section (b) of the constitution of the Sustentation Board be so amended
as to say that the Board shall pay to a beneficiary coming from a charge reporting a deficiency in
conference claims, the same percent, of the appropriations as the charge pays on its conference
assessments, and that this change shall in no way affect section (c) (d) and (e) of the same sections.
(3) That in case a pastor who is serving a mission resigns his charge during the conference year, except
in case of sickness, or other Providential reasons, he shall forfeit or refund one-half of the appropriation
for the time he has served the charge. (4) That the statistical chart in our published Minutes have a
column for each of the following items: (a) Pastor’s salary paid on the charge, (b) Value of presents, (c)
1909 Reports 149
