This Week in Texas Methodist History   November 22

 

Texas Conference Ignores Report of Educational Commission,  Admits Candidates Under 2/3 Rule

 

The 20^th century witnessed a growing demand for a more educated clergy.  That trend accelerated after WWI.   The General Board of Education of the MECS sounded the alarm about poorly educated pastors.  The Board reported that of the 262 candidates admitted to its annual conferences in 1922, 22 had been admitted via the 2/3 Rule.  The Texas Conference accounted for 6 of the 22 so admitted. I won’t go too deeply into church 100 years ago, but the rule stated that candidates with only a high school education could be admitted into conference with a 2/3 rather than majority vote.  Texas high schools of the era typically had only 11 grades.  The result was that many Texans finished their formal education at age 16.

 

The Texas Conference met in Mount Pleasant in November 1923, and the Conference Board of Education endorsed the General Board’s recommendation that the 2/3 rule be used in only the most exceptional circumstances.  That recommendation was ignored.  On Friday Nov 23 the names of Leon Bass, John William Black, and James Waggoner were presented to the conference for admission under the 2/3 rule.  All 3 were admitted.

 

Waggoner was appointed to the Henderson Circuit; Black to the Durango Circuit; and Bass to the Boston Circuit.  

 

 

 

Educational standards became more rigorous.