In the polity and development of
the church, as in other fields of moral and social struggle, he was
far in advance of the time; and up to the day of his death, this was
one of the great burdens that rested upon his heart.
The membership coming to the Territory, and which, of course, formed
the nuclei of churches, was a heterogenous compound. In many respects
there was no possible assimilation; but so far as the simple tenets of
the primitive faith were concerned, there was little or no difference.
But as to plurality of bishops in the congregation, their tenure and
jurisdiction of office, the relations of comity between sister
churches, the duties and powers of an evangelist, the laying on of
hands in induction into authority, instrumental music in the
congregation, the Sunday-school and its organization, the order of
social worship, the mid-week meeting for prayer, and numerous other
matters of scriptural life, there were as many shades of opinion as
there were of dialects; and the tenacity with which they were
maintained, those not familiar with the time and its environments can
hardly hope to know.
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