Rev. H. S. Hoffman’s Defection.
We are apprised that the Rev. H. S. Hoffman, of Philadelphia, has decided to sever his connections with the Moravian Church, and that his congregation not only approve of the ecclesiastical change, but signify their purpose to go with their pastor. The pastor and people will become communicants in the Reformed Episcopal church, and the edifice will be transferred to the Reformed Episcopal diocese under Bishop Nicholson.
The reasons assigned for the change of creed are the objections on the part of the pastor and flock to the powers vested in the Provincial Elders’ Conference, which are held to be arbitrary; and also to the system of choosing a pastor, in which the congregation has no voice.
This action will no doubt occasion deep regret in the community in which Dr. Hoffman has lived for so many years, and in whose ministry he has labored so acceptably. If accounts were not too highly colored, and we have no reason to so suppose, he has done a noble work for the Moravian Church, and the denomination cannot but deplore the severance of relations that have so long and profitably obtained. The defection must have been the result of due deliberation, and the seceders <sic> doubtless considered their action justified in the premises; but it remains an open question, Whether any society can afford to lose such efficient workers in the vineyard? And whether the exceptionally successful shepherds are wise in abandoning their divinely appointed charge to take up service in a fair country and among strangers.
~ The Lititz Record, 07-Oct-1881, Page 2, Columns 1-2
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