Instead, she told me, she
would stay in and fight the matter of her ordination
to a finish. I, however, felt differently. I had done
considerable fighting during the past two years, and
my heart and soul were weary. I said: ``I shall get
out, I am no better and no stronger than a man,
and it is all a man can do to fight the world, the
flesh, and the devil, without fighting his Church as
well. I do not intend to fight my Church. But I
am called to preach the gospel; and if I cannot
preach it in my own Church, I will certainly preach
it in some other Church!''
As if in response to this outburst, a young min-
ister named Mark Trafton soon called to see me.
He had been present at our Conference, he had seen
my Church refuse to ordain me, and he had come to
suggest that I apply for ordination in his Church--
the Methodist Protestant. To leave my Church,
even though urged to do so by its appointed spokes-
man, seemed a radical step. Before taking this I
appealed from the decision of the Conference to the
General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, which held its session that year in Cin-
cinnati, Ohio. Miss Oliver also appealed, and again
we were both refused ordination, the General Con-
ference voting to sustain Bishop Andrews in his
decision. Not content with this achievement, the
Conference even took a backward step. It deprived
us of the right to be licensed as local preachers.
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