105 The inter-denominational work of the Club was opposed by the Los Angeles Presbytery, of which both Jamison and Sutherland were members. Basically, the issue arose over the work of the Club on the UCLA- c"-.:impu-s-. ---A presbyterian minister had been appointed to repre~ent the Los Angeles Presbytery in a Religious Conference, which had been established on the UCLA campus to direct all the activities . The Conference was composed of what Dr. Sutherland callee a motley conglomeration of Protestant denominational Representatives, along with off-beat Christian cults, and non-Christian individuals." Although Jamison and Sutherland were invited to join the Conference, they felt that they could not be "unequally yoked together with unbelievers." When they declined, trouble with the Presbytery began iffiPlediately. In 1932, Jamison and Sutherland were ordered by the Presbytery to cease operation of their Club work on the UCLA campus because the Presbytery had appointed a representative to work with the Religious Conference, and this, with the other two men would give the Presbytery a total of three represent- atives, whereas each of the other member groups had only one. Jamison and Sutherland, knowing the basic purpose of the order and also what it meant if they decided to disobey the Presbytery, would not violate the dictates of their own consciences; therefore, they refused to submit to the arbitrary order of the Presbytery. This was a difficult decision for Sam Sutherland. Not only had both his father and grandfather been Presbyterian ministers, but also he himself' - approved of the Presbyterian Church, respected its historical doctrinal pol- icy, and was in sympathy with its governmental system. Also, from the time he felt called to the ministry, he had never thought of being anything other than a Presbyterian. Furthermore, he realized that being outside the denom- ination would be a lonely position, for at that time there was no other place that he could go for fellowship. There were no strong independent funda- mental works outside the mainline denominations. For weeks he sought the Lord's will. Like Gideon, he asked the Lord for a sign; no sign was given.
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