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A baneful poison

James Griffing played an active role in each of the Sessions of the Kansas & Nebraska Annual Conferences. Records from these Conferences suggest that he often served on the Examination Committee whose job it was to question the candidates who were seeking admission to the Conference. His name also occasionally appears among the officers of the various standing committees, which included the Bible Society, Temperance, Education, Publishing, and Missionary committees. At the April 1857 Annual Conference held in Nebraska City, Nebraska Territory, James proffered the following set of resolutions on behalf of the Temperance Committee that he chaired:

Whereas, the success of the church, the happiness of families, and the prosperity of our Nation are so deeply affected by the excessive use of alcoholic drinks. Therefore,

Resolved 1. That as ministers of the gospel of Christ, we will do all in our power, in the pulpit and out of it, to prevent both the use and sale of intoxicating drinks as a beverage.

Resolved 2. That all dealers in intoxicating liquors otherwise than for medicinal or mechanical purposes NEVER receive our patronage where it can be possibly avoided whilst they are thus engaged, and that we will endeavor to influence all the members of our church to withhold from such their patronage.

Resolved 3. That as it is generally admitted that tobacco is a baneful poison unnatural to the human system, destructive to health and often to life, except when used medicinally, and its habitual use cannot be vindicated on the ground of either health, economy, or neatness, that we will hereby recommend to all members and probationers of the Conference to desist from the use of it.