METHODISTS. 



509 



employ, in addition to district missionaries, 

 ministers and lay agents for general evangelis- 

 tic work. The subject of establishing a Con- 

 ference in South Africa was considered, but such 

 a measure was judged to be not yet expedient. 



VI. PRIMITIVE METHODIST CONNECTION. 

 The following is a summary of the statistics of 

 this Connection (exclusive of the Canadian 

 Conference), as they were reported to the Con- 

 ference of 1880: Number of members, 174,- 

 469 ; of ministers, 1,041 ; of local preachers, 

 14,244; of class-leaders, 10,220; of chapels, 

 4,072 ; of other places of worship, 1,846. The 

 return of members shows a decrease of 101. 



The thirty-seventh anniversary of the Prim- 

 itive Methodist Missionary Society was held in 

 London, May llth. The receipts of the Soci- 

 ety for the year had been 23,820 distinctively 

 styled missionary money, and 15,354 contrib- 

 uted for various special purposes, making in 

 all 39,175. The debt of the Society amount- 

 ed to 7,000. The missions included 72 sta- 

 tions, witli 107 missionaries, in the United 

 Kingdom ; 66 stations, with 94 ministers and 

 missionaries, in Canada; 90 stations, with 112 

 ministers and missionaries, in Australasia; three 

 stations, with three European and two native 

 missionaries, in Africa; in all, 231 stations, with 

 318 missionaries and colonial ministers. The 

 only missions to the heathen were at Fernando 

 Po, West Africa, and Aliwal North, South 

 Africa. The mission at Fernando Po had been 

 closed in the previous year in consequence of 

 the repressive measures of the Spanish author- 

 ities ; but the work had been resumed, and was 

 going on prosperously, under a suspension of 

 the unfriendly restrictions. 



VII. UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCHES. 

 The following is a summary of the statistics of 

 this body as they were presented to the Con- 

 ference in July, 1880: Number of ministers, 

 391 ; of supernumeraries, 35 ; of local preach- 

 ers, 3,391 ; of leaders, 4,249 ; of members, 72,- 

 044; of persons on trial, 7,433; of chapels, 

 1,356; of preaching-rooms, 199; of Sunday- 

 schools, 1,345, with 26,913 teachers and 189,- 

 033 scholars. The returns show a decrease of 

 425 members in the home, and an increase of 

 160 members in the foreign, stations; a de- 

 crease of 1,000 persons on trial, and an increase 

 of 402 Sunday scholars. 



VIII. METHODIST NEW CONNECTION. The 

 eighty-fourth annual Conference of the Meth- 

 odist New Connection met at Longton, June 

 14th. The Rev. W. Cocker, D. D., Principal 

 of Ranmoor College, Sheffield, was chosen 

 President. A special fund was established, to 

 be known as the Connectional Auxiliary fund, 

 to consist of 12,000, and to be apportioned 

 among the foreign missions, the Paternal fund, 

 the College fund, and a contemplated Connec- 

 tional loan fund. The Missionary Committee 

 was instructed to prepare a plan for the em- 

 ployment of Bible women among the destitute. 

 A resolution was adopted approving the Gov- 

 ernment " Burials Bill." 



IX. WESLEYAN REFORM UNION. The sta- 

 tistical reports of the churches connected with 

 this body, made to the representative assembly 

 in August, showed that the number of preach- 

 ers was 605, and the number of members was 

 7,360. One hundred and eighty-nine Sunday- 

 schools included 3,011 teachers and 19,078 schol- 

 ars. These figures showed an increase during 

 the year of 73 preachers, 120 members, 6 Sun- 

 day-schools, 115 teachers, and 557 scholars. 



X. (ECUMENICAL CONFERENCE OF METHODISM. 

 The committee appointed to represent the 

 different branches of the Methodist family of 

 churches in reference to an (Ecumenical Con- 

 ference of Methodism, held meetings in Cin- 

 cinnati, Ohio, May 6th and 10th, aud decided 

 to call such a conference to meet in the City 

 Road Chapel, London, about the middle of 

 August, 1881. The Conference, it is stated in 

 the call, is not to be for legislative purposes, 

 nor for doctrinal controversies, nor for ail at- 

 tempt to harmonize the various polities and 

 usages of the Methodist churches, but for co- 

 operation rather than consolidation, and to de- 

 vise such means for prosecuting the home and 

 foreign work of the churches as will result in 

 the greatest economy and efficiency, to promote 

 fraternity, and to increase the moral and evan- 

 gelical po v .\ r er of a common Methodism. Am ong 

 the subjects which such a conference might 

 properly consider are mentioned the duty of 

 Methodism with reference to diverse and an- 

 tagonistic faiths, and toward evils and vices ; 

 its relation to education; the means of evan- 

 gelization ; Methodism as a missionary move- 

 ment ; the relation of the home to the foreign 

 work, and the best mode of avoiding waste 

 and rivalries, and of securing sympathy and co- 

 operation between different Methodist bodies 

 oscupying the same or contiguous mission- 

 fields ; the use of the press ; the resources of 

 Methodism and its corresponding responsibil- 

 ity ; the spiritual unity of Methodism, and the 

 best way to secure its maintenance and in- 

 crease, and to manifest it to the world; and 

 other kindred topics. The Conference is to be 

 composed of four hundred members, including 

 as nearly as possible equal numbers of minis- 

 ters and laymen, who are to be assigned so 

 that the British and Continental Methodists 

 and their affiliated conferences and mission- 

 fields shall have two hundred, and the confer- 

 ences and churches in the United States and 

 Canada and their foreign work shall have two 

 hundred representatives. The distribution of 

 the British and Continental delegates is to be 

 determined by the British churches through 

 consultation and correspondence. The dele- 

 gates assigned to the United States and Canada 

 are to be distributed as follows : The Method- 

 ist Episcopal Church, 80; the Methodist Epis- 

 copal Church, South, 38 ; the African Method- 

 ist Episcopal Church, 12 ; the Methodist Epis- 

 copal Zion Church, 10 ; the Colored Methodist 

 Episcopal Church of America, 6; the Evan- 

 gelical Association, 6; the Union American 



