BAPTISTS. 



among the foreign population were carried on by 

 one missionary in Baltimore, Md. The work in 

 Cuba did not seem to have been helped by Ameri- 

 can occupation. The sum of $11,277 had been 

 spent upon it. and 177 baptisms were reported. 

 The Church Building and Loan fund, which was 

 begun with a contribution from the Woman's 

 Missionary Union, now aggregated .$4,110. The 

 year's contributions of this society to the board 

 had been $47,437. A committee of nine members 

 on <-ooi>cration, appointed at the preceding meet- 

 ing of the convention, brought in a report, recom- 

 mending an adherence of the convention to the 

 resolution made one year before to give special 

 emphasis to the object of eliciting, combining, and 

 directing the energies of the whole denomination 

 in one sacred effort for the propagation of the 

 GosjH-1, and that it avail itself of the educational 

 work of the new-century movement, and the at- 

 tention and interest that have been awakened, 

 " to press with special vigor just now some practi- 

 cable plan for trying to enlist, as far as possible, 

 every church and every member of every church 

 in this important work/' It invited the State as- 

 sociations, conventions., and boards to cooperate 

 in a " vigorous, specific movement of this kind," 

 and to arrange for regular appeals in the district 

 associations; requested the district associations 

 to appoint committees of ways and means for 

 the purpose of securing the interest and con- 

 tributions of all the several churches, in their 

 bodies: and proposed the institution of a special 

 agency, with provision for its expenses, the par- 

 ticular work of which should be to put itself into 

 direct communication with all the State organi- 

 zations and the district associations in behalf of 

 the plan; to compile lists of the churches support- 

 ing the boards, revising them from time to time, 

 for the use of the several boards: and to secure, 

 through all proper agencies, direct communication 

 with every church within the bounds of the con- 

 vention, in order to induce them to contribute. In 

 connection with this report an offer was presented 

 from a group of Baptists in Baltimore of $4,000 

 for the purposes of the proposed commission for 

 three years, conditioned upon the appropriation 

 of $3,000 by the Sunday-school Board for the 

 same purpose. The discussion of the report in the 

 convention was directed chiefly to the recom- 

 mendation of a new commission, and this was 

 finally referred to a committee, none of whom 

 should be a member of any of the boards, to report 

 to the next meeting of the convention. 



The total contributions of the Woman's Mis- 

 sionary I'nion to the three boards of the conven- 

 tion were $8H,02. 



Meetings of the Southern Baptist Young Peo- 

 ple's Union were held in connection with the 

 meetings of the convention. 



Triennial German Baptist Conference. The 

 triennial General Conference of German Baptists 

 in North America was held in Berlin, Ontario, 

 Sept. 25 to Oct. 1. Prof. L. Kaiser was reelected 

 moderator. The seven conferences comprised in the 

 body viz., the Atlantic, Eastern, Central, South- 

 western, Northwestern, Texas, and Pacific Con- 

 ferences reported through their representatives 

 advance in numbers and increased financial 

 strength. A report was made representing that 

 during the past year 12 new churches had been 

 organized, making a total of 249 churches, and 

 that the membership had increased to 22,889. The 

 report of the general treasurer showed that a 

 total amount of $83.420 had passed through his 

 hands. The home mission work was represented 

 as enlarging in all quarters. A new enterprise had 

 been started in South America, and was already 



bearing fruit. The educational report showed 

 that within three years 32 students had entered 

 the ministry, and that the seminary (at Roches- 

 ter. N. Y.), had representatives in Africa, Asia, 

 Australia, Europe, and South and North America. 

 Yet many of the churches were without pastors, 

 and the number of students in the seminary at 

 Rochester was diminishing. About $80,000 of a 

 subscription undertaken for education had been 

 paid in. A report was made also concerning the 

 publication enterprises of the conference and its 

 newspapers. 



A committee, consisting of a representative from 

 each conference, which had had the care of or- 

 phans since the connection with the orphanage at 

 Louisville, Ky., was discontinued, reported con- 

 cerning its efforts to secure the adoption of the 

 orphans of the Church in trustworthy families. A 

 Ministers' Mutual Benefit Association and a 

 General Benefit Association composed of ministers 

 of the German Baptist churches, held their meet- 

 ings during the period of the sessions of the con- 

 ference. 



Young People's Union. The tenth annual 

 meeting of the Baptist Young People's Union of 

 America was held in Chicago, 111., July 25 to 28, 

 John H. Chapman presiding. The treasurer's re- 

 port show r ed that the receipts of the union for the 

 year had been $86,038, and the disbursements a 

 few cents less, while its liabilities were $18,900. 

 The report of the Board of Managers showed that 

 examination papers had been received from all 

 but 6 of the States and Territories of the Ameri- 

 can Union, all the provinces of Canada, and Ja- 

 pan, comprising, in all, 3,569 senior and 10,947 

 junior papers. Some changes had been made in 

 the arrangement of the studies and the examina- 

 tions. In view of the number of readers who did 

 not take the examinations, it had been decided to < 

 have reports of reading. Under the new arrange- 

 ment the Advanced Bible-Reader's Course will be 

 a four years' study of the 66 books of the Bible, 

 emphasizing the historical background, and the 

 contemporaneous history, the literary character, 

 the doctrinal and practical teachings of each book, 

 and its relation to the whole scheme of biblical 

 revelation. The Advanced Conquest Missionary 

 Course will be a four years' study of missions 

 from the time of Christ to the present day, as 

 carried on by every evangelical body of Christians 

 in all parts of the earth. The advanced Sacred 

 Literature Course will be a four years' study of 

 (1) the history of the canon of the Bible, its 

 principles, methods of interpretation, and present- 

 day questions of its interpretation; (2) the origin, 

 growth, and character of the kingdom of God; 

 (3) Christian doctrines, with biographical studies 

 of the apostles; (4) Christian doctrines, with bio- 

 graphical studies of some of the leaders in the 

 history of the Church. During the past five years 

 the journal the Baptist Union, in addition to 

 bearing all of its own expenses, had paid $13,270 . 

 into the general work of the Young People's 

 Union. Increased efforts were now being put 

 forth to make the paper indispensable to the 

 young people of the churches. The sessions of the 

 convention were given mainly to the hearing of 

 addresses, to conferences, and to "rallies," of 

 which two were held by the German Young 

 People. 



Baptist Congress. The nineteenth annual 

 Baptist Congress was held in the city of New 

 York, Nov. 12 to 14, Prof. Albert S. Bickmore pre- 

 siding. In his address of welcome to the congress 

 on behalf of the Christian community, Archdea- 

 con Tiffany, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 

 dwelt upon the benefit which that body had re- 



