CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



United States, the Swiss cantons, the departments 

 of France, the parts of the United Kingdom, and 

 the Australian colonies. In the United Congre- 

 gational Church the completest possible unit of 

 Congregationalism would be realized, and with 

 it the U-uest conception of brotherhood; while the 

 best would be made by it of all the resources of 

 Congregationalism. " Nothing would "be allowed 

 to run to waste. The whole line of duty and pos- 

 sibility would be watched by a representative and 

 responsible assembly either as a whole or depart- 

 mentally/' At a meeting held in Albert Hall, the 

 Earl of Aberdeen presiding, the Key. W. G. Lawes, 

 of New Guinea, spoke of the condition and pros- 

 pects of the mission and of native Christianity in 

 that country, to which special attention was for 

 the moment directed, on account of the recent 

 murders of missionaries. A United Ladies' Mis- 

 sionary meeting, at which Mrs. S. G. Green pre- 

 sided, was attended by nearly 100 women mission- 

 aries of the London and the Baptist Societies, and 

 was addressed by 7 of the number describing the 

 conditions in their several fields. 



Autumnal Assembly of the Congregational 

 Union. The Autumnal Assembly of the Union 

 was held at Manchester, beginning Oct. 15, the 

 autumnal sermon having been preached on the 

 previous evening by the Rev. George Gladstone. 

 The chairman, the Rev. Joseph Parker, D. D., in 

 his opening address, made a further exposition of 

 his scheme for a United Congregational Church. 

 He wanted to interest all the churches in the work 

 of Congregationalism; to do this they needed an 

 ideal, some great uniting policy, some noble and 

 sovereign principle, which they would find in the 

 union he proposed. It should embrace the col- 

 leges as schools of the Church, should assume 

 responsibility for its ministers, make provision 

 for them in old age and when honorably retired, 

 and unite under its care the home and foreign 

 missionary and other societies, while the au- 

 tonomy of the local churches should not be dis- 

 turbed, and the trust deeds should be free from 

 the incorporation of any theological doctrine. 

 The address was accompanied by a sketch of the 

 line of initial procedure w r hich might be followed 

 in the constitution of the Church, beginning with 

 county conferences, and passing to a larger con- 

 ference representing all the counties, which should 

 frame a constitution for the United Church, and 

 then to the assembly holding two meetings an- 

 nually, as now, to constitute the Church. The 

 resolutions unanimously adopted by the assembly 

 expressed to Dr. Parker its sense of the serv- 

 ices he had rendered to the Congregational 

 churches by his two addresses as chairman of the 

 union, and especially of the importance of the 

 new ideals he had set before it; and continued: 

 " While not committing itself to any premature 

 approval or disapproval of the proposed ' United 

 Congregational Church,' this assembly deems the 

 proposal to be of such vital importance as to de- 

 serve most serious and careful consideration both 

 by the churches represented here and by the 

 county unions. This assembly therefore directs 

 the committee of the Congregational Union of 

 England and Wales to take immediate steps to 

 bring the whole subject before the churches and 

 the county unions for their consideration, and it 

 further instructs the committee that when suffi- 

 cient time has been allowed for the consideration 

 and discussion of the proposal of its chairman, it 

 shall collect and tabulate the results of the discus- 

 sion, and shall embody them in a report to be sub- 

 mitted to the Annual Assembly of this union at 

 the earliest possible date.'' A statement made in 

 behalf of the Church Aid Society showed that 21 



out of the 39 counties of England and Wales had 

 received help from it in ministerial support and 

 evangelistic work. In the past year 4,200 had 

 been distributed by it toward the support of 217 

 pastors and 74 evangelists. Its work was purely 

 supplemental to that of the county unions. It 

 needed 1,000 more to meet the year ? s expendi- 

 ture. A report of the Pastors' Retiring fund 

 show r ed that the average expenditure for the past 

 four years on annuities paid to 173 ministers had 

 been 6,300, with 300 for office expenses. The 

 income from investments had been 4,900, and 

 between 1,100 and 1,200 had been realized 

 from subscriptions, legacies, etc. An average an- 

 nual deficiency of 500 had been incurred. 



The subject of The Supply and Training of 

 Local Preachers was considered at a lay confer- 

 ence. At a women's meeting papers \vere read on 

 Our Responsibility to the Unreached Classes, and 

 The Claims of the Girls' Guild of the Free 

 Churches. A scheme of maintenance was proposed 

 at a conference on superannuation. A confer- 

 ence was held on the relations of the councils 

 to one another and to the churches. The council 

 of the Twentieth Century fund adopted a scheme 

 of distribution. 



Colonial Missionary Society. The Colonial 

 Missionary Society received during the year cov- 

 ered by its sixty-fifth report, which was presented 

 May 13, 5,236, and had a balance of 409 re- 

 maining. The grant made by the Congregational 

 Union and that of the London Missionary Society 

 for three years in aid of native churches in Brit- 

 ish colonies had been renewed. The report dealt 

 with the work of the society in the various col- 

 onies, laying special emphasis on the new work 

 begun in British Columbia and Newfoundland, on 

 the " distressful condition of the colored churches 

 in Jamaica," and on work in South Africa and the 

 Australasian colonies. Mission work had been 

 begun in the gold-fields of Tasmania. 



Pastors' Retiring Fund. The report of the 

 Pastors' Retiring fund showed that 6,384 had 

 been paid in annuities during the year, making 

 177,019 since the beginning in 1860. The number 

 of annuitants w r as 173. The investments of the 

 fund approximated, at present rates, 160,350. 

 The pressure of applications was increasing 

 yearly, and rendered an early increase of resources 

 vitally important. 



The Pastors' Widows' fund had paid 1,220 to 

 98 annuitants, making 28,190 paid since the be- 

 ginning of the fund in 1870. 



Chapel-Building Society. The reports of the 

 English Chapel-Building Society showed that it 

 had, during forty-seven years, aided 818 churches 

 and 37 manses, and had disbursed 215,714. 

 During the past year notes and payments had 

 been made for 35 churches and 11 manses amount- 

 ing to 8,545. The year's income had been 5,- 

 5G3. 



Congregational Historical Society. The 

 first annual meeting of the Congregational His-' 

 torical Society was held in London, April 24. The 

 treasurer reported a small balance, and the sec- 

 retary accounted for the work that had been 

 done. The first volume of the Transactions had 

 been issued, and contained articles on Non-Pa- 

 rochial Registers in Yorkshire, Dr. Watts's 

 Church Book, and From a Diary of the Gurney 

 Family. One hundred and fifty replies had been 

 received to 487 circulars addressed to churches 

 founded prior to 1750, asking for information as 

 to the existence of original records. In several 

 cases existing histories had been presented to the 

 society, and in others promises of forthcoming his- 

 tories had been made. 



