168 



CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



act representations hostile to Congregationalism 

 made in tracts and parish magazines. A reso- 

 lution protesting against including a return of 

 the religious professions of the people in the 

 proposed census of 1891 had been sent to the 

 Prime Minister and to the leader of the Opposi- 

 tion. This action was approved by the Assem- 

 bly, which instructed the committee to watch 

 the action of the Government and the House of 

 Commons and take such steps as might seem 

 necessary to prevent the religious enumeration 

 being included in the census. A resolution was 

 adopted condemning the traffic in alcoholic 

 drinks carried on between professedly Christian 

 communities and unenlightened races, such as 

 those of Africa, and expressing a hope that in 

 connection with the international deliberations 

 for the purpose of putting down the slave trade 

 some measures might be suggested for suppress- 

 ing this trade also. A protest was made against 

 the proposals of the Government to give com- 

 pensation to publicans from public money on 

 account of non-renewal of licenses. Another 

 resolution of the Assembly called on all Liberals 

 and Nonconformists to insist that free educa- 

 tion shall be accompanied by popular represent- 

 ative control of all schools aided by public funds. 

 A favorable report was made of the working of 

 the guilds or young people's associations for 

 Christian work and religious and mental culti- 

 vation, in which educational classes and lectures 

 and means for healthful physical recreation are 

 also provided. A resolution was adopted invit- 

 ing the attention of the churches to the urgency 

 of the call made upon them for active and ag- 

 gressive Christian ministrations in view of the 

 religious indifference prevailing widely in all 

 classes of English society and to the lack of any 

 adequate response to the call, and asking them 

 to make the matter a subject of special prayer 

 on the first Sunday in October. A committee 

 was appointed to consider the subject and re- 

 port what steps the churches may take to in- 

 crease their usefulness to the English people. 



The autumnal meeting of the Union was held 

 at Swansea, Wales, beginning Sept. 29. The 

 committee appointed at the meeting in May to 

 consider what measures the churches might take 

 to increase their usefulness to the English people 

 presented a long report reviewing the social and 

 moral conditions of the country and the attitude 

 of the churches in relation thereto. 



Reference was made in it to the " strong ethical 

 tendency ' ' of the age as characteristic of it and 

 as something unique in history, and to the ne- 

 cessity of bringing religion into closer contact 

 with common, practical life. The greatly changed 

 and still changing position of the wage-earning 

 classes, constituting a majority of the popula- 

 tion, was mentioned as a feature essential to the 

 completeness of any view of the conditions under 

 which the Christian work of the near future will 

 have to be carried on. It would be a superficial 

 and short-sighted view to take the advance of 

 the working classes in political and economical 

 authority as a factitious result, susceptible of 

 diversion. Attention must be given to the fact 

 that the new movement has developed new ruling 

 ideas which, if primarily social, are also relig- 

 ious, the primary feature of which is the dispo- 

 sition to regard the constitution and duties of 



societv from a socialistic rather than an individ- 

 ualistic point of view. The ministry of the church- 

 es, the committee concluded, whatever its sphere, 

 form, or degree, should be contemplated, ap- 

 proached, undertaken, and fulfilled in the name 

 and power of Jesus Christ. Motive, here, is all 

 important. There is a place for concurrent and 

 auxiliary motives in Christian work, but it is the 

 second place. Christ himself is the inspiration 

 of such work as He promises to acknowledge. 

 It must always be the desire of the churches to 

 place religion before the world in its simplest 

 and most essential form, with the will of God as 

 its ruling motive. Christian service should be 

 recognized as being the normal and perma- 

 nent relation of every member of the kingdom 

 of God. The wise and faithful servant of Christ 

 will be studious to discern such opportunities of 

 new and enlarged service as the circumstances 

 of his time afford for benefiting mankind. In 

 our days, in a constitutionally governed coun- 

 try, Christianity is called to be 'not only remedial 

 and palliative, but constructive. It must enter 

 into practical life, and make itself felt and use- 

 ful in works which may contribute to the practi- 

 cal benefit and improvement of society. 



The Church Aid Society returned a year's in- 

 come of about 30.000, and had aided 677 

 churches and 581 stations. If the sums raised 

 locally were added to its income the whole 

 amount contributed for its purposes would be 

 found to be 90,000. The General Committee 

 was instructed to consider the subject of a Fed- 

 eral Union of the Free Churches. A Standing 

 Council of Secondary Education was instituted, 

 to further the interests of Nonconformist pub- 

 lic schools and to establish closer relations be- 

 tween them and the parents; and a fund was 

 decided upon for providing scholarships at the 

 schools and exhibitions at the universities. The 

 council was authorized to consider measures for 

 the extension and increase of Congregational 

 schools. The opening address of the chairman 

 of the society was on " The Secular Element of 

 our Church Life." The papers read and the 

 discussions during the meetings related to the 

 ' Strength and Progress of Congregationalism 

 as dependent on Practical Fidelity to the Con- 

 gregational System " ; " The Means of Keeping 

 Young People who have left their Homes, espe- 

 cially those who have gone to the Large Towns, 

 under the Influence of the Churches " ; " The 

 Exposition and Enforcement of Free-Church 

 Principles " ; " The True Spiritual Lineage of 

 Independent and Free Churchism " ; " Christ, 

 and the Social Problems of Modern Times"; 

 "Work Among the Young"; "How to Deal 

 with Agnosticism " ; " The Adaptation of Con- 

 gregationalism to Aggressive Christian Work " ; 

 and " Young People's Guilds." Meetings were 

 held in behalf of total abstinence, the Church 

 Aid Society, and missions. 



III. Evangelical Union of Scotland. The 

 Conference of the Evangelical Union of Scotland 

 was held in Glasgow in October. A committee 

 was appointed to consider to what objects the 

 jubilee fund of 10,000. which it is proposed to 

 raise in 1892, shall be applied. A fraternal 

 delegate was received from the Scottish Congre- 

 gational Union who advocated the holding of 

 joint meetings by the two denominations. 



