METHODISTS. 



545 



members of other evangelical churches than the 

 Wesleyan and of persons outside of the connec- 

 tion who sympathize in the work. 



VI. Primitive Methodist Church. The 

 statistics of this body, presented to the Confer- 

 ence at Sunderland in June, showed the number 

 of members to be 93,658 : of ministers, 1,049 ; of 

 local preachers, 16,317 ; of class leaders, 10.563 ; 

 of places of worship, 5,858 ; average attendance, 

 530,764; of Sunday-schools, 4,234, with 61,727 

 teachers and 431,868 pupils. The missionary 

 anniversary was held in London, May 20. Mr. 

 Joseph Peters presided. The receipts for the 

 year had been 15,159 for the general fund and 

 3,579 for the African fund, making in all 829 

 more than in the previous year. The reports 

 from the missions in Australia, New Zealand, 

 and western and southern Africa showed gen- 

 eral prosperity and advance. In the home field, 

 69 missionaries and several evangelists were em- 

 ployed on 53 stations. 



The Primitive Methodist Conference met in 

 Sunderland, June 4. The Rev. John Hallam 

 was chosen president. A resolution of the Con- 

 ference commended to the societies the duty of 

 Scriptural systematic giving to Christian and 

 philanthropic purposes, and authorized the Gen- 

 eral Committee to make such arrangements as 

 might be deemed practicable for the instruction 

 of the congregations and Sunday-schools on the 

 subject. The opinion of the Conference was de- 

 clared to the effect that the public-school system 

 should be free, and that all schools aided by 

 local rates or imperial taxes should be subject 

 to representative management and control. A 

 full list of delegates was appointed to the Metho- 

 dist (Ecumenical Conference to be held in the 

 United States in 1891. The Traveling Preach- 

 ers' Friendly Society returned a year's income of 

 6,000, and an expenditure of 5,363. 



Primitive Methodists in Australasia. The 

 first General Conference of the Primitive Metho- 

 dist Church in the Australian colonies met in 

 North Adelaide, Oct. 3. The Rev. H. Gilm'ore 

 was chosen president. Up to the present time, 

 as the president mentioned in a public address, 

 the Australian churches had been under the care 

 of the British Conference ; a stage had now been 

 reached when it seemed advisable to leave them 

 to manage their own affairs. After fifty years 

 of work there were about 10,550 church members 

 in the colonies, independently of New Zealand, 

 with 150 ministers, 780 local preachers, 367 

 class leaders, 393 churches, and 215 other preach- 

 ing places ; 353 Sunday-schools, with 3,066 teach- 

 ers and 24,466 pupils; and 35,812 attendants. 

 The church property was worth 262,752. Meas- 

 ures were adopted for promoting the training of 

 ministers and in favor of the organization of 

 Sunday-school unions in all the colonies. The 

 Conference resolved to begin missionary opera- 

 tions in Western Australia, but remitted the 

 subject of a mission in China to the several colo- 

 nial conferences. It was decided to publish a 

 year-book, with full connection al informations. 



The jubilee of the Primitive Methodist Church 

 in the colony of South Australia was celebrated 

 in July. The first service of the Church was 

 held in the streets of Adelaide by three laymen, 

 on the 26th of July, 1840, and a society was 

 formed in the evening of the same day. The con- 

 VOL. rxx. 35 A 



nection has now in the colony 146 churches and 

 preaching places, 29 ministers, about 200 local 

 preachers, 87 class leaders, and 3,000 members ; 

 97 Sunday-schools, with 808 teachers and 6,088 

 pupils ; between 12,000 and 13,000 adherents ; and 

 provides nearly 17,000 sittings. It has raised 

 during fifty years about 56.000 for building 

 purposes, and returns church debts of 24,000, for 

 which it is intended to provide from the funds 

 to be raised in connection with the jubilee. 



VII. Methodist New Connection. The sta- 

 tistics of this body, as reported to the Conference 

 in June, give the following footings : Number of 

 chapels, 515 ; of societies, 491 ; of ministers, 202 ; 

 of members, 30,809 ; of members on trial, 4,936 ; 

 of teachers in Sunday-schools, 11,345 ; of pupils 

 in Sunday-schools, 88,761. The income of the 

 Chapel and Loan funds "had been 827. The 

 Trustees' Mutual Guarantee fund had a capital 

 of 3,875, and returned an income of 451. The 

 , business and profits of the Book Room had been 

 increased, and the indebtedness of the college had 

 been reduced. The Auxiliary fund for provid- 

 ing homes for retired ministers returned a bal- 

 ance of 2,208. The expenditures for missions 

 were in excess of the income. The mission in 

 China returned 1,301 members, with 505 on trial. 

 Five thousand two hundred patients had been 

 treated by the medical department of the mission. 

 The ninety-fourth annual Conference met at 

 Dewsbury, June 9. The Rev. James Le Huray 

 was chosen president. The most important sub- 

 ject that came under consideration was that con- 

 cerning the action that should be taken upon the 

 report of the Committee of Conference on Union 

 with the United Methodist Free Churches. The 

 committees, appointed at previous conferences, 

 had agreed upon a plan of union under which 

 either body should modify some of the peculiar 

 features of its polity, so that harmony of action 

 could be reached and maintained. The differ- 

 ences between the two are such as grow out of 

 the difference between a connectional (New Con- 

 nection) system of organization and a congrega- 

 tional one (United Methodist Free Churches). 

 In detail they chiefly concern the adjustment of 

 the relative powers of the ministers and the 

 church organizations, the representation of min- 

 isters and laymen in conference, and matters of 

 circuit and financial administration. A minute 

 was adopted declaring that 



The Conference approves of the findings of the 

 united committee, and regards them as calling for the 

 most friendly appreciation, and as inspiring the hope 

 that existing differences may be ultimately harmon- 

 ized. It has pleasure in recognizing the arrangement 

 suggested as to the constitution of Conference on the 

 basis of equal representation by ministers and laymen, 

 and to insure its authority in regard to legislative and 

 administrative functions, but the Conference believes 

 that the report fails so to secure the position of the 

 minister as the president of circuit and church meet- 

 ings as to satisfy the convictions of our people, and 

 therefore respectfully submits this important matter 

 to the judgment of the Annual Assembly of the united 

 Methodist 5 Free Churches. The subject was remitted 

 to the annual committee. 



A resolution passed by the Conference empha- 

 sizes the necessity of the study of the Greek 

 Testament as a valuable equipment for the un- 

 derstanding and enforcement of revealed truth. 

 The preaching by probationers at district meet- 



