REFORMED CHURCHES. ALLIANCE OF. 



C81 



Japan) for 1893-'94, the last received, gave the fol- 

 lowing footings : Number of organized churches. 12 : 

 of Bell-supporting and independent churches. 5: of 

 preaching stations, 41 ; of members. I.'.IOO; of bap- 

 tisms during the year. 235: of Sunday schools. 27. 

 with 1.008 pupils: of native ministers. 9: of unor- 

 dained preachers. IS : of colporteurs, 2 : of Bible 

 women. 5: amount of contributions. s2.-Y.2s. One 

 girls' school returned 58 pupils; 1 boys' school. 134: 

 and 1 theological school. 20. Applications had been 

 received for appointment to China, but the estab- 

 lishment of a mission there has not yet been deter- 

 mined upon. 



The General Synod met in its twelfth triennial 

 n at Dayton, Ohio. May 27. The Rev. Dr. J. 

 A. Peters was chosen moderator. In the discussion 

 of the report of the Board of Home MisM"iis stress 

 was laid upon the importance of that work in the 

 West and South; the board was authorized to do 

 all in its power to extend the missionary work in 

 those fields, and graduates from the institutions of 

 the Church were urged to consider the claims of 

 the South and West. The board was instructed to 

 invite the co-operation of the Reformed Church in 

 America and the Presbyterian Churches in support 

 of the harbor mission in New York. It was also 

 authorized to raise a permanent fund of $100,- 

 000 for Church extension apart from and in addi- 

 tion to the regular apportionment for Church build- 

 ing. It was also requested to co-operate with the 

 German boards in carrying on work among the Ger- 

 mans in the larger cities. The Board of Foreign 

 Missions was authorized, if it judged it expedient 

 to do so, to open a mission in China or such other 

 field as may seem to be most needy and nromisiTig. 

 The Committee on Correspondence with the Re- 

 formed Church in Germany was continued, and 

 small annual appropriations were made for the 

 support of the work in that country and in Swit- 

 zerland. On canvassing the votes "of the cli 

 upon the proposed new constitution, doubts were 

 raised, upon technical grounds, as to whether it 

 had been approved by the requisite two thirds of 

 the number. It was decided, therefore, to resub- 

 mit the statute. Sesquicentennial services were 

 ordered held throughout the Church in 1807 in 

 commemoration of the early labors of Michael 

 Schlatter and of the formation of the cotius of the 

 Church in Philadelphia. 



III. Reformed C {lurch in France. The Gen- 

 eral Synod of the Kglise Jitfonntf. or Reformed 

 Church of France, met at Sedan in June. Its prin- 

 cipal act was the approval of a scheme for a fra- 

 ternal conference to be held periodically between 

 the delegates of the evangelical parry and those of 

 the liberal party who withdrew in 1872 on the ques- 

 tion of the Confession of Faith. The Synod ex- 

 pressed the view that a common assembly of this 

 kind would be of advantage for Protestants of all 

 varieties of opinion, both for the safeguarding of 

 common interests, for defense against the attacks 

 of which they are the object, and for resisting the 

 efforts being made to corrupt the Reformation 

 spirit." The functions of the new assembly were 

 further defined in a declaration of the ' Concilia- 

 tion Commission." or committee to which the sub- 

 ject was specially referred, which said : 



" It has become for us all, in the present troubled 

 times, a heartfelt necessity to manifest our Protes- 

 tant fraternity, despite religious and ecclesiastical 

 differences. It is important, therefore, instead of 

 rendering these differences irremediable, to soften 

 them and, if possible, secure their disappearance, by 

 the avoidance of everything tending to provoke or 

 to separate. What is wanted is. in fact, a sense of 

 patriotic duty, felt in common by all the children 

 of the Reformation, in opposing the attacks of which 



Protestantism is the object, and. above all, in the 

 fight against unbelief and immorality. Tin- 

 ternal Conference will then, while avoiding di 

 questions, seek to manifest the unity of the !;- 

 formed family in constituting, by a series of peri- 

 odical meetings, a kind of lamily council, a commit- 

 tee of rights and interests common to Pr< 



REFORMED < HI R< HES. ALLIANCE OF. 

 The sixth triennial Council of the Alliance of Re- 

 formed Churches throughout the world holding the 

 Presbyterian system was opened in Gla-_ 

 land, June 17. The five previous meetings of this 

 body were held in Edinburgh, Philadelphia, Belfast, 

 London, and Toronto. The meeting began with a 

 service in the cathedral, at which the sermon was 

 preached by the Rev. J. Marshall Lang. D. D. The 

 Rev. William II. Roberts. I). I)., stated clerk of the 

 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 

 United States of America, presiding at the regular 

 sessions, delivered the opening address, on the sub- 

 of " Protestantism as a Distinctive Religious and 

 Political Force." A summary of the statistics of 

 the Churches associated with the Alliance, presented 

 by the General Secretary, the Rev. Dr. Matthews, 

 showed that the council represented 89 denomina- 

 tional organizations. 31.023 congregations. 27.043 

 ministers, and 4.705.216 communicants, the last be- 

 in s distributed as follows : On the European Conti- 

 nent. 856.872 : in Great Britain. 1.4SS.330 : in Asia. 

 21.055: in Africa. 178.296: in North America. 2.170,- 

 517 : in South America. 3.425: in the West Indies. 

 11.781: in Australia. 42.127: in New Zealand. 22.- 

 204. Special remark was made of the fact that 5 

 presbyteries in Palestine were represented. A pro- 

 test was entered in behalf of the Reformed Presby- 

 terian Churches against the use of instrumental 

 music and hymns of human composition in the re- 

 ligious services, and in courtesy to the protestants 

 the musical exercises were limited to the singing of 

 the Psalms. Papers were read on " The Church of 

 God'' ("The Reformed View." by David 0. Waters, 

 D. D., of New Jersey ; The Roman Catholic View," 

 by Prof. Henri Bois. of Montauban ; and " The An- 

 glican Church View." by the Rev. Oswald Dykes, 

 D. D.) : " The Church as a Witness to Revealed 

 Truth." by the Rev. Prof. Orr. of Edinburgh; "The 

 Mission of the Church as a Teacher of Holy Living.'' 

 by the Rev. W. H. Black : "The Church 'as a Pro- 

 moter of Social and Public Worship," by the Rev. 

 Prof. Hemphill : " Catechisms and Confessions." by 

 Prof. Lucien Gautier. Prof. Salmond. Dr. W. W. 

 Harsha. Prof. Wood, and the Rev. John Hall. D. D. ; 

 " The Educative Influence of the Church." by Dr. 

 A. R. MacEwen and the Rev. J. M. Robertson ; 

 :al Life." by Dr. James Stalker : " ( >ur Church 

 Services " (" The Reading of the Scriptures." by Dr. 

 David Steele : " Prayer." by Prof. Dick, of Belfast ; 

 " Preaching," by Principal Stewart, of Si. Andrews; 

 "Praise." by the Rev. T. J. Wheldom : "Sacra- 

 ments." by Prof. Blaikie : and "Christian Giving.'' 

 by Gen. Prime) ; " Presbyterianism," by Lord Over- 

 toun. J. A. Campbell. M. P.. Judge Vanderburgh, of 

 St. Paul, Minn., and President Scovell. of Wooster 

 University. Ohio: "Foreign Missions.'' concern- 

 ing which reports were submitted from the Eastern 

 section and from the Western section: "Modern 

 Apologetical Criticism " (" Relations between Phi- 

 losophy and Religion." by Prof. MacVk-kar. of Mont- 

 real ; '"Methods of Biblical Criticism.'' by Dr. 

 Kidd. of Glasgow: "The Right Attitude of the 

 Church toward Biblical Criticism." by Prof. A. C. 

 Zenos. of Chicago : and " The Apologetic Bearing of 

 Evolution on Revealed Truth." by Dr. Todd Martin, 

 of Belfast). Other papers related to "Great Cities 

 and how to deal with them." by Donald Mc- 

 ';. D. D., for Scotland : William James, for Eng- 

 land ; J. H. Prugh, D. D., for the United S: 



