624 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



of remarkable spiritual prosperity. Many hun- 

 dreds of the churches report extensive revivals. 

 III. United Presbyterians. The minutes 

 of the General Assembly of the United Pres- 

 byterian Church give tho following statistics 

 of this denomination: pastors, 387; ministers, 

 without charge, 152; licentiates, 48; congrega- 

 tions, 686; families, 25,675; communicants, 

 58,988 ; received by profession during the year, 

 4,061 ; infant baptisms, 3,791 ; adult baptisms, 

 475 ; officers and teachers in Sabbath-schools, 

 3,233 ; average number of pupils in Sabbath- 

 schools, 17,976. Contributions: home missions, 

 $20,838; foreign missions, $ 112,276; freed- 

 men's mission, $15,478; education, $3,482; 

 publication, $3,075: church extension, $9,636; 

 aged ministers' fund, $2,233 ; salaries from con- 

 gregations, $268,229 ; salaries by assembly, $19,- 

 070; general contributions, $225,324. Total, 

 $589,052. The Eighth General Assembly of 

 the United Presbyterian Church convened in 

 Allegany City, Pennsylvania, on May 31st, Rev. 

 D. R. Kerr, D. D., was elected moderator. 

 The Chairman of the Committee on Foreign 

 Missions, Rev. J. Price, handed in the report, 

 which consisted of a series of resolutions ex- 

 pressing gratitude to God for past success in 

 the mission field; recognizing his hand in the 

 removal 'of missionaries by death ; asserting it 

 to be the duty of the Assembly to reinforce the 

 missions in India, China, and Syria immediately ; 

 recommending that missionaries be allowed to 

 select their own field of labor; that all money 

 for salaries, etc., be consolidated into one fund ; 

 that $100,000 be raised during the present year, 

 and that all the churches be urged to observe 

 the week of prayer at the beginning of 1867, 

 for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The reso- 

 lutions were adopted. The Assembly appointed 

 a committee of conference with the Reformed 

 Presbyterians. It was resolved to continue the 

 Church's missionary efforts among the Jews. 

 The sum of $15,000 was appropriated for church 

 extension during the ensuing year. The Assem- 

 bly agreed to hold its next session on the fourth 

 Thursday in May, 1867, at Xenia, Ohio. 



IV. Cumberland Presbyterian, Church. The 

 General Assembly met in May, at Owensboro', 

 Kentucky. This was the first assembly since 

 the beginning of the war at which the commis- 

 sioners from the Southern States were present. 

 A committee was appointed of one from each 

 synod to investigate the whole subject of the 

 deliverances of the preceding assemblies, and to 

 harmonize the difference growing out of the 

 war and slavery. This committee, composed of 

 twenty members, after protracted discussion, 

 brought in a majority and minority report. 

 The majority, in substance, proposed to pro- 

 nounce unconstitutional the action of 1864 and 

 1865 on the subject of slavery and rebellion. 

 The minority proposed in substance to let the 

 whole matter stand where it is. These reports 

 were discussed at considerable length on both 

 sides, and finally, Rev. Dr. Bird offered a sub- 

 stitute for the whole, which it was moved to 



amend by jadding an additional resolution dis- 

 claiming any indorsement by the Assembly in 

 this action of slavery or the rebellion. Dr. 

 Mitchell, of Texas, moved to amend the amend- 

 ment by adding the words that "no opinion" 

 is hereby expressed on those subjects. In this 

 form the substitute passed by a large majority. 

 Some of the Northern Presbyteries were greatly 

 dissatisfied with this action, and proposed the 

 holding of a convention to deliberate on the 

 action to be taken. The movement for a con- 

 vention was supported by one of the North 

 Church papers (Cumberland Preslyterian\ but 

 opposed by the other northern paper ( West- 

 ern Cumberland Presbyterian). At the close 

 of the year no convention had yet met. A 

 number of Southern members desired a union 

 with the Southern Presbyterian Church. (See 

 SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN CHTJECH.) 



V. Southern Presbyterian Church* The 

 General Assembly of this denomination com- 

 menced at Memphis, on November 15th. The 

 Rev. Andrew H. Kerr, of the Memphis Presby- 

 tery, was unanimously elected moderator. There 

 were present forty-eight ministers and thirty- 

 seven ruling elders. The chief subject of dis- 

 cussion in the early sessions of the General As- 

 sembly was a new book of discipline, which 

 was reported by a committee previously ap- 

 pointed. One of the sections of this new book, 

 which was adopted, defined the relation of bap- 

 tized children to the church in the following 

 terms : 



Ch. II., Art. 1. All baptized persons, although 

 they may have made no profession of faith in Christ, 

 arc federally members of the Church, are under its 

 care, and subject to its government, inspection, and 

 training : but they are not subject to those forms of 

 discipline which involve judicial process. 



Dr. Palmer offered the following resolution, 

 which was adopted : 



Whereas, In view of the great controversy now pend- 

 ing in this country upon the spirituality and inde- 

 pendence of the Church as the visible kingdom of 

 tne Lord Jesus Christ upon the earth ; and in view 

 of the fact that the Assembly did, at the time of its 

 organization in' 1861, plant itself firmly upon the 

 ground that the Church is a spiritual commonwealth 

 distinct from, and independent of the State, be it, 

 therefore, 



Resolved, That the Rev. Messrs. T. E. Peck, A. "W. 

 Miller, and George Howe, D. D., be appointed a com- 

 mittee to prepare and report to the next General As- 

 sembly, a paper defining and limiting this whole 

 subject for the instruction of our people, and suit- 

 able to be adopted by the Assembly as a full and 

 public testimony against the alarming defections in 

 so many branches of the Protestant church in this 

 country. 



The Synod of Alabama was authorized to re- 

 ceive the u Alabama Presbytery of the Asso- 

 ciate Reformed Church," the Assembly recog- 

 nizing the right of all its churches to ue 

 " Rouse's Version " of the Psalms, if they prefer 

 it. It further authorized any of the synods to 



* The official name of this branch is " Presbyterian Chnrch 

 in the United States." We use the name Southern Church 

 only to distinguish this from the so-called Old and New 

 School Presbyterian denominations. 



