94 



METHODISTS. 



Of Annual Conferences there are 68, against 

 64 reported the last year. The four new 

 Conferences are Virginia and North Carolina, 

 organized ^January 3 ; Texas, January 3 ; Geor- 

 gia, Octob'er 10; Alabama, October 17. The 

 number of churches (houses of worship) is 

 11,121, being an increase for the year of 659; 

 number of parsonages, 3,570, an increase of 

 256. The total value of the church edifices is 

 $35,885,439; being an increase of $6,291,435; 

 value of parsonages $3,961,295 ; increase, $940,- 

 337. 



The BooTc Concern of the Methodist Episco- 

 pal Church belongs to the General Conference 

 and is under its control. It has two publishing 

 houses, one at New York and one at Cincinnati, 

 under the charge of separate committees and 

 separate publishing agents; and depositories in. 

 Boston, Chicago, Pittsburg, Buffalo, St. Louis, 

 and San Francisco. The book agents published 

 over nineteen hundred different bound volumes, 

 and the unbound and tract list embraces about 

 one thousand, the tracts varying from two to 

 sixty-four pages each. The books and tracts 

 are in English, German, Welsh, Swedish, Dan- 

 ish, and French. 



Reports from all the Annual Conferences (ex- 

 cept four which have made no report yet, and 

 two from which only incomplete reports have 

 been received) show the centenary contribu- 

 tions * of the Methodist Episcopal Church to be 

 $8,241,435.17. 



II. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH. 

 This Church has published no complete statis- 

 tics since 1860, when it had 23 Annual Confer- 

 ences, 2,408 travelling preachers, 4,984 local 

 preachers, and 699,164 members (499,694 

 whites, and 191,915 colored and Indians). The 

 colored membership has largely decreased, 

 but the number of white members has in- 

 creased. 



In 1867 there were thirty Annual Confer- 

 ences : Kentucky, Louisville, Missouri, St. 

 Louis, Indian Mission, Arkansas, Little Rock, 

 Tennessee, Holston, Memphis, Mississippi, Loui- 

 siana, Montgomery, Mobile, Texas, East Texas, 

 Northwestern Texas, West Texas, Trinity 

 (Texas), North Georgia, South Georgia, Florida, 

 West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South 

 Carolina, Baltimore, Columbia (Oregon), Pa- 

 cific (California), and Illinois. In addition to 

 these, a colored Annual Conference was organ- 

 ized in Tennessee in the latter part of the year. 

 Official papers were in 1867 published at Nash- 

 ville, Macon, Richmond, Memphis, St. Louis, 

 New Orleans, Little Rock, Galveston, San 

 Francisco, and independent papers at Balti- 

 more, Raleigh, Jackson, and Catlettsburg. The 

 Church sustains a mission in China. The 

 number of colleges in 1860 was twelve, of fe- 

 male colleges, high schools and academies about 

 eighty. 



In accordance with a resolution passed at the 

 General Convention held in 1866, the Annual 



* See ANHTJAL CYCLOPAEDIA for 1866. 



