METHODISTS. 



borohtookavota wh. 



KM with tin- pr.ipn-.iti it' the <i.-n- 



. ilir name ill' tin- Church -hoiild 



: iVmii --.Methodist Episcopal Ghurohj 



Kpi-copal Mcthndi't Church," and 



,. r lay delegation should lie introduced 



..iincils uf the Church. The latter 



..iptcd. IMIHV than tlnve-l'oiirths 



of the members of the Annual Conferences 



it, while the former failed I'IMIU want 



Mirths majority. 



III. Tin: MKTHODIST" Cmmon. This name 

 lupted in isiiii, at a union convention of 



uon-Kpi-c"pal Methodists, to designate the union 

 of the iion-KpiM-opal Methodi.-t denominations; 

 in particular, the Methodist Protestants (of the 

 Northern States), the Wesleyan Connection, 

 the Kr.v Methodists, the Primitive Methodists, 

 and sonic Independent Methodist congrega- 

 The union was, however, actually joined 

 by few save the Northern Conferences of the 

 Methodist Protestant Church, and "the Meth- 



" Church is, therefore, suhstantially the 



as the former Northern portion of the 



Methodist Protestant Church. The statistical 



report made in 1867 is approximately, not 



fully, as follows: Annual Conferences, 19; min- 



: l.ical preachers, 430; communi- 



. 50,000; churches, 480 ; parsonages, 104; 

 property value, $1,150,000. Contributions for 

 mis-inns in six months were loss than $600. 

 The Church has a Book Concern and a weekly 

 paper in Springfield, Ohio. 



The General Conference of this Church com- 

 menced its session at Cleveland, Ohio, on May 

 15th. The Conference made the following or- 

 ganic disciplinary changes in their polity: the 

 Restrictive Rule was so modified as to allow 

 station and circuit preachers to remain in one 

 charge for four years. The leaders' meeting 



jliolished, and monthly meetings, com- 

 posed of all the members of each church, to- 

 gether with its pastor, substituted in its stead. 

 The old constitutional obligation of the con- 

 ference president to visit all the circuits and 

 stations in his district was removed, and each 

 Annual Conference is allowed to use its own 

 discretion as to imposing such a duty upon its 

 president. The next General Conference of 

 the Church will meet at Adrian, Michigan, in 

 1871. 



IV. THE METHODIST PROTESTANT Crnn?on. 

 After the change of name by the Northern 

 Annual Conferences of Methodist Protestants, 

 the above name now belongs exclusively to the 

 Southern Conferences. The Church has a 



r-iiip of about 60,000, a Book Concern, 

 and a weekly paper in Baltimore. 



V. THE WESLEYAN CONNECTION has about 

 25,000 members, a Book Concern, and a weekly 

 paper at Syracuse. The " General Conference " 

 of this Church met at Cleveland, Ohio, on Oc- 



J 1. I lev. S. Salisbury was elected presi- 

 dent. About fifty delegates were pre-cnt. 

 Two i|ue<tion-., that of the revision of the 

 discipline, so as to cut off churches tolerating 



members connected with Masonry and other 



secret societies, and that favoring the ^-.. 



to women the right of elective tranc-hine, gave 



riM to lengthy discussions. \'>'\i v.< 

 in the iiHirmathe, the f. inner by a vote <!' forty- 

 eight in favor to five again-t, and the latter by 

 a very large majority. The condition of th<; 

 pilblishing-hon-e at Syracuse wa- reported as 

 follows: amount of property in the hands of 

 the I look Cummittee, and owned by the Pub- 

 li-hiiiL: Association, $14,332.50; subscription 

 list of the American Wetleyan, $1,800. 



VI. EVANGELICAL Aswx :i ATIOX. The "Al- 

 manac of the Evangelical A o.-btion for tho 

 year 1868 " publishes tho following .statistics: 



The number of local preachers was 382; 

 adults baptized, 5,795 ; children baptized, 5,011 ; 

 Sunday-schools, 800 (with 40,855 scholars, 

 8,266 officers and teachers, 95,119 volumes). 

 There are 282 catechetical classes, with 2,775 

 catechumens. The churches, 722 in number, 

 have a probable value of $1,163,501 ; thp par- 

 sonages (185), of $137,780. The missionary 

 contributions amounted to $32,623, and the 

 contributions for the Sunday-school and Tract 

 Union to $1,676. Tho General Conference of 

 the Association met at Pittsburg on the 10th 

 of October. It adopted a general resolution in 

 reply to overtures of union from the M. E. 

 Church, in favor of tho cultivation of a spirit 

 of brotherly love and mutual cooperation in 

 various interests of the Church, but not contem- 

 plating actual union as either very probable or 

 certainly desirable, and appointed a delegation 

 to the General Conference of the M. E. Church. 

 It determined to draw the attention of the 

 Board of Missions to the importance of securing, 

 at an early day, some town lots at important 

 points along tho Pacific Railroad, for the pur- 

 pose of erecting houses of worship thereon, 

 whenever advisable, and recommended the 

 opening of missionary institutes in connection 

 with the literary institutions. Tho association 

 has missions in Germany, California, and Oregon, 

 a Board of Publication, a Tract and Sunday- 

 school Society, and publishes two papers, ono 

 Knirlish and one German. It has two bishops. 



