UNITED i:i:i:niREN IN CHRIST. 



788 



nil free inquirers recommended by them, ami 

 tn tli.- ili-jribution of books nnd tracts during 

 tin- year. 



movement t'.-r u union of Unitarians with 

 .if similar " Liber.il M 

 whirh for sum.- linn- has 1.,-,-n going on 

 in tliis country, lias now ln-i-n b.'u'iin in Kngland 

 On November l! 1st j!u. lir-t. meeting of 

 the friends of the movement, was ln-|i| in 

 don. Tin- committee which had been app- 

 to draw \i\> a scheme for the new union pre- 



! its iv[)ort, which was prefaced by tlio 

 fullowii>_j " preamble and declaration of ob- 



i": 



Whtreas, for ages past, Christians have been tniiirht 

 that r ptions of diviiu: things are neces- 



sary t>> a > iitmu-e with (lod, and to religious relations 

 with c:u-U "tiicr: ami, in vain pursuit of orthoilnxy, 

 rtr.l into rival churches, and lost the bond ot 

 common work mid love; and whereas^ with the pro- 



.0 changes of thought and feeling, uniformity 

 in il.t.-triiiu! opinion becomes ever more precarious, 

 while moral and spiritual utlinitirs grow and deepen ; 

 and whereas, the Divine will is .summed up by Jesus 

 Christ Himself in love to God and love to man ; and 

 the terms of pious union among men should be as 

 broad as those of communion with God this society, 

 desiring a spiritual fellowship coextensive with these 

 terms, invites to common action all who deem men 



i-dble, not for the attainment of divine truth, 

 but only for the serious search of it ; and who rely, 

 for the religious improvement of human life, on filial 



ud brotherly charity, with or without more 

 pnrtieular agreement in matters of doctrinal theology. 

 Its object is, by relieving the Christian life from re- 



011 theological articles or external rites, to save 

 it from conflict with the knowledge and conscience 

 of mankind, and bring it back to the essential con- 

 ditions of harmony between. God and man. 



It was proposed that the society should be 

 called "The Free Christian Union," and to 

 ish a central church in London. An 

 amendment, offered by Mr. Shaen, taking ex- 

 ception to the use of the word "Christian " as 

 being calculated to exclude many of the great 

 thinkers and public instructors of the acre, was, 

 after some discussion, withdrawn, and the 

 scheme adopted. The governing body was 

 then appointed. 



UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. The 

 following are the mission statistics of the 

 United Brethren: During the year ending May,' 

 1867. three missionaries employed in the for- 

 eign field, 81 on the frontier, and 127 in the 

 home fields. These received from tiro missions 

 they served, as salary, $41,903.55, and they 

 were paid from the missionary fund $29,566.69, 

 making a total of $71,470.24, and an average 

 salary of $338.72. Number of missions, 200; 

 appointments, 1,049; members, 13,787; col- 

 lected for mi>s\ons, $3,220.69; meeting-houses, 

 130; Sunday - schools, 868; teachers, 987; 

 scholars, 14,708. 



The General Publishing House of the United 

 Brethren Church is located at Dayton, Ohio. 

 The buildings and grounds are valued at forty 

 thousand dollars. 'Throe papers are published 

 by the Publishing House: The Religious Tele- 

 . weekly (circulation, 12,000); the Chil- 

 dren's Friend, semi-monthly (circulation 80,- 



000); the Mwionary Vititor, semi-monthly. 



man weekly, tho Frdhliohe IlotvhafUiT, 

 is pnblMied at Lebanon, Pa. 

 Tim "Almanac of the United Brethren in 



Christ ibr the year 1868 " pnhli : flow- 



ing - s! 



There are 4,428 preaching-places, 2,042 Sun- 

 day-schools, with 94,180 scholars and 14,003 

 officers and teachers. The collections were : 

 for preachers' salaries, $213,369.27; mi- 

 $26,999.47; conference collections, $3,957.57; 

 Sunday-schools, $25,054.04 ; Bible cause, $4,- 

 416.55. The total of all collections was $418,- 

 720.11, an increase of 77,440.20 from last year. 



The literary institutions of the Church are 

 the following: Otterbein University, "Wester- 

 ville, Franklin County, O. ; Ifartsville Univer- 

 sity, llartsville, Bartholomew County, Ind. ; 

 Wectfleld Colle-e. Westfield, III.; Lebanon 

 Valley College, Annville, Lebanon County, Pa. ; 

 Lane University, Lecompton, Kansas; Western 

 College, Western, Linn County. Iowa; Cot- 

 tage Hill Female College, York, Pa.; Roanoke 

 Classical Seminary, Roanoke, Ind. ; Philomath 

 College, Corvallis, Oregon. 



The bishops are five in number, and are 

 eleeted at every session of the General Confer- 



The next General Conference of the Church 

 of the United Brethren will be held in Leba- 

 non, Pa., commencing on tho third Thursday in 

 May, 1869. 



