54 



BAPTISTS. 



number of members is, in England, 178,183 ; 

 in Wales, 54,905. The total number of chap- 

 els or preaching-stations in the United King- 

 dom is 3,044. 



The annual meeting of the American Bap- 

 tist Missionary Union was held in the city of 

 New York on the 21st of May. The Ameri- 

 can Baptist Free Mission Society, having de- 

 termined to close its operations as a separate 

 organization, had invited the Union to take 

 charge of its work in Japan. The offer of the 

 Society was accepted, and the members of the 

 Free Mission Society were welcomed to full 

 cooperation in the work of the Union. A re- 

 port was made of the sixth annual meeting of 

 the Burmah Baptist Missionary Convention, 

 held at Maulmain, October 21, 1871. Ninety 

 ministers, missionaries, teachers, and lay dele- 

 gates, and two hundred and ninety -two natives 

 were present. The convention had appropri- 

 ated 2,150 rupees for preaching and educa- 

 tional purposes at the different stations. The 

 Karen Christians of Burmah had been for a 

 time divided into two branches, but a reunion 

 had been effected between them. A plan for 

 the reorganization of the Missionary Union 

 was presented, and was designated as a prop- 

 osition to be considered at the next annual 

 meeting. It provides that the Union shall be 

 composed of the members for life who shall 

 have been constituted such previous to June 

 1, 1873, and of delegates to be chosen annually 

 by the conventions and associations of the 

 United States and the British Provinces, upon 

 the following basis: Seven delegates to be 

 chosen by each association, and one additional 

 delegate for every four thousand members of 

 the Baptist churches. The gross receipts of 

 the Union for the year ending March 31, 1872, 

 were $212,199.10. Of this sum $2,000 were 

 received to be held as permanent fund; $5,- 

 137.04 were received from the Woman's Bap- 

 tist Missionary Society East; and $2,635.54 

 from the Woman's Baptist Missionary Society 

 West. The expenditures of the Union during 

 the same period were $228,952.17. The num- 

 ber of missions under the care of the Union is 

 fourteen ; of these, eight are in Asia, five are 

 in Europe, and one is in Africa. There are 

 in the Asiatic missions 20 stations at which 

 American missionaries reside, more than 400 

 out-stations, and 435 churches. The number 

 of persons baptized during the year was 1,902. 

 The whole number of members in the churches 

 was 20,318. There are also several Baptist 

 churches in Burmah which are not under the 

 immediate supervision of the Union. If the 

 members of these churches are added, the en- 

 tire number of Baptist members in Asia will 

 be not less than 24,000. One hundred and one 

 American laborers are connected with the 

 missions in Asia, of whom 44 are men, and 57 

 are women. The number of native assistants 

 is nearly 500, of whom about 80 are ordained 

 ministers. 



In the missions designated as German mis- 



sions are included churches in Germany, Hol- 

 land, Denmark, Switzerland, Poland, Russia, 

 Turkey, and British Kaffraria. The report 

 gives the number of churches in these missions 

 as 103 ; stations and out-stations, 1,236 ; min- 

 isters and colporteurs, 270 ; persons baptized 

 in 1871, 1,290; members, 19,393. 



The returns from the French mission are 

 imperfect. Eight churches reported 21 bap- 

 tisms during the year, and a total of 574 mem- 

 bers. The number of persons baptized in 

 Sweden was 674 ; number of members in the 

 churches, 14,727. No statistics were received 

 from Spain and Greece. So far as reports had 

 been received, the total number of members in 

 the European missions was shown to be 28,- 

 694 ; number of churches in Europe and Africa, 

 331 ; of preachers and colporteurs, 394 ; of 

 children in Sunday-schools, 5,244. The re- 

 ports of all the missions in Asia, Europe, and 

 Africa, give a total of nearly 1,700 stations 

 and out-stations; 770 churches; 1,000 laborers 

 of all classes; 3,887 baptisms; and 52,700 

 members. 



The receipts of the American Baptist Bible 

 and Publication Society, for the year ending 

 on the last of April, were : in the business de- 

 partment, $335,254.94 ; in the missionary de- 

 partment, $51,114.01 ; in all, $386,368.95. This 

 amount exceeds the receipts of any previous 

 year by $54,219.36. Fifty-six colporteurs and 

 Sunday-school missionaries were in commis- 

 sion during the year. They had constituted 

 23 churches, and organized 86 Sunday-schools. 

 The Society publishes a paper for Sunday- 

 schools, a series of uniform Sunday-school les- 

 sons, a paper for teachers, "helps" for Sun- 

 day-schools, and is preparing to establish a 

 paper for infant classes. It conducts a Sun- 

 day-school mission- work in many of the States 

 and Territories. Its executive board has ap- 

 pointed a Sunday-school secretary, who is to 

 devote himself exclusively to the extension, 

 organization, and improvement of Sunday- 

 schools and Sunday-school missions. State 

 Sunday-school secretaries, or missionaries, are 

 sustained in connection with this Society in 

 each of the following States : West Virginia, 

 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, 

 Kansas, Colorado, Oregon, Missouri, Arkansas, 

 and Kentucky ; and among the colored people 

 in Virginia and North Carolina. The Rev. W. 

 0. Van Meter was, on the 14th of February, 

 appointed a missionary of the Society to Rome. 

 At the anniversary, which was held in New 

 York in May, a plan for the reorganization of 

 the Society was proposed. It is similar to the 

 plan which is at present under consideration 

 in the American Baptist Missionary Union. 

 This plan proposes that the Society shall con- 

 sist of its life-members and honorary life- 

 members, who shall have been constituted such 

 Srevious to June 1, 1873, of five delegates 

 om each State Association or Convention, of 

 additional delegates in the ratio of one for each 

 ten thousand members of the Baptist churches, 



