PRESBYTERIANS. 



683 



IV. UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The 

 following are the statistics of this Church : 



The entire number of presbyteries is 55 ; of 

 the ministers, 429 are pastors of churches, 

 and 155 are " without charge." The number 

 of licentiates is 61 ; of students, 63 ; of " un- 

 organized stations," 41; of Sunday-schools, 

 593 ; of Sunday-school scholars, 53,288. Con- 

 tributions : for home missions, $22,895 ; for for- 

 eign missions, $38,840 ; for freedmen's missions, 

 $8,113 ; for education, $8,569 ; for the Board of 

 Publication, $5,125; for church extension, 

 $14,337. Total contributions, including those 

 for congregational purposes, payment of sala- 

 ries, etc., $828,276 ; average contributions per 

 member, $11,09 ; average salary of pastors, 



The General Assembly of the United Pres- 

 byterians met at Washington, Iowa, May 16th. 

 The Rev. J. Van Easton was chosen modera- 

 tor. The Committee on Union with the Pres- 

 byterian Church reported that one of their 

 members had met with the committee of the 

 General Assembly of that Church ; but " was 

 unwilling, in the circumstances, to proceed 

 further with the negotiations, than to join in 

 a renewed request for instructions. The mem- 

 bers of the Presbyterian committee thought 

 this unadvisable, and the result was that, 

 while there was a very pleasant conference, 

 nothing of formal negotiation was eifected." 

 The General Assembly adopted the following 

 resolutions on the subject : 



fiesolved, That, in the judgment of this General 

 Assembly j there do not appear to be encouraging 

 grounds ior a further prosecution of this work at 

 present. 



Resolved, That this Assembly hereby declares 

 again its desire for union with sister churches on 

 any ground that will be mutually satisfactory, and 

 that it is ready to cooperate, especially with the Pres- 

 byterian Church, in anv proper efforts to secure such 

 a union, to the glory of our common Saviour, and the 

 greater prosperity and good of His cause in the 

 world. 



Resolved, With this suggestion on the general sub- 

 ject of union, and of thelacts in the case as they are 

 understood by this Assembly, the Committee on 

 Union shall be continued, to meet any similar com- 

 mittee that may be appointed by the 'General As- 

 sembly of the Presbyterian Church, to engage in 

 any further conferences that may be called for on 

 this subject. 



The obstacles to the proposed union are un- 

 derstood to be radical differences, in the views 

 of the two churches, on the subjects of psalm- 

 ody, secret societies, and church - fellowship. 



Delegates were appointed to open a corre- 

 spondence with the Presbyterian and Scottish 

 Presbyterian Churches, of the Eastern British 

 Provinces. The use of paraphrases, as songs 

 of praise in worship, was declared to be not 

 consistent with the principles and usages of 

 the Church. Reports were submitted from a 

 committee, which had been appointed to in- 

 quire what should be held as proper grounds 

 of divorce, which expressed two different 

 opinions. One report held that the only justi- 

 fiable ground' for divorce is unfaithfulness to 

 the marriage vow ; the other held that wilful 

 desertion is a sufficient ground. The subject 

 was referred to the next General Assembly. 

 The previous General Assembly had granted 

 aid, through the Board of Home Missions, to 

 151 stations. From 137 of these stations were 

 reported a membership of 9,581, an average 

 church attendance of 17,956, and additions of 

 665 persons by profession of faith, and of 912 

 by certificate. A decrease in membership was 

 shown of 545. The agent of the fund for 

 building mission buildings in China had re- 

 ceived $9,492.12, of which amount, $4,000 

 were given by the Sunday - schools, and the 

 children. An increase in contributions to the 

 Church Extension Society was reported. The 

 net assets of the Board were $78,183.16. The 

 Board were directed to have published a set 

 of the standard, "in as cheap and convenient 

 a form as possible." 



The receipts of the Board of Foreign Mis- 

 sions were $51,694.89, of which $10,327.50 

 were legacies and bequests, and $2,675 special 

 donations outside the Church, leaving the actual 

 contributions of the Church only $38,692.39. 

 The contributions to the China building fund 

 are not included in these amounts. Four mis- 

 sions are under the care of the board, situ- 

 ated in Syria, in India, in Egypt, and in China. 

 Connected with them are 19 stations, 35 mis- 

 sionaries, 88 native helpers, and 18 schools, 

 with 2,253 scholars. The amount of contri- 

 butions by the native churches in Egypt was 

 $1,444. The sum of $619 had been realized 

 for tuition fees in Egypt, and $60 from the 

 same source in India. Two hundred thousand 

 pages of printed matter had been issued from 

 the mission press in Egypt. The mission of 

 this Church in Egypt has been very successful. 

 It is the largest carried on by any society in 

 that country. The next meeting of the Gen- 

 eral Assembly is to be held in Philadelphia. 



V. REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The 

 General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian 

 Church met in Brooklyn, 1ST. Y., May 16th. 

 The Rev. James F. Morton, of Ohio, was 

 chosen moderator. The Rev. Thomas C. Baggs 

 was received as a corresponding delegate from 

 the Reformed Presbyterian Synod (O. S.), on 

 the subject of union. He spoke of the friend- 

 ly feeling existing between the two churches, 

 and was appropriately responded to. 



The collections for foreign missions amount- 

 ed to about $2,000. The receipts of the susten- 



