REFORMED CHURCH. 



683 



known as the " Vedder Lecture on Modern In- 

 fidelity." The design of the proposed form was 

 defined to be to secure five lectures each year 

 on " the Present Aspect of Modern Infidelity, 

 its Cause and Cure." As conditions, the donor 

 required that the lecturer be elected by ballot 

 by the General Synod each year for the ensu- 

 ing year ; that he be a member of the Reformed 

 Church ; that he deliver five lectures each 

 year on the specified subject before the stu- 

 dents of the college and theological seminary 

 at New Brunswick ; that he furnish a copy of 

 the lecture to the president of the synod for 

 publication, and that they be published by the 

 Board of Publication of the Church, or by 

 some other form if the Board decline, and that 

 a copy of the work be given each student. 

 The synod accepted the gift with the condi- 

 tions, after making such proviso as should pro- 

 tect it against being held responsible for such 

 unforeseen failures in securing the delivery 

 and publication of the lectures as it might be 

 beyond its power to prevent. The Rev. J. S. 

 Hartley,'D. D., and Prof. Tayler Lewis, were 

 elected as lecturers for the first two years, 

 with the understanding that hereafter each 

 synod should choose the lecturer for the year 

 succeeding its ecclesiastical term. 



A committee on liturgy had been appoint- 

 ed by the General Synod held two years before. 

 They reported that they had found two lead- 

 ing sentiments in the Church : one demanding 

 a fuller liturgy; the other asking that the 

 forms already in use be shortened. Their op- 

 posite views could not be harmonized into one 

 plan. The committee therefore proposed to 

 inclose in brackets certain parts of the forms, 

 to indicate those which might be used or 

 omitted at the discretion of the reader. The 

 most important changes which had been made 

 in the service were in the forms for marriage 

 and the form for burial. A new office had been 

 added, for the admission of baptized children 

 into the full communion of the Church ; also, 

 one for the laying the corner-stone of a church. 

 On the subject of the revised constitution, 

 it was reported that twenty-two classes, or 

 four more than were necessary to secure its 

 adoption, had approved it. It was, neverthe- 

 less, not declared finally adopted, on account of 

 a supposed irregularity in the manner of sub- 

 mitting it to the classes, but was resubmitted, 

 with a single amendment. A committee was 

 appointed to prepare a history of the several 

 departments of Christian work in which the 

 Reformed Church has been engaged, to be used 

 in connection with the anticipated celebration 

 of the one-hundredth anniversary of Ameri- 

 can independence. 



Corresponding delegates attended from the 

 Northern and Southern General Assemblies 

 of the Presbyterian Church, from the Indepen- 

 dent (Presbyterian) Synod of Missouri, and 

 from the General Synod of the Reformed 

 Church in the United States, and explained 

 the action which the bodies they respectively 



represented had taken in favor of instituting 

 closer relations with the Reformed Church in 

 America. The subject of the action which 

 should be taken in response to the salutations 

 of these bodies was referred to a special com- 

 mittee. They made a report reviewing the 

 relation in which the Reformed Church stood 

 toward each of the corresponding bodies, and 

 concluded that the choice of action lay be- 

 tween two modes : either to appoint a sepa- 

 rate committee for each Church, or one large 

 committee, which could be subdivided, as 

 might be required. Feeling the importance 

 of obtaining a report which should embrace 

 the whole field, rather than several partial re- 

 ports, each embodying only a limited line of 

 thought, they proposed the following resolu- 

 tion, which was unanimously adopted : 



Jietoked, That a committee of fifteen, composed 

 of ministers and elders, be appointed to take into 

 consideration the whole subject of union, federal or 

 organic, and confer with the committees appointed 

 by the several Assemblies (North and South), and 

 the Reformed (German) Church, and report at the 

 next General Synod. 



The committee was afterward increased to 

 the number of twenty. The capital of the 

 Widows' and Disabled Ministers' Fund was re- 

 ported to be $35,612. One thousand and nine- 

 ty-six dollars had been added during the year. 

 Two disabled ministers, one orphan, and seven- 

 teen widows, had been helped. Mr. James 

 Snydam had bequeathed $30,000 to this fund. 

 The Board of Education was reported in debt 

 to the amount of $750. Two additional 

 scholarships the Mary Le Compte scholarship 

 of $3,000, and the James Peters scholarship of 

 $3,500 had been received. The receipts of 

 the Board of Publication from churches and 

 individuals were reported to have been $10,- 

 853.32, and $4,787.15 of this amount had been 

 added to the Permanent Fund, making the 

 working capital of that fund $20,000. The re- 

 ceipts were $853.32 more than those of the 

 previous year. Fifty-six students were report- 

 ed as under the care of the Board of Education. 

 Six pupils had entered the ministry in 1872, 

 and ten in 1873. The debt of the board was 

 now $6,000. The Committee on Domestic 

 Missions reported that the board had been re- 

 lieved of a debt of $22,000, and had a balance 

 in the treasury of $728.44. Eighty-four minis- 

 ters had ministered to as many churches. Six 

 hundred and nine persons had made profession 

 of faith in these churches. Four new churches 

 had been organized, and eight churches, for- 

 merly helped by the board, had become self- 

 sustaining. The Church Building Fund was 

 represented as being in debt $6,791.65. 



The Committee on Foreign Missions report- 

 ed that they had during the year paid off a 

 debt of $33,500. They estimated that $59,000 

 would be required for the expenses of the en- 

 suing year. The following table exhibits in 

 detail the condition of the several missions 

 under the care of this board : 



