948 



UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. 



taking bis day in tarn. An address was read 

 by the bishops, in which were reviewed the 

 work and progress of the Church during the 

 fonr years that had elapsed since tin- preceding 

 General Conference. There had been during 

 that time an increase of 17,347 in the number of 

 members; of 756 Sunday-schools and 2'J. li!:i 

 Sunday-school scholars. The mission-work of 

 the Church had taken definite form twenty 

 - before. Now the missions occupied 305 

 .n-fields: two in the foreign, 121 on the 

 frontier, and 182 in the home-work. The Af- 

 rican mission, which four years before had been 

 in a precarious condition, had taken a new 

 start, and now presented a hopeful aspect. 

 The mission in Germany had not fulfilled the 

 sanguine hopes of its frienda, hut something 

 had been done in it. Two societies had been 

 organized: the "Woman's Missionary Asso- 

 .11 '' had been recently formed, and prom- 

 well; the "Union Biblical Seminary," a 

 young theological institution, was spoken of 

 as having shown "a good degree of life and 

 vigor.'' 



The Board of Missions reported that the total 

 amount paid by them to frontier and foreign 

 missions during the four years since the pre- 

 ceding General Conference, was $49,700.48. 

 The total amount of salaries paid by the mis- 

 sion conferences to missionaries, including the 

 amounts paid them by branch treasurer-. 

 $108,514.25. The total amount paid to mis- 

 sionaries of home missions by branch treasur- 

 ers was $86,979.81 ; total paid missionaries by 

 fields as salary, $165,276.41 ; total for homo 

 missions, $252,256.22. The following state- 

 ment shows what were the expenditures of 

 the board during the several terms of its ex- 

 istence: During the term ending in May, 1857, 

 $81,681.21 ; for the term ending in May, 1861, 

 $127,063.3.") ; for the term ending in May, 1865, 

 $152,898.66; for the term ending in May. ls.;:i, 

 $275,723.80; for the term ending in May, 1873, 

 $360.770.47; total amount expended since the 

 organization of the board, $998,137.49. 



Tho total receipts of the printing-house for 

 the preceding four years had been $322,370.54; 

 it* expenditures had been $318,628.89 : its 

 liabilities wen> $27,783.68; the excess of as- 

 sets over liabilities was $96,525.30. 



Tho receipts of the Snnday-S. :m,,l \- 

 tinri had increased from $-JnR.n7 in 1 - 

 $2,016.35 in 1872; the total receipts for the 

 four years had been $4,278.18, anil the total 

 expenditures had been during the game period, 

 $1,279.41. The principal object of this Asso- 

 ciation is to help mission-schools on the fron- 

 tier. 



By order of tin- previous General Conference, 

 a Board of Kduc.ition was organized during 

 its first meeting being held on tin- 87tb 

 of July of that year. It then d.-tennimd to 

 solicit gifts to the amount of $100,000 for the 

 foundation of a Biblical Seminary; of which 

 urn $60.000 should be applied to the endow- 

 ment of the institution, $30,000 for ground and 



buildings, and $10,000 for the library. Nearly 

 oiM-i'ourth of the amount sought had been 

 pledged. The seminary was opened in 1871, 

 with two professors and one a-si.-taiit. It bad 

 been well attended. A Board i 

 appointed, and provision was made by the 

 relice for the support of the seminary. 



'Die missionaries in (iermaliy tl'.avariai bad 

 been obliged, iu order to secure recognition 

 and permission to worship, us provided by Ba- 

 varian laws, to submit to the authorities an 

 abstract of the "Book of Discipline." In doing 

 this, they had omitted some mutters, for which 

 they were charged before the Conference with 

 making changes in the Discipline. It w:< 

 plained in their defense that their purpose in 

 drawing up the abstract which was submit- 

 ted to the Bavarian officers, had been merely 

 to inform the Government respecting the 

 matters in which it would bo concerned in its 

 official action, and that they had had no 

 tbouu'ht ot' changing the Constitution of the 

 Church. Their proceedings were approved. 

 Tho bishops were instrustcd to take such ne- 

 tion as e\iir>-iieies might demand in the event 

 of the failure of the pending application to the 

 King of Bavaria for legal recognition of the 

 missionaries. 



A resolution was passed by the Conference 

 in favor of establishing a mission iu Japan 

 "as soon as the men and means necessary to 

 accomplish the work can bo obtain. 



Four bishops' districts were c and 



the salaries of the bishops were fixed at $1,000 

 each per annum, with allowances for 1. 

 rent and traveling-expenses. The bishops of 

 the. existing hoard were rcclcctcd, and statiorcd 

 as follows: East District, Bishop David Ed- 

 wards (residence. Baltimore. Xld.l; Ohio Dis- 

 trict, Bishop Jonathan Weaver ( residence. Day- 

 ton, Ohio); East Mississippi District. Bishop 

 John Dickson (n-id. -nee Muscatinc. Iowa); 

 West Mississippi District, Bishop J. .'. (Jloss- 

 brenner (residence, Chnrchville, Augusta Coun- 

 ty, Va.). The conferences on the I 'acilii 

 were left to be visited alternately by the bish- 

 ops, as they may arrange among tin 



The ministers in the several Annual Confer- 

 ences of this Church are assigned to their re- 

 spective fields of labor by a statioiiin.u' commit- 

 tee, which is composed of one local preacher 

 ted by the Conference from each presiding 

 elder's district, and the bishop and presiding 

 eld. rt of the past and present \, 



An amendment to the consitution providing 

 for the admission of lay delegates to the C.cn- 

 eral Conference was adopted, to bo submit!, d 

 to the vote of the Church. It is as follows: 



SECTION 1. All ecclesiastical power he: 

 to enact nr repeal any law or rule of .1 

 vested in a General Oonfera 

 of elder* mi'l laymen <! 

 ence district throughout the Church ; IT 

 laymen ahull have held a membership t 

 in the Church within the hounds of the Conl 

 they represent, and such ciders shall ha\ 

 the relation of elders three years preceding the next 



