r<>N<;i:K<;ATInNAMSTS. 



147 



The sixth National Council of the Congre- 

 // c/inrrhet in th United State* (or the 

 !, c. mutiny from the- orgiini/ation (if tlio 

 1 1 a> a permanent body at Oborlin, O., in 

 1-^71), in. a at New Haven, Conn., September 

 amli. The lion. Lafayette S. Foster, of Con- 

 necticut, was chosen moderator, and the Rev. 

 George F. Magoun, D. D., and the Rev. I. E. 

 luvhiell, D. D., were chosen assistant-modera- 

 tors. Atu-ntiun was given chiefly to the con- 

 sideration of the report of the committee 

 appointed at the preceding meeting on tlio 

 consolidation of the benevolent societies sup- 

 '1 by the Congregational churches. Tlio 

 main provisions of the plan supported by the 

 Committee were adopted as follows : 



I. That for the work of foreign missions the .Amer- 

 ican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions 

 be earnestly commended to the churches ; and that 

 it is advise'd that the funds which formerly were 

 contributed by our churches to the operations in 

 papal lands, through the American and Foreign 

 Christian Union, be added to the contributions or- 

 dinarily made to that board. 



II. That for the work among the freedmen of our 

 land, heretofore carried on with BO much efficiency 

 and success by the American Missionary Associa- 

 tion, that organization be commended to the con- 

 tinued support of our churches. 



III. That the Council heartily approve of the con- 

 solidation already effected between the American 

 Education Society and tlie College Society, and 

 commend the new organization to the generous sup- 

 port of the churches. 



IV. That for the ordinary home missionary work 

 the American Home Missionary Society is deserv- 

 ing of vigorous support, and that in the judgment 

 of the Council it is desirable that it so far enlarge its 

 operations as to comprehend and supervise all that 

 work of the churches which is properly related to 

 the idea and plan of home evangelization in the 

 special fields which it occupies ; that the now sepa- 

 rate enterprises of church erection and missionary 

 Sunday-school work be incorporated with the work 

 of the American Home Missionary Society, and be 

 provided for by the establishment of district bureaus 

 or otherwise, at the discretion of the Executive Com- 

 mittee, and that separate annual collections be taken 

 for the special work of church-building and mis- 

 sionary Sunday-schools. 



V. That we advise that the Congregational Pub- 

 lishing Society be disembarrassed of all work incon- 

 gruous with a strictly business enterprise, and that 

 every possible effort be made to promote its pros- 

 perity in its special field by securing through its 

 agency the publication and sale of denominational 

 and Sunday-school literature of a high order. 



\ I. That in the judgment of this Council the con- 

 solidation into one of our various missionary ami 

 benevolent magazines is desirable, and that the otti- 

 i' the different societies are respectfully re- 

 il to consider the practicability ol such a con- 

 solidation. 



The report of the committee also contained 

 recommendations that the missions of the 

 American Board among the North American 

 Indians be transferred to the care of the Amer- 

 ican Home Missionary Association, and the 

 foreign missions of the latter organization be 

 transferred to the American Board and kin- 

 dred societies; and that the congregations 

 1-c advised to transfer to the denominational 

 boards representing kindred enterprises their 



present contributions to onion societies. These 

 propositions were not approved by the Coum il. 



A resolution was adopted, commending all 

 the benevolent societies to the continued con- 

 fidence and support of the churches, and de- 

 claring " that no proposal of union, necessarily 

 in the future, need, in the intermediate time, 

 lessen the contributions to their various ob- 

 jects." A paper, by the Rev. D. B. Coe, D. D., 

 on " Christian Comity between Denominations 

 in the Home Field," called attention to an agree- 

 ment which had been made a short time before 

 between the Presbyterian Board of Home Mis- 

 sions and the Executive Committee of the Amer- 

 ican Home Missionary Society, for the purpose 

 of avoiding rivalry in establishing churches in 

 sparsely-populated districts. It had often hap- 

 pened tli at the agents of different denomina- 

 tions had undertaken to build up two or more 

 churches, in neighborhoods which could, at 

 most, competently support but one. Thus, 

 several weak congregations, constantly de- 

 pendent upon the missionary organizations for 

 help, had been started in places where a sin- 

 gle congregation, of either denomination, might 

 have sustained an independent existence, and 

 flourished. In their agreement, the Presby- 

 terian Board of Home Missions and the Exec- 

 utive Committee of the American Home Mis- 

 sionary Society had consented that they would 

 mutually exert their influence to prevent inter- 

 ference of this kind with each other's work ; 

 that, so far as they could control operations, 

 neither board should hereafter enter a field 

 requiring help which was already occupied 

 by the other ; that, in places where the two 

 societies were already represented by different 

 churches dividing energy and resources that 

 ought to be united, they would counsel mutual 

 forbearance and yielding, and the withdrawal 

 of one or the other church in favor of the one 

 which should seem best fitted for the work 

 there ; and that, in selecting new fields, they 

 would take care to prevent interference. This 

 paper was ordered to be printed with the pro- 

 ceedings of the Council. A special committee 

 was appointed to address other evangelical 

 bodies on the subject to which it related, and 

 solicit them to appoint committees for a gen- 

 eral conference in regard to the evils against 

 which it was intended to provide. In case the 

 conference is held, this committee will also rep- 

 resent the council in it. 



The first General Council of the Congrega- 

 tional churches was held at Cambridge, then 

 called Newtown, Mass., in 1637. The second 

 was held at Cambridge in 1646. Adjourned 

 sessions of the same body were held in 1647 

 and 1648, and tho result of their deliberations 

 was embodied in the so-called "Cambridge 

 Platform." The third council was held at Al- 

 bany, N. Y., in 1852, and considered plans for 

 carrying on missionary operations in the West. 

 The fourth council was held at Boston in 1865, 

 and held an adjourned session at Plymouth. 

 The fifth council was held at Oberlin, Ohio, 





